Pregnancy: 23 weeks!

 23 Weeks

How Far Along: 23 weeks (and 4 days)

Size of Baby: At his 20 week ultrasound he was 10.1 oz!

Picture of Baby: Haven't seen the OB in about a month, so I'm sure he's changed since we last saw him!

23 weeks: He's measuring right along schedule, and giving mommy some pretty good jabs!

Weight Gain: Pre-pregnancy I was at 140, at 23 weeks I weigh 159.

Belly Pic:

Sleep: It's ok for the most part. I wake up about 3 times a night to pee. My mind wanders, but after laying down for about 30 minutes I fall right to sleep.

Best Moment of the Week: Daddy felt a HUGE kick from Tristan. :)

Movement: He's pretty active the same time every day, after I eat, or when daddy talks to him.

Symptoms: I'm Braxton Hicksin' it up all the time now!I went to L&D last week because I had them for so long I was a little concerned. Everything was fine though, just some major broad ligament pain and BH.

Food Cravings: Everything I look at. LOL!

What I Miss: How tan I was before pregnancy. Now I look pasty... which is just fine though. It's all worth it in the end!

What I'm Looking Forward to: Seeing Tristan's handsome face, his lips, his nose, hands, fingers, feet, toes, elbows... I could go on and on!

Milestones: I'm past the halfway mark, and the risk of miscarriage is slim. He grows stronger with every passing day, and with help from the NICU, he would have a fighting chance at survival if I went into pre-term labor.

Mommy loves you Tristan! Can't wait to meet you!

I've been meaning to write more about my pregnancy, so here we go. 

As of now I'm 20 weeks along. We found out at 17 weeks that our little bundle of joy is a HE.

 You can imagine the excitement my husband was feeling. Lol. Everything is going great. He's measuring right along schedule and looks to be very healthy.

 We are naming him after his great grandpa like I had stated in my last post, so his name will be Tristan Darrell.

 Here he is showing us his boy parts. :)

Waving to mommy and daddy. :)

It finally has started to sink in and feel real. I never knew I could love something this much and I haven't even met him yet. Just shows you the power of love is stronger than anything.

 God has truly blessed us with an amazing gift and I thank Him every day for blessing us with Tristan.

I'm finally getting to the stage where I look pregnant! I'm very excited to show off my bump!

I really wanted a pair of skinny maternity jeans for this winter, but didn't want to pay a fortune, so I found a tutorial on a blog about how to turn pre-pregnancy jeans into maternity jeans. 

I just finished them today and they are going to work great, and best of all, didn't cost me a thing. I used a pair of old jeans and a really small cami that doesn't fit me anymore.

Aren't they cute!

I'm also planning on making the bedding for our nursery myself. I want to incorporate some of his daddy's old uniforms and thought it would be a lot more personal and full of love!

This pregnancy seems to be flying by. Between doctor's appointments, crafting, and just staying busy in general, it has gone by so fast I didn't even realize it! 

We're just ready to hold our little boy in our arms and add one more addition to our growing family.

I hate to be such a Debbie Downer on my own post, but I didn't want to start off with bad news.

On my last post I talked about how my Papaw was very sick and in the hospital. They sent him to hospice and he passed away last Thursday. It's been hard dealing with that and pregnancy hormones. One minute I'm fine, but then I see something that reminds me of him and I lose it again. I'm so glad I got to see him earlier this year, and I talked to him on the phone twice while he was in the hospital.

He was cremated, so the day after he passed was the day of the viewing, there wasn't a funeral.

I couldn't have gone to Texas on that short of notice and I feel horrible because neither my sister, brother or I were there for my mom. I know she needed us there for support, and I guess I'm beating myself up over that.

Before he passed away I did get to tell him his great grandson would be carrying on his name, and he was overjoyed. I'm glad my husband was on board with it.

Every time I see my little Tristan I will think of all the memories I shared with my Papaw.

Keep moving forward...

Things in my life right now seem to be all over the place and I can't seem to get them together.

I know I posted about my Papaw being ill in an earlier post, but things have taken a turn for the worse. I am so glad I went home when I did because now he's in Hospice. He took a major fall and fractured his hip. Upon going to the hospital they found pneumonia. They found some stuff in his lungs awhile back and they did a biopsy on it not too long ago, but it came back malignant then.

Now they are telling my mom that they think he is terminally ill, and that it might actually be cancer after all. I got to talk to him very briefly on the phone the other day and told him I loved him and missed him so much. He seemed very disoriented and it took everything in me not to burst into tears and upset him. I asked him if it would be ok if we named our son (Oh yeah, It's a Boy! Things have been so crazy I forgot to mention that. I'll write a post later) after him. He didn't say anything, at first, I'm assuming because of all the meds he's on it's hard to comprehend people, but after awhile he said he'd like that a lot.

I wanted to take my Papaw's middle name, which is Darrell, and use it as the baby's middle name.

I'm still running that by my husband. 

Anyway, I'm worried about my mom and how much stress this is causing her. She keeps telling me everything is fine, but I know she's just trying to keep my stress level down for mine and the baby's health. 

A ticket to go back home would cost me $800, I'm assuming because of the Holidays, and my husband won't let me drive 26 hours alone.

I know everyone has gone through what I'm feeling, not thinking you spent enough time with someone or didn't let them know how much you cared. I told him every time I saw him how much he meant to me, but I just don't think it's enough. 

I would really appreciate it if you could just take a second to pray for my family and Papaw.

Thanks everyone.

Staying Positive

Lately I've been feeling a little down in the dumps. I'm not too sure why, but I can't shake this feeling I have. 

