Hello, September! (:

HELLO HELLO HELLO!!!!!!

Ahh we're excited for this month!

I really hope the summer treated everyone well.. it really flew by, didn't it?

Okay, so this is the last time we'll be updating this blog for awhile, (internet time will start to dwindle when we have a little baby to take care of!) but we promise to TRY and update again as soon as possible! Probably after the first few weeks.. maybe early October.

Soo on that note, there's lots of things to cover in this update.

Let me start by saying that my (Abby's) grammar will probably be horrible in this post because I'm absolutely exhausted, hope it's still read-able. ha!

Friends & family, there are FIVE days until 'Baby Heare's' due date.. (we're just dying to tell everyone his precious name)!! We've had lots of "predicted due dates" which have been fun to anticipate, but so far no one's been spot-on! Surprise, surprise! Babies come when THEY are ready, not when we are... (but wouldn't it be nice...)! Anyhow, we're very ready, so now we just have to wait for him to be also! It was very frustrating to go into our 39 week appointment with high hopes & hear, "Nope, he's still very comfy in there.." but on our way home I got to thinking about this, "We are VERY blessed to have a healthy baby on the way, and complaining because he's not here quite yet is incredibly selfish! Some people would do anything to be in our position, so NO MORE WHINING, ABBY!" It sort of smacked me in the face.. but I'm thankful for it! (Thanks God!!!!) So even though we are beyond ready for this next stage in life, we're enjoying the one we're in now while we still have time to.

On to the next..

As most of you know, our plan has been for quite some time to come back to Indiana in November when Jaymes is done with his active service. We were planning on moving in with my parents for a little while until we found a job/had enough money saved up to get our own place. Well, that's still an option! However, recently Jaymes was offered an IT position as a Civilian on Camp Pendelton. If he took this job, he'd be working at the same place he does now, but instead of going into work in cammies.. he'd be going in his civilian attire. He'd also have REGULAR hours, no barracks duty, a lunch break, a promised weekend, etc. It would bring in more than enough money for us & we'd be covered (all 3 of us) health care wise. Which is HUGE, because as of now we won't be upon moving back to Indiana.. and as you know, babies need to go to the doctor frequently.

So, is this what we really WANT? Mmm, probably not.. our main support base is back in Indiana & we would LOVE to be close to everyone again. However, we're at a point in our "journey" where it's not just about "us" anymore. We have a son to care for and provide for as well! Moving back to Indiana at this point would place us with a lot of "unknowns", & even though that isn't necessarily a bad thing, it would be silly to pass up an opportunity where we'd have lots of "knowns". (work with me people, I'm tired. haha!) Anyhow, this is not a decision we can make on our own.. it will shape the next few years of life for us. We're praying very hard that God would direct us to make the right decision. If you'd pray for us as well, we'd appreciate it!

Another update:

We just purchased a new vehicle which is actually a really neat story.. which I will try to make as short & sweet as possible! We sold our Lancer last month to a guy that Jaymes works with, and we were left with our truck! Well, we started to think about how the truck isn't really "family friendly".. it's more of a man machine. So we talked for awhile about trying to find something that would be easy to travel in with ALL of us. We have a friend who works at a dealership in a near by town that specializes in selling cars to Marines, so we went to see what they have! Well, we test drove a REALLY cool 2006 Dodge Durango. 3 rows of seats, (the 3rd row had the ability to fold down and turn into the perfect space for Dozer!) air, tonnnnnssss of space (perfect for traveling anywhere with a baby), and many other appealing features. Well, we talked with the owner because we were interested in doing an even trade in for our truck. There was a little problem though, he was selling the durango for 17 something & we only had 10ish left on our loan for the truck. We told him sorry, but we weren't trying to leave with extra debt, just a new car with the same amount of debt. ha!

He asked us to hang tight for a few minutes, so we did. He came back and told us that he REALLY needed our truck because he had customers looking for that type of vehicle all the time. The majority of his customers are single Marines looking for man-machines, not family sized vehicles such as the durango. So he said he'd give us the durango as an even trade in!!! How amazing, what a blessing, wow! We just had close to 8 grand dropped off the original price.. WE TOOK IT! So now we have a much better vehicle for our "family" & we aren't paying anything more than we were for the truck.. must be a God thing! (;

Well, that should be enough for now!

Prayer requests:

***That Abby would have a smooth labor & delivery/ that our baby boy would be perfectly healthy!

***That we'll be guided to make the right decision on job & location!

If you're praying for us, we thank you very much!!

Getting there..

Well it's been awhile since the last update, so here's another one!

