Hey!

Well, I know that I hardly ever write on here anymore but at least I try to update pictures which is what everyone looks at anyway. We have been enjoying snow on and off since the day after Thanksgiving which is so much fun but We can't really go outside very much since the high is -1. The low was -22! It is insanely cold and I just don't understand how people chose to live here during the winter! I am really missing Oklahoma about right now.
Devin is doing great. She is so independent and wants to do everything herself which is good but also sad. She is growing up so fast! The big news this month is that Allen and I are expecting our 2nd baby this coming July. I am 7 weeks as of tomorrow. We are so excited and ask you all to keep us in your prayers that everything will go perfectly. I will try to post more often but until then I will update you all with some more pictures. Bye

I'm back!

Ok, so it has been a really long time so I have a lot to update you on. We are now in Great Falls Montana. It has been an adjustment from Oklahoma! It snowed here on Saturday but got back up in the high 60's yesterday. The Mountains now have a lot more snow on them and they are so beautiful! They only have one church of christ here so that is really nice and the people are so nice! They have a lot of specials classes through out the week so it already keeps us busy. We were asked to be life group co-leaders so that will start up soon.
Devin is growing up so fast and will be one in a few weeks. We will have a little party here so she will have some cake for the first time so that will be fun.
We are going to Glacier National Park the weekend of the 28th so that will nice to get so see the mountains better. We haven't had a lot of time to look around since we have been here so it's exciting. That's all I can think of for now so I'll write more later. Bye.

Our first trip to urgent care!

On Saturday Allen Devin and I were at my Grandparents house just hanging out. Everyone was watching Devin stand holding on to the ottoman and paying with some toys. Well I had given her a cup coaster to play with and she was using it as a chew toy. I know right now you are probably saying "why would you give her a coaster" but I didn't think anything that bad could come from it. Anyway, I was about fall asleep in the chair by the ottoman when I hear Allen yell out my name and then I see Devin falling into my leg. She kept the coaster in her mouth all the way down and it cut her lip when she hit. I picked her up and she started to scream. We saw she was bleeding and Allen took her into the bathroom over the sink. Grandma had gotten a cold rag and we blotted the blood away. By this time she was already starting to calm down and even cheer up. The bleeding stopped rather quickly. We could see the cut, it wasn't very long but it looked deep. I felt so bad, and didn't want her to be hurt more than what was noticeable. So, we decided to take her to the urgent care clinic. The receptionists was trying to be light hearted and tell us that it was only the first of many trips. I was occasionally still breaking into tears. Allen said Devin handled the whole thing better than us. The doctor said it was minor, no stitches and it would be healed in a couple of days. So we took her home and changed her clothes. She has keep on like it never happened.

Missouri Trip

Well last week I went to Missouri to see my family with Angela. It was so great to see everyone. The trip up there was pretty good. It went a lot faster then I thought it would traveling with two babies. We got to my parents house Tuesday night. Only my dad was there since mom was still in St. Louis so he had dinner ready when we got there. We stayed In West Plains till Friday when mom called and said the doctor told her she could go home for the memorial day weekend. We were so excited so Angela and me loaded up the kid and drove the three hours to St. Louis. It took us close to four hours having to stop and feed the babies once. Anyway we got there and saw the house my mom has been staying in. It's called the hope lodge and it is for adult cancer patients. We met a couple of the residents but most had already left for the long weekend. It's a nice place and were glad she gets to stay there. After a hour or so we started heading back to West Plains with mom. I had the great job of sitting in the back with the babies sticking Elliot's pacifier back in every minute and entertaining Devin who was quite sick of sitting in her car seat. We made it though and mom was so happy to be home even though it was just for the weekend. We left on Monday to come back and dad took mom back to St. Louis. It was so sad to leave and everyone was crying but we are praying that mom will get to come home soon and we will be able to visit more often. Thanks for keeping her in your prayers!

4 Years!

So today is mine and Allen's 4 year wedding anniversary! I can't believe we have been married for 4 years. It seems like we just got married. Unfortunately we don't have any plans for tonight because Allen will be in class all day and has to study all night but we are going to try and go out to eat and watch a movie this Saturday. Hopefully we can find a babysitter so we can have a evening to ourselves which has not happened in a long time. Or at least it seems that way.
Devin is still not crawling but is starting to try to pull up on things. She gets to her knees and then falls over or gives up. She will get it soon I think. She is getting more of an attitude every day!
Sorry this is so short but I don't have much to report. Bye!

Well I made it through my wisdom teeth surgery! It was not near as bad as I had thought it might be. the first couple hours after surgery were awful but then I felt a lot better. I never thought I could get sick of mashed potatoes but that is what has happened. oh well. Luckily the pain hasn't been that horrible so I have only taken Tylenol so after waiting two days I can start breastfeeding Devin again. I think that was the worst part of the whole thing.
Other then that things have been pretty good around here. The president landed at our base on Saturday while he spoke at OSU so that was neat. He didn't stay but for a second so we didn't see him in person but he saw his helicopter fly away from the base. We went to the flight line to maybe see Air Force One but they had that part of the base blocked off so we couldn't see anything. It was still exciting though.
Well Devin just woke up from her nap so I'll talk more later. Bye!

