Halloween and then some...

This Halloween is going to be one for the record books. We have SO much going on it's hard to stay sane some days. Today, my brother is leaving for Afghanistan for a 1-year tour. I love how they call it "tour" like it's a vacation. Like he says, "going on a 1-year vacation to sunny Afghanistan at the taxpayer's expense." I'm trying to adopt his optimistic mantra. So far it's not working. Keep him in your prayers!!

Halloween is this weekend and Tegan is going as a giraffe! I'll post pics sometime in the future, possibly on facebook. I hate uploading pics on here, it takes FOREVER! Anyways, our plan was to take Tegan around the neighborhood (more or less, the 5-6 houses surrounding ours since she won't walk that far) and get a little bit of candy. Unfortunately, the TN weather gods had another idea and are now predicting 50% chance of rain for Halloween. So, I think we'll be heading to the mall since all the shops hand out candy. At least then we can take a stroller and she can (hopefully) just sit in it and let us push her. Leila is coming up for the weekend too so we'll have a little extra help with all the craziness...

Craziness being we move on Tuesday! ahhh yes. Tuesday, Nov. 3. We get the keys to the new place on Monday afternoon, Tues. the movers come, and depending on how long it takes to pack up and load our stuff they will deliver and unpack us on Tuesday also. Otherwise, they deliver Thursday. So right now I have Tegan signed up for daycare all day Wed. and half the day Thurs. which will be a BIG help. She's not going to like seeing all her toys packed up where she can't get to them. I just hope the mean ol' piggy flu doesn't get near her at daycare. We've avoided putting her in it lately for that reason, but it was unavoidable this time. We have to be out of our old house by Friday so we have a lot of cleaning and whatnot to do. And seeing as how I'm feeling as big as a house, I don't know how well I'm going to be able to scrub. Ugh. I wish that was included in the mover's job. :) One unfortunate part of this new place is that it is, literally, ALL white linoleum floors. As in, not a spec of other flooring type. That being said, I need to area rugs desperately! If anyone has some they'd like to sell PLEASE let me know! I'm not being especially picky about colors obviously.

Other than that, we are looking forward to getting settled into the new abode and I can't wait to get Caris's nursery set up. It's driving me crazy seeing all her bedding still in the bag and the crib disassembled all over the place. P.S. I bought a beautiful white crib when I was in AL that I can't wait to see assembled and "dressed" up. Will post pics of that as well when I get around to it. 7 weeks until my due date! Baby Caris is looking good and I go back to the doc Nov. 19th!

A new one...

So I haven't been in the mood to blog in a while, and actually still don't really feel like it at the moment, but I have a lot to update so I might as well just do it. First and foremost, I'm now 6 1/2 months along closing in on 7 months. Me and baby girl are doing well. My small annoyance for the week is actually a little nausea. I'm not sure where it's coming from but the past 3-4 days I've been leveled with nausea at least once a day. But I suppose if that's the worst of this pregnancy thus far I won't complain too much. Tegan and I have been busy cleaning out her room (i.e. old clothes, toys, etc) for the past week. We organized and packed up all of her old clothes into space bags separated into sizes, which freed up the spare dresser in her room. That dresser is going into the baby's room along with the recliner and changing table. So, Tegan's room is looking very empty at the moment which is good considering....we're moving. Again. Yes yes, we applied for on-post housing about 2 months ago and hadn't heard back from them so we had pretty much scratched that as a possibility since it's getting pretty close to my due date at this point. I called yesterday to see where we were at on the waiting list and they had us on hold-status for some unknown reason. This worked out though, because they made us a housing offer while I was on the phone and our approximate move-in date is Oct. 31 (give or take a week). And the other good news is the Army is paying for it...which means very little packing for me! Yay!! I was doubting our ability to move things ourselves with me being unable to move pretty much anything this late in pregnancy, so that was definitely a blessing. Our soon-to-be new home isn't much to look at from the outside, it's pretty much your basic Army housing, but the neighborhood housing we got has the best floor plan. It's a 3-bedroom 2 1/2 bath, 2 story duplex with garage and fenced backyard. It's at the end of a cul-de-sac and has a park down the street. Here's the floorplan; it makes more sense than me trying to explain it.
So far we've figured out that the dining room and master bedroom are bigger than we have now, so we are pretty sure the overall layout is actually larger than what we have now. Plus, we'll be saving a lot of money staying on post and it will be easier on me taking care of the kiddos by myself. Wish us luck with the move!

