I'm getting antsy

I am 32 weeks pregnant this week. So I've hit my 8 month mark. Idk where this 9 months business came from but knowing it's 10 months long makes 8 months not quite as exciting lol.

I can't wait to meet our baby girl. Every time I see someone with their baby I get really anxious. I wonder who she will look more like, me or Mr. Sykes. Personally, I hope she has a lot of his features. I would love to wake up every day while he is gone to a baby who looks just like him. I know that will make things a lot easier on me. I obviously don't want her to look like a man though lol. I look just like my dad so I'm hoping we follow that trend.

I don't know what else to do to make the time go by faster. I want her to be in there as long as possible so she can be as healthy as possible. I just wish time would go by a little faster!!

Oh and did I mention, D Day got pushed back to mid March now? Let's pretend it'll stay that way for a second so I can say this...JON WILL BE HERE FOR HER BIRTH!!!!

Ok, back to reality.

I Love You Mr. Sykes<3
You too Abigail Yvonne<3

Semper Fi<3

My puppers

I don't know if I have ever introduced you to my puppy. He's our first child really. He's just adopted. Which doesn't make him any less loved! haha.

When I think about how much I love my dog I get really excited to meet our daughter. I know that if I have this much love for our dog then I can't even begin to imagine how she will make me feel. I'm a littler nervous though. I'm clearly the push over out of Mr. Sykes and I. I'm really hoping I can toughen up so she doesn't get on the couch when she isn't supposed to or speaks when she isn't supposed to. JUST KIDDING!!! haha.

But seriously, here is our little man. I Love You Bo<3

I Love You Mr. Sykes<3
You too Abigail Yvonne<3

Semper Fi<3

Online education

Have any of you wonderful ladies done online degrees?

I've taken a semester of online classes at my previous college and I wasn't a huge fan of them. They seemed oriented for older, returning students. That is probably because at my college you had to be a certain age and been away from school for a certain amount of time to even be considered for the online program.

I don't have a choice in finishing my bachelors online. I want to finish my bachelors before my husband is out of the Marine Corps, so by March 2013. If I can do the normal 4 or 5 classes a semester I should have no problem finishing by then. I have my associates already and 2 semesters of classes after that.

Unfortunately I know it's more difficult to take on that many classes when it's online. I'm trying to look at all of my options and get advice to see what the best plan is.

I have looked at a lot of online colleges and colleges that have online degrees and as of right now I think my best option is Kaplan University. They are extremely accommodating to military families. I get 10% off of my tuition and all of my books paid for. They have an advanced start program for people who already have their associates which makes it easier and faster to get your bachelors. Some of the other great features are that you don't have to pay the application fee until you know you are accepted. Theres a 5 week conditional "test drive" of the program. You take your classes just like anyone else but at the 5 week mark of your first semester you can decide that it's not for you and withdrawal completely from the university without any financial obligation other than your application fee.

The classes are 10 weeks long and Monday-Thursday with a 1 hour a week seminar where you have to be online with your entire class and teacher. Other than that 1 hour you are free to log on and off whenever you want and your only obligation is to do your work and hand it in.

The University is quarterly instead of using semesters so you can apply every month and can apply 2 months in advance before starting. I really like this feature because I can really start when it's convenient for me.

With the 10% discount I would be paying $371 per credit hour. That is before applying for scholarships or financial aid.

The advisor I talked to was absolutely wonderful. He didn't pressure me into attending and was really all about having it be about me and my time. He was extremely helpful and informative and made it feel like  this really might be a great place for me to finish my bachelor degree.

I want to know from people who have taken online classes if this sounds better or worse than your experience, how many classes you would recommend taking at one time, and how much your college charged before scholarships and all of that.

Also any other advice or info would be great!

Thanks!!

2nd post of the night

I just need to vent a little and relieve some stress. Feel free to exit now I won't be mad lol.

My love is on an hst tonight until 9ish. As much as I hate hsts it's really just a lovely preparation for next week. He will have to stay on base for bsts or something like that from early Monday morning until Friday sometime. Then after the 96 he will MIGHT have to go to Cherry Point for the last week of January too. First they told him he could stay home and just drive there when he needed to be there but I guess now it's up in the air again.Ugh. We haven't been apart in a while and I just let myself get used to it. Bad move.

I know that I am extremely lucky that my husband doesn't have to go to California for pre-deployment training like most of your husbands or boyfriends do. I am very thankful for that.

