Oh the Joys of Carrying

So things have been a little rough in the Campos household. Not so much in the sense of burdens or anything else, but being pregnant. Last time it pretty much felt like a breeze, this time....not so much. I am VERY sick. Most of the time at night I can't sleep well, I'm normally up VERY early. I'm sick from around 10am on. It's horrible! My doctor told me to follow the BRAT diet....Broth, bananas...Rice, Rice Cereal, Apple Sauce, Tea and Toast. The first day toast was the only thing that sounded good to me. Thank goodness Chris is picking up some of my slack and even Bradley is helping out.

Bradley has slept through the night the past two nights! I am VERY excited about this.

He is definitely growing up and moving. I felt horrible and my heart melted yesterday as he fell off my bed!!! He has a little bump on his head and his lip, I feel like a horrible mom, but by the end of the night (it happened in the afternoon) you couldn't even tell he had a bump on his head. H cried for maybe a minute. I cried for much longer. He's turning into an all boy that's for sure. Since his fall, he crawled (more like scooted and rolled) his way under the coffee table where he hit his head again. THEN as I was doing dishes I gave him a wooden spoon to play with where he hit his head twice with it. I just can't win. So I had a very sad mommy day yesterday.

But on the plus side of things, Bradley got a new toy (was supposed to be for Easter but Chris thought he should have it now). He loves it! It's got a phone and all these buttons to push to make a ton of noises. On top of all of that we are all going to drive down to DC on Friday and stay the night, go on a tour the next morning, then drive to NC for a week and spend time with Uncle Chad and Uncle Rudy (both are deploying again to Afghanistan).

The Perfect Valentine

Yesterday was absolutely perfect. I couldn't have asked for a better Valentine's Day or a better Valentine.

Throughout the week I had been giving Chris his Valentine's Presents (a Pittsburgh Steelers Terrible Towel, Steelers Pajama Pants and Tapatio Sauce, which is hard to find around here). So when Chris woke up on Valentine's morning he had pretty much everything. I had planned our babysitter coming to watch Bradley at 4:30 and we would go to dinner at The Outback Steakhouse in Syracuse, followed by a game of laser tag with some friends.

I have never seen Chris so happy and giddy as he woke up. I was in the nursery with Bradley, trying to get him to go to sleep. Chris came to the door and had a childlike smile on his face. His eyes looked pure and jolly. He smiled, crouched his shoulders in together and rubbed his hands. Then his smile got bigger and then he said, "Hold on a second," and left running down the hall like an excited child.

When he returned a few seconds later, his eyes still twinkling, he asked if I was ready to have my Valentine. I of course said yes and then he handed me a white index card that said, "Girls are made of spice and everything nice." I ran downstairs and looked in the spice cupboard. There was another index card, "Bradley got one before you and I did." This was a little confusing at first. I asked Chris if I complained about it and he said yes. His walker is a jeep, Chris and I both wanted a jeep for years. I ran to the jeep and under the steering wheel there was another one...."Bathroom Burritos." What the heck are bathroom burritos? I looked downstairs. Chris told me to think about it.....the only thing I could think of is burritos give people gas, or make them poop. I looked in the toilet....nothing....I kept looking. I ran upstairs to that bathroom....the towels!!! I roll them up in a basket, they look like burritos! The next clue..."Keys to information." This one was easy, under the keyboard in the office. Then the last one..."My standing night light gloating ore, never more." A line from Shakespeare? What the heck. I checked by the baby's night light. I then went to our bedroom. Chris and I sat on the bed. He said it was tough. I checked by his nightstand.

"Is it in here?"

"Yes."

I just started opening the drawer to my nightstand. Nothing. I opened the drawer to his and there was a bag from a jewelery store. Inside it was a box. I opened up the velvet box and there was a beautiful Open Heart Shaped necklace. I put it on immediately. Chris LOVED making the treasure hunt and I loved searching.

Later that night we went to Outback and it was about an hour and a half before we were seated, but we sat at the bar, Chris tried Australian beer, I had a coke and we had some grilled shrimp appetizers. After being seated, I ordered crab legs with a steak cooked medium (it came with a baked potato too) and Chris ordered a rack of lamb with cesaer salad and mashed potatoes. We polished dinner off with a pecan brownie dessert with ice cream and headed to the mall. We bought ourselves our bathing suits for the summer and then headed to The Fun Junction in Cicero to play laser tag. Chris and I took pictures in a photo booth, bowled, raced Jared several times in a race car game, shot at wild buffalo and then played laser tag. It was a ton of fun and we talked about it the entire night!

Finally we went home, paid the babysitter, watched a little TV to unwind and headed upstairs. Needless to say it was a perfect Valentine's Day and it had been a long time since I have had that much fun goofing around and overall just having such a great day. I hope I never forget it.

