Twenty Weeks - Halfway!

Today marks twenty weeks of pregnancy for me....so happy to be at the halfway point! The "teens" were sounding early and like I had FOREVER still to be pregnant. I wanted to take some 20 week maternity shots and a tropical storm hit Texas so I thought, why not get pictures in the rain!

With pregnancy one of the biggest adjustments for me has been my workouts. I'm used to be able to push myself, whether it was running, swimming, crossfit, cycling....I could kick it and I loved the feeling of being nasty sweaty, completely exhausted, and knowing I'd done my best. I haven't biked since the day I was pregnant because of the risk for crashing. Running hurts and causes contractions now (I guess because my belly is growing so much faster with two...) so that is out. CrossFit I can do some things, modify some moves, and can never push it and get my HR up like I'm used to. Swimming is the only exercise where I feel "normal!" I love swimming and can still do my triathlon workouts I have printed up and in ziplocks in my swim bag :) Using the kickboard, pull buoy, paddles, doing intervals, working on my stroke....can still do it all and I barely feel I'm pregnant! So that is my new favorite exercise! Walking is also good, I can go fast, and often get weird looks by people driving by, haha. Just grateful to be able to do those few things and not be on bedrest yet! What a huge blessing! I'll take every day I can get.

Eating has been MUCH better. No nausea, no heartburn (unless I eat junk or chocolate), and although my appetite has never been huge like most told me it would be, working out helps amp it up and I just try and focus on what the babies need. Right now I'm juicing veggies every morning and making a green salad trying to get more veggies down which are the hardest thing to make myself eat. I average between 120 and 140 grams of protein a day thanks to shakes and meat! Although meat is also SO HARD for me to get down....I'm sick of chicken and have been doing beef lately. My goal is 150g daily so I'm still tweaking my diet trying to reach that.

Some things are uncomfortable....picking things up off the floor, putting on shoes, and sitting for more than a couple hours. My back is starting to hurt so I think soon it'll be time for me to start my chiropractic adjustments. Work has been fine so far although I'm normally pretty tired that night and the next day. But I'm still able to do full 12hr shifts and will continue to do them as long as I can get away with it! The babies move all the time which I love! My precious little girl is the most active and her brother is catching up (he's lower so I think I'm just now feeling him more since he is getting bigger and therefore moving up). Today I felt them on the outside for the first time! Hopefully Mark will get a chance to feel them kicking when I visit him this weekend.

We are pretty set on our little girls first name but still deciding on a middle name. The boy's name is growing on me...it's different and Mark likes it and I'm liking it more every day :) Not completely sure on his middle name. We still have time!

Most of all I'm just unbelievably grateful for being able to experience twenty weeks of pregnancy....wow, what an amazing gift. Way more than I ever deserved! Thanking Jesus for every day with my precious little ones. And thanking Him also for an amazing husband and daddy who loves all three of us unconditionally! Love that man. And love my babies :)

Training Area

Last weekend when I went to visit Mark I got to see Medina AFB which is a smaller training base just right across the street from Lackland. Mark takes a bus over to Lackland AFB for some training as well as to go to the commissary (grocery store on base) and BX (base exchange).

Running to the bus stop to go back to Medina AFB. The PJs run everywhere no matter what!

Waiting at the bus stop. I wasn't allowed to drive him between bases. Hopefully next visit he'll get off base privileges!

Looking at the bus schedule and Mark and I together on Sunday! You can kind of see my baby bump which is growing fast. Mark said he could tell a difference in just one week! :)

This was one of the first things you see when pulling into Medina AFB.

The chow hall where Mark eats all his meals. It's just right across the street from his dorm.

Awesome helicopter and plane right by Mark's training area.

Mark's training building! On the right you can see the ropes they climb up (there is a bell at the top and they have some special routine they do, but I can't remember what it is!)

So just wanted to post those to give a little glimpse of Mark's life :)

Sometimes it's ok

Yesterday was my 26th birthday....so very different from the year before. At twenty-five we were still in our first little house on Augusta, Mark was a firefighter, I was a nurse, we wanted kids at some point soon, but no particular deadline, and there was no discussion about the military. Twenty-six is completely different, not in a bad way at all, but overwhelmingly different. New house, twins on the way, Mark gone two and a half months already, a move out of state in our near future, I still hold my job as a nurse but have added to that list mother and military wife. If you'd told me all that a year ago I'm not sure I'd believe you....

Wednesday morning I woke up with a bit of self-pity. We always spent my birthday together, went out to dinner, or just hung out together. This year I knew I'd get a phone call and that was it. But wait, why am I thinking that way? That's it? But I DO get that. I get to hear his voice, know he's ok, hear him say "I love you," know he is just 5 hours away. That's more than a lot of people get.

It's all about attitude. I decided I could go through my twenty-sixth birthday wallowing in self-pity that I don't get to spend the day with my husband OR I can look back over the past year, over the past 25 years and be completely overwhelmed by God's blessing. A husband who loves me, a strong marriage, two precious babies on the way, a great house, a job I love, an exciting future, fabulous support from family and friends, and twenty years of knowing my Savior. Wow. In a matter of minutes there was a smile on my face....what a great day it was to thank God for His many blessings.

And although an attitude of joy and thankfulness is vitally important there are always points of "weakness" I guess you could say. But at times that weakness is ok, or rather, that vulnerability, that depth of love for one person. Tonight after talking to him the tears just came. Week after week of not sleeping in the same bed, hugging him every day, kissing him morning and night and whenever I want, him not being there to talk to, to laugh with. It's hard, just no way around that. But sitting here with tears running down my cheeks, it made me realize that its ok to miss him and ok to cry. I'm not giving in to self-pity or choosing to be ungrateful for God's blessing. No. I just love deeply, that is all. I just understand more completely the precious gift God gives in marriage. As Mark's wife, supporting him is what God has called me to do, and I couldn't be more proud of my man. I respect him and love him with my whole heart. I wouldn't change a thing. He is doing what God has called him to do, and I support that man one hundred percent. But some days it's ok to just want him home. Because some days it's ok to love in that way. Tomorrow I'll be strong again.


"You lift me up, Holy One, Holy One
When I but come, You're enough, You're enough
You fill me up with Your love, with Your love
To You I run Holy One...."

"Holy One" by Rush of Fools