Back in MN

I don't know if anyone reads this anymore, but I thought it would at least be nice for Paul to be able to check the blog and see how his family is doing. I don't think I've posted for over a year, so here is a run down on what's new:

-Paul is deployed in Afghanistan assisting with the training of "Religious and Cultural Affairs" officers in the Afghan National Army. He will be gone until sometime next spring (March or April).

-Josiah (who is now 15 months!) and I moved back to MN to be closer to my parents and sister. We love MN, but are missing beautiful Cache Valley, Utah.

-We don't know what will happen with our family when Paul returns. We'll see what the army wants to do with Paul when he gets back.

-I find every excuse not to be home to clean, so while we are pretty much moved into our new place, it's still a work in progress.

-While Josiah is not yet walking (he's really close), he's a busy little boy who loves to explore - especially anything behind a closed door.

We're excited to reconnect with old friends here in MN. I'm also hoping to make a trip to the Washington D.C. area sometime in the next 6 months. Plane tickets are pretty cheap right now, so we'll see what we figure out.

1-2 month Jo Jo pics!

These were taken by Auntie Tay Tay when we were in MN for part of the summer.

We're still alive!

So much has happened since we last posted! Most notably, the speck was born! He is such a delight. Becoming a mother has been a difficult adjustment for me, but things are definitely on the up and up.

Updates

-Paul had his first drill with the army reserves. He is assigned to Fort Douglas in Salt Lake. It was a pretty rigorous drill. On the first day he finished at noon and then went to the VFW to eat BBQ and watch a magic show.

-I hit up the clearance rack in the maternity section at Old Navy. For $35 I got 4 pairs of pants, 3 tops, 1 pair of capris and 1 dress. It was a good day!

-The nausea has died down, but has been replaced by mild headaches. Overall, though, I'm feeling better. I'm starting to get more energy. . .

-Speck is getting bigger, by the end of this week, he/she will almost be the size of a softball.

10 weeks down, 30 to go

So we're pregnant, which is really exciting but also exhausting. I've been meaning to post the ultrasound pictures we got from the doctor two weeks ago, but I forgot how to use the scanner, and I'm too tired to figure it out on my own. That's the story of my life right now. I'm too tired to do anything. We were nervous about the first appointment with the doctor, because that's where we learned that we had miscarried with the last pregnancy. Paul came with me this time. When the doctor came into the examining room, we decided to skip the chit-chat and proceed directly to the US. I laid down on the table, and unlike what I had expected to feel (I had been anxious for weeks), I felt peaceful. I later learned that Paul on the other hand was quite nervous and as the doctor started probing my abdomen, Paul feared that she wouldn't find anything. There were a few suspenseful seconds while the doctor probed in silence, but then suddenly a loud boom-bum, boom-bum filled the room. I felt relief, and Paul started to cry. The doctor told us that our baby appeared healthy and that she doubted we would miscarry at this point. So we are grateful and looking forward to meeting our speck in June. Actually, the baby is no longer a speck, but is now the size of a small plum.

I'm not very good at this blog thing, but I won't give up (yet). Does anyone ever read this thing? I know that my mom doesn't. Mari does, bless her. Summer was long. Paul went to Fort Jackson to finish the last part of Chaplain school. I stayed home and worked. I did take a few days off to visit my friend Jessica in Aspen, CO. I had a great time. I also got to spend some time with my extended family. I spent a few nights staying up LATE chatting with my cousin, Christopher, who is now serving an LDS mission. Very fun, but I'm too old to be pulling all-nighters.

Now Paul's back in Logan. He's going to school, working, studying all the time and watching college football. The trees are finally starting to change. I love fall. I shouldn't put this in writing, but I'm really looking forward to the first snow.

The picture above shows what Paul's new dress uniforms look like. We love how the pants don't match the jacket. Thankfully the shiny shoes are still standard.