Our Texas Vacation

We recently went to TX for about three weeks to have Mike's PRK (Lasik) surgery done and to spend some time with his family. We had a great time when we finally got there, but the road trip there was NOT FUN at all. We had to stop about 10,000 times and Danica HATED the car. Julia did really well, but when it came time to head back to GA I was REALLY dreading it. It turned out just fine. I guess 3 weeks time makes a huge difference in a baby's life because Danica did AWESOME! The only time I was ready to cry was the last hour and a half of the trip because we were all so tired and ready to be in our own house! Here are some pictures of our trip and the fun things we did. Hope you enjoy them! Mike caught these two Crappie the last night we were at his Nana's house. (Post PRK)

We stopped at a Bass Pro Shop store on the way home and this was Julia's favorite seat!

Me and my girls in front of the GIANT fish tank at Bass Pro

Mike and Julia in front of the Bass Pro Shop Store.

My pretty Dani girl 3 1/2 months old!

Julia posing with her life jacket on the new dock her daddy built.

Julia and Danica playing with Danica's new floor gym.

She love her daddy soooooo much!

And this is the Momma's Girl of the Century

Julia and her Grammy V on the boat!

Ready to go on the boat, Momma!

Julia and Grammy walking down to the dock to go on a boat ride

Mike and his brother John with the 30+ crappie they caught the second night we were there.

I wanna touch the bass, Momma....Ewww, Slimey

Mike with his bass, pre-PRK surgery.

Julia and Danica with their Great-Nana the second day we were there.

Nana holding Danica.

Julia thought she needed a turn, too. :)

Loving on the Nana!

Danica Joyce Partain is HERE!

Our beautiful baby girl was born on the 8th of January, 2009 @ 1231 am and weighed 6lbs 2oz and was 18 inches long. She's the light of our lives and her big sister is absolutely AMAZED by her. I'm so happy that Julia has taken to her as if she's been here forever. It's like she was meant to be here...lol. Anyway, here are some pictures of the new peanut...and of the proud family/big sissy.

So, we've made it through to the 35 1/2 week mark! Only 5 1/2 to go and they can't go by fast enough. My sleep is not even close to sufficient anymore because I can't get comfortable. I have the WORST heartburn and acid reflux I've ever had and I'm just plain miserable. So, Danica could come out any day now and I wouldn't be upset about it. :) Actually, it probably sounds worse than it is, but seriously, I'm ready for her to be an outside baby! Julia is starting to figure out that there are about to be some serious changes in our house as we have gotten the crib put back up and the baby's room started. Also, we have some big news on the potty training front...Julia has started the process and is doing GREAT with it. She only wears diapers at night to sleep in. The rest of the time she wears pull ups and tells us when she has to go potty. We haven't made it to the poop in the potty stage yet, but we've only been doing this for about a week...so I think we're doing pretty well for such a short time. Mike loves his job and is going to re-enlist in the AF for another four years tomorrow at 4pm! So, look for those pics as soon as I get them. :) Hope all is well with everyone. More updates to come soon.

Updates on the clan...

So, I know I'm totally terrible about keeping up on this thing, but hey, I'm pregnant, we just moved into our new house and I have a 2 year old running around...can a girl get a little slack around here? Hehehe. Anyway, we're all doing well. Julia turned the big 2 on the 8th of this month and has the attitude and the sass to go with it. We haven't had any really bad "terrible 2" moments, yet, but we have had a couple of close calls. I'm sure they're on their way, I'm just hoping that stage doesn't last too long. Mike is now working B shift....which happens to be 3pm-11pm, Monday through Friday, which he loves and Julia and I hate. We feel like we never see him because when he's sleeping we're awak and vice versa. I'm doing really well also. We had our last ultrasound to get an estimated weight on the baby and they said she's already almost 4lbs and by the time she's done cookin' could be another 3-4lbs heavier. I think I'm gonna not try to be a hero this time and go for the epidural if that's the case. She's healthy and the fluid around her is good. Everything is in the right position and she's head down. So, we're still on track for a "normal" birth. :) Anyway, we hope everyone is well and we want you all to know that we love it in GA, but miss all of you very much and can't wait to start having visitors over after the baby is born. Look for more updates as I get the time to post them. Hugs and kisses to all.

The Partains.