Tegan is growing like a weed! She is now 20 months old and talking my ears off!! She can say ball, wall, walk, outside, bounce, go, juice, flies, hi, bye, what's that, where'd it go, eyes, nose, mouth, cheese, shoes, rawwrrr (as in, "what's a lion say?"), bees, car, choo-choo, truck, vroom-vroom (like a car), Pooh, and probably several other things I can't remember. She figures out something new everyday I think. She's pretty much running at this point also. No more wobbly-legged toddler. But all-in-all, she's a good girl. She listens most of the time, she rarely whines or cries. And seldom has tantrums, I just hope she keeps it up! She loves to help with things, even if she doesn't quite know how to do it. Right now she's in a phase where she loves to close doors, whether we want them closed or not. Which has resulted in her locking herself in our bedroom twice now. She's a funny kid.

As for Charles' deployment, we still don't have a set date that he's leaving but we know it's going to be around the end of December. He first day of duty with his new unit is October 24th, so at that point we will know more. All we know so far is he's going with 5th Special Forces group, to Iraq, towards the end of Dec. When I know more I'll update. It's going to be a busy next 2 months here but it will be nice once it's over with. Oh wait, no, it's not really going to slow down. Me + Tegan (20 months old) + Caris (soon-to-be newborn) DOES NOT equal a peaceful next several months! haha oh well! I just realized I never updated that we picked out a name...sooo, it's Caris Mackenzie! And her nursery is going to be brown/white/pink with monkeys. Girl monkeys. As in, monkeys with pink flowers on their heads. I just started paintings for her room and I'll post pics when I finish. I think that's all for now! Phew!

Tegan and all her teeth! She's only missing 2 now.

Tegan eating her first Happy Meal...you can call me a bad parent if you want to, I don't care!
She won't be eating it everyday that's for sure!

The gremlin. She likes to help me type.

Serious face.
Happy face.

It's a GIRL!

In case anyone has heard already, we had our ultrasound this morning! And it's another GIRL! :)

We're so excited...the ultrasound tech said as far as she can tell everything looks good. Only problem is the baby was laying tummy-down so they could view where the umbilical cord connects to the baby so I may have to go in at a later date for them to check that, but that's only because of the baby's position, not because there's something wrong. So all is well!

It's about time for me to start organizing the spare bedroom and cleaning out baby clothes from Tegan's room. She has an entire dresser that is being used solely for clothing that is too small for her. So, we are moving the dresser into the baby's room and putting a good bit of the clothing in the garage for later use. Still have to find somewhere for the computer...who knows where. The dining room is looking pretty promising at the moment. Other than that, I already got a pack-n-play. We never really needed one with Tegan since my mom already has one, but I found a cute one at a yard sale for a good deal. That pretty much leaves me with a crib, mattress and bedding left to buy. Tegan's crib is a 3-stage crib, so it will convert to a toddler bed here very soon. I'm hoping to purchase another one like it, so I've kept my eyes open for one on the army post's yard sale website. And still have to nail down a baby name...we already have 1 in mind in particular, but have to match it with a middle name. Tegan is doing well with the news (ha!)...I told her mommy has a baby in her belly and Tegan proceeded to lift my shirt and put her baby doll under it. Yes, clearly she gets it. :) Perhaps by the time the baby gets here...

That's all for now! Keeps us in your prayers!

Happy 4th of July!

