Non Stop...

If you are on Facebook then you will have seen some of the things we have been up to lately, if not, its been non stop since Shawn got home. A few days of relaxing and just hanging out at home but then it was time to jump into life. First up, we got maternity pictures done. Yes, a bit early but with the Holidays so close to the delivery date it was the best time to do them. Here are a few of my favorites...

We absolutely LOVE how they came out. We had an amazing photographer, you can check her out at: vickilynnphoto.com

We had a Halloween/Welcome Home Party for Shawn which was tons of fun. Shawn dressed up appropriately as Rambo and I was just "pregnant" lol!

A couple days later we had our Baby shower for little Baby Adams. Surrounded by so many friends & family it was a blast! We were overwhelmed with Baby & pink everything!

Shawn got a total of maybe two weeks off before heading back to teaching. His choice for many reasons. So, together as a team we worked hard to set up his classroom and other things to set him up for a successful school year. He is teaching 4th grade this year, and so far he loves it. Hes been back in the classroom for about 2 weeks now. I went thru the official screening process and became a district volunteer so that I could be assigned to him to volunteer in his classroom. I have already logged 14 hours of volunteer time for him. Well, unless you count the hours at home cutting things out and helping him plan things. Last time he was teaching he was going in for a couple hours on the weekend and it was a bummer for me. So, I wised up and am volunteering during the week to help him make copies, set up display boards etc so that he doesnt have to go in on the weekends and we can spend that time together instead.

I am home during the day with only 1 Foster kiddo right now. But this is a good thing since as of today I am 32 weeks 4 days pregnant, I have started to slow down doing things just a little bit. I have been so incredibly blessed with a smooth pregnancy, no sickness, maintained pretty high energy and no real abnormal ailments. We are due January 20th which will be here before we know it. I like to be prepared for things whenever I can so we are more than ready for this Baby to arrive. I have all her clothes washed and prepped. Shawn fixed the cradle we had which was hand made by my Grandpa, I slept in it, my siblings and my nephews slept in it and now our daughter will sleep in it. So amazing! I have an over night bag for Shawn, Baby and myself packed and sitting by the door. As well as the car seat it prepped and ready to go. I AM READY!! 

We have fallen back into a pretty good routine at home. I was expecting Shawn to come home and just pick up the reins with 1/2 the load. But, with him jumping back into working so soon it didnt quite happen like that. I am still carrying quite a bit of the load but am slowly letting him take things over as he is ready. I know that by the time Baby Adams makes her appearance we will be settled into a solid routine. We are only nervous about the actual labor, since we have raised 2 babies already we know exactly what to expect once we are home.

In between welcoming Shawn home, celebrating the baby, the Holidays, getting Shawn back into the classroom, and trying to get a routine down at home... I have still be playing Army 1 weekend a month as well as I am going thru the application process to get into Arizona State University to start on a double Masters degree... Non Profit Administration and Social Work. They are just waiting on one last thing from me, a 4.5 hour long test I am taking this Friday that is required. All this while pregnant, there is no slowing me down lol! If I am accepted I will be starting School again in Jan/Feb time, I am super anxious to find out if they accept me or not. This is a big thing I never thought I would go as far as Masters degree, I guess I have my persistent Husband to blame. 

Well I think that covers just about everything that has been going on since Shawn has been back home. It feels like forever ago some days but its only been about 7 weeks. I am just thankful to have him back at my side. Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving, we had a nice quiet relaxing one with my Dad and Step Mom.

Today I have spent the day pulling out all the Christmas things and decorating the inside of the house. Hopefully next week a little every night we can get the lights up seeing as this weekend is booked with Army for Shawn and next weekend Army for me. No rest for the wicked I suppose, on the bright side its helping the days tick on by and we will be holding our precious little daughter in our arms in no time!!

Picture follow up post

First up... my AWESOME new (well new to me) chairs! Second hand but I am very selective and I even go as far as to spot and sniff check, I know that sounds kinda funny and weird but not really if you think about it. They look almost brand new, they are now one of my top 5 favorite 2nd hand finds!

One of my Fall projects if hanging from the mirror. Just a bunch of scrap ribbon pieces I had in Fall colors tied in a row for instant, cheap and easy Fall color!

This punch of Halloween color was super simple and again very cheap. Its made with a wire hanger left over from the dry cleaners. I bent it into a circle and tied black heavy duty cloth that I cut into strips all the way around. I then decided it needed some orange so I used a thicker orange ribbon and randomly tied them on!

One of a slew of my recent organizing projects. Kid toys tucked away but easily accessible. Dummy proof really clear see thru bins AND labeled!! I LOVE my labeler!