Here are a couple of new pictures of me and my extremely preggo self. I'm 31 1/2 weeks here, but it feels/looks more like 41 1/2...anyway, hope you enjoy.

4D ultrasound...girl confirmed!

Mike and I went for our 4D ultrasound on the 15th of this month to confirm that we are, in fact, having another girl...and it's true. My husband apparently doesn't have any little boy swimmers in him. I guess our house will forever be the home of the princesses. My poor husband is going to have to get a boy dog if he ever wants any male interaction within the walls of our house. ;) Anyway, here are a few of the pictures. Hope you enjoy them! GIRL PARTS!!!
Danica's cuddling with the belly.
She sleeps like her big sister, with her hand by her face.
She also sucks her thumb, like her big sister...am I having twins...2 yrs apart?

Peaceful baby girl.

Ultrasound results...

So, we went on Friday the 24th to have our ultrasound done...to find out the sex of the baby and make sure everything was going well in the belly. Everything is great with the baby and we found out that Julia will be having to fight over clothes, shoes, toys, boys, cars, and cell phones because she's going to be getting a little sister on or around the 16th of January. Mike and I were so convinced it was a boy because this pregnancy hasn't been anything like the one with Julia and to our shock and suprise, nothing was hanging between the legs when the ultrasound took place. Mike still isn't convinced. He thinks the baby was hiding the goods, but all that was there was the "three line sign". So, as much as we wanted a little boy, it's gonna be Girlsville, USA for us. That's okay...we'll have to get Mike a boy dog so he has some company! As for our move...we'll be flying out to Seattle on Saturday the 30th of August and staying with my mom and dad for 12 days, heading to Valdosta, GA on the 10th of September. I'll post ultrasound pictures of the baby as soon as we get to Mom and Dad's because my printer doesn't work with the new laptop we got...I've had it for six years and it's time for an upgrade! That's all for now...hope everyone is doing well and we look forward to seeing those of you who live around the Longview, Portland, Seattle area when we're home!

Pregnancy update and other news...

So, since it's been a while since the last time I posted any news about Julia or the new baby or the move...here you go! Julia is now 21 months old but has already adopted the "I'm 2 and I can do whatever I want to do...and no matter what you say, I can't hear you!" attitude. Should be lots of fun to deal with when the new baby comes into the world. Speaking of the new baby...things are cookin' along quite nicely in the belly. For those of you who didn't know, I lost 25lbs the first 10 weeks I was pregnant because I was constantly nauseated. I never actually threw up, but always felt like I could. So, as a result, I didn't eat much those first few weeks. Not eating caused me to lose 25lbs...but I'm happy to report, the nausea is gone and I've managed to put a few pounds back on. That makes the worried hubby that I have not so worried anymore. We get to go find out the sex of the baby on the 26th of August at 4pm...so look for updates as soon as we get ultrasound pics and news of the million dollar question. As of right now, we have decided on a boy's name, but are still at a loss for a girl's name we can agree on. He likes the more "common" names like Jessica, Chole, Natalie...I like the not so common names like Abigail, Gabrielle, Mackennah, Maddison, Madilynn. I know we posted a poll on here a while back with the name Emilee on it, but I decided I don't like that name, not because it's not a cute name, but because there are ten million little girls in the world with the name Emilee. Anyway...hopefully we're having a boy and won't have to worry about picking a girl's name for this baby. :) Keep your fingers crossed. Now for the news on the move to GA...Well, Mike's last day of work is the 22nd of this month...the movers come on the 21rst to pack everything in boxes and the 22nd they will haul it all away. We do our final out inspection for our house on the 27th. Take the Explorer to be shipped to Valdosta on the 28th, out-process the base on the 29th and then, for the most exciting part...7am on the 30th we'll be getting on a plane headed for Seattle! We land at SEATAC at about 11:30am on the 30th, will be staying with Mom and Dad until the 10th of September and then we'll be on another flight on the way to Valdosta. We can't wait to see what's in store for us. So, I think that's it for now. Look for more updates as we get them. Hope everyone is well. We love and miss you all.

New pics/videos for your enjoyment

This is Julia's "Redneck" look!

Her first "Big girl" haircut. She did so well!

She loves to help us with the vacuuming since she
got her own to use.

She's getting so big. She knows how to drink out of a big girl cup now!

She did so well for her first big girl haircut.

Julia loves her vacuum!

