The US Open

First of all. Bob and I have been up in Rocky's business lately trying to pull everything that Lily will pull in order to get him prepared for nannyhood. This is the latest bit of humiliation. He is just such a good sport!


For Bob's first Fathers Day, he got to spend the weekend with his Dad at the US Open in Monterrey Bay California. Matt and his dad went as well and they all spent three days on the beautiful beach watching the pros play golf. Not too shabby! They followed the infamous Phil Mickelson and Ryo Ishikawa who was dubbed the "Pepto Ninja" because he wore all pink one day and is Japanese. For those of you who are interested, I was not there and am very glad because Bob said that they walked about 8 miles a day around that course. I know that I used to do the 60 mile walk and all, but my "condition" has decreased by mileage dramatically! The guys said they all had a wonderful time and I am so happy that Bob got to spend this special Father's day weekend with his awesome dad and soon to be grandpa.





When they made it home, Bob had all of about 36 hours before he had to leave for Cary so we quickly celebrated our 6 year anniversary and Father's Day all in one evening. I am looking forward to being officially moved so that our lives can get "normal" before we add a baby to the mix.

We have also been enjoying Justin's pool now that Bob is home for a bit. There is nothing like a nice refreshing pool when it is 110 degrees outside. Traci and I loved lounging under the sun while Bob and Justin handled the grill.



Do you see that baby belly sticking out of the water? I am 21 weeks now and cannot believe how big I am getting. People keep saying that I am so small, so it must all be in perspective. All that I know is nothing but maternity clothes fit anymore and if I wear something too tight Lily kicks and punches at it. Guess I will be spending the last three months in yoga pants and baggy shirts!

Life Changes

Summer has come in Arizona and I have relegated myself to the house. The heat outside is so miserable and even more so when you have a little heater attached! You know how people who live in freezing climates get depressed around the winter season because of the consistent cold and snow? Well it is exactly opposite here. When Summer comes, I just cringe. This week it is supposed to be 110 degrees! Who lives in that?

Last week we did manage to register for all of our baby stuff. It is amazing how much stuff our culture thinks our kids need. How did they do it in the 1800s when all they had was a cloth diaper and cradle? Seriously, wipe warmers?? How entitled can we make our kids? Between the Bippys, Boppys, Bumbos, Bouncers and Boopies I was like, are you kidding? Thankfully I had Anna come with us to help weed through all of the nonsense! I think the coolest part was that I got to park in the Babies R Us Stork Parking. I was so excited I took a picture!


Life has been so challenging lately. Bob is out of town more and more during this transition process. He is so busy with his new job that he spends a lot of his off time just trying to catch up and be on top of everything before he has to go travelling again. Our whole house is in boxes and I am somewhat confined to the house, the mall, or the movies. Really any place with major A/C. I had a good laugh yesterday when I went to the mall, got a lemonade and just sat and people watched for an hour. Oddly it was very relaxing and enjoyable. Am I getting old?

The baby, promotion and move are all such blessings, and yet I cannot believe how overwhelming all of the changes have become. Aren't these three of the 5 major life changes that causes stress? I have found myself experiencing a lot of fear and trepidation. Most of my fears center around my pregnancy. Having to find a doctor, establish a relationship and prepare for the marathon of labor and delivery is consuming. I have gotten in touch with a recommended doctor and hospital, but now I have got to get all my medical records to them, set up childbirth classes and make sure I know how to get there. Did you know that North Carolina road systems are like a plate of spaghetti? Yeah, they make absolutely no sense and nothing is set up like a grid. It will be an adventure to say the least! I also realized that because I am moving across the nation, all of the stores will be different. At least when we moved from Colorado to Arizona, I still had my Safeway. North Carolina doesn't even have a Safeway! Now where am I supposed to shop for groceries? I know, seems totally irrational, but when life is out of control it is the small things that help keep it in balance!

I think that the most worrisome thing right now is our house. We have had it on the market for two months with no offers. It is terrifying to think that we are going to have to short sale our home. We love our house and it is so sad to leave it and go back to apartment living. I never want to be one of those people who are super attached to their things, but we have put so much effort and energy in to making our house our home and it is sad to leave it. I was just telling a dear friend the other day that sometimes the greatest blessings come when we let go and let God, but letting go is sometimes painful and challenging. I am so excited to head on this new adventure into parenthood and North Carolina with Bob. I could not imagine a more perfect level headed partner to share this life with. I found some of these old pictures the other day and thought how wonderful our life has been.


We weren't even dating here. Just really good friends.


