what we've been up to

At the end of March my parents came to visit. It was so great to see them and we had a blast! Parker was so excited to see his Nonni and Papa!!! The first night they were here he was so sad to see them leave to go to the hotel and didn't quite understand that they would be back the next day. It broke my heart to see just how much he has missed them. While they were here we were able to just all spend some quality time together and show them around our new home. We even went to the base to show them where Travis works and the park that I always take Parker to...just so that now they can put a picture to what we are always talking about.

before dinner at Toby Keith's

I enjoyed having them here so much and I was sad to see them leave to go home and get back to the reality of being "without family" here in Oklahoma. Before they left we made sure to go to the zoo. The weekend they were here the weather was horrible! It had been so nice leading up to it that we had no idea that it would get so bad...WELCOME TO THE MIDWEST & UNPREDICTABLE WEATHER!

Up until a couple days ago the weather has been so great around here. It has really given us a chance to get out and go for walks.

one of our favorite trails on base

It was even nice enough one day for Parker and Travis to go swimming in our apartment complex pool. The water was freezing...but Travis being the amazing Daddy that he is, went in with our kiddo who was dying to go anyway!

Easter Sunday was a little different around here this year compared to last year. Last year we were at my parent's house surrounded by family and other kiddos for Parker to Easter Egg Hunt with! This year it was just the 3 of us...well...3 1/2 if you count Delainey! We filled some eggs and hid them around the apartment so that Parker wouldn't totally miss out on the fun!
We had a very lazy Sunday and spent most of the day relaxing inside because of the insane rain/thunder storm we were having. Parker had a blast jumping in the puddles outside and was sopping wet when we finally made him come in!

doesn't trav look thrilled to be stuck out in the rain with our little man???

Here are some more recent pregnancy pictures...things are going great with this pregnancy and I couldn't feel better!

Miss Delainey is doing great and moves around more and more every week.

16 1/2 weeks

20 weeks

21 weeks

22 weeks

Thanks all...

In my last post I asked that you all "think pink" and I am thrilled to let you all know it worked...we are having a girl! So thanks to everyone who was thinking pink right along with me! I am so excited to have a little girl to call my own. While being an auntie to one is also an amazing thrill...it is very different to know that you will have your own little princess.

Travis and I only really want two children...if my husband had a job in which he would never deploy or have to leave for months at a time, maybe we would consider one more...but now that we will have one of each our family feels complete. We said from the beginning of our marriage that we wanted a boy first (to be the big brother and protector) if we were going to have a girl and boy one day. We feel so blessed and excited for this next chapter of our lives and can't believe that God has entrusted us with not just one precious child but two!

We have decided on a name and don't plan on changing our minds. If you know Travis and I...we are not quick to flip-flop once we have made a decision on something. The name we have chosen is

Delainey Kae.

I have become addicted to watching TLC's A Baby Story (just like I was while pregnant with Parker) and saw an episode in which the couple named their little girl Delainey. I automatically fell in love with the name, and to my surprise Travis liked it too. I couldn't get it out of my head and Travis could see that there was no other choice in my mind...in my heart, I already knew she was Delainey. As for the middle name, we decided on Kae because it is Travis's mom Jammi's middle name. When she was having kids she hoped and prayed for a girl...and had 3 boys (not just boys...Guion boys...very energetic boys...head-strong boys...not to mention hard-working/loving/caring/family-oriented boys). Anyway, once she was done having children she hoped and prayed that one day she would have a granddaughter. I am thrilled that we were able to make this dream of her's come true. She waited 24 years for a girl and we thought after such a long wait it was only fair to pass her middle name down to our little princess. (and also because we love her!)

Waiting for August...

I know that I said the next post would be with pictures of our apartment...but we have something more exciting to share and I can't contain myself anymore!!!

In our little family we are anxiously awaiting August. More specifically, we are anxiously waiting for August 25th, 2011.

That is the due date for our next bundle of joy!!!

We found out that we were expecting another baby right before Travis came home from Tech. School and were able to celebrate the news with family at Christmas. It took a while for me to get in to see the doctor because of the move...and then all the snow/blizzard we were hit with here in Oklahoma. Waiting so long to be see by a doctor was kind of a blessing in disguise because it is making this pregnancy breeze by! At my first doctor appointment they did an ultrasound in the room. I went expecting to just hear the heartbeat...instead I got to see it. Instead of seeing a "bean" or "tadpole" on the screen I saw this:

It was so exciting to see the baby when it actually looked like a baby. This kiddo is VERY active and I started feeling him/her swimming around at just 12 weeks! Crazy how different things can be from one pregnancy to the next. Another difference is that with Parker I had no even hint of morning sickness...and baby #2 gave me quite a bit in the beginning. Of course we were moving/driving cross-country through the worst part of it. Pretty miserable for this Mommy stuck in a UHAUL feeling nauseous!!! All of that is gone now and I feel great!

