I kinda suck at this blogging thing..

LoL. I failed the 30 Day Photo Challenge by Day 5. I guess that's what happens when you make the decision to start something like that a few days before you go on vacation. Oops! Speaking of Florida, we had a FANTASTIC time! We ended up leaving on Friday morning at 2am, and surprising Jon and Krys by getting there WAY earlier than I told them we would be. I triiiiccckkeedddd yoouuuu!!! ;) I was making posts on Facebook about us going to bed, and then being up and packing the car and leaving, all the while we were really already halfway there. I ended up calling her about a block from the house, BSing about where we were gonna stop for lunch, and that we were halfway there. The conversation went something like this..

Me: [To E] Babe, wheredo you want to eat lunch at?
Krys: ARBY'S!
Me: Ooo Arby's sounds good!
[Turns onto their street]
Me: Actually, though, I was thinking of eating at a place called, "KRYSTAL'S HOUSE!!"
[HONK HONK!]
Krys: You have GOT to be shittin' me!!!

HAHA it was amazing!! She forgot we even had the Caddy, so she didn't recognize the car when we turned down the street. I loved it!! And then... I got a BIG hug, and then, "WHERE'S MY BABY?" Figures! I already expected it anyways LoL. She totally bypassed E, too, haha! I handed her Dom, and she disappeared into the house. She had some loving up on her nephew to do! It was a great start to a great week, even if it did go too fast! Here are some highlights:

Gavin and Emma fell in LOOOOOOOVVEEEEEE with their cousin! They loved holding him all the time, and giving him kisses. It was so sweet!

We had a crab night, courtesy of Jon's brother, and it was AMAZING! Even more amazing was that E manned up and tried some, and was surprised when he really liked it! SCORE!

Krys and I both were both itching for some new ink, so we went and got matching tattoos! Iris is the "birth flower" for February [much like amethyst is the birth stone], so we picked out a butterfly iris and this was the final product! We love it!

 For St. Patty's Day we had lunch at McGuire's Irish Pub. Super tasty, and we had a ton of fun!!

And now we're enjoying spending time with my brother, Russell, his wife, Angela, and their babies, Sam and Lily. They came down here to visit us on Russell's Spring Break so they could meet Dominic. Oh, and see us, too, I guess, LoL. I'll be posting pics from this week soon!

Dear Dominic..

Please sleep tonight. Mommy would REALLY appreciate it! We're going to try swaddling you up nice and tight, and putting you in your swing! I really hope that it works for you. As much as I'd rather not get you used to sleeping in your swing, I need to get some decent rest. So, if that means letting you sleep in a swing for a few nights, then you sleep in a swing for a few nights. And if it's not too much to ask, could you try sleeping for longer at night with less feedings? That'd be FANTASTIC!

More of this:

And less of this:

kthnxluvubai!

Come ooooooooon Friday!!

I am SO excited for Friday!! Why, you ask? Well, lemme just tell you! We're packing up the car and headed to FLORIDA! And what's in Florida you may ask? Only the most awesomest, amazing, loving, bitchin', bestest friends EVER! Yes! I am indeed speaking of Jon and Krys! They are truly a blessing in our life, and we can't wait until we live closer together!! We miss them every day, and I don't know where we'd be without knowing them. We love you guys!!

We met this fantabulous couple, and their two beautiful children, while we were stationed in Okinawa. I had been working at the Kadena Youth Center for a couple of months before Krystal was hired. We clicked right away, and after the first time we went to their house to hang out, it was a done deal. We were inseparable! Every Friday and Saturday night, you knew where to find us. Hell, almost every day of the week, if I wasn't at home or at work, I was at their house. We did everything together! But, out of all the things we did, some of the best memories I have of Krys and I are our Starbucks nights. Starbucks became our obsession, and we went to "our" Starbucks probably 3 or 4 times a week. It never failed. I'd be sitting at home, contemplating on going to bed since it was close to 11pm, and get a text. "Starbucks?" "HELL YES! See you there!" I'd get out my yennies and five yen coins, and we'd play checkers on the tables while we sipped our hot beverages, and chatted. And, because we were there so often, we really got to know the staff, and were always shown the new cups before they were released for sale! We couldn't buy them, but we got to preview them =D BONUS! I will always cherish these memories with Krys.

I love my bitch!

Now I remember why!

It took me literally ALL DAY to write up the previous post. Granted, it's not exactly the most concise thing I've ever written, but still! That's why I stopped posting on here, because it takes me forever to write up posts! It's because I'm so scatterbrained. People weren't kidding when they told me about pregnancy-brain, and they REALLY weren't kidding when they said that pregnancy-brain turns into mommy-brain! Oi! It's a bit ridiculous at times.

And on that note, I just remembered that E asked if I could dry the bottles and get them ready for bed, so off I go! Good night!