It's been busy busy busy in the Lockett household the past couple of weeks!! Lots to update and little time to do it. So, here's my friday night! Went to the doctor last week and the baby is doing great, heart beat is strong! We find out July 27th what we're having. Can't wait to find out so I can really get into baby-mode. It still feels so surreal...I think it will really sink in once we find out what we're having and can pick out a name and nursery theme. All that fun stuff! Right now I'm in the process of finding some second-hand baby furniture to cut down on expenses. There's just so much baby stuff around this place with all the Army families here. It shouldn't be hard to find! My belly is starting to protrude a little bit. No one else notices much except me. I suppose because no one else feels my pants getting more snug by the day! I started feeling the baby move in the past week. Not really noticeable yet, but I do feel it when I lay down at night and stay still. Can I just say I'm SOOO ready for July 4th to be over with?? Not to sound unpatriotic, but there are probably 100 kids in our small neighborhood who have all been shooting off firewords EVERY NIGHT for over a week now. It's now 9:30pm and they've just gotten started for the night. I can look out the window and see at least 5 houses in my immediate view shooting them off. This does not make for a happy Tegan, who is at the moment being weaned from her paci. Ugh. It's hard enough to get her to fall asleep so I'd be very thankful if they'd let her stay that way. :) Wishful thinking...

In other news, per my last post, I've been looking for a way to make some extra $$$ to start getting baby stuff, etc, etc. I really didn't want to have to get back out there and find a "job" job, because I really enjoy getting to spend this time with Tegan. I realize everyday how quickly she's growing and it's hard to miss out on. So, with that in mind, I set out to try my skills in babysitting. Yes, I do have 1 child, but I wouldn't consider myself an expert babysitter by any means. But, nonetheless, I posted an ad for babysitting on Craigslist and with 48h hours found a willing family to lend me their children for a small fee. Tegan gets playmates, I get to stay

home, and I make money. Doesn't get much better than that in my book. I posted the ad on Thursday (last Thursday) and the kids started coming here on Monday. So, I've just finished my first week and I think it went pretty well. Introducing my newly acquired wee-ones....

First, there's Destonie (6 years old), then there's little Miracle (almost 2). I'm pretty sure the latter is at least 1/4 - 1/2 monster. She may look innocent in the picture, but please believe, she's a handful. Miracle does not believe, under any circumstance, in the power of sharing. Period. Destonie on the other hand is my little helper, although she tends to drive me bananas most hours of the day. She does not easily entertain herself, therefore tends to cling to me as her own personal source of minute-by-minute amusement. Their parents are both in the Army, so I watch them from 5am-5pm. Usually when the kids get here around 5 they go straight back to bed (notice I said "usually"). There are days when they refuse to sleep in and promptly march downstairs at 6am. This makes for a long day. All in all it's working out well...they come Monday-Friday so it's full-time, but I still get to spend time with Tegan, so it's worth it! I'll end my post with some new pics finally! Enjoy!

Tegan's last day with her paci!

My 2 little monsters somewhat behaving.

This is Tegan's new favorite game to play with Dada...

Dada sticks his face in the rails, Tegan pushes it away. Proceed to giggles...

Tegan's usual spot watching her Winnie the Pooh.

Pool time!!!

I just love her!

My baby girl knocked out after a hard day of playing in the pool. Here, she is snoring like a baby Pug. So cute.

Tegan and Dada relaxing.

Tegan and I at Charles' family fun day on post.

I can pull her hair back now...wow.

Looking to make some extra cash...

If you know someone who needs some freelance art work/graphic design work done, please let me know!! :)

No need for a title...

In case you haven't noticed, I have not been in the mood to write blogs. Sorry to disappoint. Here are some more recent pictures from Easter I forgot to post...

As for Tegan, she is running around like a mad woman. She now has 6 teeth with more on the way and she has quite a little personality. With a little temper thrown in there. Anyone know how to deal with a back-arching kicking toddler please let me know. She is so amazingly headstrong and independent it's admirable. Other than that, she is wonderful! Baby #2 is doing well also..I go back to the doc June 24th, then for the major ultrasound July 27th. I'm in my 13th week right now so officially in my 2nd trimester next week. Still feeling great, no morning sickness and very few migraines. It makes me feel like I'm not even pregnant, which is nice compared to last time. Anyways, that's all the update I feel like doing. :)

Happy Mother's Day!!

