oh, baby!

Big Sister Olivia!
Made my Auntie Mandy!

We are having another baby! 

Are we crazy? Perhaps.  Were we surprised?  Umm, maybe.  Are we SO excited for the miracle God is growing inside my belly?  You betcha!! 

I discovered I was pregnant a few days after Andy left on deployment.  Of course, he was in transit for several days and was unable to call home.  Talk about having to keep something to yourself!  There are some things you just need to talk with your husband about immediately, and I would count "I'm pregnant" as one of those!  However, he eventually called and I was able to share the shocking news.

The first trimester was a little rough.  I had about a month or more of nausea, which I never had with Olivia's pregnancy.  However, something that rang true with both pregnancies thus far was the first semester tiredness!  The kind of tired where you just can't take another step.  You think you may fall over if you can't sleep immediately!  Needless to say, I slept most every day while Olivia was napping.  Single parenting of a busy toddler is hard enough, but my first trimester fatigue made it nearly impossible some days.  My visit to Indiana was wonderful because family was around to help out and let me rest! 

However, we have moved on to the second trimester and I am feeling more like old self!  Also, I am making sure that the old truth about 'growing a belly sooner in the second pregnancy' stands true!   Gee whiz....


















You can see my 15 week belly with Olivia here if you care to compare. Ironically, it is when I announced my pregnancy on the blog then, too!  Interesting....

Happy Wednesday!  Olivia slept till 8:45 for the third morning in a row, so needless to say we are still in jammies even though it is just about 10am!  Nearly a perfect morning in my eyes!  Thank you to the time change =)

yummy!

I made this grilled pork tenderloin recipe tonight for dinner and, let me just say, it was delicious!  Seriously delicious!  Note: I omitted the tamarind juice because I have no idea what that is.  I used a little extra soy sauce to make up for it ;)  Also, I used a real lime and fresh garlic and ginger.  I don't know if that made a difference or not, but it sure was good!
I served it with mashed red potatoes, steamed mixed vegetables, and butter biscuits (which I ate with apple butter....can I also say "yummy" for that!) 

Olivia said "mmmm" while she was eating it!  She also clapped and yelled "yayyy" when I scooped the mashed potatoes onto her plate, so she isn't too hard to please, but still!  To get praise over a pork dish from a toddler?!  I'll take it!

Do your family a favor and make this dish soon! 

the reunion.

Yesterday was one of those days that you could re-live over and over.  The excitement of welcoming your service member home from a deployment is one of the greatest surges of emotion I think you can have.  There isn't much better than the anticipation of the first embrace, actually feeling their skin again, seeing their face live and in-person, and knowing that it is your husband's strong arms that are hugging you. We've done several deployments (four, I think, but it may be five....how does one lose track of that sort of thing?!  hmmm, maybe I need to be more vigilant with the details of our life! ha) and the reunions are always so amazing that they make the separation almost worth it!  I say that with the meaning that if you must endure one, then you may as well have the exciting reunion at the end! I, however, would never recommend a deployment just so you can experience what we did yesterday. You get me?!....;)  Keep your loved ones right there with you on the same continent; life is just better that way!


Dada is coming home! from Stephanie Allen on Vimeo.

we left the house at 6am for the return! wow, that's early!

I worked hard to prep Baby Girl for Dada's homecoming.  She is a bit  a lot unsure of strangers, and despite frequent Skype and phone calls I was worried of her reaction to Andy.  She was so excited to see the airplane and understood that Daddy was on it.  When he made his way to us she wasn't ready for him to hold her or to give him kisses, but she kept pointing at him and saying 'dada' over and over.  She finally warmed up to him when we were about to drive home and then when we got home, she wanted nothing but 'dada!'.  Praise God!  I had been praying and praying that she would respond well to him and it seems that my prayers were answered. 

the initial moment...please disregard my double, err triple chin!
and who is Andy looking at, anyhow?!!



ahhh, finally she was ready to welcome him home!



So, our family is back as it should be!  Hooray for that and for all of the other families that were reunited yesterday.  Our prayers remain with those who are still separated.  That never changes.

video time!

Fun with Nana & Papa from Stephanie Allen on Vimeo.


Dancing girl from Stephanie Allen on Vimeo.



what does a frog say? from Stephanie Allen on Vimeo.

Nana

My mother was just with us for the week and she was seriously super-woman in everything she did for us while she was here!  She cooked, cleaned, organized, pampered, but most of all she was "Nana".  She and Olivia spent two and a half days together while I went to a conference, and I am so thankful for having her here to do that.  Shuffling Olivia between friends and neighbors for those days would have been possible, but it would have been a lot harder on both of us. 

Over the past month, Olivia and Nana have become great buddies.  Mom is great to let Olivia tag along and help with anything she is doing, which is great fun for a 20 month old!  Here are pictures of some of the sweet moments the two of them shared.

doing dishes with Nana was a favorite for Olivia

sweeping the floor!

Nana was in charge of  bath each night
while we were in Indiana.

snuggle time with Nana, Olivia, & Drew

Happy Valentine's Day!

Dance time!

Nana is so much fun!

"helping" Nana with the yard work!

We love you and miss you already, Nana! 

quickie.

Hello!  So uploading pictures at my sister's didn't work out as planned, so I apologize to Grandma and Grandpa for not having any pictures of their little one to share.  However, I have a few minutes today at a computer WITH an SD port, so I will share a few pictures to get you by!

First, here is a video of one of the many dance parties the kids had at Kelly's house. 

Dancing cousins from Stephanie Allen on Vimeo.




Teeth brushing fun!  And yes, Drew does have in a hair bow.
Don't ask!



Papa's birthday celebration!  Watch out he may get
your cake!

the Mickey bus gets lots of use!



Nana and Papa's girls!



mmm.....cupcake goodness!

Olivia loved playing in the snow!

Nana had to buy her a new winter coat so she had one warm enough!

I think she looks like she is on a ski vacation! ha.

Okay, hope y'all have a happy Valentine's day and are able to share the day with ones you love!  We are going out to dinner with my original Valentine, my dad =) 

where, oh where, have I been?

We are in the start of week number 3 on our month long trip to visit my family and friends in Indiana.  I did not bring my computer along and am starting to feel a bit out of touch.  My Blackberry helps me stay connected some, but its not so great for updating the blog! 

Know that we are having a great time and Olivia is loving playing with her cousins, aunts, uncles, and Nana/Papa. My middle sister is here with her three kids and her trip has been extended by over a week due to the blizzard, ice, and snow, so we have loved spending all of our time together. The kids are a challenge at times (3y, 23 mo, 23 mo, and 19 mo), but it is fun chaos!  Personally, I have enjoyed having some help with Olivia and feeling like I'm a part of my family's daily lives again.  For example, tonight we get to watch my eleven year-old niece play a basketball game.  It has been years since I've been around for that.  And tomorrow my nine year-old nephew has a soccer game!  Hooray! 

Olivia has been experiencing lots of new things on this trip: sledding, making snowballs, wrestle time!, Papa's daily ice cream treats, what things like syrup and ketchup are! (thanks to her cousins), drinking the leftover milk from her cereal bowl, Papa's baby pigs, and other neat things!  I know she will miss all of the activity for sure when we get back to Charleston.

I may try and get a few pictures up via my sister's computer in the next day or two!  Prepare yourself for the cuteness overload of cousin love!  Hope y'all are well out there in blog world!