Wow it's been a long time..

Hey! I can't sleep tonight and i thought I maybe should update my blog so here I am. Well the biggest news I have is that I became an aunt on april the 14th! My sister had a little boy named Elliot Russell and he weighed 7 pounds 10 ounces. He is so handsome and I love him so much! We went up to Oklahoma City today just for a little bit for his baby shower so that was a lot of fun.
Devin is still growing like crazy and at her 6 month check up she weighed 17 pounds 3 ounces! I'm sure by now she is pushing 18 pounds. She is so much fun and loves to stick everything in her mouth. While I was at the dentist last week Allen informed me that she can fit two of her socks in her mouth. I'm so proud. She can roll over now but chooses not to and just cry and lift her arms out when she wants to move or wants a toy out of reach. We are still working on the crawling thing but that will be tricky since she seems to have no desire to crawl at all. She will find it useful sometime soon though (we hope).
Allen is in pilot training and starts the actual flying part next week so keep us all in your prayers since he will have 12 hour days plus all the studying he has to do when he gets home. He will be exhausted but it will all be worth it soon. I am getting my wisdom teeth taken out Friday so that should be interesting. I am a little nerves because I have never been under anesthesia before but I keep telling myself everything will be fine. And it will be.
Also keep my mom in your prayers. She has gotten a stem cell transplant and everything looks good so far but it takes awhile to know if it will take for sure. Thanks!

Doctor Appt. Today

Well Devin had her 4 month check up today and she is doing great! She now weighs 14 pounds and is 24 inches long. She is in the 50 precentile on all her stats so everything is loooking good. She was all smiling at the nurse while she weighed her and got all her measurements but as soon as she took her temperature using the ear thermometer Devin just started screaming! It was awful! I guess it scared her or something. She had calmed down though by the time the doctor came in. Her doctor of course had to make a comment on her huge double chin but who could blame him.
After we left the doctors office we went to get her shots done at another part of the building and she had fallen asleep by this time. The nurse called us in and we laid her on the table and she started to wake up a little and then wahm! she got three shots before she knew what was happening. Let me tell you, she was not happy about this rude awakening. After a few seconds in her daddys arms she forget about it though. She was just ready for some food after that point which was not the best thing because they were having a drill on base right when we got out of the appt. so we were stuck in the building. Finally one of the people over seeing the drill told us we didnt have to stay because we had the baby. So that was our exciting morning at the doctor. I'll write more soon! Bye!

February

Wow! I cant believe it is already February! I can't wait until Valentines Day. We don't usually make a huge deal of Valentines Day but there are presents exchanged which is always a good thing! Yesterday Allen and I went to a informational meeting about moving in the Air Force. It was exciting learning about everything and I really wish we had known all this the first time we moved but what can you do? You can have the Air Force move you or you can move yourself and get paid for it. We dont have all that much stuff so we are going to move ourselves again. When the Air Force moves you should have a inventory of all your things and video tape them in working condition because if it breaks on the way and the movers didn't see it working like a T.V. then they can say they didn't break it. Its crazy! It would take so much work but I guess you should have all that stuff anyway incase of a burglary or fire. Anyway, one of the things about when you are moving is if you have children you can get 20 hours of child care free. We could not take Devin to the meeting and all our friends I thought were going to the meeting also so Allen got all the paper work done and we had a lady on base watch Devin for those 2 hours. It was kind of scary since I had never meet this lady before but we went to her house and she was very nice. Devin is very good with other people so of course she didn't mind and it all went well. The lady told me when we went to pick Devin up that when she took Devins bottle away for a second to wipe her mouth she let out a awful scream. I laughed and informed her that it is perfectly normal when something comes between Devin and her food.
more to come soon. Bye!

i'm back

Sorry about that last post. I started it and I got distracted doing other things and forgot about it so Allen thought it would be funny to post it when he got home. Anyway, the most exciting thing happening here is how big Devin is getting! She is now getting close to four months and it doesnt seem possible! She is doing so many new things. Yesterday at church I was showing some people how she can roll over from her stomach to her back and i forgot they have a very thin carpet in the nursery so of course she hit her head on the ground (barely I might add) and she got so mad at me.She would finally calm down only to remember she had hit her head a couple minutes later. She already doesnt get over things easily which I am sorry to admit is one of my bad traits. Hopefully we can break her of that.
Allen is doing great with his job in the Air Force right now. He got his private pilots license all finished up and we will be moving to Enid Ok towards the end of March. I am excited for the move. The only thing I dread is unpacking the boxes. I actually love boxing things up which is weird. My Grandparents live in Enid so they seem to be counting down the days until we arrive. As happy as they will be to see me and Allen more often I think we take second place when it comes to Devin. I know thats how it should be though.
Well I should go get some things done but before I go I want to ask for a prayer request. As most of you know my mother has been dealing with leukemia for a long time now and now they are finally getting ready to do a bone marrow transplant for her. It will not happen for at least three more weeks but I want everyone to keep her in their prayers during this time. She is the best mom anyone could have. Thank you! I will write again soon!

finally an update!