Just want to wish everyone a Happy Mother's Day!! Tegan and I are enjoying a peaceful day at home...I can't believe it's my 2nd Mother's Day and Baby #2 is on the way. It just keeps getting better and better! :) Hope everyone has a blessed Mother's Day!

Whew.

It's been a crazy past week or so. I suppose I can start at the beginning...
Thursday, April 30th. 7:00pm.
Getting ready to put Tegan to bed, and I feel dampness. Yep, I started bleeding. Yikes, right? RIGHT, as this is usually a first indication of miscarriage I start freaking out. I immediately call the Dr. who informs me I need to go to the ER promptly. I spend the next 6 hours at ER at Fort Campbell waiting for an ultrasound tech to perform a sonogram on me to find out if baby is okay. Since it's after hours, they had to call someone to come in. My first question is this...why would you wait until 12:00am to call someone when I arrived at 7:00pm?? This is the only thing they had to test me with!? Who knows.
Let me backtrack...I get to the ER. They do triage, ask my due date, etc. The moron nurse somehow thought I said 8.5 MONTHS pregnant, not 8.5 WEEKS. She sends me to labor and delivery. They, obviously, send me right back to the ER seeing as how I am clearly not ready to deliver a baby. IV's, urine samples and a migraine later I'm still waiting for the ultrasound tech. He shows up around 12:30am and gets right to it. Baby is okay. Heart beat is great. No clue why I'm bleeding. They give me some measly tylenol for my migraine and send me home directing me to return to the doc monday for lab tests to make sure my hormone levels are still increasing. Luckily, come Monday, they are. But the doc decides she still wants to do another ultrasound to make sure baby is still okay. But OF COURSE, I have to make an appt for the next day and come back for that. It would be too easy to do it right then and there. So, Tuesday is trip #3 to the same hospital in 4 days. Ultrasound shows baby is fine but that I am only now at 8 weeks along rather than 9. This puts my due date at Dec. 15th. Tegan had her 15 month check-up Wednesday, so this is now my 4th trip to the doctor in almost as many days. Ugh. Tegan is doing just fine, but having her in daycare for the past 2 days while I run to the doctor has caused her to come down with a cold. Hopefully this doesn't result in a subsequent trip to the doctor next week. I return for another appt the 21st of this month for my routine physical exam, oh joy! Anyways, that's about all I have to report. Right now I'm getting caught up on uploading my home movies to the computer finally! Wish me luck!

Big news...

Finally an update...at least a brief one...

Sooo big news! We have another bun in the oven! Yep, just call me Britney. I'm 8 1/2 weeks along, making the due date December 6th, tentatively. I went to the doctor on base yesterday for the usual lab work up and they said once I have my ultrasound around 18-20 weeks they will give me a more solid due date. So far, I don't feel pregnant. The only thing is I've been a little extra tired, but other than that I'm feeling great. I just hope it holds out! I would be very blessed to be without morning sickness this time around. I got Tegan enrolled in some hourly daycare on post which is awesome! Because of the unit Charles is in we get a discount so it's only $2/hr. And I can use it Mon-Fri 8-5 anytime I need it. Which makes doctor visits much less stressful! Not to mention she gets to have playtime with some other kids! Yesterday she made some artwork while she was there. Too cute! I can't believe she can hold a marker muchless get it to the paper. So proud! :)

We're both thinking the baby is another girl...but obviously that's just speculation. Everyone else has said "girl" except Jess. And as she said, she has guessed right her last 3 times guessing, so who knows? Either way we don't care, as long as it's healthy! I can't wait for Tegan to have a little playmate!

On to other news, Charles was told Tuesday that he would be leaving today (thursday) for Virginia Beach, VA for 2 weeks of training. Ugh, he just got back from 3 weeks of Airborne school in GA. But oh well. This time he's doing special ops training with his unit, a Ranger unit and a Special Forces unit, so I'm sure it will be interesting. Also, he is up for promotion next month which is very exciting, and once he gets promoted he is putting in his packet for Warrant Officer! Yippee! Say some prayers especially for that to come through! Charles left this morning and will be back 2 weeks from now, which prompted me to take a trip to the library yesterday! YAY for plenty of reading time for me! Since Tegan goes to bed at 7:30 I have to find ways to keep myself entertained. And TV only goes so far! So Les Miserables here I come! I went to the library on base yesterday and they didn't have ANY of the TEN books I wanted to read, so I decided to hit up the classics. They are classics for a reason right? I'm taking suggestions if you have any...

