Home Sweet Home

London and I went back home for two weeks the beginning of December. It was a great feeling to be back home after three months away. Everyone looked great, and I got to meet my new nephew for the first time. What a cute little thing. Holding him made me want to be able to hold my baby.

I got to visit my Grandma and Grandpa Bigler for awhile one Sunday morning. It's comforting to be with family, it was almost like walking into the past. Seeing myself sitting under their Christmas tree as a little girl, with the smell of bacon in the air. Their house always smelled of bacon. Yum. It seems like time is starting to catch up with the Grandparents that never seemed to age. It's a strange thing to see them differently then I have all these years.

Another memory of mine, is Grandma Strong's Gingerbread parties. She used to gather up all the grand kids for a sleep over and we'd spend the night decorating Gingerbread cookies, then crawling into our PJ's and falling asleep on the shaggy carpet in her basement. Grandma is still with us but is no longer able to throw her parties. So we brought Grandma to our Gingerbread party and had her help us make gingerbread houses with her great grand kids. It was really special to spend sometime with her this year. We may not get another one. We love you Grandma.

Christmas time is a busy time for all of us, so to my family and friends I didn't get to see this time around Merry Christmas and I love you all.

1st Christmas as the Atkins Family

6 months married and more in love than ever. We spent this Christmas with Daniels family in Georgia. It's always so nice to be with his family, his parents are just as sweet as can be, brother Christopher is maturing by the minute, and his Grandparents are as welcoming as any one could be. I just love them all.

This Christmas we are expecting our first baby together. We were lucky enough to have had an ultrasound the day before we left and found out we are having a BOY! Christmas Eve was a flurry of food and presents. We gathered together in the living room and his dad David passed out the presents and the wrapping paper started flying. They were so cute and bought the baby some presents as well. This picture shows the little tee shirt that David had spotted and couldn't pass up for the baby. Go Bulldogs!

We are very sad to be leaving here tomorrow for the next three years. Our journey is taking us far away from our families, but we are looking forward to welcoming this little baby boy into our little family. Family is the greatest gift of all, and we thank the Lord for ours.

Heartbeat

10weeks 2days. I had my first real Doctors apt this morning. We got to hear the heartbeat! Oh my gosh it was so amazing, I was so happy that I almost cried. Daniel couldn't believe it. It sounded like a horse. It was really exciting and I was so happy that he was there to share it with me. Hearing my baby makes all the morning sickness worth it. Thank you technology.

Going Home!

I booked tickets to go home yesterday. It's been it's been four months since i've seen my son Jayke. Oh how I miss him! I'm so excited to hold him in my arms again. To see his cute little freakled face will be heaven.

10 more days, I can't wait!!!

I had my first doctor's appointment today if you can call it that. I didn't see a doctor, but did spend an hour and a half with a very nice lady doing paperwork. The military goes through more paper then you could imagine. After filling out a giant book for medical records i got to have my blood taken and pee in a cup. Now that's a fun day! I wont see a doctor till the 24Th of November, I guess that's not so bad.

Blah

I'm 6weeks and 3days pregnant. Yay! The only thing is that I feel terrible all the time. I haven't gotten sick, but I feel sick 24 hours a day. Daniel's been great about taking care of me. I get up at 6:30 in the morning and take London to the bus stop just up the street. It's kinda nice, it's dark and the stars are really bright. The streets quiet, and it's a good time to feel grateful for all you have.
I'm grateful to be having a baby with the sweetest husband that ever lived. It will be even greater when I feel better and can enjoy it a little more. It makes me happy to think of a house full of kids. I've always wanted a big family, with all the noise and chaos. I'm anxious to watch Daniel become a father right before my eyes. :)

Big News

As if going to Italy wasn't exciting enough, we just found out that we are PREGNANT! Let me correct myself. "I'm pregnant". We're all pretty excited about it. London keeps holding my stomach and saying "my baby."

I don't remember being this tired with my first two pregnancy's. I feel pretty awful most of the time to tell you the truth. It's been 9 years since I was pregnant last. I'd forgotten just how yucky grown a person can make you feel. Today I'm 5 weeks and 3 days according to my calculations. I haven't seen the doctor yet, but it's on my list of things to do.

Beach days

Living in North Carolina has it's benefits. We only live two hours from the beach Yay!! I've been to the beach but have never been in the ocean. Seems like a waste right, but when the water is like 40 degrees and you have to wear a coat just to walk along the beach, one tends to want to stay dry.

Myrtle Beach was our first weekend. The weather was perfect. Not to hot, not to cold. The sand was that soft white sand that your feet sink into and that gets in between every nook and cranny. Daniel brought his old skim board with him and offered to teach me how. Yeah. I'm not so good with those kinds of things. I gave it a few attempts, before surrendering.

I really wanted to get my feet wet in that big blue ocean. The water was really quite nice. We must have floated up and down those waves for hours. It was a blast!! London got rolled over by a wave and sucked in a bit of water. Her swimming day was over, but had a great time collecting sea shells. I fell in love with the beach that day.


Our second trip one week later was to Wilmington Beach, only about 20 mins up the coast from Myrtle. The beach was very different. The sand was much coarser and it was pretty crowded. The weather was warm, but super windy. The kind of wind that's annoying. We still has a great time. Daniel bought a new skim board. He spend most of the day testing it out and looking pretty good doing it. ( He's a good looking man!!!)

