want one of these...I do!

Mr. Wonderful and I are in need of a new printer...our old one is dead...very dead. So...I am entering this fantastic fabulous Epson Artisan 800 giveaway at Mommy Coddle....ya never know when you might win something.

here, here or here....

My last post....Korea...well that was just a teaser from Mr. Wonderful...he calls me yesterday morning....5 choices...well 6 really
1. stay here
2. Korea
3. Guam
4. Japan
5. Azores
6. Alaska

Oh My...
needless to say yesterday was spent looking up lots and lots of information and talking with my sister, having a long lunch with Mr. Wonderful and more research and more conversation. We narrowed it down to two...which two you ask (all my 3 dear readers) well I am not saying just yet. Hubby has more research to do and more praying needs to happen and well a decision will have to be made but we are not rushed, which is a very lovely thing...Nothing like having to make a where-we-gonna-live choice under the gun of a time crunch.

So, where would you go? Ya know if you had my choices (not really mine you understand...there would be some East coast assignments as well as a couple European ones if they were my choices)...but still....what do you think???

adventures

Being a military spouse and living a military life is not "normal" life. Staying put, growing some deep roots, enjoying lifelong friends that live in the same town, having family near by, speaking the same language as those around you...the list goes on and on...

Hubby comes home today and asks what would I think about moving to Korea....hmmm...these little (hmmmph) questions come up every now and then. Geezzz..moving...of course I immediately start looking up information on the base, the housing, trying to find information out there in webland of folks that have lived there recently or are living there.
My first answer is...that would be cool...I mean to live in another foreign country, learn new customs, foods, see more things that I would probably never even think about seeing.

But then....all the other stuff...we are about to have a baby (who would be a couple of months old before we would move)...how long would we live there (3 years) ....flying (talk about looooong flights)....hmmmm... Korea is in the east so we would leave from the west coast...that would be some long flights to go see family in SC if we moved there.
Am I prepared and willing to live in a little bubble world again (like Incirlik, Turkey)? I wouldn't be able to read Korean, speak Korean or communicate effectively (well I could learn). The housing is high rise apartments....no backyard...Austin is a Brittney Spaniel (and still a puppy)...he needs lots of running room and his poops are big....this would mean that he would become an inside dog, would he get along with Elliot all day in the house, would Elliot get along with him?....would I be ready for that? How would I decide what minimal amount of stuff from my home that we would pack and take and what would we pack and store? What if we get there, get settled and I don't like it? What if something big happened with North Korea? Would I be ready for all the other "stuff" that living overseas brings? The idea of living on the other side of the world is exciting...and scary at the same time.

The funny thing is...we will probably not move. These possibilities pop up and we have to discuss and do a little research and then think about the big picture...the future...Hubby's career. Sometimes I think if it is good for his career I am on board, however...I am holding out for a European assignment or an East coast one. I really am. Nothing will probably come of our 7 minute conversation tonight about moving to the other side of the world. And if something does I will be a little prepared, just a little.

Oh the joy and adventure of this ride.

Happy New Year!

2009 is already here...seems like 2008 flew by....lots and lots happened in 08...Hubby deployed in January for 4 months to Iraq, I traveled the USA...visiting friends and family...In May right before Mother's Day and a couple weeks before Hubby returned from Iraq I flew from TX to SC to adopt a little boy. My first Mother's Day...it was bittersweet. I brought him home on Thursday from the hospital, the birth parents signed the paperwork on Friday and the Monday after Mother's Day the birth mother called to say she changed her mind. Tuesday she went to the lawyer to sign new paperwork revoking the original and I took him to her home Tuesday night. On Friday I was back home in TX...what a whirlwind. Hubby returned, we wept and took care of each other, spoke of this loss and resolved that we would start a family somehow.

After 5 years of unexplained infertility, lots of drugs, shots, procedures, grieving the loss of a would be child month after month, a failed adoption and then the overwhelming thoughts that we would have to start all over again....IT happened. I was late, I thought maybe I am pregnant and then decided I had played that game with myself month upon month, year after year....I should just accept that we were not going to get pregnant. I started to have some light cramping, going to bed in the middle of the day...to cry it out, accept yet another month of lost ability and this promise of a child right outside of my reach...I laid there, grieving, my little Elliot curled up beside me....then well..life will go on....I got up and proceeded to put the disappointment behind me. Late that night after still not starting I decided to take a test...and the rest is as is said history.

I am now on week 26...one week away from the start of my third trimester. I am feeling great for the most part. She has changed position recently and the physical feeling of carrying her inside of me has changed. The weight in my pelvic area is new and her movement areas have changed. Last week they were on the sides of my belly and now I feel her more everywhere. I know she has grown by where I can feel her....sometimes I feel movement at the top of my belly and at the same time at the bottom or on one of my sides. I've started to go to bed earlier...not to go to sleep...but sit in the quiet and feel her movement....enjoy the miracle of what is going on inside of me...revel in it...contemplate and allow myself to be absorbed in the idea of a daughter...of me becoming a Mom.

This past 20 plus weeks have been quite the journey. Much to do in preparation for her arrival, diapers to buy and wash, a room to set up, more books to read...more quiet evenings of reveling to enjoy. On New Year's Eve when the clock stuck midnight and my Hubby held me in his arms with our little girl moving in my belly...the THREE of us together...I could not help but marvel at the wonder and newness that this new year is going to be bringing to our door. I've said that 2000 was a wonderful year for me....my favorite so far...I'm pretty sure 2009 will surpass the wonderfulness of 2000 and I can't wait to live this year out!