Good bye cluttered counter! I mentioned I had three metal canisters on my counter containing flour, sugar and powdered sugar but that they did not hold the whole package and the rest was stored in the cupboard. I got smart and its all in the cupboard now nice and LABELED lol! Plus my counters look less cluttered, more room for prepping when cooking and baking!

Many more projects have been in the works especially in the organizing category so stay tuned!

Nightmare Before Christmas...

I have spent this past week making and decorating the house for Halloween and fall in general. My dinning room table has been covered in paper, ribbon and all sorts of fun stuff. With a bigger house to decorate I felt like the decorations from the hold house just didnt make any kind of statement. But, I didnt want to have to spend an arm and a leg to buy more. So, I got creative... one of my most favorite things to do! I made 2 ribbon wreaths, a ribbon banner, and a small laboratory display. I need to upload the photos to my lap top so will post those later this afternoon! I have also been listening to Christmas music while doing thins... I am so stoked for the Holidays this year. I usually am anyway its my favorite time of the year I get to wear 2 clothing obsessions... boots and scarfs, I love the time with family, good food, down time from work and just the over all splendor of it all. Starting with Halloween, then Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. Being in the military and married to the military some Holidays arent as fun when a loved on is not home but this year not only are we both home, but were spending our 1st Holidays TOGETHER in our new home, while waiting for the much anticipated arrival of our 1st child and a baby girl at that!! I feel like I might actually bubble over with excitement!!
Not only have I been busy with Holiday projects but house projects too. We have almost been in the house for a year now and I thought I better go thru closets, cupboards, nooks and crannies and clear anything out we havent used with a few small exceptions. In this process I ended up organizing even further than things already were. I am an organizing freak, I find that if everything has a place and you dont have to move anything to put things away the house will stay much cleaner. Its been a great philosophy. One I struggled with at the old house cause we never seemed to have enough room. Not the case any more, I even have empty cupboards which I love and will work hard to keep clear for kids later. My husband is one of those guys who has a hard time finding things but I have gone out of my way to put things in clear, cleanable labeled bins. Hes getting used to my organizing tactics and is more inclined to go look and find something on his own rather than pester me. Its come in great handy with kids, I can find things quickly and have even had a 2 year old who helped pick up his toys because it was so easy!! So, everyone benefits from this OCD thing I have. I will have to post a few pics of some of the newest nooks and crannies that have been cleaned up and cleared out. I recently decided less is more. Shawn has been sorta [reaching this to me for a long time and I have tried but I think I have finally embraced the spirit of it finally! I am working on less THINGS around the house and before I purchase something I really think long and hard about do we need this, and will it serve more than one purpose, last us a long time etc. For example in the kitchen I have had these 3 containers that were holding flour, sugar and powdered sugar but they couldnt hold the whole package so I had to store the rest in the pantry... it suddenly hit me that this was the dumbest thing ever. I grew up w this concept my Mom even does it now but I decided that it made more sense to just store it all in the pantry in clear labeled air tight sealed containers. (found some awesome ones at Kohles) So I now have more counter space and it actually makes my kitchen look even cleaner... Loving it!! You get the idea I have been on a mission and there is no stopping me. These happen occasionally and Shawn loves them but this one has been going on for over a month and I am almost upset that I am running out of things to organize lol! Other projects have been prepping the "pink room" (we thinks its cool to call our rooms by the colors they are painted, they do it in the White House so why not?!) The pink room is going to be our baby girls room once she turns two. Its upstairs and raising 2 babies already I have learned some valuable tools like stumbling past my bedroom door for a bottle, or a crying baby SUCKS! So instead of a nursery kiddos sleep in a crib in our room until they are 2 when they can then move upstairs into twin sized beds, we even have a mini fridge in our room for bottles so we literally role out of bed, feed & change baby and climb right back in all without turning on anything but a small nightlight! Genius really! Anyway in the pink room I have been arranging furniture and the closet, made some small wall art arrangements etc, its coming together so awesomely will post pictures soon!!
BUSY, BUSY, BUSY... but all fun and exciting ventures. Shawn should be home in 2 weeks or less I am praying for less. I am planning for less so spending the weekend trying to finish up projects. I am actually headed out the door to go 2nd hand furniture shopping and estate sailing with my Mom. I stumbled onto two glorious chairs yesterday for about $230 each... this is a steal because they look very similar to two I fell in love with about 2 years ago that were $1,000 a piece. I will post pictures of these two awesome finds later this afternoon with all my project pictures.
See you back here later for a quick pictures only post. Im off to get coffee and shop.... what a wonderful Saturday!!

