Deployment Week 19

Our Happy Family

OK...So WOW...I have not updated in such a long time. Things have been SO crazy around here. I am continuing to call these weeks DEPLOYMENT even though Justin is home at this moment. It has been a crazy couple of months since I posted anything. First off, I was put on bed rest pretty shortly after I got home from our vacation to Oregon. They tried to get Justin home then, but everything with William Beaumount (The army hospital) was crazy. I would go in almost weekly having bad contractions and they just kept sending me home with tylenol and benadryl. I finally decided to go to an off post hospital and they actually listened to me. I had Faith Isabella on February 25, 2010 at 10:34 AM by emergency C-section. Her heart rate kept dropping so they had to get her out fast. Good thing they did, she was all sorts of tangled in her cord. My wonderful husband could not be there with me, but his SGT's wife was with me. She has become an awesome friend!!! Justin arrived a couple days after Faith did. I was so happy that he got to meet his daughter when he did. She was 6 1/2 weeks early and SO tiny. 4 lbs 15 oz to be exact. The drs at the hospital told us to expect to stay there until her due date. She didn't want that though because she was outta there in a week!!! She is our little fighter!
We are currently preparing for Justin to leave for Iraq again. We just don't know the exact DAY he is leaving. It has been SO nice to have him home. I am going to miss him so much when he leaves. He has done so much to help me here at home. I know that I can do it though...I mean look, we are already at week 19. We only have 33 more weeks to go. Almost to the 1/2 way mark!!! :)

Deployment Week 7

Hope Riding A Pony

Gabe and Hope watching Justin read Polar Express

Gabe looking at the snow

This was a good week. Crazy, but good!!
We spent new years eve at the beach. It was very rainy there. We went to Ripleys Believe It Or Not. The kids weren't scared, even when I thought they would be. After Ripleys, we went to Moe's for dinner. I had the WORST chicken burger ever. I guess thats what I get for ordering CHICKEN at a seafood resturant. They didn't charge me for it though. We went back to our hotel room and fell asleep at 10:00 pm. Pam and I both woke up at about 15 after midnight to some fireworks, but only stayed awake for like 2 seconds. We decided that we would stay an extra night. It was pretty fun. We went to the outlet mall and I got the baby some cute clothes. We had lunch at the casino...SO YUMMY!!!
Monday we had a little going away dinner for the kids and I. My sisters and one of my brothers, as well as my parents, met up at Burger King. The kids played in the play equipment and we said our goodbyes. We already miss all our family so much!!!
Tuesday was a VERY hectic day. We had to be to the airport around 5:00 am. Our flight left at 6:30 am. When we were getting on the plane Gabe cried for my mom. Broke our hearts!! The flight attendants were AMAZING!! They helped out so much. The brought the kids all the snacks they could eat and gave them all the juice they could drink. It was a wonderful flight. We had 2 stops before our final stop here in El Paso. Everytime we stoped Gabe would say "We going to Nana's now?" I think he finally figured out that we were not going to Nana's when we finally got home. It has been VERY nice to be home. I love my family, but I missed my house. Now I have a few days of cleaning to do. I guess there was a big sand storm while I was gone, so I have about a foot of dirt in each of my doors and all over the window sills.
I had an appointment yesterday with my midwife. Faith's heart sounds good, she is just measuring 3 weeks further along now!! Big baby I guess!! I have to get a maternity belt next week to help my back. I also have to go in and get the wonderful Glucose test done!!! Oh Joy!
Anyway, we are home safe and sound and are taking it easy the next week. Working on getting the kids back on their schedules. Which isn't the easiest. Hope all is well with everybody and I will post again next week.

Deployment Week 5 and 6

Our Handsome Little Man

Our Beautiful Baby Girl

Justin and his friend Clark

25 Weeks!!!

Sorry I did not get anything posted last week. With the holidays it was CRAZY around here.

We had a really good holiday season here in Oregon. We do our usuals. We went to downtown Portland, the Zoo lights, and more. Justin sent the kids Polar Express the book. He read it to them and they loved it. I loved it too!! We decorated some cookies for Santa with my sister and nephew. It was a lot of fun. Christmas was really good, apart from my husband not being here. The kids got a lot of stuff and I got just about everything I wanted. Only thing I didn't get of course was my hubby home! I started school last week. I am so excited about it!! I got 100% on my first test. I will have one to take one every week. So I will keep you all posted on how I am doing.
We have been able to see all of our family here. Even some of Justin's grandparents. We are planning on going to the beach for the new year, which I am excited for. My kids won't get to see the beach again for a long time! Today we had a HUGE surprise. It snowed! Gabe was so excited. He kept saying "Its Snowing!" Then he started saying "Its Snowing! HO HO HO Happy Birthday!!" It was pretty funny.
Justin is doing pretty good. He misses everybody, but he is getting used to it. I get to talk to him a lot. But I don't EXPECT to talk to him daily, because I know the second I expect it...he won't be able to talk to me or something. We won't know if he will be home for Faith's birth until the birth actually happens. We should know more about his leave in March.
Pregnancy is going pretty good. I have had TERRIBLE heartburn, and am getting to the super uncomfortable stage in my pregnancy. The kids want to cuddle all night on top of that so I don't get much sleep at night. I am currently 25 weeks along. That means only 12-15 weeks left. Probably closer to 12 weeks though since I have never gone past 37 weeks. My midwife is guessing 36 weeks though, since I had Gabe at 37 and Hope at 36 1/2. Anyway, that is all for now! More to come next week for sure!

