Matthew, I love you.

Matthew,

I want to say thank you for being such a wonderful husband. Whenever I am feeling down or just feeling wierd, you make me feel better and can always make me smile. Even on the hardest of days, your love for me shows to be unconditional. Thank you, handsome, for just being you, the man I love more and more with every passing day.

You are my hero in more ways than anyone else can know.

Love,

Katie

HICCUPS!

Quite literally actually.... Layla had her first case of hiccups today that lasted about 5 minutes. they were too cute and were quite comforting! What a darling little thing and how sweet that she is well enough to be hiccuping in there! She must really be relaxing! Well, she caused me many cases of hiccups during my first trimester, so perhaps the have worked their way down to her now!

Heartburn much?!?! I have never had heartburn before and for all of you people out there that experience it regularly.....GOD BLESS YOU! That HURTS! You know, sometimes the gruesome side of pregnancy never really comes out. The parts that everyone overlooks because it is sucha joyous time. Well, I hate to break it to you, but pregnancy is not all glore and no gore! Due to the graphic nature of pregnant women's bodies, I will not go into too much detail. Viewer discretion is advised...

Actually, the worst things as of right NOW include the occasional heartburn and pulling sensations on the skin. Although no stretch marks yet on the tummy, I am getting some small ones in other places that hopefully will never be seen by anyone but Matthew. And I am praying he is one of those people that is blinded by the beauty of pregnancy and motherhood that he never really sees them in the eyes of a human being. My face is constantly broken out and the "glow" you always hear about in pregnancy, just means a facemask of sweat and/or grease from an hour's worth of activity. I think some people find the belly button popping out as in many ways disgusting, but actually, I find it very beautiful. I mean when can anyone else ever pop their belly button out and make it look so round and sweet. Although mine hasn't actually popped out yet, it is definitely getting a bit rounder. It is sweet and I actually look forward to that, I think those pregnant women with large bellies and popped out belly buttons are the most beautiful. The dark line down the center of the abdomen is another beauty mark caused by the increase in melanin in the skin during pregnancy. It is simply a line that darkens which we all have, just usually lighter in color. It is under the skin and cannot go away until once the baby is delivered, then it returns to absolutely normal. It's another cool thing that most people will never encounter, especially the male population. Kind of a signature of pregnancy, if you will. I have developed a shortness of breath, and requirements of taking VERY deep breaths just to feel like I inhaled all the way. That is kind of annoying, but expected to worsen as the baby increases in size.

As of right now, I have about a large melon in my tummy, perhaps about the size of a volleyball. Actually, it is more like the size of half of a basketball because it is round and stops right at my belly button.

Ok, well, enough for tonight. Love to all and happy Friday to Matthew.....one more paycheck down, right baby? I love you.

"A Prince At War"

This is how I look at my husband right now.

Not only is he my hero, but my best friend and lover. What makes it so amazing is that he is my prince, the one person in the world that I would NOT want to be at war in case of losing him. Granted, I knew this day would come and all of that, but it sure is difficult to send the one person you never want to be away or be hurt off to war.

I cannot imagine being a wife back during the earlier wars when internet and telephone was a revolution of the future. Those women are the most amazing role models and I only hope that one day our daughter will look up to me as I do to those women who stood so strong when their husband were away.

Matthew is the one person that I want with me at all times and never ever get sick of. The one person that I can tell all of my secrets to and be silly or stupid around and not worry what he thinks of me. I love when he thinnks I am being crazy he just sits there with this stare looking at me like "are you done yet?" and then when I am done doing my silly thing, usually a random dance or song, he laughs and hugs me and says something like "See that's why I love you, always keeping me entertained" When really deep down inside that very comment actually means, "Dont ever embarrass me like that in public again!" Haha. It's a loving way to deal with the craziness of fun personalities. (That is how I rationalize my crazy, sometimes wierd behavior).

