Who said a pregnant lady can't ice skate?!

Over the past few weeks Andy and I have been laying low with working long hours during the week and getting together with friends on the weekends. I guess we have been living the "normal life" that civilians always experience, but it has been a bit strange for us. Andy is doing very well in his current masters class (what a smarty) and starts another this week or next. Slowly but surely he will become as educated as his wife ;)

Below are a few pictures from the past few weeks, including some from a spouse social where we went ice skating. Our commander's wife was not pleased that I was out ice skating, but I promised her that I would be careful (but I didn't bother to tell her how uncoordinated I was!). However, both baby girl and I survived without incident and we both had a fun time!!

Rachel and I stayed near the wall to help us balance!

Andy with Grace and Grant after a yummy lunch on Saturday! It was great to spend some time with them. They are sure growing up fast!

A sweet baby girl...

Sometimes I forget that the entire world isn't on Facebook and that people actually get their information about us from this blog (aka. my mother) rather than from that other addictive social networking tool. So when I only wrote a status update on FB and didn't update our blog immediately upon finding out the great news on Friday, I began to catch some slack from Indiana! Well, here in the official announcement (not that all of you don't already know the news;) Andy and I are going to have a sweet and perfect little girl!! God is so good because the ultrasound revealed that she is indeed perfect and is growing just as she should. She weighs 12 ounces now (then why have I gained 11 pounds!?), has all of her toes and fingers, her heart is pumping blood just as it should, her abdomen has closed where the umbilical cord is attached, and she is nestled head down very low in my abdomen with her face snuggled into the placenta. It is very bizarre to think that is all going on inside of my belly, but we saw it on the TV screen with our own eyes, so it must be happening! And, best of all she wasn't a little banana after all! =) Good thing because according to babycenter.com, the banana theory is long gone and she is now the size of a carrot....hmmm.

On a more serious note, thank you for all of your prayers and well wishes. Pre-natal doctor appointments always make me nervous since the day we walked in so unsuspecting and naive and discovered our miscarriage in March, but I just have to keep faith that this little miracle will keep developing as she should. And, according to the doctor, we have nothing to worry about at this point. What a relief!

Is that a boy or a girl banana you've been growing?

Well, our baby is supposed to be the size of a banana this week. Ten inches from head to heel and 6 1/2 inches from crown to rump. I would guess that our growing banana is a little longer than that considering how tall Andy and I are, but who knows. I do know that the little banana growing inside of me has been finding ways to push on my organs in a new and startling fashion; guess our banana likes to stretch out his/her legs!

Tommorow we go for our Level II ultrasound where they will check every single organ and take all sorts of measurements to make sure our little banana is right where he/she should be. The big question that may also be answered tomorrow (if our banana isn't shy) is the ever popular gender mystery!! Make your predictions now......(and pray that it is indeed a baby inside of me rather than a banana ;)

The belly fairy...

Hello! I have finally cornered Andy long enough to have him take another belly shot and it seems that I may have grown over the last few weeks!? Maybe there is a baby in there after all =)

Our baby seems to be a very active one because I have been feeling movement frequently lately. It feels like I have "butterflies" in my stomach....like the type you get when you go on a roller-coaster ride. However, these aren't short lived like the roller-coaster ones. At one point today, I had the butterflies for 20 minutes straight. It almost began to tickle! What a sweet feeling to know that our little miracle is swimming all around in there. Andy is anxious to feel from the outside, but despite his persistant trying, I am the only one who can feel anything. Hopefully he will be able to feel before he leaves on deployment; I know he will love that!

A trip to Indiana and a brand new year!!

We traveled to Indiana first thing Christmas morning (and I mean FIRST thing....we were out of the house by 5am). However, we were in Indy by 10:30 and found Dad's smiling face waiting for us at the new Indianapolis airport. I about froze on our walk to the truck.....hello, COLD weather, but I survived and was happy to be home for the holidays! All of my siblings and their children made it to mom and dad's and we spent the long weekend hibernating in the house and watching many many hours of rock band....the men in the family were more obsessed with it than the children! I fell asleep many nights hearing the tap of the drums mixed with frequently off-key singing!

Uncle Andy rocks out with Kaylynn and Garrett!!