Grateful for my Husband

So I was driving home today from a meeting and I was realizing how lucky I am to have such a nice and wonderful husband. It's the hi-lite of my life. Not only has he been helping me out the past two days (once he got home from school) and giving me a much needed break but he's actually listening to me and helping me out in other areas. Overall we are just working together and doing well together. We of course have had our struggles in the past, I don't know a couple that hasn't, but he's more understanding during this pregnancy. The past few days I have looked at him and I'm just plain enjoying our time together. We are just having it good right now.

Chris, if you are reading this, I want to let you know how proud I am of you. You have changed a lot since the first time I have met you, we both have. You are a wonderful person and a great father to your son. I know you'll be wonderful to the next baby as well. I am very fortunate to have you in my life and I know you don't believe everything happens for a reason, but I do and I know we are perfect for one another. You definitely put up with my crap (begging to give you facials and play with your hair, etc) and my nagging to keep the house clean or a certain way. I think we are good for each other and there is nowhere else I'd rather be then here with you. These past few days, even though we haven't done anything special, have been special to me and I'm very grateful for you. I love you and I hope you never forget that nor question it. I am very thankful for you. I love you very much.

Love Always,
Jenny

The Stresses of Life

So pretty much I'm now trying to get out of the military and ROTC for the reason that now I'm going to be a mommy of two, only thirteen months apart. Getting out of the military isn't the problem at all, it's getting out of ROTC.

Apparently they don't follow the same rules as the ARMY. I have to breech my contract in some way in order to get out. Well guess what I never did. And pregnancy isn't a way to get out of ROTC at all. Almost a year ago I already finished my requirements to commission, but they wouldn't commission me because I was pregnant. So now I'm currently stuck in limbo for the next year unless I prove hardship, which is definitely what I have going on and it only confirmed itself even more so yesterday. I mentioned the two kids, a high risk pregnancy this time, insurance issues, my husbands difficulties regarding having PTSD and back problems that leave him immobile, plus our closest immediate family is three hours away and my closest extended family is an hour and a half. I'm stressed.

And last night as I came into our office there Chris was trying to do homework, with problems with his back, leaning over the computer chair typing on his knees. I guess I just can't win. To make matters better I heard on average the process for ROTC takes about nine months and I may have to get my senators, etc involved, because we need it to move fast or I can't get out of the military as easy. It's a mess but hopefully it will be straightened out soon.

As for everything else, my son refused to sleep last night and anytime he was almost there the phone rang, plus I didn't get a break, which my husband will provide, instead I got complaints about how laundry wasn't done. Right now I feel like a maid and a nanny.

Hopefully today will be better.

Bradley Growing

So we have a quiz on the side of my blog and a baby ticker on the very bottom. For some reason I couldn't get the ticker to fit all the way on the side.

Pretty much Chris and I are realizing how fast our little boy is growing. He's not driving a car or anything but he is growing fast and a little faster then we thought he was. We are posting a clip of our son, this was from last week. He was playing with the keyboard and successfully programmed some sort of sounds we couldn't get off the computer for about a day or so. He's going to be a computer nut just like Daddy.

A few days ago Chris was feeding the baby, well it turns out Chris put his food on the tray for the highchair. Bradley had just learned how to dump out his toys from a little bucket he has, so he was imitading the same concept. All I heard was, "Bradley!" When Chris told me what happened all I could do was laugh.

So I have a very hard time swallowing pills. The doctor had given me chewable prenatal vitamins. Yesterday was our first day taking them (before I was taking Flinstones). First off the container is hard as all heck to open. They say they are child proof, well they are adult proof too. Chris even had more of a difficult time opening them then he thought he would.

After they were opened we took a sniff....citrus....I asked Chris if he wanted one. He declined. I took my chewable for the day and thought, "It's not so bad." Then it hit. The citrus flavor quickly changed to something bitter and chalky. I couldn't even swallow this! It was horrible. As I choked it down I was reading the label. "Take with a full glass of water." Of course. No wonder why they wanted you to douse your mouth with a liquid substance.

This morning as I was staring down the bottle I realized it said something about your bowel movements and urine. Apparently it's not uncommon for them to change color. Great I wonder if I'll have purple poop.

Throughout all of this, it reminded me of how my mother would force me to choke down my dinner. I was normally just a hotdog and beans type of girl. It was my favorite. A couple years ago in school I had to write a very short piece about food, which I'm sure needs editing, but the choking of the pills reminded me of this piece.

Enjoy.

The Worst Pork Chops Ever

I sat there and stared at the meat soaked in what my family thought was a delicious sustenance. The pork chops stared back at me, daring me to eat it. Everyone was gone from the table except me, the princess plate, the pork chops soaked in tomato soup and the hopeful and willing rescuer the dog, named Brandy. My booster seat was pushed close to the table, with me in it. I felt the world caving in as I watched my brother playing outside in the warm Georgia evening weather.

