Martha Metzler.com

As I mentioned in my post a few weeks ago, I had a lot to do on my trip to Washington. Prayer was a big time survival technique and part of my every HOUR during the days leading up to the trip. I prayed that I’d find the perfect house with enough space, a yard for Roy, and in our housing allowance from the Army. I prayed that I’d love my doula. I prayed I’d love the hospital on post and that they’d let me take a tour of labor and delivery. I prayed the Fort Lewis would feel like a place I could get excited about living. I prayed that I’d feel a peace when I went so that my heart would be happy when I was flying out there to move instead of nervousness.

There were a lot of conflicting thoughts in my head. Part of me felt guilty for having so many prayer requests. I felt like I was “using up my queue” with Jesus… I know it sounds ridiculous.

I also constantly battle with myself making sure I’m not praying to a “vending machine” God who I just talk to when I want something. I always try and find a balance with desiring to submit to His will but also expressing my desires.  But I might as well be honest with my desires since He knows them any way, yes? And I came to a place of boldness. I figured if I was in the Word, asking for guidance, and laying out my desires for the trip, I needed to trust that He gives us the desires of our heart.

Stuff started happening.

Before I knew it, at the end of the trip, all of the things I’d been praying about had fallen into place! We got the house we wanted. I liked my doula. I liked the hospital. I felt peace about Fort Lewis. My desires had been met. I felt understood. I felt loved. I felt peace. Then part of me was surprised.

I shouldn’t have been surprised right? If I claim to worship the God that I do, I shouldn’t have been surprised that He gave me the desires of my heart, that He looked after my trip to Washington, that He had a Holy and Righteous plan for me there. When will I learn to not be surprised anymore when prayers are answered?

“Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”
Psalm 37:4

My first baby shower in Winston was given by the “Steel Magnolias” as I like to call them… aka, my mother’s best girlfriends. I posted the pictures a few weeks ago. It was so much fun and I felt so undeserving! One of my favorite parts was everyone went around and gave their best “mama” advice. Here is the advice I got that day:

1. If you’re a good mother 50% of the time, that’s enough.
2. Call your mother for advice (give you 2 guesses who gave me that one)!
3. Nap when the baby naps!
4. Swaddle the baby and sing “You are my sunshine”
5. Live, love, and laugh often with your children.
6. Don’t read too much, go by your instincts and after the baby goes down, have a glass of wine!
7. When changing the boy’s diaper, take cover!
8. Allow your child to run and play and get dirty!
9. When your 2 year old is throwing a tantrum in Target, don’t panic, the other people aren’t  thinking you’re a bad mother, they’re just glad its not them.
10. Call your friends!
11. When the baby is crying, remember it won’t last too long.
12. Have Sam give a bottle each night so they can bond.
13. Have a date night and when the baby is old enough, a night away!
14. Don’t let your 2 year old think he has the authority.
15. Keep doing what I’m doing today, just laughing through it all. This was from my aunt Beth who reminded me that I survived a childhood with 6 boys all around me!
16. Don’t feel badly about calling the doctor, they get calls like yours all day!
17. Be grateful I’m having a boy first so he can keep his siblings straight down the road.
18. Lavish love on the baby but remember the love that Sam and I have. Babies are more secure when their parents are secure.
19. Get them outside every day.
20. Praise in public, criticize at home.
21. Don’t keep a ledger.

Happy Tuesday! I meant to post this yesterday but we all know how Mondays go!

Stats:

Time: 27 weeks
Weight: 9-10 pounds depending on whether I weighed myself before or after I ate a giant bowl of frozen yogurt 🙂
Movement: Homeboy is going crazy in there! I love it. I find myself just playing with him. He’ll kick me so I’ll poke him back and we’ll just sit there and interact with each other. I love being pregnant.
Cravings: I could still eat fruit all day, frozen yogurt, anything cold
Aversions: Any sort of heavy meat, cooked veggies
Things I miss: A glass of red wine with supper, a Blue Moon with an orange slice on the back porch, laying on my stomach, and sushi

This weekend I traveled to Charlottesville to see the hubbs. It was a wonderful weekend filled with new friends, sweet time with hubby, beautiful Army traditions, and hilarious twists and turns that we just had to laugh at.

I decided to drive up after work on Wednesday and surprise the hubby. It was so nice to see him and actually sleep in the same bed. Although, I didn’t necessarily love the 4am alarm going off for Sam’s PT but I DID love it when he came back around 7 for breakfast. We got to eat breakfast and lunch together each day which is something I’ll never take that for granted again. Thursday I worked from the hotel room while Sam was in class but was experiencing a lot of cramps throughout the day. I tried taking a bath and laying in different positions but they just wouldn’t go away. So when Sam came home from class, we just decided to go on and call my OB.  They of course said the magic words that I’ve been longing to hear (sarcasm) “That could be pre-term labor, you should go to the hospital.” So, we got in the car and drove to the UVA ER.