However, Matthew really has no room to speak. When he turns the music on in the car, he is absolutely in his own little world. It doesn't matter who is around or not around or looking. He will play the air drums and sing all day long if he likes the song that is on. Fortunately, for most of us, he turns the music up loud enough that we can hear him trying to reach the high notes. So actually what it looks like is someone head banging and air singing to incredibly loud, incomprehensible music and misses the green light while everyone honks. The greatest thing about it is that he totally doesnt care what anyone thinks including myself when I am in the car with him slouching down and trying to cover my face. I will admit, often times it is quite entertaining and occasionally I get in a head bang or two, but still....I love him for it. Once he gets that song over with he usually calms down and enjoys the rest of the drive like an old man going 35 and me saying HURRY UP!!!! Hahah.....aren't we an interesting couple?! Although, I suppose when I look at it, we are really one in the same. He just has his own music and I have to make my own by singing. Fortunately, I am not too bad since vocals run in the family and after exposing Matthew's Car Idol moments, i am sure he will speak differently about my singing. Perhaps I may never hear them again, highly unlikely though. They come and go and summertime is the best time to do these things with the windows down and wind in your hair!

So anyway, that is just a blip in the life of Matthew and Katie Fullmer. We try our best to keep everyone guessing and usually are pretty successful. Our life is never boring and always on the go, just the way we like it. With a baby on the way, it will be that much more hectic and honestly, I cannot wait. The personaility this child will have should be double dosage of her parents leading us to believe she may need medicine for that at a very young age! AH!

Ok, well off to bed, remember, comments are appreciated. To those we haven't spoken to lately, know we love you and miss you and hopefully will see you soon!

Love in the kindest.

BONJOUR!

Hello to one and all....

Interesting day, but that's ok.....Layla and I are having some fun. Now that I know we have a little angel, we are in full force pink buying and registering mode! I promised Matthew that at least her stroller won't be totally all pink, but the rest.....well, that is the tough luck of having a girl and a wife who's favorite color is pink!! Wuahaha!

Girls officially will out number the boys and I cannot WAIT! Haha, we love you, baby!

As for anything else, well nothing else is really going on at the moment. Matthew doesn't really care what the words say on the blog anymore, all he wants are the pictures. So here they are, honey, for if you even read this far! I love you! Oh yeah, you like the spot on my shirt? I enjoyed that dessert thank you very much! Also, this is our 19 week photo....we accidentally skipped week 18, oh well....thing of the past, guess we can't go back and do it over! But look at the difference between week 17 and 19!! Wow, she's a growing little angel!

I have an interview at Motherhood Maternity tomorrow, so that would be a fun job for a pregnant woman!

Ok, off to bed.....us girls need our beauty sleep and I have determined that Layla is soaking all the beauty sleep out of me and that is why I am so tired all the time! Goodness!

Love to all!

IT'S A GIRL!!!!

IT'S OFFICIAL: WE ARE HAVING A GIRL!

And yes, she happens to be giving the middle finger and smiling in the second photo! Please excuse her, she wasn't in the mood for paparazzi.

This is the day we have been much awaiting, the day we find out the gender of our baby! Well, today I was fortunate enough to have an extensive ultrasound and it looks like we have ourselves a perfect little baby girl! There was pretty much no question whatsoever, they said she is a textbook case for girl parts! Thus, the party has started for buying pink and girly things! I completed our registry at Target and Babies R Us! Everyone please check them out!

Our little one will be named Layla Joyce Fullmer and the doctors said she is tall already! Like her daddy! She is all arms and legs and has nice long feet and a long neck, beautiful little girl! She loves to sleep so I hope she doesnt get too much of it now so we can enjoy our first few months with her on a decent sleep pattern. Yeah, yeah I know....wishful thinking! Hah! If she is anything like her daddy and I, she will be bouncing off the walls, but honestly, that is all we know how to do so it won't be too bad. Sleepless nights are inevitable and I look forward to bonding with the little one for the next few months until Matthew gets home and it is safe to have her.