However, the true rockers were Andy, Andy, and Eric.

Grandma T. opens up her new pajamas!

The baby even got some gifts from his/her "big" cousins!

Andy helps Kaylynn and Garrett read about the chickens Debbie bought for them!

Thanks to Mom and Dad we also got to attend a Purdue men's basketball game. What great seats!! We were front row and had a fun time cheering on the Boilers.

We start the Boiler brainwashing nice and young =)

Aren't we cute in our matching shirts?!!

Dad sneaks into the picture with me and Eli!

We joined some of our dear friends for dinner on New Years at the Boathouse on Isle of Palms. Andy ate the biggest prime rib steak I have ever seen and I am convinced he is going into the new year with elevated cholesterol! It became more of pride issue by the end, but he finshed every last bite! Oh, how proud I am....grrr. We then went back to the Liegl's house and watched the countdown on TV, and then guess what.....played Guitar Hero until the wee hours of the morning! I think Rock Band and Guitar Hero are going to haunt me most of 2009. Happy New Year to all......may it be a healthy and happy year!

Andy, Stephanie, Lance, Kim, Emily, (Race, we missed you!), Jeff, & Christina

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! (yes, I was already in my pj's by midnight....give the pregnant lady a break! It was late!)

Let the Christmasing begin (is that even a word?!)...

We have begun celebrating Christmas already! This past weekend we hosted Andy's parents and had a fun weekend spending time together and enjoying our new Wii and Guitar Hero. Thanks, AG and Debbie!! We have already started to waste countless hours challenging each other on the Wii sports games and Andy has convinced himself that he is a rockstar. (and, for the record, even if he isn't the real thing, I am still his groupie!). There he is, the ROCKSTAR himself!!!!

Andy even showed his mom how to play! She was pretty good =)

We have also already celebrated Christmas with our dear friends, the Liegl's and the Steinfort's. This is our fourth holiday season in Charleston and we feel so blessed to have such great friends to share in the joy. The children have begun to dictate our holiday plans together (i.e., early bedtimes, no babysitter!), but we have still managed to get together and enjoy one anothers company!

Race looks dumfounded by Molly Paige's new airplane toy! haha.

Gracie shares her best reindeer smile!
Uncle Andy reads to our godchildren (Grant & Grace)

We do hope you will be spending this holiday season with ones you love, whether it be family, friends, or both! If the snow and ice allows us, we will be in Indiana for Christmas day. Your prayers for safe travel plans would be appreciated! ;) Ho, Ho, Ho........time for more Christmas baking around here!

A Left Seater joins the family

CONGRATULATIONS to Andy!

He is home from his trip and is officially upgraded to 'Left Seat' in SOLL II. In fact, he is Left Seater #81 and has special new patches to boot!! In his words, he is "as qualified as I can be in the C-17" (as far as upgrade qualifications go). Now, everyone could always use more experience, and he would be the first to admit that. However, he is now a member of an elite group of pilots, in fact only 80 before him have earned this title, and I am very very proud of him! Way to go Andy!

While Andy has been working on acquiring new titles and qualifications in the C-17, I have been working on a new project myself. Well, actually we are both involved in this adventure, but I have been carrying the majority of the burden lately, so I count this as my "new title and qualification"!

Since the majority of my blog-stalkers include family and close friends, this is not new to you; however, this public aknowledgement is a big deal to me (as I am sure all of you know...). So without further ramblings, I will just say it.......Andy and I are going to have a baby!!!!

We are 15 weeks today, making us due on June 9th. It has been a very exciting time for us thus far, and we anticipate that it will only get better! Since I know my mother is awaiting another belly shot, I will put the latest one here for your viewing pleasure! The "baby bump" (actually, it feels more like a pooch, but 'baby bump' sounds much more glamorous) is getting harder and harder to hide. I hope that I will eventually look pregnant rather than like the girl who didn't know when-to-say-when with the chocolate milkshakes!

In other family news, we got our Christma tree today!! Yes, we are aware that we may be some of the last in America to do this, but we have busy schedules to work around!! We have the decorations complete and it is finally starting to feel like the holidays around here! I suppose now that we have the tree, I should start my shopping.....(everyone does always say that I take after my dad!!)