Early to bed

8pm and the little one is in bed... even the dog went to bed. So, I have some peace and quiet down time for 45 wonderful minutes! What better time to blog!

Semi productive day today... started & completed 3 projects for the pink room (Pics tomorrow of the projects!) as I have affectionally named it. I dont want to call it the nursery because we dont plan on putting Baby Adams in there until she is 2 and we are waiting anxiously to see if D is going to be in our lives forever or not. The plan is for them to share a room I have painted pink. Yes, pink. Its a pale pink and I have adding punches of hot pink, a pale green, some baby blue hidden in there, just fun all around. I am going for a little bit of a funky, modern vintage feel. No actual theme because the girls would grow up just wanting to change it so I have even kept the bedding in solid colors. I am anxiously awaiting the Hubbies muscles... not that I cant do it myself and I am dying to trust me but I wont take any chances while prego. There are a few things to be hung and a headboard that needs to be cut down before I will take pictures to share with you all. I will take pictures I promise your just going to have to wait a little bit longer.

The past two days I have been buried in our GIANT master closet trying to organize it like a game of tetris. You would think with it being the size of a small bedroom this would be easy... wrong. See we have 2 dressers in our room that I am going to have the Hubby move up stairs into our Foster care room and we are going to have NO dressers in our room. For the look of simplicity really. Besides I now have a crib AND a cradle in my room so its getting a little crowded and less romantic feeling in the Master Suit. I would however love to get an electric fireplace in there. We have one in the front room as seen in previous pictures and we love it! The dressers have to go other wise we would be wall to wall furniture, literally. I am on a mission then, to get every piece of clothing, shoes, purses, accessories, etc into our closet. Its not impossible, it might just be me cause I might be boarder line OCD and have a serious organizing streak in me. I am getting close to being done so possibly next blog post will be a glimpse into our closet!

All I have for you now is a few before pictures of the kitchen, tomorrow will be the after ones .... Enjoy.

BEFORE:

4 weeks

So today marks only 4 more weeks to go until the wonderful moment I get to run into my hubbies arms. I am so anxious and excited more than any other deployment, its been a really long year full of so many challenges. As I soldier I know some of the briefings you get upon returning home and many times they talk about your spouse has been running the show and has become self sufficient so dont be surprised if its hard to integrate...  NOT this spouse. I will be nice and give him a few days off but I am ready and waiting to hand over the reins! I think this giant house will finally feel more like home with him in it and us living out our daily schedules together. We are very anxious to start living the family life. Dont get me wrong we have had a great time the past 8 years just the two of us, we have really gotten to know each other more than most couples before having kids. Not to mention the Foster Parenting... I dont think a couple could be more ready for a baby than we are right now. Its still sinking in that we are having a baby, a baby girl at that a dream come true for both of us!! I just have to get thru this home stretch... I know that the days will continue to tick on by but I would love to just snap my fingers and be standing all dressed up waiting to jump into his arms. Well, ok I dont know if this go round I will be jumping the belly might get in the way, but I sure will throwing my arms around him! I am excited to spend a few days in Vegas too as a mini vacation before jumping back into life together again. A lot of couples struggle with the separation of deployment and I am not down playing it, it sucks but Shawn and I use it as a chance to appreciate each other all over again the separation actually makes us love each other all over again. When you get home for us its been almost like a honey moon all over again. We joke after a year or more of being home that its time for one of us to deploy again cause by then we start to irritate each other, with love of course. So far Shawn has never been the spouse left at home deff not the the single parent left at home, I have been hoping this could happen soon so he can experience this end of a deployment. Being a soldier and being a deployed soldier I very much respect and understand that part of the experience, just need the shoe on the other foot for him! Im sure he will handle it fine hes very good at balancing and planning but he would just understand my thoughts and emotions from being on this end more. I have great respect for military families who have endured these multiple deployments and am happy to hear that they will soon die down and hopefully the families can get back to some semblance of normal. I light a candle every Sunday for all soldier's who are deployed the the loved ones the have left at home. 4 more weeks seems like forever away but right around the corner too, I cant wait!