Jaymes, baby, Dozer, and myself are doing pretty good. Not too much is new, we're on the real countdown to baby's birthday with just 32 days left! Just about everything is assembled & ready for him & his first few months of life.. there's a few more things we need to run & get, but all of the big things are in place so we can breathe. The pregnancy is going as smooth as it can at this point.. baby is healthy & that's what matters. Mommy, however, is exhausted with little sleep under her belt & lots of aches, pains, headaches, and swelling. Daddy is getting impatient as well & is ready for his little boy to come on out! At the last doctor appointment, we were informed that I was measuring in a week further along than originally thought. Doc decided to keep the due date of September 7th though, however, he could very well come at the end of this month.. we'll see what happens! And call me crazy, but I think he'll be here on August 31st. That's my prediction. Our next appointment is this Tuesday (the 10th) & we'll be finding out what position he's in for the big day!

Other areas of life: Jaymes is almost a civilian.. (but he'll always be my Marine!) He's pretty excited. He's ready to have some normal hours that don't vary from week to week, and so am I. It's just crazy to think how much our lifes are about to change! Going from being just the 2 of us, to the 3 of us. Going from living a Military lifestyle, to a civilian lifestyle. Going from one side of the Country, to the other.. it can be a little overwhelming. I never thought I'd say that I'm going to miss California, but I will. Not because it's better than Indiana, but because this is Jaymes & I's first home together.. the place our son will be born.. where we celebrated our 1st Anniversary, Christmas, Valentines day, birthdays (etc. )together. This place holds a million memories & firsts for us. We will definitley be visiting again someday.

Well, it's 10:40.. way past this lady's bedtime. I just thought some of you would appreciate a quick-ish update on where we are in life.

God Bless!

Life is bittersweet!

Well, we made it back to California safely! We had an absolute blast in Indiana with everyone, and wish it could have lasted a little longer! We got to spend quality time both sides of the family, meet with some wonderful friends, eat at some of our favorite restaurants, and of course, we had some extra time to bond with each other. I've been doing a lot of reminiscing over our vacation.. yesterday & today have been pretty rough days for me, not only because I had to get back on an airplane, but because I had to leave a huge chunk of my life behind, again.. (now don't get me wrong, I'm VERY thankful that the largest chunk got to come back with me!!) However, I've never been good at goodbyes, and this time saying goodbye to everyone proved to be pretty hard on me! I say "me" because Jaymes is pretty good at saying goodbye, he's done it a few more times than I have. This time though, not only were we saying goodbye again, but the next time we see everyone, things are going to be so different! It won't be just Jaymes & I anymore, it'll be all 3 of us!! I don't want people to think I mean that in a bad way.. I just mean that it won't be the same old same old anymore. I did really good at saying goodbye to everyone, but then when it came to saying goodbye to my dad & sister at the airport.. (the last 2 people we said bye to) reality set in & it got pretty emotional. We really miss Indiana & can't wait to live there again!! :)

Real quick, here's a couple of the highlights from our trip (both of our highlights): Family dinner at Fiesta, maternity clothes shopping with mom, Josh's graduation, Josh & Ashlyn's graduation party, meeting Kyle Pannabecker & seeing Crystal & Brandon after a whole year, hanging out with the Morris family, almost everyone getting the opportunity to feel Baby Heare move, ice cream panic with my sister & hubby, the gun store, the shooting range, staying up late playing video games with the bros, seeing the sisters & getting to spend time with them, swimming in the parents pool, getting maternity photos taken, watching Blindside with the parents & gma, the baby shower, spending time with both Grandma's, Joel & Rose coming to town, fighting with Joel & Josh again, eating dad's famous chicken, all the junk food, the smell of the garage, not having to worry about a thing, sleeping in with my hubby EVERY morning, not having to spend money on a darn thing, running into old teachers, the humidity (only kidding), and SOOO much more.. I could go on for hours!

All-together, our vacation was a success & we are very blessed to have been in Indiana for awhile. Thank you, mom & dad Fidler for flying us home & housing us, and everyone, for the laughs, the great food, the crys, and just the quality time we got to spend with you all before our son is born. We'll really treasure the memories from this trip HOME.

More updates will be coming very shortly, as we move into our new apartment this weekend, and the 3rd and FINAL trimester starts next week! :)

God Bless!

Approaching vacation & other stuff.. :)

We're about to hit the "only 2 more weeks until vacation" mark, and we can hardly wait! Jaymes & I are sooo looking forward to our 10 day break from reality. Jaymes is particularly ready for a break from work, and I'm ready for a break from my daily routine as a stay at home Wife/Mommy! It's going to be so nice to spend some quality time with family & friends before baby arrives! However, I'm a little sad that we have to leave our 4-legged baby behind. :( He'll be staying with my Aunt & Uncle while we're gone.. (it's funny how attached humans can become to their pets!)