And baby makes three... =]

As some of you may know, I have PCOS. Ethan and I had decided to start trying to expand our family in 2007 while we were in Okinawa. A year after we started and many missed periods later, I finally had some testing done and was given this diagnosis. PCOS stands for Poly-Cystic Ovary Syndrome. Essentially, I don't always ovulate on my own every month, which makes it very hard to get pregnant when you're trying. The symptoms include obesity and sudden massive weight gain, male-pattern hair growth, oily skin, discolored skin patches, insulin resistance, elevated hormones, and the lack of regular periods, all of which I have. We were pretty much told that we'd never get pregnant on our own, and we'd have to wait until we got back to the States- in two years- to do anything about it. This was absolutely devastating to me. I broke down. I cried all the time, withdrew into myself, and struggled to just get through my day. I was working at the Kadena Youth Center at the time, and it was hard to see all the smiling faces of the kids there. Somehow I made it through, and eventually learned to just deal with it. This is what made leaving Okinawa bittersweet for me. Two years later, in September 2009, we were on a plane, not wanting to leave the island, but PCSing back to the States with the hope of a child in the near future.

I saw my OB in the beginning of February of 2010, and got a referral to the fertility specialist. I made my appointment, but the soonest they could see me was the end of March. That was the longest wait of my life! I was excited, but anxious. It was nice to finally be able to actually talk to someone who deals with this on a daily basis, rather than someone who just knows about it. So the month passed slower than a turtle running through peanut butter [I heard this on FB from someone.. HAD to use it!], and I'm at the Center for Fertility. Ethan didn't go with me, and I don't exactly remember why.. Probably because of work, I'm sure. The appointment was very fast, and I was really surprised when I walked out the door with a prescription for Clomid in hand. I don't know what I was really expecting, but I guess had it in my head that this was just a consultation type deal, and I'd get a prescription the next appointment. They did an ultrasound, and confirmed that my ovaries did show signs of cysts, of which the presence alone does not prove PCOS, but coupled with the other symptoms makes them a good indicator. Dr. London explained to me the ins and outs of PCOS, and we worked out a "Let's get Mel pregnant!" plan. I would start out on Clomid on my next cycle [April], beginning with 50mg pills, to be taken on Cycle Days[CD] 3-7, and would take it up to three months, if needed, increasing each dosage by 50mg per month. If on month three I still was not pregnant, we would move onto Metformin. I had no idea at that time that there wouldn't be a need for Metformin. We were to have sex every other day, starting on CD10 and going through CD16[Yes, I had a doctor's note that specifically said this! E wasn't complaining LoL], and on CD21 I would have a blood draw to check my progesterone levels. The level only indicates whether or not I ovulated, but nothing more about when you ovulated or the quality of the egg. Knowing that the Clomid even worked was enough to make me jump for joy! I had a beta done on CD28, but it came back negative. I will admit, I was a little disappointed, but I held onto the fact that at least we know it worked, and we'll just try again on my next cycle.

May rolls around, and we begin Round Two of Clomid, this time with 100mg, taken the same days in my cycle. This time, though, E and I decide to really buckle down. We started doing the deed on CD10, and planned to do it every other day until my period showed up, just in case. Well, as fate would have it, my cycles started in the middle of the month, so mid-cycle it's the beginning of the next month. So of course, with my luck, E finds out that he has to go to 7 Level School in Texas two weeks early. Greeeeeaaaat. We keep to it anyways, and CD21 rolls around. My blood test comes back with a little bit higher a number than the previous round, which really doesn't mean much, I don't think, but I did indeed ovulate a second time. YAY! Three days later Ethan is on a plane to Texas, and I'm left hoping that what we managed was enough.

And it was.

Ethan left on the morning of Sunday, June 6th, and I had a beta test scheduled for the upcoming Thursday morning. After I got home from the airport, I was just hanging out at home. What's the worse thing for someone who's actively trying to get pregnant? Boredom. I say that because everyone who's trying to get pregnant most certainly has some kind of stash. Ya know.. home pregnancy tests, maybe some ovulation predictor kits, and some PreSeed for good measure. And when you're bored, and close to the magical testing day, it's like the HPT's are SCREAMING at you. "Peeee ooonnn meeeeeeee!!" So that's what I did. I was trying not to get my hopes up, because I didn't want the disappointment when I just KNEW it was going to be negative. So I try and take the nonchalant route. Keyword: TRY. I pee on it, set it on the floor in front of me and pretend it's not there while I finish doing my business. Of course, that never really happens like that, and kudos to anyone who can pee on a stick and walk away, rather than stare it down like it's about to grow arms and legs, don a top hat, and start singing that "Hello my darlin'" song. So what I really did was pee on it, set it down for all of two seconds, and pick it back up again. I peer at it super close, keeping a keen eye on where that elusive second line is supposed to appear. I even do the ol' lift my glasses and look at it REALLY close, like that makes it more visible. [Looking back, I can't believe I put something with my pee on it that close to my eyeballs..] And then it happens. At first I think I'm imagining things. But no. Really. It's there. There's a second line. Oh my God. THERE'S A SECOND LINE. And then I lost it. Utterly, and totally, lost it. The rush of emotions should have knocked me off of my feet, but instead I ran up and down the stairs 3 or 4 times. Apparently it was so loud that my neighbor, Kristin, texted me and asked what the hell I was doing. I'll admit it; she was the first to know I was pregnant! I couldn't NOT tell her! I tried to compose myself enough to call Ethan and tell him, but as soon as he answered the phone, I lost it again. Figures! LoL. When I do finally calm down enough that he could understand me, I told him that I took a test, and he was going to be a Daddy.

