~A Much Needed Update~

Where in the world do I begin? A lot has been going on in my neck of the woods. I'm a huge fan of making lists, so, I will list several things that have been going on & go from there!
1. I had a baby. . . You have probably figured that out by now, huh?
2. My "baby brain" still exists & is probably worse now. 
3. I am finishing my bachelors degree online @ Kansas State University- it's a slow process. 
4. My husband is doing amazingly fantastic things with his career :)
5. Is it allergy season already?! Lord, help me now.
6. Chase was diagnosed with Pyloric Stenosis & underwent surgery.
7. I've started "30 day shred". . . Jillian Michaels is a beast.
8. I'm determined to master one handed gourmet cooking. 


Okay, that's basically like a list of chapters for a book. But I promise I wont make this post into a book. Or at least I'll try not to. So, let's begin with #1. I had a baby. If you would like to know some wonderful details, here ya go: I was 41 weeks and 2 days by the time that Chase Daniel McChrystal decided to enter into this wonderful world. I was what you might call "miserable". Being 9 days late felt like for.ever. But, it was well worth it when I got to hold my handsome baby boy. He was born on August 7th, 2011 at 12:24am. He was 21" long and weighed 7 lbs 15.5 oz. He was and is perfect :)

#2: My increasingly worse "baby brain" still exists. Everyday, I probably lose something, forget something, lock myself out of the house, go to get something out of the kitchen and end up standing there staring into the cabinets like I'm lost, or I just lose my mind. Sounds fun, right? I think I overdo myself sometimes with things that I have to or want to do. Well, I have learned that I need to not do that, especially since I have a baby who loves his mommy's attention. Josh has caught me quite a few times stuck in my baby brain. I used to be able to tell him where things are and now, I do this: "Check in the closet. I know it's there. . . wait, actually, it's probably in the garage or in your truck. I don't know where I put it, actually; I forget." He gets so frustrated with me when I do that and reasonably so. I frustrate myself :) When in the world will this baby brain go away? Does it go away?
#3: Finishing my bachelors. This is a very time consuming process and one that I am going to have to do slower than I would like. I recently got an email saying that I can graduate in the Spring if I take 18 credits for the Spring semester. I tell you now. . . I'm not graduating in the Spring. No way. I'm currently taking 12 credits and to get homework done is like me trying to take a nap nowadays. . . nearly impossible! Thank God for an awesome husband who watches Chase for me sometimes so I can get some homework done. I think I'll be doing 12 credits in the Spring and then 6 in the Summer. I cannot overload my schedule any more than it already is. I might lose my mind (even more than I already have!).  What's my major? Psychology. Is it easy? Eh, sometimes. Do I enjoy it? Absolutely. What do I want to do with it? Work with soldiers who are trying to cope with PTSD. Why? I wrote a paper about it in Experimental Psych & my heart immediately fell in love with that area of psychology/counseling. Enough about that, though :)
#4: Time to brag about my husband. Josh is an awesome guy & he has been doing wonderful things with his career so far! He is an Infantry Platoon Leader & just recently was appointed as the new PL for the Scout Platoon. What is the Scout Platoon? He describes it as "the guys who really want to be in the army and enjoy doing their job. They're fit, more knowledgable, and enjoy what they do". I thought this was pretty awesome for Josh to get this position. I'm proud of him!
#5: Allergy Season. My house sounds like a congested, coughing, sneezing mess. It's awful. I'm congested, and have watery eyes. Josh is congested, coughing, sneezing (obnoxiously), and just a mess. And my dog is itching like crazy. It's terrible. My household would be the perfect ad for how Claritin or Tylenol Allergy would be beneficial for those suffering from allergies! P.s- none of those allergy medicines seem to be working. How wonderful is that? Not so much.
#6: Chase's surgery. On Monday afternoon, after dealing with chase throwing up all day and previous days, I called the nurse hotline to ask what I should do. I told her the situation : he would eat, and minutes later, throw all of it up, and more all day. All day is no exaggeration. She suggested I go to the ER asap. So I did, and sure enough, he had Pyloric Stenosis. The pylorus is a muscle that leads to the small intestine from the stomach that lets food pass through. His pylorus was overgrown and would not let food pass through, therefore, it came back up. We were told to get to Kansas City to Childrens Mercy Hospital asap so he could have surgery. So we left asap and he underwent surgery on Tuesday morning. They made two small incisions on his stomach and cut his pylorus open so it would allow food to pass through.It was a long 2 days for him. I felt terrible seeing him sick, crying hysterically, and being so hungry. But he is MUCH better and is eating like a fool :) Lots of prayers and positive thinking helped us out through this scary time.
#7: Losing weight. I started "30 day shred" by Jillian Michaels and it's supposed to get you into amazing shape in 30 days. Well, I was sore after the first day. It works really well! I love it so far and it being 20 minutes long is awesome. It's 20 minutes of nonstop working out. . . it's killer but if you're like me and expect immediate change, this is the DVD to get. I have a goal of losing 30 pounds, healthily. This and eating right are my first two steps :) Wish me luck!
#8. One handed gourmet chef. A lot of times, when dinner needs to be made, Chase needs to be held. I'm constantly juggling a baby in one arm and cooking everything in the other. I still try to make awesome meals while holding him, and I am so determined to be that gourmet chef, but with one hand. Chopping is hard with one hand, but I'm pretty talented ;) I figured out how to do so much one handed: laundry, dishes, cooking, cleaning, even taking out the trash!!! It's tough work, but what can I say? I'm pretty amazing. Be jealous :)

