You Can Never Be Too Prepared!

Well, it seems like all my preggie friends have been popping their little babies out early these days.  First, my friend Leah and also my bloggy friend, Ashleigh.  It's funny...Leah and I were emailed a list of things to pack on the Thursday before the Memorial Day weekend.  Well, Leah ended up having her baby the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend and I don't believe she ever got to pack all of her stuff in time.

With everyone telling me they think I'm going to pop early, I figured I'd get everything ready just in case.  Before going to work this morning, I'd loaded the bags I packed for myself and for the baby in the trunk of the Jeep.  Notice I also have the baby's car seat ready to go as well.  Yup...I'm not taking any chances!  I'm going to be ready!

I spoke to Malu while I was at work today (I love when he calls me at work.  It always brightens my day) and I told him about all of this and then mentioned that he was "on his own" as far as packing his own bag :)  But really, he can last in the same outfit at the hospital overnight.  He's high-speed like that.  I love you darling!

But hey...if anyone out there wants a copy of that packing list, just let me know! 

Getting to Know You Sunday!

Happy Sunday everyone!  Well, Lucy and I are back at our house now.  We sure do miss Bucky Boy over at Auntie Daisy's house though, but are happy to be back in the comfort of our own home. 

This morning, Lucy and I woke up early to go for her walk.  We almost have to these days because it hits over 90 degrees by 0900.  Ridiculous and unbearable!  This morning, we stumbled upon a coyote and her baby at the field that we usually walk around, but they scurried off as soon as they saw us.  It was a pretty sight though.  And that little baby coyote was soooo cute!

Anyway, it's Getting to Know You Sunday at Keely's, so head on over to http://www.mannland5.com/ to get linked up.  All you do is answer the questions below:

1. If a person has a booger in their nose. and you can see it, do you tell them?  If it's a family member or close friend, I do.

2. What are you passionate about?  I'm extremely passionate about my work and my family.

3. How long have you been blogging?  I started blogging in mid-2008.  Wow...two years!  I can't believe it's been that long already!  Thanks to my friend, Melissa, for getting me started.

4. What is your favorite "summer" drink?  OMG...I find myself going to Sonic for a Route 44-sized Cherry Limeade almost every other day because it's so freakin' hot around here.  And gotta have the H20 handy--lots of it!

5. What is your favorite type of music?  I like all kinds...hip hop, R&B, country, even some rock.

6. Something I do before I go to bed is......?  Think about and pray for my hubby, go through my to-do list for the next day, and these days...take a cold shower just to get comfy.

7. My Summer vacation plans are...?  Just to have this baby and to (hopefully) share the experience with my husband.

8. My favorite must have, can't live without, beauty product is?  Quite honestly, I'm not big on make up or any other beauty products.  As long as I've got some smell-nice kinda lotion, I'm good.

Well, it's time for me to get ready for church!  Have a great one guys!

~Farmer's Market~

I spent this beautiful El Paso Saturday morning at Ardovino's Desert Crossing Farmer's Market.  Minutes away from downtown El Paso, local artisans and farmers sell their fine wares and fresh produce here and I absolutely love to go to peruse, taste, and enjoy the scenery.  Here are some pictures of my lovely morning!

In El Paso, you hardly see trees, let alone flowers.  These were so vibrant and beautiful, I just had to take a picture.

The next time I go, I'm taking Lucy with me.  There were several other dogs and lots of the vendors had fresh bowls of water handy.

At just about every farmer's market or craft fair I've been to El Paso, are these handmade soaps and I'm always a sucker for buying a few bars, only today was an exception.  I still have several that I got from the La Vina Wine Festival two months ago.

Every time I see these I want to buy one, but I don't quite know what to do with it other than hang it on the door--and I've already got several wreaths.  I just love taking pictures of them.  They're so pretty.

Some lovely, fresh herbs.