She is growing like crazy, the doctor said and she is still currently without hair. The whole ultrasound she was sleeping and sucking on her thumb. A few times she did a precious stretch, but pretty much the whole time she had both her arms and legs flopped around the placenta like a beany baby. She is too cute! She was tightly graspig the umbilical cord and was sitting like a lady with her legs crossed for the majority of the sitting. However, she flipped with her bottom up towards my belly button for a few seconds to show us that she indeed is a little girl!

Matthew was elated to hear the news and we were fortunate to time it correctly so he called right as I was laying on the ultrasound table watching her move! We got several shots of her as well as a video of her moving so I hope to be able to post all of it ASAP!

WHAT A JOY WE HAVE!! A little break in the Fullmer all boys chain! I think Grandma and Grandpa Fullmer may have needed a boy break for a little while and she will provide just that!

Love to all from Matthew, Katie, and Baby Layla

To Matthew....

Hey handsome,

I had a great day today. I did awesome on my french horn solo at church and I can tell the baby really loves music because every time I play she starts moving all around. I figure I would rather call the baby she just so I dont have to keep calling her "it" which sounds so harsh. Even though we don't know yet for sure that we are having a girl. Everyone is talking of buying pink, but remember to remid everyone, we dont know for sure that we are having a girl yet, so either keep the receipts or wait just 3 more weeks for a definitive ultrasound!

This was a hard week for us. So much happened in both of our lives and we were unable to share in it together. I cannot wait for you to come home so that we can enjoy our lives together instead of having so much unknown to each other like we are right now. Roxy girl seems to be feeling better a little bit, we will see if she can make it through the night without tee-teeing in her kennel. Last night broke my heart with her crying so I hope she doesnt do it again. I think the medicine is working really well though and it is slowly clearing up. I had Kristi take a picture of me or two for you, so there they are. I took a nice nap today and had a wonderful dream about when you get home. It was that I was sleeping on the couch with the baby on me when you came home from work and saw us laying there. I imagined you kissing me and picking up our baby and I wake up to you two playing on the floor with Roxy and Hurley laying close by. What a sweet, precious family I have. I could not ask for a better husband or best friend. Thank you for doing what you are doing even though it means being away during the hardest time. You are my American hero and I am beyond words proud of you. I pray for you every day, all day and know you will come home just as soon and safely as you can. Thank you for being you and being my husband. I love you so much more than words will ever express. See you soon.

Love,

Your Angel

An exciting day!

To all our friends and family:

What a beautiful day it was! After long anticipating all morning the ultrasound that we have been waiting months for, Kristin and I attended the ultrasound starting at around 2:15. It was quite the awesome sight! The baby, yes, JUST ONE, thank goodness in more ways than one, but the baby, was VERY active! The doctors were making jokes about how active the baby was and how everytime they were about to get a perfect shot of the baby's body parts, the baby would move. What a sweet angel we have though. Moving and kicking and doing complete somersaults right before our eyes. Starting in the breech position, the baby became trasnverse across my abdomen and soon turned completely upside down and back again! How fun it was to see the baby moving in so many ways. The baby did a number of cute things from opening it's mouth to turning all around, kicking, punching, jumping, and most of all, it LOVES to suck a thumb! Fortunately, we were able to catch the baby in a couple of very cute photos that I have posted here as well. Baby's first photos and what sweet ones they are. Because the child is so young still, the face is what they called "alien face" because the soft tissue is not visible at all and the eye sockets and mouth are dark. A face only a mother could love, and I do love it dearly. Also, the baby's spine, ribs, head, face, everything is perfectly shaped and healthy! We have ourselves a little sweetheart.

As for the long awaited sex of the baby, the ultrasound was not 100% clear and affirmative for one sex or the other. However, due to lack of certai male parts between some clear femurs, the doctors said they were 75-80% sure we had a girl. A clearer and more advanced ultrasound will be performed when I am 21 weeks on April 16th. YAY!