Sam.was.amazing.

Of course I was bugging out a little and knowing in my head it was probably ok, I just needed to hear the docs say that. But Sam was so calm, prayed with me, kept telling me all was going to be ok, and rubbing my back while we were waiting. I mean, I could tear up just thinking about great he was. Luckily, everything checked out after an extremely uncomfortable pelvic exam that apparently I made hilarious faces during while Sam was trying not crack up at as the doctor was elbow up in my lady garden. Turns out I just have extreme round ligament pain, I can deal with that! But Sam kept making me laugh while we were in the TRIPLE OCCUPANCY room listening to 2 other women laboring (not quietly) and it was so great having a partner who knew exactly what I needed… to laugh and be comforted. I am so blessed to have that man.

So we laid low Thursday night and I missed a manicure date with my ladies but I got to spend time with them on Friday. We had a lecture Friday morning with Mrs. Petraeus as the speaker. She was so great! She was so personable and full of wisdom. After the lecture, we had a spouse’s luncheon with Mrs. Petraeus which she gave plenty of great advice about being an Army wife… the woman definitely had experience of 36 years! Here’s a picture of some of the fellow spouses who I just love!

After the luncheon we had a seminar which was thorough. It was full of information but it felt like I was drinking from a fire hydrant! After the seminar we rushed back to the hotel to change for the dress blues reception. I had found a regular empire waist dress (thanks Kristin for the advice!)

The reception was tons of fun. We went through the receiving line and got to talk to the 3 star general over the JAG Corp… in Sam’s words he is The JAG. He was so nice and really outgoing. Then we just got to eat a little and hang out with everyone. It was a great night but when we were headed back to the hotel, we decided it was time for pizza, pajamas, and puppies! That’s right, several of us took over our room and ordered pizza in our PJs, watched basketball, and our friends the Tramazzos had just gotten a puppy so of course he was included! Here is a picture from the blues reception. Sam and I got a professional picture taken so I’ll post that when it comes in!

It was a great weekend with a flat tire thrown in and having to come back a day earlier because they got snow… what?!?

Hope you all had a great weekend!

This was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. My friend Jude posted it and I almost peed my pants… good thing I’ve been doing Kegels so I won’t lose bladder control! Yeah I said it out loud… KEGELS.

Tom Hanks Pageant

Please help me… too funny.

I’m still having ridiculous dreams at night so I will just start sharing them with you because they are just hilarious.

1. This first one I must confess something before I tell you my dream. This isn’t something I’m proud of but I need to get it off my chest. 
                                               I watch Army Wives.

There I said it. I don’t feel any better. Is it unrealistic? Yes. Is it stereotypical of me, a new Army wife, to be watching this show? Yes. But do I run to the TV on Sunday nights in my yoga pants holding a glass of chocolate milk and watch this show? Yes.

So, now that I’ve lost your friendships, let me tell you my dream. I got in a big fight with the producers of the show last night. You see, most of the soldiers are deployed right now in the show and one of them dies *cue the scary black Suburban driving down the driveway to ultimately give the bad news*. Well, I’m pretty sure it’s this one dude Chase. Chase is the only good looking male on the show. So, in my dream, I apparently was very upset about this. So I was having coffee with the producers of the show, (totally normal so far), and I started yelling about how they can’t kill off the only attractive male on the show because they’d lose their viewers. Apparently, I was a consultant for the show…. again, totally normal so far. Then it cuts to me trying to steal the script and rewrite everything and Chase’s TV wife Pamela was helping me.

There’s my weird dream #1. Maybe I should stop drinking chocolate milk before bed.

2. I realize that these 2 dreams are about TV shows…. get over it. Well last night I also dreamt that I was a writer/camera woman for Gilmore Girls. Except, my episode wouldn’t have gotten aired. Lets just say it involved the characters making and wearing giant hats made out of pineapples, bananas, and coconuts. I’m not talking cute little tropical island hats. I’m talking, 3 feet high hats…. that I would get furious with them when they tried to take them off.

I’m sorry Rory and Lorelei for making you wear 3 feet tall fruit berets.

Maybe my dreams are trying to tell me something like…. stop being a fruitcake and caring so much about Army Wives.

Hello folks! I have officially made it back on the east cost. I will say that I.am.EXHAUSTED! We didn’t get back until after 11 last night and my alarm went off at 6am this morning for work. Ouch.