Silence.

And then you know what he said to me?!

"Well, let's not get too excited until your test on Thursday." O_O

Really, honey? Really?!

I was on Cloud 9! So many years of trying, and we were finally there. My beta on Thursday came back positive, and a secondary draw on Monday showed that my numbers were, indeed, at least doubling. But, you know, being the POAS addict that I am, I took an HPT every. single. day. leading up to the initial blood test. I had to make sure that the second blue line wasn't imagined!! I didn't have my first ultrasound until I was exactly 7 weeks along because I went home to Kansas while E was in Texas, and then we stayed another week and a half after he finished. But boy, when we did finally get to that ultrasound, it was like music to our ears. Not only did we have a perfect little baby in there, we got to see his or her little heart fluttering, and were able to listen to the heartbeat. It was definitely love at first sight!

And so began a happy and healthy 9[10] months of pregnancy! It was an easy pregnancy, even with the gestational diabetes that I developed, but I loved every minute of it! We decided to stay Team Green and not find out the gender, and we didn't share the names we picked, either. We wanted everything to be a huge announcement! And I'll admit, it was fun seeing the looks on people's faces when we told them that we didn't want to know, and even funnier seeing them squirm because we wouldn't share the names!

Here is a picture from our first ultrasound:

Here is the last belly picture that I took. I was 36 weeks on the dot in this picture!

And SURPRISE! Four days after I took that picture, an early, but healthy, and screaming, bouncing baby BOY entered the world! Dominic Gage weighed in at a whopping 5lbs 10oz, and was 18in long.

And baby makes three.. =]

And so we meet again!

To say that it's been a long time since I've last blogged is an understatement. I initially started this blog to be able to share our life while we lived on the beautiful island of Okinawa, but looking back at my posts, is easy to see that it didn't work out as intended. But, now that we have a precious baby boy in our lives, I hope to keep up more on this! So where to begin... hrm...

We left Okinawa in September of 2009. It was definitely a bittersweet day for us. We loved the island, and really didn't want to leave, but we were excited to be coming back to the States, and being closer to family and friends. I was also anxious to see a fertility specialist and hopefully start a family! The three years we spent on Okinawa were amazing, and given the opportunity, we'd gladly go back in a heartbeat! Beautiful photo courtesy of Kaptured by Kristi Photography and the ever fabulous, Kristi Hammack!
Once we got to Seattle, we had a whole day to kill, so of COURSE we meet up with some great friends! Myki and Dylan live in Portland, OR with their roomies, Lori and Orion, but were kind enough to make the drive to Seattle, pick us up, and take us back to their place to stay before needing to head back to Seattle the next day for our flight out. We had a blast, and always love seeing them! We just don't get to see them enough! This was actually the first time Ethan had met everyone! I was lucky enough to have them bestow the same hospitality to me on a previous solo trip. Also, Sachi and Pookah did GREAT on the flights! I was a little concerned about the 13 hour flight from Tokyo to Seattle with Pookah, given her age, but she managed. I think she was more nervous about the separation from us than anything. But BOY were they happy to be out of their kennels!

L-R: Ethan, Dylan, Orion, Myki is sitting on the chair holding Cora [Lori and Orion's little girl], and that's the back of Lori's head. Unfortunately, I didn't get a better picture of all of us while we were there!


Myki feeding Cora some tasties!


Cameron, Myki and Dylan's youngest. Such a serious look on his face, but don't let it fool ya! That boy throws one liners out there like a pro!


Aidan, Myki and Dylan's oldest. He is such a sweetie, and loved on Pookah the whole time! She hated it, can you tell? ;)


We decided to take this opportunity and go home for two weeks before heading to our new duty station in Louisiana. This worked out GREAT and we loved being able to spend so much time with family and friends!

I don't remember exactly why Troy, my brother-in-law, was unable to be there, but aside from him missing, here was the whole family at the time! We have had two additions since this picture was taken =] Russ and Angela welcomed Sam on January 17th, 2010, and of course, we welcomed Dominic a year later on January 24th, 2011!


Someone else who was SUPER excited to see Ethan especially was his little sister, Desiree. She's so proud of him, and just absolutely ADORES him!


All things come to an end sooner or later, so we said our goodbyes and off we went to Louisiana! We were excited to be going to a new base and city, and getting settled into a house. It was also a little nerve wracking, to be honest, considering we'd also be getting used to living in the States again. Either way, we packed up the car, Pookah the dog, and Sachi the cat, and a-road tripping we went! Pookah had a rough time the whole ride down, if you didn't notice.


Welcome to Barksdale Air Force Base!


And welcome to our house!