Congrats Amanda!

I drove down to Raleigh, NC a few weekends ago to help celebrate my cousin and her baby girl, Payton.

It was a packed house full of generous friends and yummy food.

Amanda, my Aunt Cindy and me!

My cousins, Cheri and Amanda. I can't wait to see pictures and meet the newest cousin. Payton is due the end of September. Only a few more weeks to go!

Nine Inches

 of hair. What? What were you thinking? ;)

I had my friend Marcy chop off all my hair on Friday.  I brought dinner, she cut my hair and we watched HGTV, that beats a salon any day! I'm still adjusting to the length (and taking self portraits, clearly) but I love it!

Gizelle and I had a lady date while the guys are gone. Dinner and her place and then a dessert bar? Deal. I did my hair special just for her.

Monster Tomato

I think my tomato plant is going to attack me in the night.

Paint Schmaint.

 I thought about leaving it like this for awhile...

my house has been a disaster for the last week. Glenn is gone on an FCLP/CQ det again for about 10 days so I decided I should probably go ahead and finish the painting job that I started in May. Ok, I need a little encouragement from Glenn, but it needed to be finished. If I don't do it now, before January, it really isn't going to happen!

I started with the ceiling. I swear, there is probably 800 sq ft of it. My arms were exhausted. I edged the ceiling last Saturday and rolled the entire thing on Sunday (it took me ~6 hrs to roll). I spent a little bit of time each night this past week and edged the walls and then spent another 6 hours or so this Saturday and rolled the walls. Finally today I cleaned up and put the room back together! I'm so happy to have that project finished. Only 3 more rooms to go and I will have painted the entire house.

I saved myself sometime and didn't paint the trim in this room. Mostly because I knew it would involve a lot of scraping and not something that is probably good for me or the baby. I did have to repair one section of the wall where the plaster wasn't adhering very well.

 

I came prepared for that mess.

I'm so glad to have this project finished. And the house put back together before Glenn got home. I'll post a few after pictures soon. I have the curtains done on three windows too so you will be able to see those too! Only 3 more to go!

Happy Birthday Grandma

Today would have been Grandma's 83rd birthday. Jen scanned this picture in for Grandma's memorial service and I'm so glad she did. I didn't have a copy of it. I'm so sad she won't be here in January to meet our little boy or girl like she was able to meet me, but I know she's watching down on us. We miss you, Grammy.

Bumps 14-18

Thanks for all the wonderful comments after my last post. Everyone seems to love the idea! Let me tell you though, there are some weeks that are difficult! I still haven't found a 19 for this week yet. I've been looking everywhere!

This was at the Hawkeye Greyhound Ball a few weeks ago. We had to wait for the VIPs to finish their dinner so we could borrow their table number.

Apparently there really is a baby in there. I was starting to wonder for a bit. My pants officially don't button though so something is happening.

We have our big ultrasound on Sept 5th (assuming Glenn makes it back from the det on time) and we will find out if we are having a boy or a girl. All the wives tales have said boy so I guess we'll see if they are right!

Hi Gilbert Clan!

Our dear friends the Gilberts came to Virginia Beach to visit friends in the area since they lived here for 8+ years before Japan. It was wonderful to see them! We had a little Japan reunion on Friday before the HEGH ball. It was so nice to catch up with everyone.

We saw Rob & Christiana's baby for the first time as well. Aiden is such a little peanut still!

How cute are these little munchkins? Miss Cora, Miss Haley and Miss Addison were enjoying the watermelon. It was just too hot outside so we had to move the BBQ inside.

Thanks for coming friends. I love our Navy family!

HEGH Ball Admin

This year the HEGH Ball after-party or "admin" was an Olympics theme for VAW-120. Everyone changed in to their olympic best. Glenn went with a soccer uniform which was convenient since he was easy to find in stripes. The admins are held in the majority of the conference rooms above the hotel ballroom. Each squadron has their own admin room with different theme and decorations.

In our admin they had set up various Olympic sports- Nintendo sports complete with the flood pad. My favorite part was the podium complete with flags. We had the US, French and Australian flags since there are squadron members from all three countries. It got a little dangerous at times though when the French and Australians tried to take the gold spot. I avoided this area while in my white dress!

The luge. Perhaps more of a winter olympic sport, but fun for all! I can't wait til next year when I can enjoy the party as much as everyone else!

G Phi B

Since yesterday was Bid Day at Iowa State University, I thought I would post this oldie that I found in the closet the other day. Forty new freshman are calling 318 Pearson their home. A home that has so many memories for me as a Gamma Phi. I can't believe this was from almost 10 years ago! My bid day was 11 years ago! Miss you girls!

First Grade!

Happy first day of school buddy. I can't believe you will be 7 soon!

Hawkeye Greyhound Ball

A couple of weekends ago was the 2012 Hawkeye Greyhound Ball. Glenn and I have attended the Badman Ball in Japan, but this was our first East Coast HEGH Ball. We just missed the 2008 ball before we moved to Japan. They are always a good time and it is fun to catch up with friends we haven't seen since flight school or who are in other squadrons and we don't see too often. And it's always fun to get dressed up.

What's a pregnant girl to do? Vanilla or chocolate? It's hard to tell from these pics, but there are over 500 people that attend the ball from 5 Hawkeye (E2) squadrons, 1 greyhound (C2) squadron, the FRS (VAW-120, that's us) and several tables of contractors and VIPs. Pretty much, it's a dinner and party, but they present the colors (flags) at the beginning.

I love those choker whites! If only they weren't so uncomfortable.

Gizelle and I. I am not ready for them to get new orders in just a couple weeks!

The Gilberts were in town from Newport for the ball. Yay!

The after party is always a good time. More pics on that later! An olympic swimming pool of packing peanuts? Sounds like fun!

Ice luge champions! It was definitely a different experience being sober at a Navy event, but they are always fun regardless. And I was able to drive home and spend the night in my own bed which I always enjoy. One thing we did learn, never stash your bag under the table with the ice luge! My tote bag was filled with 8 inches of water! Unfortunately so were Glenn's after-party clothes. Nothing an iron, blow dryer and a little body heat couldn't fix though.

Happy Hawkeye Greyhound Ball! I love this Navy community!

A Before & After

Haha. You thought I meant a house project, didn't you? Nope. Ice luge instead. Shot anyone?

Gizelle seems to be enjoying it. I'm sure I am opening the window for an onslaught of drunken pictures of myself, but that's ok. This picture makes me smile!

So many projects

I've got a million projects in the works and it's killing me cause I love the feeling of completing a project and checking it off my list. Here's a little of what I've got in the works.

And yes. Those are still the curtains. Almost done with 3 windows. Half way!

Brooke Sized

These are old pictures from our trip to Ohio. Brooke did not understand that the bed was Stella's. I think she was happy that it was a seat, just her size!

Congrats Tvedte Family!

My dear friends Missy and Ben ( and big bro Jack) welcomed Brecken Daniel to the family! Congrats!

Packing the Prius II

Oh how people doubt my little hatchback!

We pulled up to a house in Virginia Beach to take a look at a dresser we found on Craigslist and she said "I don't think it's going to fit in your car!". In the words of my father: oh ye of little faith.

We brought twine to tie down the back but it wasn't even necessary. The whole dresser and mirror fit with just a little wiggling.

Our first piece of baby room furniture! And only $50. Love that. It just needs a good scrub and maybe new handles. I think I might line the drawers with some fun paper too.

The First Trimester

Glenn has been taking pictures for me each week around town. There isn't much of a bump, but people have been asking for pictures, so here you go! I'm still fitting in all my clothes for now, but I know that is going to end eventually.