Ok I'm back.

Sorry for the distance lately. Between traveling home for Thanksgiving, having my baby shower, and being around all of my friends and family I have had zero time for blogging. I'll catch you up a little though, no worries.

So the drive up to NY was actually really easy until the last 2 hours or so. That's when my RLS kicked in and I had to try and distract myself. We only had to stop for pee breaks twice I think. I have gotten really used to the weather down here and was completely taken back by how cold it was on the drive up and while in NY. BURR!!

The next day was Thanksgiving which we spent at my husband's grandparents house with his family and my step mom and dad. The food was delicious as always, the company was great, and everything was awesome really. My husband hadn't seen his baby cousin yet and he was fascinated with her. It was adorable. He kept her occupied by making the slinky make noise. It was very cute. My feet were swollen for most of the night and I lost my ankles but they didn't hurt so I just drank a glass of water and pushed it aside.

Friday my mom, grandma and I went shopping. Not at 4 am or anything. We just had a couple stores to go to and only I needed to buy anything. I got my fantastic bras from Victoria's Secret for buy one get one 1/2 off! And I still spent just over $60 so I got my free tote with perfume and lotions in it! Which I must say was about an $80 value so I spent less than I got in free stuff! Pat on my back for sure. THEN I went to Macy's to get my husband new cologne and because I spent over $60 in there I got a free digital picture frame! I was seriously on a roll.

My favorite purchase of the day was at Jo-Ann's though. I bought wood letters and decorations to make Abigail's first nursery decorations. Picture above. It was super easy to make and I'm in love with how it turned out. The picture is kind of yucky but the wall is actually a really pretty yellow and all of the colors on this are bright and beautiful.

Saturday was my baby shower!! I had so much fun. It was honestly one of if not the best shower I have ever been too. No one stopped laughing, the food was fantastic, and the gifts were all amazing! I got so many things that we needed and wanted. To save time I'll share one of my favorite if not my favorite gift with you. My dad didn't go to the shower obviously because he's a boy, but his gift was incredible. He bought me my amazingly beautiful Vera Bradley diaper bag. I was really put off by the idea of carrying around one of those super baby looking bags with winney the pooh or dora the explorer all over it. I really wanted something that I would enjoy since the baby really doesn't care what the diaper bag looks like! So I found this bag and when I opened the box I almost cried. It's so beautiful and since it's from my dad I love it even more. Here is a pic!

We left on Sunday and the drive back went fast. Now we are home and already getting ready to go back in 3 weeks!! Can't wait! haha. 

I Love You Mr. Sykes<3

You too Abigail<3

Semper Fi<3

Thanksgiving

I don't know if I will have time to make a post for Thanksgiving so I wanted to do it now so I didn't leave on a grumpy note haha.

Tomorrow morning my hubby, puppy and I will be making our way to NY to spend Thanksgiving with our family. Hence why I probably wont have time to make a decent post.

So, before I leave I wanted to take the time to say what I am thankful for this year.

First and foremost I am thankful to be able to be spending this Thanksgiving with my husband. Last year I drove down here to be with him and this year we are driving home to be with our families. So 2 in a row is pretty great.

I am thankful for our always growing baby girl. She is already such a blessing and I can't wait for the day that I get to hold her in my arms.

I'm thankful for my puppy Bo. He really makes the time that I do have to spend alone so much better.

I'm so very thankful for my amazing family. My dad who is so supportive and constantly reminding me of my potential, my mom who continues to be so incredibly amazing even from 13 hours away, my Ooma (grandma), my brother, and just every person who I can't see everyday anymore no matter how much I wish I could.

I'm also very thankful for my husband's family. I couldn't imagine being able to join a better family.

I'm thankful for all of the families who have their loved ones over seas for the holiday. I know I will be in your shoes come next year so I thank you for showing me it can be done.

Along with that, I'm thankful for the men and women overseas fighting for us.

Have a great holiday everyone.

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

Semper Fi<3

No more Fairytales for Disney

I was completely shocked when I was reading the news this morning on yahoo.com. Apparently Disney is putting a halt on making movies involving fairytales and princesses. Yea, you heard me right. 

Why you ask? The first reason is because they fear movies such as The Princess and The Frog or Tangled are alienating the young boys. This is a plausible concern but the next one, not so much. 

The bigger reason for the change in movies is because apparently statistics show that young girls (ages 5&6) think they are too cool to be princesses and are more worried about how hot they are. Yea…my jaw was on the floor at this point. 

All I could think about is how much I loved the Disney princess movies when I was young. I mean I still enjoy them! Princess Diaries is easily one of my favorite movies ever. When I was a child I went an entire year demanding to be called Ariel and nothing else. I wanted nothing more than to be a princess and be swept off my feet by prince charming. What has happened between then and now? 

As a soon to be mom I am terrified. I do not want my daughter to start worrying about her sexuality until she at least in high school! (Preferably college but I can't be a hypocrite either). 

I know that how you raise your children plays a huge role in a situation like this but if our entertainment industry is going to feed this behavior then really how much can parents do? 

Flirting with an idea.

My dad called me the other day with an interesting idea. He brought to my attention that I love writing and am fairly good at it so why not actually DO something with it? Duh right?

He thinks I should take all of my excess energy and time and put it into writing a book. I have to admit that I have considered this idea before. Nothing seriously, I always just wondered if I could do it and what I would want to write about.