Kristin, Brian, and I then attended the Augusta Arena football opener game and what a blast we have! What a blessing to have a family like ours! I love you all dearly!

To Matthew, I love you more than anything.

I LOVE YOU!!

Another day...

So after many more hours of missing Matthew, aka....another day, I am off to bed. Nothing really exciting happened today, unfortunate, but also kind of peaceful. Unfortunately, I had to take Roxy to the vet to be spayed this morning, which, of course, made me cry. BUT after that, I played with Hurley a lot because he was depressed missing Roxy. I then worked out and enjoyed a day of not doing too much. However, the baby did not move too much today. I felt maybe 10-15 movements today which is fine, just a more relaxed day is all.

Although, when I DO feel this baby move, it is quick, strong movements so there is definitely a play time down there and it is just so precious! What a bonding time with baby are those moments of movement. Other than that, I had a quiet, calm day and am now off to dreamland.

Matthew, I miss you and love you so much. Be safe and know your family adores you!

My man and our baby! What a beautiful family I have!!

Hey everyone!

Hope your Monday was as exciting as mine! Baby and I had a fun day of doctors and nurses! With high hopes for the day, I went to Eisenhower Army Medical Hospital for my appointments today starting at 1:00pm. First, I had to get all of my paperwork completed from the transfer from Fort Bragg. That took a little bit and my vitals showed an elevated blood pressure, I must have been stressed! Baby was very active though this morning and usually the baby is only really active at night. Some SERIOUS growth must be occuring with the little one!

I then proceeded to get MORE bloodwork done as routine, but for the 4th appointment in a ROW! BLAH! I have never really had a problem getting stuck by a needle until I watched Matthew and the guys at work stick each other and miss over and over again. One thing is for sure, I never want any of THEM drawing my blood or hooking me up to an IV! Matthew comes home with 5 prick marks sometimes, YEOUCH! Anyway, the lady was nice, but was talking the whole time and her whole body wiggled when she spoke so the needle was all over the place in my arm. NOT pleasant, but eh, oh well.

Then we went back for ANOTHER appointment, my prenatal appointment. I spoke with the doctor and they thought perhaps we should have an ultrasound right then and there just to cancel out the threat of twins, but since, she said, I am supposed to have one in two weeks, she just waited. Well......she took the baby's heartrate and it was 140 on one side and just as strongly 148 on the other side of my tummy, yet another reason to believe there MAY be some other little one in there. Considering how close the heartrates are though, they decided to move my ultrasound to a STAT status and scheduled one for me for this Saturday. SOOOO......if baby plays along, we might find out if we are having a little angel or little prince! Keep it in your prayers, that is something Matthew and I have SO been looking forward to for a while now! The doctor was impressed at how strongly she could feel the baby moving externally though and yet also thought this might be a cause for an ultrasound to be sure there aren't two babies in there.

THUS, not to get my hopes up....or down, depending on how you look at twins.......there may be just one still, but still the chance of two. Either way we are thrilled! All we want is a healthy little one (maybe two). We are still not hoping for a boy or girl more, but I must say I am leaning for a boy......everyone else says the way I am carrying is for a girl though so we shall see!

After that exciting appointment, I had to go next door to the OB and get a flu shot......EGH, what a sour way to end an exciting appointment! Now my arm is sore and my shoulder is tight. Never had a flu shot before; I never get sick or have the flu really, but we don't need to take any chances with the baby! So I got one.

Anyway, Matthew did well in his 5K run the other day and I was fortunate enough to get a photo or two. I am not going to lie, when Matthew says he is getting bigger and more buff, he is NOT kidding! WOW, HE'S FINE and allllll MINE! I suppose some people won't notice a huge difference yet, but his legs have NEVER been this big and his shirts have NEVER been that tight. It's HOT and I just feel so lucky that he is all mine! I guess we both get a surprise to see each other.....him being bigger and well......me being.......bigger. I like his version better, but I think MY reason for being bigger is a bit more long term exciting.