Baby's first ultrasound pics!

Today was my first prenatal check up for the new little one growing in my belly. I'm 11 weeks and 3 days today. The doctor had to break out the ultrasound machine because she couldn't locate a heartbeat with the doppler device. We could hear the baby moving around, but no heartbeat. We just wanted to be sure everything was okay...and it was! The first picture is a profile view of our little peanut (actually is about the size of a fig), and the second picture is a view of the front of the face with a little foot action in there. The baby did not want to be disturbed and was trying to kick the ultrasound wand away. These are pictures of the pictures that I had to put on here because we're having problems with our printer and laptop working together. So, the quality isn't the greatest, but you get the general idea of what's going on in my belly!

Who's that?

Mike took this video of Julia and I while we were reading the "Baby Bible." If you listen closely you can hear what's she's saying when I ask her "Who's that?" If you can't hear it, her answer every time is: "Jesus." I have to tell you also that I never once coaxed her to say His name. She said it all on her own one day and has been saying it ever since. It doesn't matter if we're reading the book she's used to or any other book with Him in it...she will point to His picture and say: "Jesus." Amazing!!!

Ring Around the Rosie!

This is a video Mike took of Julia this morning while I was upstairs taking a nap. Julia is playing her favorite game: Ring Around the Rosie...by herself...she loves it...not to mention it's super cute!

Our silly girl...and baby updates!

Hello everyone!

I haven't updated this in a bit, so I thought I'd post a couple new pics of Julia with her newest obsession...her sunglasses!

I took these pictures a while back....maybe a few weeks ago and I thought they were hysterical! I hope you laugh as hard at them as I did when I took them! :)

Oh, and as for "The Baby Chronicles": Baby's doing fine...still giving me a hard time with not letting me sleep and keeping me nauseated, but I think it's getting better. We MUST be having a boy as this pregnancy is TOTALLY different than when I was pregnant with Julia. Hopefully I'll have better news the next time I post an update for you! We hope you're all doing well and we love and miss you all!

New family photos!

For my Mother's Day present, my wonderful husband suprised me with a family photo shoot where I was treated to having my hair and makeup done for me. We just got our pictures back the other day so I thought I'd post a couple on here so you all could see them too. It was a great day and the photographer was WONDERFUL with Julia. The day we had these pictures done was the day we found out that Julia is going to be getting a late Christmas present, in the form of a baby brother/sister in January!



Julia loved the photographer! He was so good with her. In this picture she was trying to put her thumb in her mouth and he snapped the picture right before she got it in there. She was cracking up at him. We just can't believe how big she's gotten and we can't wait to see what she's like as a big sister. We have high hopes for her in that department!

Mother's Day, 2008

This year for Mother's day, we went to church in the morning and then came home and took Julia to the park to play for a little bit. She had a blast, it was a really good, relaxing day and I got some really cute pictures. I hope you enjoy them.

Also, here's a video from Mother's day of Julia just running around the yard.

The good news keeps coming!

So, as of yesterday afternoon about 12:30pm, Mike and I are going to be parents, again. Julia is super excited to be a big SISTER! My friend Rose was convinced that I was pregnant again because I've been a RAVING LUNATIC for the last few weeks...I wasn't so sure. Turns out she was right. She made me take the test in the bathroom of the Fairbanks Wal-Mart. Turns out, she was right and I was wrong. So, the good news keeps coming. We're super excited to have another addition to our family and we'll keep you posted with pictures as we get them...here's one to start you off!

We got our Orders!!!

Just to let you all know, we got our orders today...well word of mouth, but the orders will be in our hands on the 15th of this month! We're heading to Moody AFB, GA for our next assignment! We can't wait. Shorts, flip flops, nice weather and not -40 and or 10 feet of snow! Yes! Sunshine here we come!

Julia's first time in a real pool!

Mike and I took Julia to the base pool for the first time yesterday for open swim. She wasn't too sure of it when we first got in, but shortly after she got used to the water temperature, she turned into our little water baby. It has been decided that from now on, our family nights will consist of going to the pool to go swimming. Mommy is looking all over the place for infant/mommy and me swim classes to take Julia to and also to get herself into better shape. That was our Tuesday evening...Hope yours went just as well.




















This picture was taken before we went for the pool...she was super excited to go, as you can clearly see on her little face!