My dad talked about how he was thinking about what I said over a year ago when he asked me why I wanted to get married. He said that he was thinking about my answer to that question and how my life is unfolding and he thinks that it would be a great idea to put my story, dreams, and truths into writing. I think his idea is something alone the lines of how I pictured my life, how it's turning out, and where we are headed... something along those lines. With a husband deploying and a baby girl on the way it might not be a bad idea to have a focus and at the very least write everything down, as if I don't anyways.

After thinking about this for a bit I started thinking about a different idea for a book. I realize that for people in the military with children they are inevitably going to be asked where their daddy is or why he left them. What if their was a children's book out there that eased their minds and reminded them that they are loved and missed?

I actually already wrote a little something about this but incase I do chose to make it into a book, who knows, I am not sure about copy rights and posting it in my blog on the internet. So I will refrain. Actually I'm even a little worried about posting this just for the idea to be out there. Oh well, I want input from military families on whether you think this would be a good idea or a huge flop.

So ladies, gents, what do you think?

The Medal of Honor

I was in tears yet again this morning. I was watching the Today show and watching the interview with SSgt Guinta of the US Army, the recipient of The Medal of Honor. The first awarded since the Vietnam war.

He was awarded this for his incredibly brave actions. His men and himself were surrounded by enemy fire. One of the men got shot and the Taliban were taking him for a reward. SSgt Guinta first helped another wounded soldier and then chased the Taliban down, killed one and scared the other away and brought his friend back to the others. Unfortunately this wounded soldier died once he returned to the others.

All I can think about is how wonderful this man is. My worst fear is not that my husband will be killed at war, but that his body wont be returned and I will always have to worry about if he's really gone or what has happened to him. Although it is a tragedy that soldier died, I know if I was his family I would be so grateful for SSft Guinta for risking his own life to provide the piece of mind.

What makes this story even more amazing is that he is extremely humbling and modest. He never boast about it he said that what he did was simply what he was trained for and if he hadn't then any one of his men would have. He considers himself an average soldier.

Watching him speak was like watching John Basilone speak. You just know that this is someone special and that he was meant to do exactly what he is doing.

I am so proud of our military.

I've held it together, until now

We found out months and months ago about my husbands upcoming deployment. I have been a complete champ about it until recently.

I don't know if it's the pregnancy hormones or because it's right around the corner but all I can do lately is cry and be worried. It gets worse and worse every day. I'm having nightmares where I can't find him and where he leaves.

I know that there have been women to go through this and make it out. I know that one of my favorite blogging ladies is just about to end her year long deployment with her man and I feel like that should inspire me, but it terrifies me.

I mean it's an entire year. 2011 until 2012. I'm not scared about being a temporary single mom for a year. Well I am but not because I'm scared of having to take care of her all by myself or anything like that. I'm terrified that she wont have a bond with her dad and he wont have a bond with her once he comes home. There is a very high chance that my husband wont be home when Abigail is born. If he misses the birth of our first child will he still have a connection with her? When he comes home after a year will he automatically feel the love for her that dads do? I mean she will be a year old. All I keep hearing is how important the first year is for growth and bonding. My husband isn't an emotional person to begin with. he's cried maybe 3 times the entire time I've known him, he holds all of his feelings inside (getting better with that though), and he doesn't really show excitement all that well.

I know he is happy we are having a baby but I feel really awful because I feel like he would be 10 times happier if we were having a boy. I know I married a man and not a woman. Sometimes I have to take a step back and make sure I'm not expecting impossible things from him. It's hard to explain when you aren't able to experience it first hand.

I guess it might be partially my fault. I always get scenarios in my head of how I think things should go and when they don't I feel like there is some huge problem. Like when I got pregnant I automatically thought about how when he came home he would pick me up and just tell me how happy he was. Instead we didn't even talk about it and he just sat there and watched tv until I brought it up.

I figured once Abigail started kicking and moving around he would have his hands all over my belly trying to feel her move like I hear so many other wives tell me their husbands do, but he didn't. When I finally got his hand on my tummy when she kicked his response was "Are you happy now?" He thought I was doing that for me. That was like a huge punch in the face realization.

When we went to my friend's baby shower last Saturday the girls stayed inside and did our thing while our husbands went outside by the fire and drank. One of the husbands already has a daughter who was there and the girl having the shower is having a girl and both of those guys you can just feel their excitement about having a baby, and even more about having a baby girl. That killed me. I knew right then that I wasn't asking too much because what I was asking for was just excitement and I could clearly see that it was possible.

I guess that is what is messing me up so much lately. I have to not only worry about my husband being in Afghanistan for a year but I also have this constant worry that I've disappointed him right before he left by having a girl and not a boy. I know it sounds ridiculous and probably makes my husband seem like this awful person, which he's not. But I can't help but feel like this when he doesn't make me feel any other way.

I hear how once first time dads hold their baby girl for the first time every wish for a boy is dropped and they are wrapped around her little finger. But what if he doesn't get to hold her when she's born? How am I supposed to go a year thinking he would love his daughter more if she was a boy?

I really just needed to get all of this out. I don't know what to do or if I'm ridiculous for thinking all of this but I'm sick of holding it inside so there ya go.

If you made it this far you should seriously get an award or something. Thanks for reading.

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

Semper Fi<3

I need your help!

I am planning our dinners for the next 7 days and I'm stumped on what to make. So, I figured why not see what all of my blogging ladies and gents like to eat for dinner and make that?

So here is your challenge, leave me a comment with your favorite dinner meal. Recipe included if it's specific or a link to a recipe online.

I will love you all so very very much if you can plan my dinners for me! haha.