Hope everyone is doing well and keep all of us in your prayers!!

I know...

I'm not doing very well keeping up the blog right now. I KNOW! Sorry...anyways, things have been BUSY BUSY BUSY around here. Quit my job..YAY! Nope, don't have another one lined up...Charles is in GA at Airborne school right now learning the correct Army procedure for leaping out of a perfectly good airplane. Don't ask me why, I don't get it either. As long as it's him and not me. Anyways, he's there for 3 weeks and in the meantime Tegan and I are hanging out in Clarksville. Will be headed down to AL this week sometime. Not sure when. Don't have time to update pics right now. I'm working on freelance work. YAY! I'll update soon, I promise.

Tegan's Birthday Cont'd...

I finally uploaded the rest of my pics from Tegan's birthday weekend and a video of me singing her an annoying wake-up "Happy Birthday" song. Not annoying because it's her birthday but annoying because I'm singing. Just watch the video...it's self-explanatory. And also pardon the annoying baby voice. I'm trying to cut down on that. I also added a pic from Valentine's Day. Since we felt bad about asking our regular sitter to watch Tegan on V-Day, we decided to plan a night at home. Charles cooked breakfast and got me roses and chocolate. I cooked dinner which was supposed to be delicious but wasn't. Not my fault. I went to the commissary because they supposedly have good meat. Wrong. I bought a pork tenderloin (teryaki style because it's our favorite) and the brand I bought (Smithfield) was TERRIBLE!!! Ugh..we took one bite each and threw the rest of it out. I'm not joking. It was fully cooked but had the texture of either uncooked meat or that nasty congealed fake ham you buy at the store. GROSS! So anyways, I had also purchased 2 Tombstone pizzas for us to snack on the next day...these did not make it to the next day. We wound up eating them for dinner instead. Oh well..so anyways, we lit candles and got dressed up and pretended we were going out to eat. If we were actually out to eat, I would have sent my dinner back. So yeah, the moral of this story is do not buy Smithfield pork tenderloins. Now, on to the pictures and videos...

Can I just say I WISH I looked like I just came back from the Bahamas? Ugh, such pretty skin she has. So jealous. I still can't believe she's big enough to stand there. Where did the time go??Me and my handsome Valentine!

1st birthday!

Tegan is now officially a "toddler". Wow what a year it's been. She has so much personality for such a small person. In the past few months she has started to be quite sassy. It's hard to describe but she is definitely a very independent child. She does not like to be forced into anything. Period. And she has no qualms with announcing that fact. But she is also very sweet and kind and funny. She loves to bring you all of her toys to show you, and she loves to give hugs and kisses. And most of all she loves to dance. She definitely takes after Charles in that matter. I couldn't have imagined the amount of joy and happiness she brings to our family. She is such a blessing and we're so thankful to have little Tegan in our life. So without further ado, her 1st birthday party was quite fun! My mom came up and we had our friends Linda and Jace (from previous post) over. They bough her some new jammies and some stacking blocks and some little plastic blocks that connect to each other. She also got books and DVDs and finger paint (no, she will not be playing with this just yet!!) and lots of other goodies! We made chocolate cupcakes with chocolate icing and pink sprinkles for the occasion, and Tegan LOVED it. Not quite as much as Jace, but she loved it! My mom brought her new wagon up here, so we took her for a stroll around the neighborhood and she didn't quit grinning the whole trip. It's a pretty fancy wagon, complete with cupholders and seat backs with seatbelts. Way more fancy than what we had! We also went to the park on post and Tegan got to swing and go down the slides for the first time (with me holding her). I suppose that's about all I have to update, but we did take lots of pictures....

Before.After.

Before.After.

Blowing kisses!

She hates it when I take her toys. :)HAHAHA I just love this picture!