A fresh start in Virginia

Good morning everyone. Its pretty early here.  I am still struggling to wake up. For some reason Ryder thinks 5am is a good time to wake up. Normally i am fighting to go back to sleep at that time since Jared gets up for work at 430am. I just hope this new schedule doesn't last long. I need more sleep.
              Here in about a month I will be starting LPN (Licensed practical nursing) school. I am so excited to get back to school. The best part is I will be doing the course with my close friend Sam! I want to get this over and done with. In 18 months time I will be making close to 30 dollars an hour! Go me! I am so proud of myself for what i have accomplished, and for what i am continuing to do. I really feel like I am beating the young mom statistic. I am furthering my education. A lot of the credit has to go to my amazing husband Jared. He has taken such good care of Ryder and I. He has always put his family before anything else. I honestly don't think I could have gotten where I am with out him. He has always been there for me. Even back in high school, Jared was my rock. If I needed someone he was always there. I love you so much sweet heart, and thank you for everything you do for us.
              Yesterday was Jared's first day back at work. I cant say I love his new job. While I love the area we now live in, I know I will be spending a lot of my time here with out him. His new job is to train boot lieutenants to shoot mortars. ( even though we all know they will never shoot one). Jared will be spending a lot of over nights and even weeks in the field. He will even be spending up to 2 weeks in California at the Mojave viper every couple months. It makes me sad knowing he will be gone so much. I hate that Ryder and his daddy will be separated. But it is his job. I just makes me all the more eager for Jared to get out of the Marine corps. The good news is I will be done with school before he gets out. This time he wont have to worry about not being able to afford everything. He will be able to get out worry free. My salary should be able to afford everything. Including the house we are planing to by next year!
                   Jared and I have decided next year we are going to buy our first home. It will be our third wedding anniversary gift to one another. We are starting to put money back for it. Even our next tax return will be put into savings for it. Jared and I looked online and we can afford to buy a home built around 2000. We found one that was 5 bedrooms 3 bath and 2700 square feet. It was built back in 2000 and was in good condition. Now I know this home will not be on the market when we are ready to buy, but it gives us a good idea of what we want and can afford.
                  Well life is changing for us. Things are just getting better and better. I know there will be struggles ahead. Nothing in life is easy, but we will make it just like we always have. The future seems so bright for us. It cant get here soon enough. Keep checking in on new updates. I will try to keep up with blogging, but no promises with nursing school starting soon. I hope you all have a wonderful week.

Your truly
Lauren

Life is changing!

Hello everyone!

Im sorry it has been so long since my last entry. I have been so busy raising my perfect little boy, that writing has been the last thing on my mind. Thank goodness I found a little time after my work out to give you an update. Things have been pretty good here.Not perfect but manageable. I never imagined how stressful life can become with a newborn, a big move, plus just the stress of adjusting to a whole new way of life can be. Jared and I have had our issues lately. Mostly just us nit picking each other. We have had shorter fuses with one another since Ryder arrived. We expect a lot from one another. Having a baby is hard, Very rewarding but in no sense easy. It will take time but I know we will get back to the way we used to be. We still love each other, and we are still the same two people who fell in love. Only difference now is, well baby makes three.
We currently only have 11 more days left in Jacksonville until we move to Virginia. Im ready for this move but a part of me is sad to leave. I have made some great memories here. It was my first home away from home. Its were Jared and I got our first place together, and where our son was born. Im sad to leave. But I do know  our new home will be even better. We will have the next 4 years there. Thats plenty of time to make new memories.  We will be moving on April 14th. Sadly we wont be in our base house for another few months. We were forced to rent another apartment. Which I was not happy about. I guess I cant complain though. Its a 1325 sq ft 3 bedroom apartment. Its a lot newer and nicer than the one we live in now. I was just so excited about the house on base. Oh well only a little while longer and we will have it. Well thats about it. Not to much has happened. I will update everyone again as soon as we get settled in our new place and our internet is back up. I hope you all have a wonderful Easter!

What a wonderful life..