I must say, I know now more than ever how ready Matthew and I am for parenting. People always say you are NEVER really ready, but I think if EVER a couple is ready, it is us. The love, yes, of course that is there......unconditionally. But now it seems that things have fallen into perfect place for us. Our lives are exactly what we hoped for in going through this at this time. Each of us is accomplishing our dreams and goals and on top of that.......we are building new ones together. What a blessing! And with that, little baby kicked my stomach! haha. I wish you guys could feel this......it's quite remarkable, at only 18 weeks even the doctor just couldnt believe how developed the muscles must be to produce such strong movements! Just like Matthew and I though, go go go and push push push....life is what we are about and living is our passion!

Last, but not least, Roxy girl is getting spayed tomorrow and it breaks my heart that she can't know it's coming! Keep her in your prayers, it is so hard to let her go under the knife! And Hurley just won't know what to do without his baby sister overnight. Keep our little girl in your prayers!

Ok, enough for today......love to all.

Sunday, SUNDAY, Sunday!

The cold front swept through Augusta last night making for a chilly arousal this morning. We slowly and groggily got up and ready for church in time for the early service at 9:15. Well worth it though because the music was this rock band and the message was from a youth speaker who was very casual, wearing jeans and talking to the young people about sex. It was a good sermon and we really enjoyed it. After church we made a run to Target and I got the CUTEST little baby outfits. I COULDN'T resist!

On was pink that says "Does this diaper make my butt look big?" Which is hilarious so i had to get it even though we dont know if we are having a girl or not. Also, I got a white one with black writing that says "Don't wake me....I'll wake you." A true statement, I am oh so sure! Anyway, after getting mmy fill of veggies at Ryan's steakhouse, we headed home. Now.....the HIGHLIGHT of my day was taking a 3 hour nap with my brand new pink body pillow. I have had some trouble sleeping because of my back and not being able to sleep on my tummy anymore. WOW, that pillow does wonders! Now I am actually looking FORWARD to bedtime.

Little baby Fullmer was active again this afternoon after my nap and I think thoroughly enjoyed me playing the french horn in orchestra at night church tonight. Little baby must be like daddy because Matthew LOVES music and I think the baby does too. Whenever I turn music on, the baby moves all about. Of course, music does similar to the same thing to my emotions as talking to Matthew does. It calms me and makes me feel good which may be why the baby likes when I do both!

Anyway, I have my next prenatal appointment tomorrow! Yay! AND......I get to schedule my ultrasound soon as well! Hopefully I get to hear the heartbeat again tomorrow, that is something I thoroughly enjoy. Calms me, although the baby moving calms me now too......again as I have said, a reassurance of sorts.

Well, love to all.....I miss my California family.....well, ALL my family, but maybe I will talk to you Californians soon!

Goodnight!

Man, I am pooped!

Today was quite the entertaining day. Kristin, Brian and I spent basically all day out and about doing tons of things to keep us busy! ALL the while we were on our feet and that is something that I can say KILLS my lower back. BUT, it was fun and well worth it. By the time we got home, my little baby was saying to sit down and relax in more ways than one! My feet and hands were really swollen and my lower back was so very sore!

The adventures of the day included a few hours at the Augusta Home and Garden show looking at home furnishings, accessories, and improvement ideas and help. That was after eating lunch at Zaxby's. Then we headed to run multiple errunds back to back including Bed, Bath and Beyond, Sam's and Lowe's. PHEW! BOY am I tired! My body just cannot keep up much anymore and I am only HALFWAY THERE!

This is going to be an exciting week though so I am very much looking forward to the activities. On thing I am wondering about is that most of the places I applied for an easy part-time job are standing on my feet for hours at a time and that is something to be proving VERY uncomfortable. We shall see though what I am offered, if anything, and what I can do.