Jen

Deployment Week 4

Justin in Kuwait

He Was VERY disappointed with the Mountain Dew

Justin and his buddies goofing off

Another week down here in the Stembridge household. Time really seems to be flying!! I have gotten to talk to Justin a few times this week. He doesn't have internet yet, but he found a Wifi hotspot that he goes to every night. He is doing pretty good. Been missing us, but thats not unusual. He said it has been pretty relaxed there. We talked today about how strong we have become through this. I felt really good about it. It was really nice to talk to him about that kind of stuff. We miss him lots, but we know we can make it!!
Its been a pretty busy week for us. We went and visited the Thompsons a couple of times this week. Baby Bella is getting so big. She is almost as tall as Hope!! We have been there 2 times this week for dinner. It is so much fun to get to hang out with friends that I haven't seen in forever!
We also did some of our family traditions this week. On Saturday we went to downtown Portland and saw Santa and had dinner at Pioneer Square. We also decided to go to the zoo. That was FREEZING!!! The kids loved all the lights though! We also started a new tradition. Justin sent us a DVD of him reading Polar Express to the kids. That is one of our favorites. The kids loved it. They really enjoy seeing daddy on the TV or computer.
The pictures that I have attached above are pictures that Justin sent me today from his deployment. I am sure he will have more to share in the near future. Look for our blog next week!!! Hope to talk to you all soon.

Jen

Deployment Week 3

All Crashed Out!!!

22 Weeks

Isaac took this Pic of Gabe

This week has gone by pretty fast. We have had our ups and downs...but mostly ups.
I have been able to talk to Justin almost every day!! Its been so awesome. He mostly messages me in the middle of the night at like 2:00 AM, but it is SO worth it to get to talk to him. He also got to video chat a few times and got to see the kids. He was so happy to see his baby's, including my huge tummy.
We have had a pretty full week!! Christmas shopping, tree hunting, Jantzen Beach, Party for AJ, manis and pedis with mom and Kris. Just pretty much on the go all the time. I have my phone on yahoo messanger all the time so that Justin can message me when ever he is on and able to talk. It was also Justins birthday this week. He got to call on his birthday. I asked how his birthday was. His response "Well I AM in Iraq". I guess that means it wasn't very good. LOL
Justin told me that he is finally starting to get use to the whole Iraq thing. Not that its something that he REALLY wants to get "use" to, but he is. He cut the top of his head the other day. He said it bled a lot, but wasn't deep enough to need staples. He had to go and see the medic and everything. I could barley see it on the web cam, but he said that he said a few choice words. Anyway, gotta get goin for the night, I'm sure I will have LOTS to blog about next week. Another full week here in FREEZING Oregon!!! Love to you all!!!

Jen

Deployment Week 2

This week was really great!! On Thursday we flew into Oregon and surprised my family with being here for Thanksgiving. My parents knew about it, but nobody else did. It was awesome. All my sister Kristen could say was "I've been trying to call you all day...why weren't you answering?" Thanksgiving was great. We had our huge "mixed" family there. Both of my parents were there as well as ALL my siblings and some of my aunts and uncles. There was so much food and TONS of conversation!!! It was amazing. And to top that day off, I got to talk to Justin. He was a little down with not being with us for Thanksgiving, but other than that he was good.
The rest of the week has just flown by! On Saturday night we all went out as a family to party. My kids stayed with some friends from church. We had a blast. On Sunday the kids and I went to church and then went to my sisters to hang out. On Monday and Tuesday I got almost all the Christmas shopping done. I also bought some things to send to Justin for his birthday and Christmas.
I got a call from Justin yesterday, he is doing good. Still missin us, but good. His job has once again changed. He is still a driver, but he is doing security for the bomb squad. I am really getting tired of them changing his job!! Just keep him in your prayers, I am more worried now. He did say though that he talked to the guys who were leaving as they were coming in. They said it has been pretty quiet there for the past 6 months. I'll keep you all posted as I know more. Thanks for all the prayers.

Jen

Deployment Week 1

Hey Everybody, we have survived our first week of deployment. I have gotten to talk to Justin a couple of times on the phone and a couple of times on Yahoo Messenger. He is doing good. He said that the only thing he could complain about was the Mt Dew doesn't taste the same. :) He is so funny!!!
My week was good. It actually went by really fast. I had another ultrasound and its still a girl. The whole ultrasound was a fiasco though. I took the kids to the childcare place on post. Since I didn't have the right box for Hopes inhaler they wouldn't take Hope. I had to take Hope to the ultrasound with me. When I got there they said they wouldn't be able to see me if I had her. I broke down! I went in and talked to my midwife. She took Hope from me and told me to go to my appointment.
Other than that the week has been pretty uneventful. I have spent A LOT of time at Krystals house. The kids LOVE going over there. As do I of course! I also spent a lot of time this week getting my house organized. I have washed EVERYTHING in my house and done ALL the dishes. Well I gotta go for now, my kids are fighting and I have to make dinner. I will update again next week.

Jen