Hello everyone. Its been a while since I have had the time to Blog. Life has been a little hectic as of late, being a mom has taken up all of my time. When I actually have a little spare time I need to devote the rare occasion to my husband. We have not been able to have hardly anytime together since the baby got here. I mean we are together most of the day but we are busy with Ryder.
           Things have actually been stressful lately. Ryder has become very gassy which has made him really cranky. He dose not sleep well anymore. He refuses to let us put him in his crib, and will only sleep well if we are holding him. Now I understand he was inside me for 9 months and It takes some adjusting being out in the world. Its just making things really hard. I know this is something all moms go though and I might be in the wrong for complaining about it. I just need things to wind down. I was nearly in tears this morning. I had to hand the screaming baby to Jared while I went and sat in a hot shower for about 45 minuets. I needed silence, and thank god the sound of the running water drowned everything out. I needed "me" time. I was going to lose it if I didn't get any time to myself.
             I feel guilty for being so overwhelmed. I knew what we were getting into when I got pregnant. I just thought since I had taken care of my little sister when she was an infant, that it would have better prepared me for life as a parent. I just fell like it did nothing. He screams and cries and I have no clue what is wrong with him. He has been fed, burped, changed, and given gas medicine but he still screams. I cant wait for this phase to be over.It will be so much better once we are moved and he has his own room. I think that might be part of the problem is that Jared and I have no space that is just our own. It will be nice once Ryder has an actual nursery. I think it will cut down my irritability as well. I have really had to bite my tongue the last few day. Jared dosnt deserve to be snapped at. He has done nothing wrong. He is just as new to this parenting thing as I am. I just need to breath. Right now im feeding Ryder but I have my ipod plugged into my head to drown out any background noise. Its helping. Well I have to get back to my motherly duties. Have a wonderful weekend.

Lauren

Update on Ryder!

Hello everyone! Sorry it has been so long since my last post. I have just been so busy adjusting to the roll of mommy! We have been doing great. Ryder is such a sweet, easy going little boy. Hes a snuggler though. He does not like to be put down, but I have to let him fuss sometimes. He has to learn to sleep on his own. He is pretty good during the day, but as soon as we put him in his crib at night he is restless. We swaddle him and play his sound maker for him which helps, but all he wants is to be rocked. So to temporarily solve the problem we put his Mommaroo in our bedroom. I hate running it all night since it was expensive, and I dont want it to die on us. He just wont sleep unless he is in motion. I think it has a lot to do with him being gassy. I think he also gets intestinal cramps. Poor baby. I had the same tummy issues when I was a baby. Thank god he does not have colic. I see all my friends on FB who have babies with colic. They don't sleep a wink. Ryder normally only wakes up once a night to be fed and changed. I don't know what we would do if he kept us up all night. I guess we got a little spoiled. Hes such an angel. Not only is he super good he's also ADORABLE! I swear I have never seen a cuter baby. I know im probably just being biased since he's mine, but that dosnt matter. To Jared and I there is no comparison. He is such a good mix of both Jared and I. from the eyes up he looks like his daddy. Then from the nose down he looks just like me. Im just dying to know what color is eyes are going to be. Im hoping they are Jared's. Mine are just brown. Boring. But Jared's are hazel with a bunch of green in them. They are beautiful. I could go on and on about my little family, but my baby boy is waking up so I have to go feed him. I hope everyone is well and I will post again as soon as I have a little free time.

Lauren

My labor story

Ryder is FINALLY here! My labor happened out of no where and so fast. I have not had the time to get on here and update everyone like I had originally planned. But from experience, nothing goes as planned. So here's the story.
                I woke up the morning of the 4th feeling fine. We had to wake up early to take some of our good friends to the air port. We arrived at there home at about 8:30am. I had started to feel some light contractions. Nothing very painful, just aggravating. By the time we made it to the air port about 45 minutes later my contractions had become incredibly painful. We were on our way home and I was hurting so bad I was in tears. Jared was very worried and wanted to head to the hospital immediately, but we had just gone in the night before and the nurse had told us then she didnt think I was in labor. I did not want to go back in just to be turned away again. I had been timing my contractions and while they were very painful they just were not consistant enough. Or so I thought. We made it home at about 10am. I went immediately to our room and laid down in bed. Jared came in and it shocked him that I was laying in bed crying because I was hurting so much. He was demanding we leave and go to the hospital but I refused. I then rolled over to get up and go to the bathroom. Just then I felt a "pop" and suddenly warm water was running down my leg. I rushed into the bathroom thinking maybe the baby had kicked me in the bladder, but no the fluid continued to run down my legs. So we grabbed our things and rushed to the hospital. We made it to the ER in less than 10 min. We were standing in line to check in and suddenly i felt another gush and then another. My pad that I had put on before we left the house was now completely soaked and I was leaking all over the ER floor. I made it to the front and told the receptionist that I needed a towel since I was standing in a puddle of amniotic fluid. Several embarrassing moments later we were up in our room in Labor and delivery. The nurse checked me and she confirmed that my water had broken. She also told me that I was only 3cm dilated. I was in so much pain. I was begging her to give me something. She told me I was not far along enough to receive my epidural but she could give me IV pain meds. I agreed. They gave me the medicine through the IV. Five minuets later I was on cloud 9.I later found out that since I am so little the normal dosage amount of pain medicine had been a little to much for me. To put it bluntly I was stoned. I dont remember a lot of my short labor. I remember progressing incredibly fast and still feeling a ton of pain. Finally the anesthesiologist came in to give me my epidural. Jared later told me I was so out of it my gown had fallen off and I was sitting on the bed naked and the nurse had to put it back on me. Jared also told me I repeatedly called him an asshole. I dont remember any of that lol. Well I got my epidural at 7cm and in less than 20 minuets I was 10cm and ready to push. To my disappointment I had progressed so quickly my epidural did not have time to kick in. I pushed for an hour and felt it all. Definitely not fun. But finally my sweet little boy was here. It was so emotional. Even Jared cried a little. Now we are home and I could not imagine a life without him. Ryder is my little snuggle bug. I love him more than anything. I will keep everyone updated on how he is doing and the milestones he reaches. As always thank you for reading.