All in all it was an amazing and productive trip. We think we may have found our house! The application is getting processed so we’ll just hope everything turns out. It was in our housing allowance, a nice yard for Roy, a beautiful neighborhood, and clean. It’s a bit smaller in the inside than our last house but I think this will actually force me to get rid of any hand-me-down furniture that I’ve been keeping around. Simplicity at its best!

I also LOVED the doula I met, so I’ll be trying to make my decision on that this week. She was very kind, knowledgeable, and seemed to be in agreement with my birth plan and my philosophy. I also think she’ll really give Sam the space he needs to be my birth partner which is definitely what I want!

And best news ever…. the hospital has midwives! HOLLERRRR!!! When I went to visit the Army hospital, I made the mistake of stereotyping Army hospitals. I was totally mistaken. This one is AMAZING. It was so clean, the nursing staff was so nice, and they gave me a tour! They have great birthing suites and… A TUB ROOM. It looks like a giant tub in a private room and they said they were equipped to do water births if that’s what I chose. I talked to them about the midwife program and they said the midwives are amazing and work really well with the doctors if an emergency happens but other than emergencies, I can just have my doula and midwife during labor and delivery. The insurance covers it all since it’s at the hospital so SUCH a blessing!

We got to drive through the base and see where I’d be doing my grocery shopping. The neighborhood/town that we’ll be living in is 1 exit up from post and it seriously is like Pleasantville! It’s so nice and tons of people just out walking and playing in the parks. There are trails throughout the whole neighborhood that go through the woods and down to the sound. There is a “city center” which is a cozy little shopping center with a couple restaurants, Starbucks, and Dry Cleaners.

 It overlooks the sound and is really close to the golf course which of course Sam was very excited about when he “Google Mapped” it. As I was going on and on about the yard and landscaping and pretty architecture, this is what was happening with my husband:

Sam: “What’s the address, I want to google map it.”
Me: “Insert Address here. Isn’t it so pretty? What do you think of the house??”
Sam: “OH MY GOSH! Do you see how close the golf course is?!”

I’m so glad my mom was there with me and we had a great time exploring. Now I just can’t wait for Sam to see everything! It was strange being out there and making these decisions knowing that he wasn’t with me and I’ll be out there for 6-7 weeks before he even arrives.

Thanks for your thoughts while I was gone, I loved getting texts knowing I was being covered in prayers! God is good and I am so grateful everything worked out!

I’ve been debating cloth diapers vs. disposable… you know, because I don’t have a lot else to think about. Well, here is a link to my blogging friend Kristin’s blog: http://www.projectbabyblog.com/post/3920619413/dirty-diapers

Looks like the “g” diapers with the inserts may be calling my name! Problem solved…. next on the list? World peace?

Mom and I are back to the hotel room after a LONG day of looking at houses near Fort Lewis. She has been AWESOME. It was a bit discouraging at first because all of the houses were a bit out of price range and such SMALL yards. But she was so positive the whole time and kept saying in her Donna Reed voice, “I’m not worried. It’s not over. We’ll find something.” So… we may have found our house. I don’t want to jinx it but hopefully it’ll work out!

We just got back from the fitness room at the hotel and I thought it’d be funny to take some ridiculous bump pictures.

Stats:

Weight: 8 pounds! I think I’m on a smooth sailing journey to gaining a pound a week!

Fun things: He is moving around like crazy! He just punches and punches. I’m starving allllll the time, so I get to look pretty cool carrying around my lunchbox of snacks. I’m thinking of investing in a fanny pack.

Little surprises to adjust to: Yesterday on our flight, my feet got so swollen! It was pretty painful walking after we got off of the plane but I know it could be worse! I have perfected my sleep positions and pillow arrangement so I can get pretty comfortable. But it’s a strange blessing that Sam doesn’t have to share a bed with me because I take up the whole thing! (Get ready to laugh when I visit next weekend Sweetie!) Oh and, my belly button is officially disappearing and the belly is huge! (Well, I feel it’s huge)

I leave in 2 hours for FORT LEWIS!!!!!! WHHAATT!?!? This trip totally sneaked up on me (yeah I checked with my English teacher, it’s sneaked people) and I’m in shock that I am going to find our little family a house. This will be the first time that I’ll actually get to see Fort Lewis, see the neighborhood we’ll be living in, and see the hospital where I’ll be giving birth. This is just nuts right?!

I have about 13 houses to see, a hospital to tour, and a doula to meet….. all on Friday and Saturday. My mom is going with me and so she’ll remember to ask important things like if the house has a toilet.

Most of the houses that we’ll be checking out are in Dupont, WA and Steilacoom, WA. Clueless as I am? Well here is a google map:

So any words of wisdom would be appreciated. I’m praying for a good 3 bedroom house that is within our housing allowance, a big fenced in yard for the Royster, and a rotating disco ball in each room. I feel like my chances are good.