Update...

Hi all --
Well, we went to the doctor this morning & we're not going to induce until Thursday. I felt like I wanted to give the baby a few more days to come on its own & from there we can induce. My folks can usually be here with no problem, but these two days aren't working b/c my mom had to take a class for work. SO, they pushed us to Thursday. My dad & mom will come back tomorrow night and stay until Mom J comes on Thursday. That way, in case the baby decides to make an earlier showing (earlier -- HAHAHA!) we will have people here that Abby is comfortable being left overnight with. Now that I have made these arrangements, I'm sure the baby will come tonight or tomorrow...you know what, I'm okay with that!!! I'm REALLY okay with the baby coming ASAP! We are in the middle of some big thunderstorms, so maybe the change in pressure will help?? We are praying like crazy that the baby comes soon & we can welcome our new little arrival into the family. We'll let you know if we have news before Thursday...
Bye for now,
B

Still waiting...

Hi again --
Well, I wish I could give you different news, but here's what we know. My cervix is not really cooperating...I'm 2cm dialated & 75% effaced, so there you have it. My blood pressure was up a bit & I gained an amazing 6 pounds. Brad assures me it's water weight. Needless to say, I am feeling really perky again today. They stripped my membranes & we'll see what happens over the weekend. If this is TMI, you probably haven't been around many pregnant women...this is just a smidge of what I could share with you! Anyhow, on Monday, I will go back for another check & we'll proceed from there. The game plan would be to start all the induction procedures either Monday night or Tuesday morning...just depends on my crazy cervix. I am still hopeful that the baby will come naturally before we have to induce, but we'll see. So, think happy baby thoughts for the weekend! That's what we will be doing...

Waiting on Baby...

Hi all --
I would attach a LARGE picture of myself, but I don't have any recent ones. Trust me; I want you to see me in all the baby glory!! I will preface this entry by saying that I am SO HAPPY to be welcoming a new baby into our little family and that it's truly a blessing. Any negativity you might detect has everything to do with pregnancy hormones & gaining almost 70 pounds (yes, you read that right!) -- oh, and I'm past my due date. We are now due date +1...and I know I seem dramatic. Trust me, I have heard all the stories about how people have gone 2 weeks and then been induced and it still takes 2 days. Well, I was naive. I wanted it to be like it was with Abby -- 6 days early with a 3-hour labor. So sue me. So here I am waiting & I'm not so pleasant. I want to be, but at this point, I am just not feeling good. I managed to hurt my back early last week & it hasn't been the same since. I really want to be healthy again & be able to stand up without having to go to the bathroom. You should hear me getting out of bed...poor Brad. He is being a trooper. I am now crying quite a bit & he has to put up with me rolling over in bed and getting up 50+ times a night to go to the bathroom. :) He is ready to be done with pregnant Brooke. Pregnant Brooke is not lots of fun & I have been pregnant almost the entire time he's been home from his last deployment, so I do feel his pain! Anyhow, I am doing my best to keep up with phone calls & updating everyone, but I did take a nap today & yesterday, so I'm a little behind. We will let you all know when there is some news!! Doctor's appointment tomorrow, so we'll update after that...
Bye for now,
B

FSBO

It's time! This is our house & it's for sale! We have been at Scott AFB for almost 3 years...time goes by so quickly. We are moving again -- you won't believe where we're off to this time...KOREA! This will probably be one of our more interesting assignments. We are excited to be together as a family & to have Daddy home with us. Our Ops Tempo will be high, but as with all our assignments, we're going to make the best of it & enjoy every minute that we can. Travel from Korea should take us places we never thought we'd see. We've thrown around going to China, Japan, Hawaii, Australia, Thailand...and from what we understand, there are plenty of fun things to do within driving distance. We will just have to see what works inbetween all the civil engineer excitement at Osan! Brad is happy to be getting back into the swing of things, but we have a couple of important occurences going on between now & then. Selling the house is one of them & WE ARE STILL waiting on baby. :) Here are a couple of listings on our house. Anyone interested?

http://www.militarybyowner.com/listings/tourplus.asp?F_BASE_ID=128&F_STATE=IL&LISTING_ID=63245

http://www.realtor.com/search/listingdetail.aspx?zp=62269&mnp=23&mxp=22&bd=5&typ=7&sid=fd806edc53804badba1d3cfb38e2496e&pg=2&lid=1097360777&lsn=16&srcnt=29#Detail

(this one has the sq footage wrong...it's supposed to be 2750!)

I can't wait to take a happy Spring picture with green grass & flowers, but we're waiting on everything to get green!! I will post a baby update a little later on...I'm quite antsy about it & having a hard time with waiting, so I will try to get happy & then write something. :)
Bye for now,
Brooke

Grandma Lene's Birthday!

Abby loves a birthday party! She wanted to make PINK cupcakes with (you guessed it!) PINK icing! :) We waited a few days extra and got to celebrate Grandma's birthday with GG Betty, Uncle Bob, Uncle Jan & Aunt Cathy! It was fun & Abby got to sing Happy Birthday to Grandma many, MANY times! :)

Snow Dog

Here is Indy dog! Poor guy...doesn't get a lot of press these days! We get the occassional photo, but not like when he was a puppy -- BEFORE Abby! :) He loves the snow! It is so fun to see him run around all crazy, turning circles in the backyard! He likes to go out 50+ times & must be dried off after each time! It gets old, but it's worth it to see him loving the snow SO much!

Princess Piggy Bank...

We saw this at Target & fell in love with it! :) Daddy snuck out & bought it for her special night! Abby has been adding lots of money to it. You have to watch her ... she just picks it up & puts it in the piggy! If you can't see it, the pig has a pink tutu on, along with the crown!

THE Bed!

Here it is! It is pink enough for her! The sheets & the blanket are pink, so that makes it extra special. She has not fallen out of it one time & LOVES it. We're so thankful she has taken so well to the Big Girl Room! :) We did have some issues with her waking up early, but we have been setting an alarm so she knows when she can leave the room. So far, so good! We'll see how the time change goes!

Big Girl Bed Party!

We finally did it ... the bed got here, so we went ahead & got it set up. Mommy was going to make a quilt, but that didn't end up happening! Daddy found a super cute quilt at Bed Bath & Beyond -- Abby was HAPPY. We celebrated with a special dinner, pink cupcakes, balloons, Grandma & Papa! FUN!

Abby's New Buddy

Abby has a few new friends ... well, we all do! The Palens moved here from Washington state. We met them through our mutual friends the Simmons. Abby is very fond of William & Daniel ... Ms. Sarah too! Sarah can go through all the tunnels at McDonald's & Mommy can't, so she's very popular!