I've been getting a lot of migraines lately, I'm guessing from the extra surge of hormones, and that hinders me from doing a lot of the things I was use to doing before. 

I started my second trimester last week and although I'm thankful the nausea has let up, I think I've gained migraines and fatigue in it's place. It's all for a good cause though. 

Once I hold our precious little miracle in my arms all the pregnancy woes will quickly fade away.

Here is the newest picture of our little one. 

When my husband saw this picture (he didn't get to go to the appointment) he was smiling from ear to ear and said that it was so beautiful and he could not wait to hold our baby. 

I love how supportive and legitimately excited he has been.

That's honestly what keeps me going.

He is my best friend and soul mate, and I'm so glad I get to share this wonderful life changing experience with him.

On another note, we got a new laptop. The reason why I hadn't blogged in quite sometime was because our old laptop completely died out.

I love our new one. The screen is 17.5 inches!

We finally have a laptop with a webcam, and were able to Skype with my family a few days ago. 

We also watched the episodes of True Blood we needed to catch up on the other day and it was great!

That's our final big purchase before the baby arrives though, besides baby furniture, carseat, stroller, etc.

From now on it's save, save, save. :)

The Mister is training right now, and between Ajax having all these health issues and hauling him to the vet, getting baby stuff ready, and looking for houses, I need a break. 

Just something to do for myself.

My real life bloggy friend, Brittney, came over last night and we had a girl's night filled with chick flicks and chocolate. 

It was nice to not think about anything else going on. I think this weekend we may see a movie and go get some pedicures. That's exactly the kind of thing I was talking about when I said something to do for myself!

Not this coming weekend but the next we find out the sex of the baby!

I'm am so overly ecstatic. I'm counting the days!

A trip home!

In my last update I said I would be going home very soon to visit with my family.

I got back this past weekend and couldn't have had a better time!

I got to see my PaPaw, and I missed him so much!

I think the last time I saw him was the year before last.

He is getting weaker and has shortness of breath a lot, but that didn't manage to stop him from going to eat out a few times with me. I ate catfish while I was there of course. 

We went to his favorite fish place in Oklahoma, Bill's Catfish.

That's one thing I miss about home! Fried Catfish. 

Can't get it here in Virginia, and if you do it's at places like Cracker Barrel and it isn't the same AT ALL!

I could tell he was very happy to see me and was always talking about my "Anchor Clanker", a little nickname he has given the Mister.

He adores my husband since my PaPaw's a prior Navy man himself.

We talked a bit about the baby and he asked me if I had thought of names. I told him we had thrown around a few, but nothing's set in stone. 

He told me I was gonna have a girl and that I should name her after him, Edwina, since his name is Edwin. :)

He can always make me laugh and put a smile on my face!

It was extremely hard saying goodbye to him. Since they go down south to warmer weather in the winter, I won't be seeing him at Christmas. 

I'm hoping my parents will come up for the birth of the baby and bring him and my Granny.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Texas, although it seemed to go by way too fast!

Mom and I looked for Maternity clothes, and went to little baby boutiques a couple days when I was there.

She said she cannot wait until we know the sex so she can start buying stuff!

It's all so surreal to me. I guess it will actually hit me once I start to show more, but it all just seems like a dream. 

The Mister and I have waited so long for this moment, and after one angel baby it is finally here!

On another note, the weather here in Virginia is nuts!

Yesterday we had a 5.8 Earthquake, and this weekend we are supposed to see the effects of Hurricane Irene.

I'm hoping it doesn't get so bad to where we have to evacuate.

Hubby would have to stay here even if the dogs and I have to leave.

Praying is about all I'm able to do at this point.

I hope everyone has a good weekend and if you are in the path of Irene, stay safe!

It's been awhile, but I have exciting news!

Hey everyone, I know I've been MIA, but after my trip to Florida with my family I came home to later find out the best news of my life.

The Mister and I are expecting our first baby in March of 2012!

I had my first appointment yesterday and the baby has a strong heartbeat and all is well.

When we found out it was about a month ago, and if I was to get on here I would've spilled the beans!

I just told Facebook yesterday.

My husband was so excited when I told him the news. It was a great moment in our household, and we are so blessed to get a second chance that many families don't have the privilege to experience.

We are truly blessed by the Lord our God.

I will keep y'all updated on what is going on.

Today I fly back home to visit my family. My PaPaw is not in the best of shape and I just need some time with him. I'm very excited to see my family. 

It will be the first time they'll see me since I told them the news last month. 

I also can't wait to indulge my pregnancy cravings with all the yummy food from back home! 

Here's the sonogram picture from our first visit!

Hope everyone has a great rest of the week and a good weekend!

A new name

I've been wanting to change my blog name for awhile now. 

I just felt like My Life as a Crafty Boatswainsmates Wife was too directed to me being a Navy wife.

There are other aspects to me that I would like you guys to see.

I felt limited to what I wrote about because it would always need to be about the Navy or crafting.

So, I thought long and hard and decided that what it needed to be was something about the changes I'm going through moving from Texas to Virginia. I've lived here for about a year and a half already, but it's all still very new to me. Coast life is nothing like country life.

I constantly think about my home state. I miss family and friends, the atmosphere and especially the food!!!!

I will be flying back to Texas next month though. My grandpa just had a new pacemaker put in and I would like to spend some quality time with him. He is very special to me. 

Call me a daddy's girl or Papaw's girl and I wouldn't be able to tell you differently. :)

Thank you guys or still continuing to follow me and read up on the things I'm doing.