I'm just really nervous about being home alone right now. I'm concerned about the baby first off. He will be missing 2 growth scans and I'm really nervous that something might happen while he's gone that requires me to be in the hospital or heaven forbid actually have to have the c-section.

Another thing that concerns me is a relapse of my kidney stones. If I get that pain again there is no way I will be able to bring myself to the hospital. I also don't know if I would want to go to the hospital considering all I had to do was wait to pass them. BUT if they were wrong and it's not stones then I don't know what I would do.

I really can't wait for Mr. Sykes to be out of the military. I really don't handle inconsistency all that well lol. Those of you who read this know that I stress way too much and think about things way more than I should.

I can't wait to just be able to relax and know my husbands work hours and know that he will be with me every night. I wont have to worry about when they will send him away and for how long. Oh dreams.

Just a little bit longer, hold it together girl.

I Love You Mr. Sykes<3
You too Abigail Yvonne<3

Semper Fi<3

There is hope

We had another doctors appointment today. We found out that there may be, just slightly, a little tiny bit of hope that Mr. Sykes will be with me for the birth of our baby girl!

I say a small chance because there have been new circumstances. Our little girl is in breech position, meaning her head is up and her feetsies are down. Since I have a smaller than average uterus because of the  second one taking up some space, the doctor doesn't think that there is enough room for her to rotate herself. She said that she expects to schedule a c-section prior to my due date.

This is where the hope comes in. Jon will be leaving the week I am 37 weeks pregnant. That gives us a chance since the c-section will be most likely needed anywhere between 34-36 weeks, average.

We will be having weekly growth scans to monitor the baby's growth and room in the uterus. Hopefully we will know more soon as to a date of the c-section.

I am not getting my hopes up though. I'm just letting God know that even if she has to come the day before her daddy leaves I will be extremely grateful.

I have to admit I knew she was breech though. Her favorite thing to do is round house kick my bladder. Really can't wait for that to be done with!

Please put some positive thoughts out there for us. This would be an amazing going away gift to our family and especially my husband.


I Love You Mr. Sykes<3
You too Abigail Yvonne<3

I love my husband

I just wanted everyone to know how much I love my husband.

Mr. Sykes isn't always the most open or emotional person to walk the earth. It's been a struggle but he has improved so much and I am so thankful for his efforts to make me happy.

I realize I didn't marry a woman and therefore I shouldn't expect this emotional out pour all the time. I get that now. It's actually better because now when he does show his emotions it's extremely special.

Key example is my husband's status the other day. "Just found out 6 weeks. Bittersweet. The sooner I leave the sooner I get back to my girls."


I immediately teared up. I've had it in my head that he isn't as excited about having a baby girl as he would be about having a little boy. This status just made me realize how stupid I've been. I have the most amazing husband in the world.

He's my other half, my dream come true, and the most supportive and amazing man I've ever met. I'm so lucky to have him and Abigail is extremely lucky to be getting him as her daddy.

I'm officially ready for this deployment. Bring it on. I promise it will only make us stronger. We have our plans set and our daughter on the way. It will be hard, but not impossible.

News

So we got a D date today. Surprisingly I'm not freaking out, or crying hysterically either. I'm just kind of in preparation mode.

I was going through Abigail's clothes, reorganizing them once again, when he told me. All I'll say is that he will definitely miss the birth. So naturally I was a little bummed, but it's not like we haven't figured this would happen.

I just kept folding and thinking of all of the things he needs to get done before he leaves. We just went to Lowe's yesterday to get spackle and paint to fix all those little nail holes we put in the walls hanging pictures, or tearing down a desk all by myself and slightly damaging a wall. I don't really want to live in an empty house so I think I will just have him take down the pictures I can't reach. But I also have to learn to spackle so I might just have him take them all down and do it all so I don't have to worry about it.

We also need to clean out the spare room and office so that we can get those carpets cleaned and close them off so we don't have to worry about them.

We still have a couple things we need to sell since we don't want them anymore and would rather sell them instead of storing them.

Speaking of storing, that's another thing we need to do. Jon has to get all of his big stuff in the storage unit. I will be moving most of it in there but things like his super heavy tool box or things that we can get out of the house so that I have less to move would help.

Blah. So much to do to get ready for this deployment, the baby's birth, and then my wonderful move to NY. Life is super grand right now. lol.