Well, there is an update! Hope I didn't bore you. Here are some pictures to make you smile :)

That's my handsome boy :)

~I'm getting my scrapbook on!~

Alrighty, so, I started a scrapbook for Chase a while back when Josh was going through Ranger School. BUT, I am terrible with keeping my attention locked on doing one thing for more than a few hours, let alone a few hours. So what are my plans this afternoon, you ask?? I am going to Hobby Lobby, getting some more scrapbook supplies and FINISHING a chunk of my little man's scrapbook!! I have been saying that I am going to finish the dang thing but I get side tracked, or more like "lose my mind," throughout the day so I am not letting myself down this time.
I have several ideas for the different pages that I am going to do. When I get some done, I will be sure to take pictures and show them off! (Warning: I'm not super crafty/skilled at scrapbooking so don't judge me too harshly!)
Baby Update: Chase is doing awesome! He is at station -4 which means he is as low as he can go (How low can ya go? Can ya go down low?). That was for your entertainment & to see that, like I mentioned, I lose my mind occasionally throughout the day :) That's okay. . . it's "baby brain"! :) Furthermore, my due date is July 29th; next Friday. If I don't make it to that day, they will be inducing me. Holy moly! Chase better be putting on his running shoes soon & make his appearance because I would LOVE to avoid being induced. I've heard that labor.hits.hard. when you're induced. No thank you ma'am! ;)

Off to the store I go to load up on scrapbook supplies. . . wish me luck!
Fun fact: My grandpa's (Pa) birthday is this Saturday, July 23rd. Pa passed away October of 2005, so I think it would be pretty amazing, & a huge blessing if Chase were born on his birthday. Pa would absolutely love that & knowing him, he would talk to God & ask for that for me. . . it would make that day so much more special to me. Love you & miss you Pa.

~Contractions? What?~

Yesterday, my internet was finally fixed after much debate with the housing office & the telephone company on post. They were making it into this huge issue & saying that it would be a big process that they were not responsible for fixing. I'm pretty sure that I didn't build this house & disconnect wires in the back so, it's not my responsibility. Anywho, thank you Century Link for coming out & fixing the issue in less than 10 minutes. Ta-da! I now have internet :) 


Because my lack of internet for a while, I haven't been able to keep you updated on some exciting things going on. On Tuesday, I was with my friends & I started having these weird pains in my lower stomach. My friend, Allie, has two kids so I asked her what these pains were & after describing them to her, we both decided, "Oh my gosh, these are contractions!" So, we timed them for an hour & each contraction was 7 minutes apart. Josh was (& still is) in the field so he couldn't be here to time them with me. I called the hospital & was told to go to Labor & Delivery to be hooked up to the monitor. 
Sidenote: I truly believe that the OBGYN Clinic & Labor & Delivery have possibly some of the worst staff I have ever seen. Talk about unorganized, & uneducated people. If you even work at the Labor & Delivery desk, you should have some common knowledge of pregnancy & what to look for when having contractions. But needless to say, the receptionist was not much smarter in that category than a brick would be. Ooops, let's pretend I whispered that :)


Back to my story. So, I'm sitting in an exam room in Labor & Delivery where they have me hooked up to the contractions monitor (toco machine) and the heartbeat monitor to track Chase's heartbeat. I saw FOUR different nurses and had to explain FOUR different times why I was there. Really now? Seriously? "Ma'am, you're here just to have a UTI test done, right?" "Ma'am, why is it that you're here?" I don't know, I just came here to hang out on this ultra comfortable bed and be hooked up to these ultra comfortable monitors that you strap onto me so nice and loose (that's complete sarcasm if you didn't catch it). Everything with Chase was fine and I was in fact having contractions but I wasn't dilating at all so they sent me home (with contractions that were now 6 minutes apart) & told me to take a hot shower or something. Awesome advice, I know. OH! This is the best part. So, since I am still pre-term, they told me that they cant deliver pre-term babies. They want me, if I am to go into labor before 37 weeks, to drive to Topeka which is one hour away, to have my baby. How convenient is that? I tell ya, this hospital is great... just kidding. 


It's Friday & I am not having anymore contractions. I am still cramping pretty bad sometimes, but I have an appointment this coming Thursday so, who knows... maybe I'll be having Chase earlier than expected. It may sound terrible but I am ready to have him now. It's too hot with this extra weight in the front of me. And you should see me swimming. I tried floating on my back & my belly is like an anchor; I sunk to the bottom. I thought for sure I could float on my belly but that failed too. I don't think I will be frequenting the pool too much when Chase is born but I do plan to go at least once with him for a very short amount of time. I just want to see his reaction to all the water :) His face, I'm sure, will be so adorable! I'm anxious to kiss those chunky cheeks... Any day now, little man, any day now. 