I am looking forward to hearing Matthew's voice tonight. I missed him a lot today and one thing I really don't like the feeling of is looking like a single pregnant, young girl. I feel like people are looking down on me even wearing my wedding ring, I wish he was by my side. I know he is here at heart.

Love to all.....my body is yearning for bed.

Quick reminder!

I posted a couple new photos on here tonight. A few of the puppies and the picture of my belly week 17 is on there too. It is getting FAT! EW! I hope you guys enjoy them! They say that week 15 -week 19 is when the huge growth spurt in the baby is. I think you look at my belly album you can see that I would agree. I went from no belly to a total pooch! Not only that, but I have gained weight in my arms and face, WHAT IS GOING ON!?!

Matthew, I hope you ran a great race, I know you did well! I love you and will talk to you tomorrow whenever you can call!

Love everyone!

Worn slap out!

Hey everyone!

Yet another Fullmer day! Today was fairly exhausting. After being yelled at and hung up on by our former landlord because she is scared we will take her to court, I had to drive to Atlanta and back to get my mail that has been sent there. I was anticipating that a letter that Matthew wrote me would be there, but to my dismay it was not even though he sent it about a month ago. Oh well, the wait continues.

On the ride back from Atlanta to Augusta, our little baby started mooooooving and when I say moving, I think he/she was using my belly button as punching target practice! It was hilarious and actually quite comforting. It made me smile and feel at peace in a way that I have NEVER felt before. I suppose it is just such a blessing that the baby is healthy enough and happy enough to be that active this early. Anyone that has been pregnant before, I am sure you are aware of the peace and feeling I am referring to! Anyway, I made it back safely and am starving as always. Cheeze-its are my friend!

Matthew is running a 5K tomorrow before work and he is really dreading it! Keep him in your thoughts. Amazing how even in the midst of everything over there, the men can keep some of the morale in mundane things like a run. He will do great, he's a born runner! Matthew sent a picture today which I am also attaching, but rest assured, he said he did not eat the bread. He said the bread is called foot bread by the locals and that's because it is made with their feet! EW! Gross! no wonder that sign is up! Plus, I still cannot get over the goofy Army hats they have to wear! Cracks me up.

Well, I am not sure how many people are actually checking this site, BUT.......I am fantasizing a lot haha. Today I actually got dressed decently and look pretty cute, but also pretty pregnant.....EGH! Although as usual, Matthew tells me how beautiful I am from the pictures I sent him. (Maybe its a blessing he can't see me in person right now! I'm a blob!) Hah...I love him though and what a dear husband he is!

I hope you all are safe and healthy! I miss everyone very much and look forward to hearing from everyone soon!

Life as a military wife.

You know what, I never really questioned the life of being a military wife. As soon as Matthew and I met I knew I could handle it, we would make it work. Some days are harder than others, some days go by much slower and the good ones always pass way too quickly.

The military has a way of speeding up your life tenfold. I am not sure if it is because you value your time together that much more or you just have no choice but to pick up and go with the flow. Nothing is ever set in stone and plans are never final. Flights must always be refundable and orders can be very unforgiving to any circumstance. Life in the military isn't what I would consider "life in the fast lane", you don't just sit and watch as life passes you by. You actually have no choice but to actively participate, if you don't participate, you wither away.

You never really know what it is like to be alone and you can never be assured of your time together. Either way, life can be taken for granted, but the time spent together is always priceless. Sometimes the best way to not get caught up in the moment is to slow down long enough to breathe and really count your blessings. As a military wife there will ALWAYS be things that you could be sad about or feel lonely towards. Those successful military wives and military marriages are based on faith, love, and trust in God, yourself, and your spouse. I have faith in my God that He will take care of me and my husband every day. I have faith in myself that I CAN get through this. And I have faith in my husband to do his job to his very best ability and then get himself home to me. The love must be unconditional, the purest and truest love that does not leave or walk away when things are tougher than they would be in the civilian world. My great-grandfather always used to say that "What does not kill you makes you stronger." This cannot be more true of a military marriage. If you are still alive and get THROUGH the hard times together, you WILL be stronger. The most successful military marriages are those that have already been through and seen the hard times, but have made it through. It would be easy to pretend you are great if you have not seen adversity.