I did, however, walk away with a jar of some delcious apple butter to go with my morning toast/bagel as well as some peach salsa.  I had later purchased a breakfast burrito there and experimented with my peach salsa and it was to die for!

If it weren't for the fact that I didn't already own one of these African hand-woven baskets (which I purchased in Pueblo, Colorado), I probably would have splurged on another one.

And finally, the view from my breakfast table.  Isn't it simply lovely?  When I thought of living in El Paso over a year ago, I thought...yuck...desert!  But it didn't take me long to realize how much beauty there is around this place...from the Franklin Mountains, to the Rio Grande, and all the way to this quaint farmer's market at Ardovino's Desert Crossing.  I'm definitely going back one more time before the summer's out!

And now I'm officially worn out and taking a nap for the next few hours.  I hope everyone's weekend is off to a great start!

~Hunter James~

Last night, I was able to stop by Leah and Jay's house to meet their new bundle of joy--Hunter James!  He was born over the Memorial Day Weekend (last Sunday) and is 6 lbs, 19 inches long, and just the cutest thing ever. 

I had the chance to hold him in my arms for a good long time and what a great baby!  So quiet and well behaved (at least for now, I believe!).  I used to be terrified to hold newborn babies, and judging by how I didn't want to let go of this little guy, I'd say I'm officially ready for our little bundle of joy to enter this world :)

Leah and Jay were happy to report that they made it though their first night (which was the night before last) unscathed.  So all is well.  Congratulations again to both of you and may God be with all of you as you begin your new journey though parenthood!

Fill in the Blank Friday!

It's been a long week and a long day, and I am exhausted.  As a matter of fact, when I finally got home from work today, I crashed on the couch only to wake up about an hour ago to take the dogs for a walk.  Craziness!

Before Friday is officially over here in El Paso, I wanted to squeeze Lauren's Fill in the Blank Friday in! 

Today's theme is all about traveling, which is so appropriate for all the summer vacationing going on.  Oh, how I wish I was on a vacation of my own!   But those of you who have visited my blog before know what to do....if you want to participate cut, paste and answer these questions in into a blog post of your own and head over to Lauren's blog to get linked up!

1.  My dream vacation would be going to Greece with either my husband or my best girlfriends.  I've been dying to go to Greece ever since the Olympics and reading the "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" series!

2.  The best trip I've ever taken was to Europe in the summer of 2005.  My best friend Chrissy and I spent our R&R from Iraq visiting Germany, Italy, and France.  We lodged at Garmisch and took the Eurail from there.  It was the best ever!  And I can't believe I'll be going to Europe to live!  I wish I could post a picture or two of the trip, but they're on a disc at my house.

3.  The most important items to take on a road trip are a cooler full of drinks and your favorite snacks and foods, some magazines/books, a GPS, and a car safety kit complete with flares, blankets, tools, and jump cables.  Seriously, Malu made sure I got one of those bad boys a long time ago!

4.  The next trip I'm looking forward to is taking Vaiosina to meet all of her family in Colorado, Utah, Hawaii and Samoa.  Malu and I are planning to do this after he gets back from Iraq in the fall.

5.  If I had to pick one CD to listen to on a long trip it would be a mix CD with our favorites--island music, some Top 40, John Mayer, Jack Johnson, etc. We both like to bring music that we can sing to. 

6.  The biggest disaster I've ever encountered while traveling was locking my keys in the trunk of our Jeep on the way back from a trip to Colorado.  It was not long before I left for Iraq--around last October.  I was alone and at a rest stop 150 miles from El Paso.  I had to call USAA's roadside assistance to come to unlock the car.  The closest locksmith they could find me was in Alberquerque, NM--two hours away from the rest stop I was at.  It was late afternoon, around 3:30 and not too much longer from sunset.  Thank goodness it wasn't too cold, but all I had on me was a towel, pants, a t-shirt and hoodie and my cell phone, which I was also relieved to have.  It was so scary being the only one there at times, with the exception of a few questionable truckers.  And once the locksmith got there, the Jeep was unlocked in 2 minutes and off I went. 