For those of you who were around during my pregnancy with Parker...you know that I was huge! I let myself drink way too much juice and eat too many things that were horrible for me because I wanted them and they were delicious!!! This time around I am already at 15 weeks and feeling great. I have only gained about 2 pounds and am still all belly!!! I am so excited to know better this time around. Thank goodness for that!
Here I am at about 13 weeks (I started showing right away...like at just 4-5 weeks!!!)
15 1/2 weeks (sorry the picture quality is so terrible...taken with my iPhone)

My next doctor appointment is on March 22nd and we have an Ultrasound scheduled for March 29th to find out the sex of the baby!!!
We are praying for a little girl, but would be thrilled with another boy too!
I just wish Travis would be able to come to the Ultrasound with me...but he has meetings that week that he can't get out of...so I guess Parker and I will kill him with the suspense then (maybe we will make him wait until he gets home from work instead of texting him when we find out at 11...)

Think pink people...we will let you know what we find out in a couple weeks!!!

our U-HAUL drive from WA to OK

We spent the last couple days before the move doing a TON of packing and spending as much time with family as we could before we left. I'm not sure if you can tell...but the picture on the side of the UHAUL is a sting ray...so Travis being the uber-sensitive man he is nicknamed the truck the Steve Irwin. (Not very p.c., I know, but a little funny.) Here are some pictures of the basically empty UHAUL and once it was a little more filled up...it was pretty packed by the end, but I don't have a final picture of how full it really was.

Parker was taking a bath and Drayson decided he wanted one too. I think that pulling Parker away from his cousins that he loves so much was one of the hardest parts about moving...hopefully he will find some buddies here in OK too!

Getting in some last minute cuddle-time with Papa Kev-O and Nonni!

Look at that beast...Steve Irwin was huge! Once the car trailer was on it the whole thing was enormous!

Please excuse how awful we look...it was a long couple days leading up to moving day and we are looking a bit shabby. Not my finest picture...but I am taking one for the team by posting it anyway!

Having to say goodbye to my parents and sister were a couple of the hardest experiences of my life so far. It gives you a huge hole in your heart and all you can to is shed some tears and know that they are just a phone call away. My mom and sister are two of the best friends I have ever had and I miss my whole family so much. Thank goodness for a good long-distance plan and Skype!

Deacon was a trooper, he slept pretty well the whole 4 days down at Parker's feet. He would lay his head under the bench seat and stay there like he was pouting for hours!

Almost to Oregon

Our son was such a trooper...he started the journey great and ended it the same way. I couldn't imagine another toddler handling the 4 day drive as well as he did. So proud of our little guy!

Our little navigator!

State #3 (WA-OR-ID) and our stop for the night.

Sunrise in Idaho...Travis got us up and going bright and early the next day to start day 2 of the drive.

Welcome to UTAH! State #4!

Some of the prettiest scenery we saw was in Utah. It was beautiful. This is really when we started to see all the red dirt!

Not sure if this picture was taken in Utah or Wyoming...they all started to blend together. Not much to see in WY...but our next stop for the night anyway. So that makes WY state #5.

Nebraska...my least favorite state of the entire trip! The roads were so scary and I feel like I spent the majority of the drive through this state in a little bit of a panic attack! Good thing Travis is such a good driver. The semi-drivers on the other hand need to all be kicked off the road!!! They would pass you going way too fast and kick up so much snow on the road that you couldn't even see. You just had to pray that you were on a straight part of the road and wait to be able to see again. State #6

Kearney, NB and our stop for the night. There was so much snow and you could barely drive through it. There was a huge storm there that night and we didn't know if we would be able to leave the next day or not. It was terrible.

The next morning...thankfully we were able to leave. We had to do it quickly because there was another storm about to hit.

I believe these next pictures were in Kansas. State #7

So happy to see the exit for OKC. It was nice to know that we were actually getting closer to our final destination and new home. I was just glad that it meant that we were almost done driving on scary roads in the Steve Irwin!

The closer we got to Oklahoma the nicer the roads became...hoping it was a sign of good things to come!

Our trooper playing with money.

Welcome to Oklahoma!!! State #8 and finally the last one!

Little man wiped out from the last 4 days. Here he is crashed on our bed at the hotel on Tinker AFB. We stayed there for a couple days while our apartment was getting carpets cleaned.

In my next post I'll put up pictures of our new apartment (before and after we moved all our stuff in.) We got everything moved from the UHAUL to the apartment in a record 5 hours I think...my husband was a bit of a pill about the whole thing...but at least it was done!