So what makes a military wife special? One thing. Her husband. Without her husband she would have no fortress to hold on to. Her husband, what does he have? A wife to rest upon because without a foundation, the structure would tumble. Together, I believe a military marriage is the most blessed when it is strong both in its fortress, its foundation and most importantly God as its mountainside to rest upon. Beauty, grandeur, and memories to fill a lifetime can be found in just a few months of a military marriage, years build triumphs.

Thus, I must say life as a military wife isn't all that bad, in fact, it is the proudest job in the world. We are what stands behind the most brave and patriotic men in the country. Those that fight and those that die for a cause other than their own. A man or woman in the military is the most selfless profession on earth because what they train for and fight for means nothing about their own life, but their family, their friends, and their country.

American heros are the men and women that train and fight, but also their families. As a military wife now, I can officially say I feel nothing like a hero. But when my husband calls me, missing home from Afghanistan, not sure if he can do this anymore and I can get him to smile in 5 minutes before he has to go back out, I then feel as patriotic and proud as any soldier. I cannot deny my tears or my nights of saddness and lonliness, fear and worry. I cannot always smile at the couples I see everywhere or the fathers I see that get to come home. What I can rest assured on is that my American hero is going to do his best to protect those very men I see so they can come home to their wife every night.

When I signed those papers on July 1st, 2006, the day I was married to Matthew Fullmer, I knew but didnt know what it mean to be a military wife. You can NEVER know fully until you are in the moment and experience it. What made it blessed was that I was not afraid and knew that with God on our side, whatever trials may come, we CAN get through them. We will get through them. We ARE getting through them.

To Matthew, I cannot pretend I do not miss you. You know my heart and missing you is my every breath. But what you can rest at night knowing is that the strength to wait for you comes from the strength of our faith, hope and love in each other. But the greatest of these is love. I love you completely without knowing any other way. Our child and I await your return.

Yet another beautiful day!

Well, folks, hopefully you have found our blog by now, or will soon!

Yesterday must have been quite an eventful day because I did not even sit long enough to see if the baby was moving again! However, as the night progressed and things settled down, I started to notice some tiny little movements that were very reassuring. As for MY day.....it was quite the ordeal....

I spent yesterday finally getting my name changed on my liscense and looking for a small part time job. Unfortunately, my resume is on my computer that is in storage in fayetteville. That's ok though since I don't have THAT extensive of a resume to rewrite, a mission for today. As the night progressed, Kristin came home and we went for a pretty stinky meal at Chili's total disappointment for us both for some reason....haha. Anyway, we came home to engulf ourselves in the 2 hour showing of "American Idol".

The TRUE highlight of our evening came later, but hysteria came first. You see, neither Kristin nor I are big fans of bugs.....of ANY kind. Low and behold, out crawls a HUGE roach RIGHT behind the TV, thank goodness for DVR or we would have missed the next 30 minutes of the show due to screaming, running, crying, yelling, laughing, and on and on. Since Brian wasn't home, the game was on.....for the roach. First, we tried to get the dog to go eat it, but he was too concerned with Kristin and I going CRAZY and wouldn't even LOOK at the wall where the bug was. Then we tried hitting it with a shoe, but any time either of us got within two feet of it, we would run off screaming about how totally gross it is and that we "just can't do it". Kristin, mind you, a FABULOUS physician, was jumping up on the couch and pushing ME, the pregnant one towards this hideous HUGE roach. Needless to say, I wasn't ABOUT to let THAT go, so I too got on the couch and we just sat there screaming and laughing for about 10 minutes. FINALLY, Kristin got the bright idea of using a broom, BAD IDEA. She knocked the roach onto the floor not to be seen again for about an hour. During which time we resumed the TV show with our feet up on the couch and a watchful eye behind the TV as to catch it when it flew out to get us.