I know I have been kind of lazy about updating so I will try to do better about this.

Learning to adjust

Well after having our beautiful daughter Devin on the sixth of October it has been a huge learning experience. I have learned that everything takes three times as long to do even though it is only one more person. I have also learned that keeping a schedule is next to impossible with a newborn. She has been such a blessing to us and I cant explain how much I love her already. I cant believe that tomorrow she will be 4 weeks old. It doesnt seem possible that she is that old but I also dont remember how life was without her. It is so crazy.
I have good news about Devin from her doctors appointment yesterday. She has finally made it back up to her birth weight after a couple of weeks trying. She now weighs 8 pounds 12 oz.! We are so proud of her. Now we just need that umbilical cord to fall off!
Allen is finishing up his private pilots license hopefully in the next few weeks. It will be nice to get that done and maybe move sooner then we thought though that is unlikely. We will be heading to Enid Oklahoma in March of next year so that is something to look forward to because we will be closer to family. I have been staying home with Devin and it has been a lot of fun. She changes so much everyday and I'm thankful I am able to stay home. Well, Devin is waking up so thats all for now. I will try to be better at keeping you updated. Bye!

Past Due Date!

So hear I am sitting here still pregnant a day past my due date. Of course that doesnt sound bad when you write it down but it really is some kind of torture. I have an apt tommorrow to talk about options to get to get this child out of me. Its amazing when the doctor tells you this date that your baby will be born by you start counting down the months and then the days till this date comes and then nothing changes on that day. You just get so worked up for it and nothing exciting happens. Well I shouldnt say nothing exciting happened yesterday. We finally put in the baby seat in the car and put the finishing touches on the nursery/guest room. It turned out so good. Allen did an amazing job making the crib. I cant wait for everyone to see it. Well that is about all I have to say for now. Hopefully next time I write I will have a baby but at this point I dont see it ever happening. I know, I know it will happen soon. So I will keep you posted. Bye

Baby update...

Well, I had a doctors apt this morning and there has been just a little change since last week. The doctor said she didnt think it would be much longer but you really cant predict that. She thinks the baby is about 7 pounds right now so she is growing fast which is a good sign. I have an apt the 4th of october and if i havent had her by then they will probably induce me late next week!! I about fell over when she told us because they told us at first there was no way that they would induce before two weeks late. I dont know how I feel about being induced because I just wanted to go into labor on my own and I am sure if I asked they would let me wait a little longer but I am also soooooooo ready I dont think I could say no to being induced. She seemed like she thought the baby was getting a little big for me also so I am just not sure. I will be trying everything to put my body into labor before next week though! I cant wait to see her! Well, I think I am going to go walking for awhile. Wish me luck!!

Just a quick update...

Everything is going good here. We are trying to get everything ready for the arrival of your first child Devin. Her due date is in 9 days so hopefully it wont be much longer then that till she is here. We are both so excited and ready to hold her and see her. Allen is going to try and finish sanding her bed this Saturday so that will be a big relief to have that almost done. We had another ultrasound last Tuesday and they reassured me that she still looked like a girl so I went ahead and washed her clothes and blankets. I wasnt going to just incase she turned out to be a he but not having it done was driving me crazy! Oh, and they are guessing that she is about 6lbs 1oz at 37.5 weeks.
Allen flew in a plane by himself for the first time this morning. He was so excited and I have to say that I was a little nervous about it. He told me he would be home at 12:00pm but didnt make it home untill 12:30 and I was so scared something bad had happened to him. I will have to get over that or it will be a looong 20 years in the air force!
Well, that is about it so I will write more later.

Testing, testing, this is only a test.

Had this been a real message i would have typed more...

Greetings from Altus!

Well, we are finally getting settled into our new place here in Altus and I must say that besides the unreal amount of crickets here it doesnt seem like a bad place to live. It is a huge change from Oklahoma City and more like the town Allen and I grew up in which is nice but I have had four years of adjusting to the big city life and got spoiled. I like going to the mall when I'm bored or taking a walk on a actual sidewalk which none seem to exist in this part of the country. However, we have visited the two churches out here and found one that we really like. They have a young proffesionals class which is the one we have been going to and its been ok so far. The people in the congragation are very friendly and already excited about the baby being born soon. One lady even offered to act as the babies grandmother while we are here so she should be well taken care of.
Allen is getting ready to start his privite pilots license here in a week or so. He has to get yet another physical done before it all begins. He has had to go to the dentist twice since we have been here and has to go back today to get a cavity drilled on. He will have to go back again before we leave in 8 months to get another one drilled. (since they are on oppisite sides they dont want to do them at the same time). I feel so bad for him. Oh, and the air force put his birthday in wrong when they did all his DNA stuff so to make no confusion that Allen is really who he claims to be thay have to draw blood from him again before they can make any changes in the computer about him. He said by the time this is all over he will be on a first name basis with all the lab techs on base.
Well, this is getting long and I am getting hungry so I will write more soon and hopefully learn to do some pictures and post some of the space shuttle landing here last week. It was really exciting! Talk to you soon. Bye.