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