Well, in our last blog I mentioned that we were having some trouble with the baby registry.. good news, we managed to COMPLETE it last weekend! Jaymes & I actually had fun this time around because we knew what we were looking for, and Jaymes wasn't sick! We saw sooo many things that we wanted to get for our little guy. More good news, whatever we don't receive at our baby shower, we can buy on our own for a whopping 10% off.. ha! Thank you soo much Lauren Morris, Crystal Pannabecker, and Lauren Burkey for all of the help.. you girls are such a blessing!!

So here's a big update: Jaymes & I have found our new apartment which we will move into on June 13th! It's located in Mission Viejo & it's only an 8 minute drive from the hospital.. (Thank God!) The location & apartment complex are absolutely gorgeous & there's actually a private lake that we'll have access too!! We can hardly wait to make this move.

Now I know you all want an update on our little baby boy!! :) I'm 23 weeks along today & he is doing great!! He's quite the character.. moving around all the time & trying out all sorts of new positions! I haven't seen a huge difference in my belly growth since week 21.. which is a blessing in itself because of the back pain I've been experiencing, but I don't expect this "break" to last much longer! :) Our next appointment is scheduled for the 18th! I came to the realization that after this appointment, and one more.. my appointments will switch from every 4 weeks, to every 2!!!! They will remain that way until week 36, then it's every week! I also came to realization that Baby Heare will be full term in only 16 weeks.. that's not long at all!! We're both so overwhelmed with love for our little miracle.. and we can't wait to meet him! :)

Can't wait to see you all in just a few short weeks!!
God bless!!!

Getting excited!!

Hello friends & family!!! Time for an update. Everything is going pretty good out here in Cali! We're nearing some big decisions and fun plans! As some of you know, we're coming home for a visit from May 26th- June 6th! And by "we", I mean all of us: Jaymes, me, baby, and the dog! We'll be staying with my parents for our visit, and we're really excited to see everyone! Our moms are throwing us a baby shower on June 5th, which is still being planned out, but we're very excited for that as well! The day after we arrive back here from our little vacation, we move out of this apartment and into our new one! We've yet to sign a lease with this place, but we're 98% sure we'll be doing that within the next couple of weeks. We've decided living on base will not work for us for a few reasons, but the biggest being it's too far from the hospital. Anyhow, the apartment we're probably moving into is very nice, much nicer than the one we have now, and it's in Talega!! Hmm let's see what else... well, we've been pretty busy with registering for baby things, making baby plans, signing up for birthing classes, etc. & it's a bit overwhelming at times. We went to Baby's R US last weekend to put things on our registery, and instead of having fun, I felt like a lost puppy.. the list of things they gave us that they say you'll need for baby's arrival was HUGE. I know for a fact I don't need sanitizing tablets to clean my baby's bottle.. come on now, ever heard of a dishwasher?!!! Or how about choosing a brand of diapers?? I can't do that until baby is here and I know what works best for us. Or what size clothes will best fit our baby..? What brands work for certain things, which ones don't? So much to do, so little time. Anyhow, Jaymes & I put about 30 things on the registery and then left so we could go home and go over the list & decide what's REALLY necessary. I think I'll be giving some of my girlfriends back home a call about this list! The pregnancy itself has been getting a little rough.. but for the most part, I can't complain about a whole lot! The biggest problem has been back pain. Never before in my life have I gained this much weight, this fast.. so it's really been putting a strain on me. THANKFULLY, it's all belly & there are zerrroooo stretch marks as of now! There's a few other issues as well, but nothing huge.. yet. About 7 weeks left of this trimester, then it's on to the last!!! As most of you know, we found out we're having a little boy!! Jaymes & I are thrilled :) When we first talked about having kids, we said that we both wanted a little boy for our first.. and that's what we're getting! How exciting!! The doctor said he's gonna be a BIG baby.. which we fully expected with how fast I'm growing.. that, and it runs on my side of the family. My sister was over 10 pounds, and I was over 9.. yiiikes! Sorry Mom... ha! Also, his "little movements" have turned into full fledged kicks and punches! He's gonna be really strong.. just like his Daddy ;) Okay, I'm wrapping this one up because my other baby, "Dozer" needs to go outside! Lots of love.. see most of you guys soon!!