Blogging slacker

Wow I have really been slacking haven't I?! Well here goes trying to update...
In June the hubby came home on leave and it was the most amazing 2 weeks EVER! Nice and slow paced, fun and even relaxing. We saw Tyler graduate High School, we sadly said good bye to J (but still get to see her), I celebrated the big 30, & we announced we were preggers! We had done IVF and were blessed that it work... to date today we are officially 20 weeks. ITS A GIRL!! Never did I imagine my husband being so excited about having a daughter. I did not have a preference as to what we had as long as it was a healthy baby, after a long journey of ups and downs I just wanted a baby. Now I couldn't be happier. I have been trying live a zen life I guess you could say during the pregnancy. Eating healthy (have only gained 8 lbs), staying steady active but getting an equal amount of rest (naps) and so far it has paid off. I haven't been sick, I have plenty of energy and baby according to ultra sound tech said everything looks "perfect"!! I will be glad when the hubs is back home though so I can relax a little bit more. I am anxious of course to hold our little bundle of joy but am in no hurry she can stay in there nice and safe until our due date, Jan 20,2012. I am soooo ready for her on the other hand, all this Foster Parenting I have raised two babies in the past year & 1/2 that I feel like I will be able to raise ours with my eyes closed. Im not panicked about being ready because really we already have everything we need, and when we moved into the house I decorated 3 bedrooms... 1 girly, 1 that was more boy but could easily be girly, & a 3rd gender neutral. I have a ton of baby girl clothes since the 2 foster babies we have had were girls, but I did recently go out and buy some new things.... washed them, folded them and organized them all ready to go! The holidays are going to be upon us in no time so I figured now was a good a time as any. We are ready! The only things left to do is go sign in with our hospital to let them know we will be coming in January and go take a lamaze class. I have elected to do no drugs and will be sticking to it, I figure if women of that past could do it then so can I, I am a soldier for goodness sakes... I will let you all know how it goes. So until the hubby comes home some time in October I am spending these last few weeks working on the finishing touches of the house. I have been done over all for months but just tweaking a few things. I wanted to finally share some pictures with you all, so here there are.... (finally!)

                                   Previous owners paint colors all in flat paint, not kid friendly.

Our paint color choices and decor. The tan is the same we just had it re done in semi gloss. But replaced the copper with a nice green.

This is basically the view you see as soon as you walk thru the front door. Awesome giant windows looking onto the back patio and yard with a swimming pool. This picture was taken the day we looked at the house for the 1st time and a couple hours later Shawn got on a plane for a year.

After...

Before...

After... 

Our entry way before was plain tan and had white shutters on the window.

After...

Took me almost a week, but I measured and painted these stripes, it was worth every minute cause I love them!

Thats it for now, more to come soon and do mean soon!

2 blogs a month isn't bad I guess...

Where does the time go sometimes? I am some how managing to keep up with the daily routine with the kids and all. Laundry, dishes, picking up the daily mess thats about it if I am lucky. "J" is gone on the weekends right now and its my chance to catch up on anything I didnt get done during the week... this weekend I did a whole lot of nothing. Today I slept in, went to church the to go see the new Pirates movie with my Dad and Step Mom its was a nice lazy day! When I got home from the movie I went into freak cleaning mode in the kitchen when I found some bugs, gross. Now I am waxed... watching Taken (AWESOME Movie, I would so be a parent who hunted anyone down who took my kid & Liam is plays his part so well) I am catching up on some over due blogging (obviously) & I just ate stouffers mac n cheese which I am lately addicted to. I have been eating a lot of microwaveable food for dinner these days. Silly to cook for one adult and besides the girls never seem to let me do much, I am lucky to go to the bathroom, throw in a quick load of laundry or do the dishes really fast on a good day. My Dad and Step Mom love to cook and are always watching the cooking channel and cooking up some amazing food. They told me they dont approve of my new eating habits and are going to start cooking for me and bringing me food! I keep telling Shawn if we ever won the lotto I would get a cook and maid that way I could have fun and focus on the kids. Well seems I have gotten the cooks lol now I just need a maid.... anyone interested were not super messy...

Not a whole lot new here. My days seem to blend into each other but everyday with out fail the girls make me laugh and smile so it makes it all worth it. I have yet to have a solid nights sleep now in over 7 months. Down to 2 weeks until Shawn comes home and I am so excited. Excited to run into his arms which I do literally every time we are apart. Excited to show him how I have made our new house a home, & I have never been so excited for a hot summer before. Now we have a pool which will make it so much more bearable and even enjoyable. Even if its only two weeks I will be so happy to hold Shawn's hand, to get even one full nights sleep, to actually cook in our nice new kitchen so many little things that so many people take advantage of. I love being an Army wife and would not have it any other way because I am married to a true Hero willing to sacrifice so much to make his family and even people he doesnt know safe. I think about the living conditions I saw while living in Iraq for a year and I am so great full to be an American living with so many freedoms, something so simple as plumbing, my kids wearing shoes and not walking barefoot, being able to walk outside without the fear of being occupied and the casualties of war. I LOVE MY SOLDIER!!

Think thats about it for the Adams family for now. I will have much to share while Shawn is home and will actually have a free moment or two to blog! Hope everyone is well and prepping to have a really great summer.