Yes, those are overalls and yes that is Bob under all that hair!


Our favorite date, a day on the rocks in the Rocky Mountains. It is hard to believe that I was a decent rock climber once upon a time!


At our engagement party, just a moment for a picture.


Our first Half Marathon together! We were engaged here and 5 months from wedded bliss.

So as I do my best to handle these many life changes with grace and trust I am focusing on spending time with my girlfriends and enjoying the good things of Arizona. I realize that this time is precious and that I will remember the Arizona Chapter in our life with fondness and joy. The friendships that we have gained will forever be a part of our lives and part of Lily's life too. The Lord has lavished His grace on us and has continued amaze us. Being in His will is the most exciting place to be.

Its A Girl!!!!!

Its a Girl! Its a Girl!! We are so excited and could not be happier. The Lord has blessed us so tremendously and we are overjoyed at having a precious baby girl. My parents came down for the discovery and we had a wonderful weekend together. Of course the heat was intense and our A/C was not working at full capacity. My poor parents are used to 60 degree weather and I think we just about melted them. They were such good sports though and handled the Arizona heat like champs.


On Monday morning we all woke up and headed to breakfast. I am starting to feel better overall but have decided that the best way to feel good is to not eat until well after 9 in the morning. So we headed out to Mimi's Cafe for a fantastic breakfast. I am loving Eggs Benedict at the moment so there I was with a huge carrot raisin muffin and eggs benedict. Soooo Good! I love feeling good and actually wanting food. Such a blessing! Let me tell you, never take craving food for granted. So here we all are at Mimi's Cafe, Grandma, Mom, Dad and the three of us. What a great start to our morning. After breakfast we headed over to the clinic for the big reveal! Bob and I were so excited we could hardly contain ourselves. I think Mom and Dad were too.


We finally got called in to the ultrasound room 20 minutes late....Seriously, do doctors not know how excited we were? Anyways we got in and I crawled up on the table.


I was so nervous. Not going to lie, all of us were really hoping for a girl. I kept praying all morning that if the doctor told me there was a little boy in my belly I was NOT going to cry. I know it seems really silly, especially because little boys are wonderful too, but when you are pregnant emotions run high! Can I get an AMEN? So there we were, expectantly waiting, jelly on the belly and wand hovering above. We heard the lubdub of the ultrasound and there she was. Now many people warned me that babies like to hide there private parts and to not expect a clear shot. Some babies just like to be a surprise! Not this little munchkin. One of the first shots was of her little bum and legs. There she was, clear as day. The ultrasound tech asked if wanted to know and without hesitation said "You are having a daughter." All of us just got so excited. Right now we are loving the name Lily Grace, so here she is...Lily Grace Longmire.






As the ultrasound went on she showed us her feet, legs, and precious hands. The ultrasound tech had to get a multitude of measurements and our little one was cooperative for the most part.


The last measurement was a special side of her heart and the way she was laying did not provide the best shot. So once again I had to do a host of exercises to try to get her to move around.

I tried touching my toes, down dog, jumping and laying on my tummy.

This did nothing but to tire me out and provide fantastic entertainment for all spectators. After all of this, out little baby girl would not move. She is comfy and not moving right now. Fortunately, the ultrasound tech was able to get close enough to get the measurement.


We all got a picture and headed out to make all of the necessary phone calls to announce the news. Grandma and Grandpa could not be happier, Great Grandma was excited too. Mom wants me to promise that she will love horses. I will do my best Mama!

Fiber Muffins

I told my Mom and Dad this story and they laughed so hard that I just had to put it on the blog. I have decided that I am not going to be a scrapbooker so this blog is going to be the tell all. I am a little late on this story as it happened over a month ago when I was in the throws of nausea and constipation, but it is still as funny as ever.

There I was, miserable and trying to figure out anything to do to get the constipation to go away. I anxiously called my doctor searching for answers to my major bodily dilemma. Unfortunately, there is very little medication that a pregnant lady can take to get her poop on so I was recommended a heavy dose of prunes, fiber, prune juice, vegetables, bran and did I mention prunes? Of course, in the throws of nausea not one thing on this list sounded palatable, but I was desperate! So I went to the store looking for anything with fiber, prunes or bran in the title. As I was walking down the aisle I saw "Fiber One" Muffin Mix. It was like a homing beacon calling my name. If I had to do fiber, having it in an apple cinnamon muffin was definitely a plus. Add a big gulp of prune juice and I thought I would have a winning combination. Well, I brought it all home and scheduled my muffins for the next morning's breakfast.