Chad was tossing a tennis ball against the brick exterior and then catching it. Every once and awhile there was a loud BING ringing against the glass window. "SORRY MOM! I MISSED THE WALL!" He yelled through the window followed by his goofy smile showing his missing six year old front teeth.

"Mom, can I go outside and play with Chad?"

"When you finish your supper."

"But Mom, I'm FULLLLL" I emphasized full in my whine, hoping to win her over.

"You hardly ate anything. Finish your meat."

Finish my meat? Is she crazy? Does she know this is torture and how horrible it tastes? "But Mom," I continued to whine. "The meat is too rough!" I used to say the meat was too rough when it took forever to chew or it was overcooked.

"Jenna, the meat isn't too rough," Mom argued.

Then it dawned on me like a ton of bricks, Brandy was patiently waiting, for any drops of food. As quietly as possible I picked up a piece of the tomato soaked meat and hung it over the table. Brandy, a medium sized mutt, attacked it as a piranha would attack fresh meat, I almost lost a finger. Glancing in Mom's direction she had no clue, the plan had worked and Mom was oblivious. One piece was down and several more to go. I reached again for the next victim while Brandy was anticipating her next treat, ready to go and on her feet.

"DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!"

How did she know? She wasn't even in the same room as me! I put the meat on the table and then casually flung it off with my hand, the dog leapt for it.

"JENNIFER MARIE!"

She used my middle name! I'm really in trouble now! Where is she? How does she know these things? "But Mom, I dropped it!" I tried to emphasize the word drop.

"Don't 'but Mom' me, eat your dinner!"

I put a piece of the rough white tomato meat in my mouth and began to chew. Again that four year old brain of mine was on fire. After chewing and chewing, I would spit the meat into the paper napkin Mom placed at each of our settings. It was a great plan except the napkin was tearing and it would be noticeable. There had to be another plan fishing around my head somewhere. I shoved the last couple of pieces in my mouth.

"Mom, I'm done! See?" I showed her my plate, napkin crumpled on top and my mouth full of meat.

"See that wasn't so bad was it?"

"Nope," I tried to choke out as much of the word as my chipmunk cheeks would allow.

"Go throw the napkin away and you can go outside with Chad."

I pushed myself away from the cryptic chair of torture, the dog close at my heels and headed toward the trash to throw away the contents of my napkin and mouth.

"And don't even think of spitting the meat out."

She knows! I threw out the napkin, walked passed my mom showing her the contents of my mouth and headed for the bathroom. With the exception of a small amount I spit the other white meat in the toilet and flushed away my dinner. Walking passed my mother again I showed her the remains in my mouth again and headed outside, Brandy still on my heels waiting for her final reward.

New Arrivals and Decisions

Last Friday I had taken a home pregnancy test and it turns out....baby number two is on his or her way, due September 28th. I'm only six weeks so far but am doing fantastic. This time, as of right now, there is no morning sickness. The only time I feel ill is when I first get up in the morning or when I'm hungry. Other then that it's awesome.

Now here's where it gets tricky. I cannot commission because I'm pregnant again, go figure. So I'm thinking of disenrolling in ROTC all together. At that point I'm going to to go back to my unit, from there we'll decide whether or not to stay enlisted, drop a direct commission packet, or get out of the military all together. So pretty much I have some choices ahead of me, but I'm sure Chris and I will definitely make the right one together that will benefit our family. As of right now we know getting out of ROTC is the right choice.

Chris is officially a Junior this semester and is feeling a little of that pressure. He's doing well taking Spanish (which is coming to him very easily), pre-calculus (which is just the beginning he also has to take calculus and advanced calculus, I feel sorry for him), a history class (Western Civilization), Discrete Math and a computer programming class. He's enjoying them all but is flooded with reading and everything that goes with it.

As for Baby Bradley, he's doing VERY well. He loves to laugh and smile and last week just by saying the words "macaroni and cheese" he would laugh uncontrollably, which in turn made us laugh like crazy. He definitely can hold his head up and is rolling over from back to belly, in fact now if we put him on his back in the crib, he just rolls over to his belly and falls asleep that way. He's going to be a great big brother. Mommy is just feeling a little guilty he didn't get more one on one time with her and Daddy.

While taking Bradley upstairs for his afternoon nap today, he laid his head down on my shoulder and I could feel his baby breath on my neck and it made me realize how lucky we are and how much I love that little boy. He really is a special child and we love him to death, even though he cries a lot now because he's teething. I also realized, as my best friend is currently at the hospital with her son (born a week later then Bradley), we truly are lucky and blessed. Renae's son is currently having a tube put down his nose and throat and into his stomach. He's going to be hooked up to a machine to determine why he has such a hard time digesting anything at all. We are very fortunate and the Eddy family definitely will have a long road ahead of them.