Lauren

Simply gross

Well our little boy is still not here yet. He is being stubborn and staying put. The last few days have been painful and exhausting. I have had a lot of all over back pain, contractions, and the feeling like I am being stabbed in the vajay jay with and ice pick :(. The end of pregnancy really sucks.
             Yesterday was an odd day. I had just woken up and had breakfast. I decided it would probably be good to get on my birthing ball and bounce for a little while. Its supposed to help you further dilate. ( I highly recommend getting one for the last few weeks of pregnancy) So there I am just bouncing away, watching Law and order SVU. When all of a sudden mid bounce I felt the most disgusting feeling on the planet. It was just nasty and squishy. I got up thinking maybe my water had broken? I went to the bathroom to find my mucous plug ( which I though I lost weeks ago). It was the most disgusting thing ever. It was like having a ton of snot in your pants. Im telling you there is nothing "beautiful" about pregnancy. Your body dose so many gross things. Thank god my due date is only 8 days away. I can only pray it happens sooner. Jared and I have been walking a lot to get things moving, that plus bouncing on my birthing ball and sex. I think we are helping things along. I went from 50% effaced to 80% over night. For those of you who dont know what "effaced" means its the thinning of your cervix. You cant dilate with out your cervix thinning. As of my last appointment I was 2cm dilated. Im hoping im further along now. As nervous as I am about being a parent, I just want to hold my baby boy. I want to see Jared hold his son. I know it will all happen in good time, but that's just not soon enough. I want to get labor and birth over with. Well I better get going. Jared should be home soon and I have to finish getting things ready for dinner. Hope you all have a great Wednesday.

Lauren

Its still a mystery ( TMI warning)

Hello everyone. Well the last few days have been frustrating. I started hurting about three days ago. Cramping like I was going to start my period. Definitely a feeling I have not felt in about 9 months. Sometimes the pain gets so bad I cant talk through it. Its not fun. I have also been having some slight pinkish bleeding too. Well yesterday ( and this is WAY TMI so just a fair warning) Jared and I were having sex and out of no where we both felt a "pop" and were both soaked in a clear liquid. Even our sheets were wet. So we jumped up and called the hospital. They said to go ahead and come in since it sounded like my water had broke. So we pack everything up and head to the hospital. They ran some tests and came back and told us my water had not broken, and they have no clue what the liquid had been. They threw out some ridiculous theories like oh it could have been semen. HAHAHA no. Trust me no man on earth could produce THAT much with out there testicles shriveling up and falling off. Then she said " well with all the excitment it could have just been sexual fluids." Lady I made this baby. Clearly it was not immaculate conception. I have had sex before, and I pretty sure thats not supposed to happen. Especially since neither party made it to the finish line. Well needless to say they sent us home.
              So Jared and I just got home from my appointment. They said my water had not broken. They did an ultrasound just to be sure. But now I am 2cm and 80% effaced which is 30% more than yesterday.  So im making progress. Slow progress, but im happy there has been change. Now its just a waiting game. She said it could stay this way for up to 3 weeks or I could have him tonight. Its just all up to my body and Ryder. So im going to keep walking and bouncing on my ball. Anything I can do to speed things along. As always I will keep everyone updated on any changes. I hope to be announcing the birth of our son very soon. Have a great Monday.

Lauren