Tick, tick, tick goes the clock

When I found out that I was pregnant there were enough questions, concerns, emotions to figure out. Then came the doozy....I had to find a new Dr.

I cried over finding a new Dr. I've had the same Dr. since before I met Paul & now I had to start fresh. Then to top if off I only had two Drs to chose from....after I stopped crying on the phone w/my provider I finally decided on Dr. Samudio.

She has been nothing but heaven sent. Not only does she answer all of our questions/concerns but when we talk to her it's more like spending time with a close friend or family then a Dr. Throughout my pregnancy Paul missed one appt. & she made it clear that was a no-no. ;) I think that made us closer to her. Just knowing that she cared enough to be honest with us & help us in any way she could. She even snuck us in for an extra ultrasound to see our Cameron & hugged us on each visit.

I'll miss a lot when we leave Cali but Dr. Samudio will always be in my top 5. She even requested that we keep in touch (as if she got rid of us that quickly!) & wanted to stay in the know about Cameron.

It's that time of year again...

We headed out to Petsmart last night for the pet costume contest.

I'm lame & didn't take pictures of the other contestants because:



1. We have a camcorder now.



2. Sadie would not stop whimpering for her ball.



3. Oscar would stop walking every 2 seconds because the sleeves on his costume were too long.



4. Let's be honest. The other animals weren't nearly as cute as our babies.



Enjoy the pics!

Happy Howl-o-ween from Sadie

And the rest of the Jackson crew

P.s. Yes that's a picture of a picture. Bite me.

Jeremy & Nikita

This past Wednesday Jeremy & Nikita renewed their vows. Last year after returning from his first tour to Iraq they eloped on May 31, 2007. Needless to say I wasn't too thrilled about missing my brothers own wedding (court or not). :(

I was beyond happy when they not only announced they would marry at The Flamingo in Las Vegas but I was asked to be a part of the bridal party as well. Over the past few years I've had a chance to get to know Nikita & we became closer after his second tour. It was fun helping & being a part of the planning. A dress was finally agreed on for the bridal party & I ordered it online 2 sizes bigger than what I normally wore pre-pregnancy. All I have to say is thank goodness the wedding was NOW. I thought I'd have to take it in.....nope my belly took up all the room it could.

You couldn't tell but she was nervous. :)

Thankfully we were able to convince her daddy to take off his darn blue tooth.

Gorgeous.

They did a great job picking the color blue.

Picture perfect.

Not only was it an honor to be asked but I had the best seat in the house. As my brother recited his vows I could see how much he truly loves Nikita.

They make a wonderful couple & compliment each other really well. It's fun to see people you're close to grow not only as individuals but as a couple.

First dance

The Power Of Love by Celine Dion

I bawled like a baby. Now when I hear this song I get teary eyed.

Paul was nice enough to step in as Galvan's girlfriend (who couldn't make it).

Cameron started moving around. He wanted all eyes on the belly.

Handsome

For fun, we gave them big balla' cups that said Bride & Groom in Rhinestones.

Aunt Rachel kept her cup up for about 5 mins after the toast. hee hee

The Army has made him too serious.

My beautiful grandma

Before

After.

They weren't very nice. ;)

Jeremy put in a special request for Paul & Ramirez to battle in a dance off.

I don't know what's more funnier (yes that's a word).

That they did it or that Jeremy requested it. Either way it got the party started!

It all happened to fast I didn't get a shot of Paul pretending to pee like a dog on Ramirez's leg.

After the wedding we headed to the strip. I've never watched the Bellagio water show. It's actually pretty nice. :)

We saw this......

But the store was closed & I couldn't get it for Cameron. :(
Next time...

My snuggler

If you know me, then you know that the word love doesn't begin to describe how I feel about my dogs.


So when they take over our social skills (it's horrible when you know the names of other dogs & refer to the owners as "Max's mom"), want a Kong or need their bellies rubbed it's no surprise that they go to their mommy.


Oscar was the first addition to our family & he took full advantage (still does). The first night with us Paul let him on the bed. Little did he know that Oscar would find himself right at home in the middle of us, under the covers, laying sideways & any other position that pleased him. :/


He's a great snuggler & when I bought my snoogle pillow I didn't realize I'd have to fight for it.

Kat these pics are for you.

Then a few hours later he found himself back comfortably......in my pillow. :/

Disclaimer: We were washing our sheets & pillow cases.....we don't go for the hospital look.

Good times, good times

Even through the stress of moving, packing & mentally preparing for what's to come with the baby & our move out of state it helps to reflect on how I've been very blessed these last few weeks.

September 17th I received a text message from my sister in law Nikita:

He came home early this morning!!!!

My brother Jeremy was finally home. We weren't expecting him until the 27th so this was an awesome surprise. This was his second tour of Iraq & I still can't comprehend how he made it mentally through his first. I've heard & watched documentaries on soldiers who come back not quite the "same" & deal with drinking & drug addictions to fight off the stress of being over seas.

I didn't know what to expect the first time he made it home but after a few days back into the states I finally got to talk & see him. He seemed ok. Not 100% ok but ok in the sense that he wasn't picking up a bottle or pills. He talked a lot. About what he saw, what he did & had to do. The stories seem to horrific to be real but they were & here my (at the time) 19 year old brother was retelling everything he went through.

