Lena has a new toy!

Lena is going to be 8 weeks old tomorrow! She is beginning to notice more things and want to play with some toys, so I brought out her little play mat with floating toys. She loves it (and so does Corky)! Here are a few pictures of her having play time :)

I love school supplies

Tomorrow, August 25th, is my first day of graduate school! Originally Ricky and I planned that I would do an ERD (Early Return of Dependant) in order to go to grad school at USF to get my master's degree in school counseling. Then, we found out we were pregnant and I thought my plans for school were going to be put on hold. But, Ricky and I decided that I would go back any way! Why not?! We figure it is a good use of the time he is deployed and it will keep me busy...really really busy. I'm taking two classes and I will attend class two times a week in the evening and my mom is going to watch Lena. I'm excited about going back to school but after attending the orientation last week I am a bit intimidated after their "you're going to work harder than you ever have in your life speech," YIKES! I have my back pack ready and pencils sharpened! Wish me luck! :)

We meet again, old friend...

As of last Thursday, I have been given the green light to start exercising again! YIPPEE! I have been running...well jogging...for a week now and it has been glorious! For those of you who know me know how I love to run! I was able to run until I was 7 1/2 months pregnant, but then had to stop because it got a wee bit uncomfortable. So, it's been a long 4 months or so. If I had to describe my first couple runs with one word it would be "jiggly." Yeah, I have a little bit of Lena chub to work off! :) I'm so happy to be reunited with my old friend...the running shoes.

Sock Monkey

A few days ago a package showed up at my door that had this little critter in it among other cool gifts for Lena. This package came from my dear friend Jessie who I met in Germany and whose husband is also deployed right now. I was nearly in tears (what's new?!) when I saw this little guy because I immediately recognized that he was made out of Army socks. It might sound dumb, but for those of you with a deployed husband, you know how comforting seeing some Army gear in your home can be...even if it is in the shape of a sock monkey. Jessie hand made this little monkey herself and I absolutely adore it, and I'm going to pressure Lena to make this her favorite toy :) haha. Thank you so much Jessie for your thoughtfulness, it really made my day. And I totally think you should start mass producing these bad boys and make some serious cash!

Ricky update!

On August 1st Ricky changed out of his command. He had been commanding A co. 2-6 Infantry since February 2008 and his time was up. Command was Ricky's dream job that he had wanted since he joined the Army and he loved every stressful minute of it. Ricky did such an amazing job as a commander and I couldn't be more proud of him. The picture to the right is Ricky (down in front) with all of his A co. men that he proudly led.

Now Ricky has gotten a new job and has moved from COP (Combat Out Post) Carver to another COP which was in worse shape than his last one! He went from sleeping in a little cargo container to sleeping in a tent. Boo! His new job is less stressful which is great! I'm not entirely sure exactly what his new job entails, but I know it involves him doing a lot of work with the local Iraq folk working as a liaison type person. I'll clarify this when I find out exactly what it is that he's doing. I don't know if Ricky even knows for sure yet.

With this change of job and location, Ricky's address has changed a little. If you already have his address, just change the first line from A co. TF 2-6IN to HHC TF 2-6IN. The rest of the address is still the same. If you do not have his address but want it to send him goodies, email me at Janorina@aol.com I don't want to post it on the blog... I don't know what kind of people may get a hold of it... you never know.

Lena is 1 month old!

On August 3rd Lena turned 1 month old! In celebration of her 1 month birthday I went out to dinner and a movie with my friend and grandma babysat! ha! It was GREAT to have a break and have an evening out, I really needed it. Lena has her 1 month Dr. appointment this Thursday, so I'll be sure to report how she's doing. Last week she weighed in at 7lbs 7 ounces, so she is growing well. Things are getting a teeny bit easier and I feel like I'm getting the hang of this whole parent thing. Lena and I definitely have more good days than bad now which is refreshing. But, this parenting thing is definitely more challenging than I thought it would be. Throughout pregnancy people kept telling me how hard it is to have a newborn and how sleep deprived I was going to be, but I always thought to myself, "No, that's just your baby, my baby isn't going to be like that." YEAH RIGHT! People were trying to prepare me, but I was in complete denial. I'm not in denial anymore!

Here is what Lena has accomplished in her first month:

1. she had her first trip to the mall

2. she grabbed at her first dangling toy, a caterpillar

3. she gave me her first real smile while we were playing "attack of the kisses"

4. she stuck out her bottom lip in the pouty face (which made me laugh really hard)

5. she is slowly growing to enjoy bath time (the crying is slowly decreasing!)

Here's what I have accomplished in Lena's first month:

1. insane one handed capabilities

2. how to survive on a minimum amount of sleep (in the beginning it was 3-4 hours, now it's about 6...always interrupted of course)

3. the skill of super sonic hearing (also known as "mom ears")

4. how to feed a baby in my sleep

5. how to take a shower in less than 5 minutes