New plans & baby update :)

Well everybody, I'm gonna try to explain this as best I can without confusion. Jaymes & I since last month, have been planning on moving to base so we can save extra money for baby Heare. If we lived on base, here would be the pro's: A bigger place, cheaper groceries, less gas money, closer to friends. So, LOTS of them!! Our cons: further from the hopsital we'll deliver at, further from church, not as much BAH, and living by a tun of Marines, Jaymes would never feel like he really "came home" from work. Wellll, Jaymes came home from work the other night with a great idea. We started to look at apartments/houses to rent that are closer to the hospital, with more space, for less cost. We found a place that's VERY close to the hospital, (on base we'd be an HOUR away... can you imagine a 1 hour car ride in labor?? Not me) Right now we pay $1395 a month to live in a 700 square foot apartment.. welcome to Cali, folks. If we lived at this new apartment complex, we'd pay closer to $1000 a month, and we'd have a lot more space. We're going to check it out this weekend to see if it's worth it or not. If we lived on base, we'd only save around $300 a month, if we live in this apartment, we'll be saving close to/more than double that. We're also getting rid of one of our vehicles very shortly, and that'll save us even more.

I do want to add very quickly that our 17 week visit went great!!! Baby is doing just fine & growing very fast!! We have an appointment @ 2:30 on the 20th to determine the sex.. CAN'T WAIT!! Also, during our appointment I was describing my growing pains to the doctor and she said that not only am I experiencing round ligament pain, but I'm actually able to feel contractions already.. (didn't see that one coming!!) They are very painful, and sometimes I can't move until they "subside", but they aren't unbearable.. which is good, because I have 5 more months to go.. haha! She said most women don't feel them until they are further along, but I guess I'm one of the "lucky" few that gets to feel them early. ha! Maybe it's cause I'm petite??

That's all for now, my eyes are getting blurry.
God Bless & HAPPY EASTER WEEKEND EVERYONE!!!!

ANOTHER update on housing.

Hey everybody, for those of you who are following our housing drama, here's the news: Jaymes went to the Central Housing headquarters yesterday to find out what exactly we qualify for. No more wondering, we officially know that we qualify for a 2 bedroom, 1 1/2 bath house on base. Now, in the previous update I mentioned that one lady told us there was only 1 house left in the dog friendly area.. not correct, there are 41!! She was a little off..! Anyhow, now we have to go to our apartments office & see how much it'll cost us to break the lease here in Dana Point. If it's not too much, we'll probably be living on base by mid-April :) We're ready for a change, and living on base would be a nice one. I'm not looking forward to packing everything up & actually doing the dirty work of moving out, but thank God we have friends who are willing to help us move all of our junk!! :) I think that's all... just wanted to keep everyone posted as we learn more!

Another update on housing & baby!

Hey everybody!! I just thought I'd give a quick update..

Jaymes & I are doing pretty good.. a little stressed with all the base-housing drama. See, at the beginning Jaymes was told we qualified for a 3 bedroom house because he's an E5, but when we went to check the housing out, the lady working at the leasing office told us that we might not qualify for the 3 bedroom because our dependent is "pending." She did tell us that we would for sure qualify for the 2 bedroom housing, but there was only one left in the dog friendly area and they are going really fast. This probably means we will not get the 2 bedroom, but there is still hope that we can qualify for the 3 bedroom (there are a lot more available 3 bedroom houses in the dog friendly section). Also, if we can't get into this neighborhood, there might be some more available at the one across the street. Anyhow, I know some of you were kinda wondering what the status was, and there it is! Another pretty frustrating thing is that we're trying to get through Central Housing (the place that qualifies you for a certain house), but they told Jaymes he needs a letter from his Command first, and that can take forever. So we're not giving up hope, but we're a little discouraged. The Marine Corps likes to be complicated.. and we don't. BLAH. Now that all that is off my chest, let's talk about our growing baby!!! Some exciting news, I THINK I felt some movement earlier this week. We were sitting down eating dinner & I jumped out of my seat & said, "I THINK I JUST FELT BABY MOVE!!!" The best way I can describe the feeling: like a very little bubble popping. It wasn't a gas bubble (believe me, I know what those feel like). Anyhow, there's no way to know for sure if that was baby or not, but I'll be darned if it wasn't! I've been having some horrible growing pains in my stomach, back, and legs, which at the beginning concerned me, but the Dr. assured me they are nothing to worry about. It's common for very petite people to have rougher growing pains than usual :( We have our next appointment with the OB on the 30th, no ultrasound this time, just checking the baby's heartbeat & measuring my stomach. BUT, at the one after that we get to find out the sex, and we're gonna try and schedule the appointment on our Anniversary (April 18th), because that would be SUCH a neat Anniversary present :) Jaymes is getting very impatient & he REALLY wants to know if it's a boy or a girl he's gonna be a Daddy to! He cracks me up..! Anyhow, it's about to be the weekend, which means I get my husband all to myself for 2 days! I'm gonna go vacuum and start some laundry so I don't have to do it later when all I'll want to do is cuddle!
God bless you all!!!!