Now back from his second tour he's changed.......but honestly for the better. He seems more mature, more sure of himself & not afraid to crack a smile or joke around. :)

Nikita set up a surprise welcome home party for that Saturday but he found out the night before. :( Oh well, I'm sure it was still a nice surprise that she put the time & thought into putting everything together.

As we drove onto the base we were flooded with welcome home banners.

Since Jeremy found out that people were coming over he bought a grill & Bar-B-Que chicken, ribs & veggie dogs for me. :) They were delicious!

It was nice to catch up with each other & just spend quality time. Quality time meaning kicking ass in Pictionary. Seriously, who draws a broom that looks like it was made out of hot dog links?

Nikita & Jeremy will be renewing their vows later this month. My cousin Joseph who joined the Army last year was on his first tour in Iraq. He surprised everybody by coming home early to celebrate his 21st b-day in the states & be a part of the wedding. :)

Happy thoughts all around.

Don't forget me :(

This past weekend we drove out to Arizona. I've never been to Mesa & to be honest the only experience I've had with Arizona is Quartzite. Omg we all know how much I LOVE that place.

So needless to say I wasn't expecting too much. I tried not to expect anything so I wouldn't be too disappointed. I am definitely the pessimistic one in our relationship & even though I love Paul sometimes his "everything is sugar & spice & will work out in the end" speeches get a bit old. Especially when I'd rather wallow in self pity.

So early Saturday morning we got up, dressed, packed & kissed the poochies good-bye & told them to wish us luck. I think they might have wished more for themselves because what can I say? Arizona was pretty awesome.

On the drive there we saw a lot of this:

Now you can only play count the cactus for so long. :/

Thankfully the drive wasn't that bad. I drove from Cali to Quartzite & Paul drove the rest of the way (only 4 1/2 hrs. total, not too shabby). As soon as he hit civilization I noticed one thing right off the bat.

The freeway was bare....bare & free of any tagging!

I really wish I took pics but believe me I looked. Nothing on the ramps, street lights, stop signs....nothing. I didn't want to jinx anything so just kept an eye out. Little did I know Paul was noticing the same thing. If there's anything I hate is the awful look & aura of tagging. It's pointless & a disturbing reminder that there's a bunch of dumb asses in the area.

As we drove further into Az I noticed that the traffic was a lot calmer. There were cars on the road but no one was in a hurry, cutting in & out of lanes or riding our ass.

So far so good.

The city we'll be working out of is Mesa but we looked in the city of Gilbert (two exits away) for a place to live. As soon as we exited Power Rd. into Gilbert we were warmly welcomed by a huge sign glowing Super Target. If you know me, you know my love for Target. There was a grand opening for a 76 gas station. Full of free food, drinks, snacks, a jumper & a wall for rock climbing set up for kids to run around & play.

Just as I was settling down & getting rid of some anxiety the real pressure started.

Apartment hunting. BLAH! So after the first place I was already burnt (we arrived close to 1pm) & wanted to grab a bite to eat. New York Pizza Dept. was highly recommended & not a far drive so we headed out.

Cute right?

As soon as we went inside I noticed only one other family eating there. Maybe, they don't pick up until late afternoon? So I went to the bathroom to wash up & I'm not sure what hit me but I realized that this is it. When we go out to eat it's just going to be Paul & I. My aunt won't be waiting or meeting us anywhere. I won't be able to solve the child menu puzzles with my cousins & I can't grab sushi with Diana every time I'm sad.

I thought I was fine but reality hitting me out of nowhere really shook things.

So, I walked back to our table, sat down & cried. Paul held me & just reminded me of all the opportunities moving would give us & Cameron. I know he's right. I know this is the right thing to do. But moving still hurts my heart.

Before leaving the waitress gave us a welcome packet.

It was full of goodies. Menu, coupons & free dessert voucher. I don't know if she felt bad for us or was just truly nice but it did put a better light on the situation.

We went to a few more places. I didn't love any of them. Paul was still stuck on the first place which I liked but didn't love. Before leaving to Az I googled dog parks in Az & found Cosmo Park.

Wow! It was better than we imagined.

Full of dogs (most dog parks that we've been to have 5 or less) it had a man made lake for dogs to swim in or play fetch. There was even a ramp so the dogs could run off of it & jump into the water.
Obstacles through out the park to run over, under & through.

I couldn't help but get excited & look forward to bringing Oscar & Sadie back.


An Amphitheatre. Paul already envisioned Shakespeare being played. :)

There was even a kid area which I'm sure we'll visit plenty with Cameron.

To top it all off the restrooms were sparkling clean with no tagging! As you can see this "no tagging" feature is huge with me. When I asked an employee at one of the apt. complexes if they have somebody come out & paint over tagging she replied with, "what's tagging?" I had to explain that it's graffiti. She said, "we don't have that problem in Az." Music to my ears. Now I'm not naive. I'm sure it's somewhere but in the full two days we were there I didn't see it once.

But it's nice to know that if I do see some at Cosmo park there's a number I can call.

Oh, & I will. :)

We finally found (the last place we visited before heading home) an apt. I LOVE in an area that compliments our needs. But I'll save the stories & pics for another post.