7.  My favorite traveling memory is going cross-country zillions of times with my mom, dad, brother and sister.  We drove from post to post rather than fly and have been to over half the 50 States. 

Hope you guys have a great weekend and if you're traveling...may God be with you and your families and keep you safe until you return home!

Thursday Five

Sweet!!!  It's that time again.  It's time to tell you guys about five things that happened over the week that has made me feel all kinds of wonderful!  So let's get on with it!

If you want to participate, head on over to Keely's at http://www.mannland5.com/ to get linked.

1.  Participating in Kimberly's Apron Swap.  I've been partnered up with Christina over at Mommy Brain and have until tomorrow to send her a cool apron. So guess what I'm doing tonight?  Last time, Kimberly hosted a Flip Flop Swap and I loved it.  I can't wait to see what everyone ends up with.  If  you wanted to, you could also swap tea towels, but I'm just going with the apron. 

2.  Dogsitting/house sitting for my Auntie Daisy.  This means that I have two doggies to take care of while Auntie Daisy is vacationing in Las Vegas with her family (until Friday).  Their chocolate lab, Buck, is one of Lucy's great friends.

3.  Yesterday, my XO's wife and good friend, Shelly, brought me a gift for Vaiosina.  You know those fleece blankets that you tie together all around the edges to make a cool fringe?  She made me one that's pink with multi-colored polka dots. I took a picture, but messed it up somehow and wish I could post it. I'm going to try to make one one of these days.  Thanks to Shelly and family for the gift.  And I should just mention that if someone is supermom, she is. She's got four beautiful kids!

4.  Seeing Chester this morning before he went out to the field.  The entire brigade is out on a field training exercise and Chester got to go too.  They'll be gone for almost three weeks!  He's going to lose all the weight he gained from staying at my house this past weekend. 

5.  My friend Leah gets to take her baby, Hunter, home with her for the first time today.  She gave birth to him this past Sunday, but he had to be monitored at a separate hospital for something having to do with his blood.  He was going to stay until the weekend, but gets to go today.  I'm so happy for them.

And....tomorrow is FRIDAY!!!  Enjoy everyone!

~32 Weeks~

Hey guys!  I officially hit my 32nd week of pregnancy tomorrow.  So this is a picture of Vaiosina and I this past weekend.  My friends say it looks as if Vaiosina has dropped and now they're convinced that I'm going to have her early.  I wouldn't believe it so much if the people telling me this didn't have 2 or more children!  Even my boss told me, just before he left today, that I look big for a lady at 7 1/2 months pregnant.  How cool would it be if she came early?

Anyway, today I had a follow-up doctor's appointment and I'd asked the nurse/midwife if she thought I looked like I was going to pop early or if I appeared to have dropped.  And she said, "nope, you're right where you need to be!"  And that's good to hear too.  The baby's heartbeat was as strong as ever and all is well.  And since I started going to this hospital, I've gained a total of 14 pounds.  Not too bad, eh?  Well, if I mentioned my total weight I think I might scare people off...so I won't do that. 

Other things to note about my pregnancy thus far:  the baby is as active as ever!  She's moving around like crazy, even at the wee hours of the morning, which doesn't make it easy for me to wake up for work!  And sleeping...is as uncomfortable as ever.  I get numb all the time and have to switch from side to side.  I sure miss sleeping on my back and on my stomach. Up to now, I'm surprised that I haven't had any weird food cravings, like watermelons with peanut butter on it (yes, someone told me they've had this craving), but I am eating up the sweets like crazy (yes, still!).  And remember how I mentioned those stretch marks last time?  I've been using Palmer's stretch marks lotion as well as baby oil and they seem to be getting lighter!  So definitely recommend to the other mommies or expectant mommies out there!

Another appointment in 4 weeks.  I can't believe we have less than 60 days left!  Yay!