The next morning I made the muffins, got one of them down and prayed that it was going to be the magical ticket (it wasn't). At least they were palatable! Plus I had breakfast for the next 11 days. I carefully put the remaining muffins in a plastic bag and stored them in the fridge.

Bob had been out of town for about 4 days through all of this and while I had shared with him my constant dilema, I hadn't shared all my dieting secrets. So he came home on the Thursday of that week at about 10pm at night and was starving. I was sound asleep and completely unaware of what was happening. He opened the fridge door looking for any vestiges of left over food (no such luck with nauseas pregnant lady living there for 4 days straight). Like a moth to a flame his gaze settled on the plastic bag with muffins. Perfect late night snack! He pulled them out and downed about 6 of them then quietly headed to bed.

The next morning he was up bright and early working away. When I woke up about 2 hours after him I headed to the kitchen to continue my regiment of fiber muffins and prune juice. I opened the door and was shocked to find all but 5 of my muffins gone. What happened? So I asked Bob about it and without hesitation he said that he had eaten them. "Those were high fiber muffins honey, they are supposed to help me get regular" I told him. His response was priceless. He turned to me like he had just had an "aha" moment and said, "THATS why I spent all morning in the bathroom, you made me eat poopin' muffins!"

At least they worked for one of us!

Five Months and Counting!

Hallelujia! I think I am over the hump. I still don't feel perfect, but I am far from miserable! Yeah! Maybe the all day sickness won't be an all pregnancy sickness! I have missed a lot over the past month, so I am going to give you a run down of the Month of May!

May was a good overall month filled with the exciting news of moving and the ever present nausea. It is so cool to see my tummy get bigger as this little one continues to make his/her presence known. I think that I am finally "noticeably pregnant" instead of just chubby. All is happy and the baby is perfect in every way. May brought screening tests and some genetic exams for me and the little one. With Bob's history, the doctor recommended we get tested. On May 4th, I headed into the doctor's office for the ultrasound and consult. I was nervous and at peace (is that possible?). I have been completely at peace that this little one is just perfect and completely nervous about the what ifs. Silly me! This little one is happy, healthy, moving and squirming around like a pro. Praise the Lord! The ultrasound was really interesting too because to get the measurements they really need the baby to be laying on its back and my little one was standing on its head. So uncooperative! I had to walk up and down the halls, cough, touch my toes, jump up and down and drink a whole bottle of water. Finally after all of that nonsense the baby flipped and we got the shot. Perfectly perfect in every way!

Mother's day came next and how special it was. This year was my first ever mothers day and it was a neat feeling to wake up in wonder at the way life is going to change and the new role I am taking on. Bob bought me the sweetest card and we went over to my family's house for an afternoon of Mom's. My Mom was in Colorado, but my precious grandma was here and we lavished love on her.


Mother's day makes you remember those women who are so significant. A mother's touch and love are felt through generations. I know it is late, but from this mommy to any others, Happy Happy Day!

We spent some of our time with Anna and Caleb's little one, Josiah. I will tell you what, that little boy could steal anyone's heart. He is so much fun now as he has gotten mobile! He just loves the big dogs. He pulls Rocky's tail and pets him. He is not a tiny bit afraid when Rocky towers over him or kisses him. We even watched Josiah crawl right under Big ol' Rocky to get where he wanted to go. Oddly, big dogs don't scare him a bit, now my kitties, that is a different story. All one of the cats has to do is look at him and he bursts into tears. We took Josiah to the park and went down the slide.




He just loves being outside and his smile is the biggest when he is out in the world. He dances too. It's like a little head bob, but it is super cute! We are surely going to miss that little guy when we go. The Longmires and the Fields are working on some kind of arranged marriage situation in the event we have a girl. We will let you know how that works out.

We also celebrated Mason Weatherly's birthday. At 5 he is all excitement and energy. Matt and Tara, our dear friends had all of us over and we swam and ate. Perfect summer afternoon. I didn't get many pictures, but here is one of the girls.


The month ended with my dear cousin Chelsea coming home. She and her husband Curtis are both Marines and they live on the East Coast. We see her so rarely since Curtis is still actively serving the country. I decided it was high time we stopped everything and took a picture. I am amazed at how quickly we all grow up. I can still remember Chelsea and I getting our pictures taken when we were all of about 8 (me) 4 (Chels). Now we are married, I am having a baby and she has served proudly for 5 years.


Well, in a nutshell, that was the past month. I am hoping to do a little better with the blog now that I am feeling a little more like a human everyday. The next blog is going to be the "Its a..... blog, so stay tuned!