Peace and Joy!
Nili

Merry Christmas

Dec 23 already...my, my where does the time go? Hubby and I are heading to his parents house for a couple of days...my house is CLEAN...I wore myself out yesterday making sure everything was spic & span before we leave for the lil' holiday. Austin got a bath and Elliot is heading to the sink for his bath, right after I return from running some quick errands. I had an OB appointment this morning, everything is looking great, her heartbeat is quick and strong...155..my blood pressure was great and I did not gain any weight in the last 4 weeks. So, that brings me to a total of 8pds gained so far....I only have 15 weeks and a couple of days left....which in and of itself freaks me out...excites me....and overwhelms me...I can't wait to meet my girl! So my next appointment is to drink the sugar water and have my blood taken...then two weeks after that the BIG Ultrasound ...we need to confirm that this girl is growing good and she is in fact a girl! Then it is an appointment every two weeks after that....this is flying by.

My first babywearing wrap came in, a Baby K'tan, I put Elliot in it to test it out ya know and he loved it...I will have to take a picture next time and post it...funny lil' dog....I guess I can practice around the house with him....I also ordered a Cherry Bomb from Nonny & Boo, picked up my first of many cloth diapers...I am going to try out the Fuzzy Bunz and Bum Genius 3.0 (the One Size and the S, M,L size)....I figure that I will figure it out as I go....we will see which one works better. I also have most of the nursery stuff bought...just want to make sure there is a girl in there before we start decorating...otherwise eBay here I come....I can't wait to get it all together.

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year's Eve (I think that I will be sleeping...imagine that)!

Peace and Joy to you and yours!
Nili

Something Absolutely New

WOW!

I just looked in my sidebar...17 weeks to go...I-AM-SO-EXCITED...17 weeks is not that long, that's only 4 months and a week.....oh my, oh my...and then my sweet baby girl that I have been waiting on and praying for, for FOREVER will be here. 17 weeks...just makes my eyes fill up with tears. I can feel her...moving around in there...bumps and flops...sometimes feels like I have swallowed a fish and it is just swimming round in there. My, my...and we are starting to have a little sprinkling of baby stuff around here...stuff for THE GIRL!
And of course I have to share....

This is the wonderful butterfly mobile that I found on Ebay...it's hanging in the corner of the dining room, I can't wait to see it in her room.

A sweet Flower Baby that my friend Stephanie made...

A spring dress for the girl...on sale for almost nothing at Ross
Another little dress....
Two pair of shoes....I am loving the silver Converse One Star!!!!
And me....23 weeks down...17 to go. I'm thinking I should take a picture in the morning, I seem to grow through out the day. I am living in American Eagle sweatpants....they are wonderful, soft, warm...and fit just right (with a Bella band of course).

I am so excited, here we are...here we are...the girl is on her way...I have a folder on my desktop with HER name on it....and a "baby stuff" bookmark in my favorites that is getting way too long....and a heart that is just filling up, stretching out and over-flowing with love for my GIRL!

I don't need anything for Christmas...I have it already...This...this welcome to mommyhood... this change going on in me is the best gift God could have ever brought Mr. Wonderful and I!

This quote...." The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new." ~Rajneesh

I love that I am becoming "something absolutely new"!

Peace and Joy!
Nili

Christmas is up!

Well, my meager Christmas decorations are done. We did not put up the big tree with all it's wonderful lights this year. Just too much that has to be done to make that happen. The dresser in the guest room would have to be moved to make space for the desk that is in the dining room. The desk has to be moved to make room for the smaller couch that is in the living room and the couch would have to be moved to make room for the ginormous tree. After we went to the storage room and pulled the Christmas boxes and crates out, Mr. Wonderful, who would love to have the big tree out said, "why don't we just move the black chair and put the big tree in the corner?" Once I explained that our tree in all her twinkling lights and Christmas glory would not fit in the corner and what would have to be moved in order to give her room...the moving that he would have to do mostly by himself...cause ya know I can't move heavy furniture....he quickly changed his mind. So, here are the decorations....
First, my lovely door wreath...I wanted to do a "winter" wreath instead of a purely Christmas one, so I can use it for the rest of the winter.
The little stars have been sitting patiently in my craft box since...well I think 1997 or something like that. They were from a little project that I did with a pre-school class that I taught. They were just plain dough baked stars and the K is a little wooden one that I bought at the craft store. A little silver paint...and a wreath is born.

Since we opted not to move all the furniture...I bought another small tree and decorated it to match some glass birds that I bought at Target. The tree, birds and a couple of pine cones were perfect for the fabulous hand painted bird on a branch table runner I bought from Kimba at her Etsy shop.
Here is another view of the table...don't mind the stack of gifts that are waiting to be wrapped...and hey did you notice? I have my K's up!



And then there is the mantle..and I know a fabulous larger than life garland is just begging to make it's home there...this mantle is just too perfect to not have a garland. But funds are limited this year and well....I did not have the mother-load of garland and garlandy stuff just sitting around the house...so I will have to make one next year..So here it is, my mantle, I can't do a close up...the dang thing is too long, but...I do have the second mini tree, my Christmas tree star-topper collection, a nativity and the Christmas angel (that is usually looking out over the room from her regular place, on top of the tree).

And not to be left out...last but not least....
A little iron tree, my ornament tree for this year. There was no way that I was going to keep all these packed away for another whole year...so I found this tree 50% off at Kohls and there ya go.

I guess I am a little sad that the big tree is not up and out this year. But, I am glad to not hassle with it. The work of moving the furniture around the house, getting the tree up and all the lights working and then not having that extra sitting room in the living room...the month that we need it the most...some times it can be good not to put up the big tree.

Hope you are having a wonderful couple of weeks before Christmas!

Peace and Joy!
Nili