The sea Shells at this beach were really big, and had a bunch of polished rocks and shells as well. I wanted to make some necklaces out of them so we collected about 4 lbs of shells. What was I thinking, that's way to many!

CQ

Company Quarters. Is a 24 hour duty shift that involves sitting at a desk, answering phones, unlocking doors, security checks, but mostly just sitting at a desk. You get the next day off for recovery. ( SLEEP ) Sounds lovely right???
Daniels had CQ every other day for the last two weeks. So he's gone all day and night, which means I can't sleep very good. Then he comes home and sleeps all day, bless his heart. I shouldn't complain, he could be deployed. I'm just whining a little.
I'm feeling a little stressed out already about our move. I'm missing Jayke so much it hurts. Wishing my heart didn't have to be in two places. Daniel's the best husband and I really don't think I could survive without him. I know my children will be ok without me, but I pray that I'll be ok without them.

On The Road Again

We've been here at Fort Bragg North Carolina for two months now. We're finally feeling settled in, London's adjusted to her new school and we've all made new friends. Daniel had his surgery to fix his wrist and is healing really well. We've been waiting to get our orders to permanent Duty Station. It came last week, and guess where we're going??? Vicenza Italy! Daniel and I had talked about where we'd like to get stationed, and we both agreed that it would be a really great opportunity to go overseas. Are you kidding me. Italy...what a dream come true!

Ok it all sounds so wonderful, but now reality has set in. Paperwork, Paperwork, and more Paperwork. Getting anything done in the Army is impossible. They send you here for one thing and there for another, but first you need paperwork from over there. You have to make an appointment for everything and no one is happy to help you, or very helpful for that matter. It's enough to make a person MAD as a HATTER.

Army wife tip #1... keep your sense of humor.

First day of school

London's first day of school was a success. She came home with a smile on her face, and couldn't wait to tell me about her day. No small detail was spared. Ha ha. 8 classes and 4 new friends later she was completely satisfied with her first day of 7th Grade. Love you London!!!

Across The Country

Once we decided it was time to move it all happened very quickly. Daniel and I have spend so much time apart, we just couldn't stand it anymore. We found the perfect apartment to rent while Daniel goes through Special Forces Selections. I have the most amazing friends that supported me through all this, even helping me move all my stuff down three flights of stairs. (Thanks Everyone! ) My parents, bless their hearts offered to drive the moving truck so i could drive my car.

We spent the next four days driving across the country. The western states are dry and boring, but once we got into the eastern part of the country everything was beautiful. So Green!!! The trip was harder on all of us then we wanted to admit. London did the best, she truly is a wonderful traveler. She didn't complain once about anything.

We arrived on Thursday and Daniel had a hotel waiting for us. It was so good to see him. I jumped into his warm arms. I no longer cared how long the trip had been and how tired I was. I was exactly where I needed to be. The next day the girls hung out by the pool waiting until I could go sign my lease at three o'clock.

Daniel had a few willing friends that helped us move all our stuff into our new apartment. :) We spent the next few days shopping for furniture. Looking was fun, buying was a pain in the neck and the wallet. We waited several weeks for our couch to arrive, so we had a mattress in the living room that did a pretty good job of pretending it was a couch. Way to go mattress!

We're finally settled and it feels like home. The best part is how much time we've gotten to spend with Daniel. I'll be posting some pictures here real soon.

Tomatos

A patient of ours brought in a bunch of tomato plants hoping that we'd take them off her hands. So I couldn't turn her down and took one of these plants home. Keep in mind I live in an apartment without a balcony so not the best home for a growing something of this nature. I've had this sweet little plant for about three weeks now. I water it every morning before work and balance it ever so carefully on my very small window Ceil. I have really great light in my apartment in the morning and I just hoped it would be enough to keep it alive. Well!!!! I'm happy to report the it's doing well and even has a tomato starting to grow. It's small, but still. IT'S A TOMATO :)

Look close or you might miss it.

Raining in June.

Utah isn't know to be the wettest place in the country, but this year you'd never know. It's rained for weeks straight now and we are into June. Don't get me wrong I love the rain, but i just hope it wont cut our summer short. I'd rather be out tanning poolside then curling up next to the window to watch it rain.



The rain makes me miss Daniel. Every time I've seen him in the last six months it's rained. It rained everyday on our honeymoon, it rained on Graduation, and it rained on family day too. It's been six months now since he enlisted in the Army. He's amazing, he excels at everything his does. The Army should be proud to have a man like Daniel. I'm super excited to be moving in with him in September. After nine months of being apart, we'll finally get to wake up next to each other, cook dinner together, kiss each other good night. It's funny how the simple things are the things you miss the most about being together. His smell, the warmth of his hand, the sound of him in the next room, rushing home from work because you know his there waiting for you, watching him when he doesn't know your watching. He's mesmerizing. I just can't get enough of him.

Clarks Trail

Hiking is one of the things I like to do when the weather gets warmer. Clarks Trail is a beautiful hike that's easy enough for the kids to come along. If you look real close you can see the dear coming down to feed. One of my favorite things about this trail is that it's only a few minutes away from home.

My sweet Jayke is always ready to take a picture with me. London on the other hand is a little more shy about pictures. (she's 12...need I say more? )

Jayke and London stream hopping. Thankfully no one got to wet.

Our New Lives

Daniel and I were married on May 22 2009 in Columbus Georgia. We're looking forward to our new lives together. I'll be moving to Fort Bragg, North Carolina in September to be with him during his Special Forces Training.