PHEW! WHAT a commotion it was. The GREAT thing is that Brian came home soon after with Blizzards from Dairy Queen for us all!! What a chocolately treat! BUT....soon, the evil roach's head appeared and Brian, our hero saved the day by squashing the creature with a LOUD crunch. GROSS! Anyway, that was our real excitement of the evening......a little hysteria in the Davis household goes a long way haha!

Later, when Matthew was able to call me, I was laying in bed and almost immediately when I began speaking with him, I was calm and comfortable enough to feel the baby REALLY moving. I mean I felt the baby move yesterday with more of a flutter type. Last night, however, the baby was quite literally kicking and moving all over my tummy! I started crying and Matthew was so thrilled that our baby "recognized when mommy was talking to him". How sweet, we actually got to experience one of the first kicks together while he was on the phone! Baby must know daddy or how daddy makes mommy feel! Anyway, Matthew is doing well, he says that he is getting bigger and buff and was very excited about this blog site to keep us all updated. He sends his love to everyone and misses everyone dearly.

Well, that was the excitement of yesterday......today I plan to clean up around here and get some things done that I have needed to for a while.

Again, please forward this link to anyone that I have missed which I know there are plenty out there! I am going to post a picture I received of Matthew in Afghanistan today.

Love to all!!

It's a beautiful thing...

Well, ladies and gentlemen, technology is quite the next world wonder, is it not??

I am now able to not only communicate with my husband while he is at war, but I can write all of my exciting news here on a blog that all friends and family around the globe can enjoy! How neat! Considering most of you are up to date on Matthew and my life, I will only give a brief rundown of what has been going on in the last few weeks.

As of last week, I officially moved in with my sister in Augusta, GA. This is after the toughest decision ever that it was not worth the amount of money it would take to fly the dogs to California for 3 months. Who knew it would cost the SAME amount to send the dogs out there as it would to completely furnish our little one's nursery. After taking a few days to discuss it with Matthew and truly deliberate on whether I should just come out there, we decided not to chance not having that much needed money when the baby came. HOWEVER, our dear friends and family in California...I want you to know that I am truly saddened and heartbroken that I will not be able to spend as much time there with you all. I am planning on making a trip there for a shorter stay around early May. I do apologize for the false anticipation that I know so many of us had.

Matthew is doing well in Afghanistan, as well as can be. He sounds like he is doing well enough to get through comfortably and will perhaps be able to post on here to everyone sometime soon! The weather there is slowly getting better, but with much rain making it difficult to get his mail, which is a bummer. The last package he received was on with workout magazines and a teddy bear in an Air Force blues uniform that I sent him. In the little bear's hand is a recording of our baby's heartbeat at my last visit on February 23rd. he was thrilled and apparently allowed all of the guys to hear it whether they wanted to or not! Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers, he is starting to miss home so these next few months will be long for both of us.

As for our baby!!! As of yesterday, I FELT THE BABY MOVE!!! Quite an active little bugar seeing as once I really knew what movement felt like, the baby continued to move all day! What a joy and exciting event! I am currently 17 weeks and 2 days pregnant! My next appointment is going to be at the end of this month and an ultrasound will take place a couple of weeks after that to determine the sex of our little one!!! For those that have not heard, our little girl's name is Layla Joyce and our little boy's name will be Ethan Michael! In the possible event that we are blessed with twins.....haha we will keep you updated!

I am going to be getting pictures of my growing belly on here and some of Matthew and I once I figure things out a bit better on here. In the meantime, please check in as often as you like seeing as I have a bit of free time to work on it right now! Feel free to comment on here and we would LOVE to see and hear from all who grace us with your presence here!

Love to all!!