Christmas Celebrations

I can not express how much I have enjoyed being home for the holidays. It has been so wonderful to be able to just relax and spend quality time with those I love. Christmas is such a happy time of year, everyone is extra giving and in the holiday spirit - this is definitely my favorite time of year, hands down. Christmas Eve and Christmas day were rather busy for Skylar and I. We had 5 different Christmas celebrations to attend in those 2 days - but I truly can say I enjoy the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. If I took a picture of my room right now I'm sure everyone would be in awe. We got so much for Christmas that my room is piled high with it all. We're very blessed to have such loving people in our lives. I absolutely loved every single gift I got. What a great Christmas this was! Now to bring in the New Year. I am very excited because I know this upcoming year has a lot of great things to come (Brinlee!!). I can't believe we only have 8 more weeks - give or take - until we're finally able to welcome our little girl into this world. I am starting to get very anxious and nervous at the same time. I can't wait to see what else this New Year brings us, hopefully many more good things. I hope the New Year brings great things for everyone. Be safe New Years Eve and enjoy! :)

Mom & Dad's tree

In-laws tree

Christmas Eve dinner

Christmas Eve

Christmas night

Baby Shower :-)

The room all set up. Thank goodness my parents have the room!

Adorable rocking chair my Aunt Donna made for Brinlee.

Video camera from Glam-ma Stein :-)

Video/Sound monitor from Grandma Deuel

Clothes line from Grandma Deuel. She went crazy!

Table full of gifts.. Picture 1

Picture 2

Picture 3

Picture 4

Home Sweet Home!

I am finally back in Michigan! It feels good be home. Even after a year of living in Alaska, I still consider this my home. Nothing is like good 'ol Grand Rapids. I was surprised when I left Alaska and didn't even take a second look. Knowing that I will probably never see Fairbanks again doesn't exactly bring a tear to my eye. Don't get me wrong it was a beautiful place to visit and I think everyone should see it once, but a year there was a little to much for me. I am excited to see what Texas brings us.

I arrived home Tuesday morning/afternoon after flying all night long. I didn't get much sleep at all. Out of my 3 flights only one was long enough to even try to sleep and I just so happened to have the worst seat ever. I was in the middle and had no room, my seat didn't recline and the air didn't work - needless to say, it was not an enjoyable flight and I only slept about an hour. That was a bummer because when I finally got home I ended up napping until about 4:30pm, which caused for a late night for me. I think I am still getting used to the time difference. I have been trying to get to sleep at a reasonable hour but its more difficult than it sounds.

Although I am home, Skylar was not able to leave Alaska quite yet. He will be driving back December 2. It's just not the same with out him here. I am keeping busy though and he is as well. He's going through the clearing process - for all those not knowing the military lingo, this means he is getting signatures from basically every single place on post. This is required before he can leave Ft. Wainwright. We can't wait for this next chapter in our lives - Brinlee, Fort Hood, and whatever else may come. :) Bring it on - we are ready!

Halloween Scares

Wow - I can't believe it is only Wednesday. What a long week it has already been. As you all have probably already heard, Skylar and I had a little baby scare Halloween night. I woke up around 2 a.m. feeling very ill. I started vomiting and could not get myself to stop. I couldn't keep anything down and Skylar was nervous that I was becoming dehydrated. He insisted we go to the E.R. right away and it's a good thing we did. We got right into a room and they started me on an IV, a monitor for Brinlee's heart rate, as well as a contraction monitor. Poor nurses, the whole time this was going on I could not keep myself from getting sick.. :( It was rather embarrassing. Along with everything that was already going on, they found that I was dilated to 1cm and I was having light contractions - none of which I could feel. This is definitely not a good sign considering the fact I am only 24 weeks along. They gave me a shot to help stop the contractions and a few other injections through my IV to help stop the vomiting. After 7 1/2 hours of being under a watchful eye, they decided it was safe for me to go home and rest. These past couple days I think I have been awake maybe 5 hours. My body is physically drained and I still feel exhausted. The last thing I can think about right now is this move. Skylar and I have decided it would be better for me to fly home instead of risking the drive back. We were informed that there are times where we could go hours without any cell phone reception or a place to stop. With the scare we already had, we want there to be a hospital near by at all times in case another emergency arises - heaven forbid. I just ask that you please keep us in your prayers. Love to all and we'll be seeing you soon! :)

