Settling in

So, it's been a while!  Surely you can understand that, though, what with our moving...across the country...with two small boys...and me being pregnant.  *grin*

Our drive out here was uneventful for the most part.  We took five days to do it and the first three were very smooth.  The boys did great, the cars did great, and we were still relatively okay with driving.  The fourth day...that was harder.  We were in Kansas by then, right in the middle of the heat wave (it was 115 outside, and we heard later that the pavement/blacktop of the highway was 144 degrees! no wonder we were feeling it!) and by the time we got to the hotel, my dear husband was not doing well.  My poor car was also not doing well.  My car wouldn't start, my husband was in the fetal position on the bathroom floor asking me to go to the front desk and ask where the nearest ER was, I was exhausted (PREGNANT!), and the boys were ready to get out some energy.  So, I cried a lot that evening.  I got Daniel to the ER, they gave him the treatment he needed (IV fluids, a prescription for antibiotics, and some meds for the nausea - heat/dehydration related, they assumed, in addition to the cold/sinus infection he was getting/fighting), we finally got the boys back to the hotel, and thankfully Daniel got enough sleep to feel better in the morning.  I wasn't feeling so great by that point, but we were only one day's drive away from Ft. Carson by then, and we surely didn't want to stay in Kansas for one more minute.  We were very ready to say goodbye to that place!  Thankfully, my car also started up again  - also probably heat related "illness" - and we were on the road.  As we got closer to Colorado Springs, we could see the mountains from miles and miles away.  We could also see clouds over the mountains (though at that point, I wasn't sure if they were rain clouds or if it was all smoke from the Waldo Canyon Fire), and by the time we got to Colorado Springs, we were enjoying a light rain and MUCH cooler temperatures than we'd been used to by that point.  80 degrees felt wonderful.

We also had a series of calls on the last day of our drive (Thursday, June 28) that informed us that we would, in fact, be getting our things on Friday, the 29th!  We were so excited!  Mostly, because we'd been told originally that our things wouldn't be delivered to us until the 10th of July because of difficulty with the fires and peak season at the same time.  We were, at that point, trying to decide if we'd camp out in our house with no stuff or spend our time in the temporary quarters we were assigned at Fort Carson.  Well, when we got to Fort Carson (after checking out our new house!), we discovered our temporary quarters was essentially a hotel room, smaller than any other we'd had along the way, with no kitchen utilities.  The bed was also extremely uncomfortable for me.  By that point, my poor, exhausted, pregnant self felt pretty beat up, physically exhausted, sore, and spent.  I slept very poorly that last night, and told Daniel that whether or not our things really were delivered to us the following morning, there was no way I'd stay in that room again.  Thankfully, we did get our stuff as promised, our beds were set up, and Daniel was very gracious and understanding in allowing me to basically doze on and off all day, in between caring for the boys, while he monitored all of the unloading and directing traffic of the movers.  They were done by early afternoon and I napped for most of the afternoon and evening.  I can't remember what we did for dinner, but bedtime was early for all of us. 

Saturday morning, while I wasn't feeling great, I was feeling rested enough to unpack the kitchen.  I was so motivated, at that point, not to have to eat restaurant food any more, that I was willing to do whatever it took.  We got the kitchen done first, and then slowly, slowly, over the next week got everything else unpacked and settled, too.  It took a while to get everything done, mostly because Daniel really had to do a vast majority of the work.  Between the pregnancy, the altitude adjustment (Colorado Springs is over 6,000 feet above sea level - that's over a mile and a half higher altitude than we were used to at the beach!), and the cold that finally migrated to me, I had a pretty rough go the first several days.  Thankfully, I've gotten over the majority of it, I think, and though I still get winded from time to time, I'm feeling much less like a baby every time I try to go up the steps or carry something around the house.

We've been getting adjusted to having Daniel back at work this week, though it's been on and off, since his in-processing hasn't been going nearly the way it should.  There are simply more soldiers to in-process than they were prepared for, being peak moving season and then adding on the four day weekend people had to sign in when no one could start doing anything.  But, thankfully, we're enrolled in TriCare here now, and the other major things should be taken care of by today. 

Other than that, we visited a church this past Sunday, though I doubt we'll go back to it.  We also visited a Pre-K program for Lucas at a Christian school nearby.  He really can't stop talking about it and wants to go, and I'm excited for him, but my mama's heart is a little dismayed to see that the time has already come for us to make these decisions for him.  How do I have a preschooler already!?

Levi is doing great.  I can't believe he's four months old already!  He just went through a growth spurt, I think, because he had a few nights of waking up to eat, which he hasn't done in a really long time.  Last night, though, he slept through the night, again.  He's reaching for toys and putting them in his mouth and sitting up in the high chair while we eat.  We'll wait to start him on rice cereal until after his 4 month appointment (which I couldn't schedule until three days before he turns five months, but, oh, well), but I sense he's going to be ready to start some solids very soon.  That boy loves to eat!  And he's overall still his very smiley, talkative, happy self.  I love having a baby that will laugh in the morning first thing before he's even seen a bottle.  Lucas was always so cranky until he ate.

And, I, amazingly, am 20+ weeks along with this pregnancy!  I can't believe we're halfway to meeting our baby girl!  She is kicking away, and I'm loving being able to feel her more consistently.  We'll have to wait a bit longer, though, for our "big" ultrasound, though, since I don't get to have my OB intake visit until the end of the month, and then I'll still have to be scheduled for my ultrasound.  I sort of anticipated that turn of events, though, which is why we paid to have the 3D ultrasound before we left.  Aside from the thrill of finding out we're having a GIRL (AHH!  I still get so excited and nostalgic and sometimes teary when I think about it!), it was good to see her developing, at least on the outside, as she should be at that point.  It gives me a little more confidence to have to wait until I'm 24 or 25 weeks for the ultrasound to tell us that everything really is okay with her development.

Okay.  Phew!  That's a big catch up post, but I'm glad to have it all there.  I'm hoping to take some pictures this weekend of the house and of me and Baby Girl, as well as Lucas and Levi being their cute selves.  Look for a picture post soon!