Exciting update!!

So, some really exciting news!!! Jaymes called in yesterday to ask about housing on base & found out that they DO have availability & we'd be able to move in IMMEDIATELY!! So, we're going to check the housing out on Saturday. So far we know that it's a very nice 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom house with a garage & possibly a back yard.. (which would be HUGE)! It's actually on the south side of base, but it's right next to the highways entrance. So we wouldn't have as long of a drive to work, we'd be able to shop on base and pay less for our groceries, we'd be able to house company coming in August/September, and if there is a backyard, we won't have to worry about walking the dog anymore.. (Hallelujah!!!!) Oh, AND they told Jaymes that they will give him $200 worth of BAH every month (which they usually take away from you all-together when you live on base)! We also have some family members that live relatively close to this part of base & a few really good friends from Okinawa! We're praying that this works out & we're able to make the move really soon! :)
God Bless!!!!!!!

Here it goes again..!

Well folks, this isn't the first time that I've attempted to blog, but I'm gonna give it another shot! As you all know, Jaymes & I have been married for about a year (April 18th will mark that!) and we are very happy together! As far as life goes, Jaymes is still in the active duty Marine Corps and we're stationed out here in California until October of this year! Jaymes & I decided not to live on base upon arriving here because we would not receive BAH (for you non-military peeps that means Basic allowance for housing). So even though they'd provide us with a house for free, we'd be getting about $300 less in pay.. to make a really long story short, the amount they give us each month goes towards our rent & we always end up with about $300 left-over from that. Anyhow, we've realized that Jaymes spends that extra $300 pretty fast in gas money to get to base, so we're really not getting anything out of not living on base. We're gonna make some calls and see what the availability is for housing on base so we can save up some more money & have less of a ride to work everyday. This may not even be a possibility if the wait for a house is long, but we'll see! I'm working on finding another job because I quit my old one last month due to unfortunate circumstances (my boss was an *******). Anyhow, I think I've found one on base as a child development program assistant. (which means I could drive to work with Jaymes everyday & we could sell our other car, & ultimately save even MORE money!) If I get this job I'll be making $3 more per hour compared to my last one.. which is very nice. I'm just waiting to hear back from them now. When October arrives, the plan is to move home (to northern Indiana) and move in with the in-laws for a few months until we have enough saved up to get a nice place of our own. OH, If you didn't already know, we're expecting our first baby on September 7th & we're VERY excited :) I'll blog more about that later!! Jaymes & I have been attending a lovely church called "South Shores Church" for 5 or so months now. We go to an evening service at 6 every Sunday, which is a lot less crowded than the morning ones & we get dinner before hand at the evening service, which makes time for good fellowship!! We haven't really found any couples our age to connect with, which is unfortunate, but if you think about it, not so much because we aren't gonna be here for that much longer anyways. blah blah blah. Soo back to being pregnant!! I'm in the last week of my first trimester & feeling "okay". I never got any morning sickness through this trimester, but I had a little bit of "evening" sickness here and there which has thankfully passed for the most part.. (unless I eat something too fast or something that baby doesn't like)! I'd say the thing that's been the hardest for me are the mood swings that I get... they are CRAZY! I'll be fine one minute, and the next I'm ready to murder somebody. I'm kinda hoping this passes too!! :/ I've also noticed that I feel a "hard" beating sensation in my heart every now and then.. mainly when I get cold too fast, but it's really starting to concern me. I know that it's common to have blood pressure problems of some sort when you're pregnant, but that still doesn't ease my mind any. I just had an appointment with my OBGYN & she said that if it's happening frequently it's not good & they'll need to do blood work. I'm really hoping it's nothing too serious! Jaymes seems to think it's normal & nothing to worry about, but we'll see. Other than that, I haven't gained any weight so far, but I haven't lost any either, so I'm doing pretty good in that area! I crave taco bell all the time, but only give in every now and then!! I also crave anything & everything that has a lot of salt in it. Mmm, and oranges. Well everybody, I think that's a sufficient enough update on our life for now! I plan on doing this pretty regularly, so come back for more updates next week or so :) God bless!!!!

Jaymes & Abby!