24 weeks

Moving Process

Skylar and I have given our notice of our leaving into the apartment complex. We will officially be moving out of here November 14th. This move is finally becoming real! We have less than a month and we will be on our way back to Michigan for a long visit with family and friends. I am so excited. I find myself wishing the time away, however, I also find myself wishing for 28 hours in a day rather than 24. We have so many things we have to do before we're able to actually depart Alaska, it's very stressful. We are now in the process of starting to pack up Army belongings and other nick-nacks, but I feel like we haven't even made a dent, even after the 7 boxes/totes I have packed up. We will get there eventually and I'm excited for the feeling of satisfaction that I'm going to get at the very end of this whole journey. I just keep telling myself once we have it all packed away it's all over but then it pops into my head that we still have to unpack everything and organize it once we get to Texas. Oh goodness - moving! haha
On another note, I am 22 weeks into this pregnancy (5 months!). I can't beleive how fast time has flown. We found out we were expecting little Brinlee when I was only 6 weeks along. It has been 16 weeks since that day and it seems as if only days have passed. I guess time really does fly when you're having fun. :) I couldn't ask for a better husband or a better gift from god. We're both ready and very excited for the next chapter in our lives with our baby girl. As I'm sure you all are too. Not much longer and she'll finally be here with us!! :-D

The packing process...

Lots of Brinlee things :)

22 weeks - 5 months

It's a GIRL!!

Today we had our ultrasound appointment and we found out we are having a beautiful little GIRL -- Brinlee Sky Stein. :) We couldn't be any more thrilled! It was absolutely amazing to be able to see her sweet little face and her heart beating. Her heart beat was 145 bpm. I am still amazed by how fast their little hearts beat. The doctor said that everything measured in at exactly where it should be and she couldn't find anything wrong with our little girl - besides her stubborness - which she gets from her mommy, whoops! She didn't want to show us her sweet little face. She had it hidden in my stomach and seemed rather comfortable. She wasn't all about us messing with her but with some coaxing, we were able to get a couple pictures of at least half of her face. :) She is already beautiful. Everything today was just amazing! What a blessing she has been for our little family. We can not wait to meet our sweet little girl. :)

20 weeks

Brinlee Sky

She has mommy's nose.

Michigan Trip!

I am finally back in Alaska after a long day of traveling. I think it added up 13 hours of travel time, almost 10 of which were spent on the plane. I think I felt Baby Stein kick more yesterday than I have ever felt. Not sure if he/she is a fan of flying. I think all the sitting I was doing was squishing my little one and Baby Stein was just trying to get comfortable, at the expense of mom. :) I was hoping Skylar would be able to feel a kick or two but as soon as I was off the plane Baby Stein became rather calm. It feels great to be back with Skylar again after him being away for the past 16 days. Those last 10 days passed by so quickly with me being in Michigan, which I am very thankful for. I had a great time! I was able to see a lot of people, which was wonderful. It felt really good to be able to see some friendly faces. After this visit it makes me even more excited (which I didn't know was possible) to be coming home for a month long visit in November, this time with Skylar. I know he is very excited as well. Being with family and good friends, especially at this time in our lives, is very important to us. Can't wait to see everyone again. Except next time, I'll be a 'little' bigger ;)

18 weeks

Ben & I at Fredrick Meyer Gardens

Seth at his 1st 78'ers football game - Go CP!

Abby, Rachel, Ryan & I

Abbey & I