This weekend, I asked Josh if we could have a "Date Day" since Chase will be here soon & we won't exactly be having too many dates while he is a baby. I think it would be fun to go to Topeka & see what there is to see. I've heard great things about it & I've read that there is a bunch to do. Topeka Info Here. Either way, no matter what Josh & I do this weekend, I'm sure we will have fun. We always do! 


Alright well, I'll keep you posted on any exciting news regarding Chase! Have an awesome weekend!

~Baby Room Ideas~

Since being in Kansas, (this place has some crazy weird weather... more on that later) Josh & I have been overloaded with a bunch of things going on. Okay, I'm not nearly as overloaded as Josh but I'm pregnant & it seems like A LOT! So, what do I mean by overloaded? I have found that I am a "Jane of all trades" because I have put together a changing table, hung curtains, did all of that gardening (which you saw earlier & for the record, I had to dig a massive hole!), and I've done several other "housewife" tasks: dropping off/picking up dry cleaning, grocery shopping (the cashiers have to think I have like 3 kids with the amount of food I buy. No, I just have a very hungry husband!), and of course, the daily cleaning. With a dog who somehow always finds the mud & a husband who fails to listen to my constant nagging of "don't wear your shoes on the carpet please," I probably vacuum a bajillion times a week. That's a bunch of vacuuming! Needless to say, I nap a whole lot during the day because at this point (33 weeks almost), I am a very tired lady from doing more than my body can handle right now. 
When I'm not napping, or cleaning, or running errands, or gardening, I spend quite a bit of time in Chase's room putting things away, organizing, and getting some ideas about how I would like to decorate. I really enjoy thinking that I could paint this absolutely marvelous mural on his wall. Notice that I said I enjoy thinking that I could do that but I do not have the patience or the painting abilities to do that! However, I might be slightly crafty and paint a monogram thing on the wall. It would be super cute, but we'll see how my ever-changing ideas spill out over this next week :) Here is a picture of what I was sort of thinking of doing:

Obviously this would say Chase Daniel :) But I would love to do this (at the moment) on one of his walls and the colors would be chocolate brown, tan and sage green. This is just an idea but what do you think? I was also thinking of painting an accent wall in his room on the wall with the huge window. That is a HUGE debate because unfortunately with military housing, when you move, you have to repaint the walls to white if you have painted over them. Isn't that crazy? I think it is because the housing offices idea of cleaning the walls in military housing is just to paint them with a really thick coat of paint and voila!, the "dirty" look on walls disappears! Laziness... pure laziness! So like I said, I'm really debating about this accent wall. We shall see :)

Josh has been very busy these past few weeks as well. He finally has his platoon & he is enjoying his job so far! That's always good because he's a happy camper when he comes home. BONUS FOR ME :) He has been training up a lot & doing a lot of things with his platoon. I really couldn't tell you what he's doing all day other than "Army stuff". He tries to explain it to me but with the ridiculous amount of acronyms that the Army uses, I get lost within the first 15 seconds of our conversation. I'm trying to learn these things, but it's WAY harder than you might imagine. As a supportive wife, I am going to be an active member of FRG (Family Readiness Group) & I've been asked to be the co-Leader. That sounds like a big deal but if I told you what I do, you would realize that it doesn't hold much significance. It does sound pretty important though, right? ;) So... FRG basically is a way of the spouses to be informed of what's going on & to help organize events that the Company might be holding. It's going to be really helpful when Josh is deployed. 

Before I go, I just thought I'd mention that I posted on the side of my blog the book that I'm currently reading. If you've never heard of this book, or have but do not know if it's worth the read... IT"S AWESOME! I am loving this book & it definitely is an uplifting book to read. Okay, I'm done boring you... wait, I said I would talk about the weather in Kansas. Basically, it's weird. It's unpredictable. hot, humid, rainy, very rainy, tornado prone, flood prone, overcast almost always, and just plain crazy. Come visit & you will see what I mean. You're not missing too much... except for seeing me of course! Ha! 

Goodnight all :)

~Welcome to Kansas~

Since my last post, a lot has been happening! Josh graduated from Ranger School on April 1st & that was absolutely awesome. His family was able to come to his graduation so we all had such a great time together. 

"Dad", Josh, & Rob at Josh's Ranger Graduation. Rob is pinning on Josh's Ranger Tab!

Three weeks later, our house was packed & our household goods were on the their way to Fort Riley, KS. We took 10 days off & drove to Springfield to spend some time with Josh's family. We then made our drive to our new home, for the next 3 years. 

I've been staying busy with getting our house all organized and set up to be more like a "home". It's coming along very nicely & I love it! I've also been filling my time with gardening. Last summer when we were in Georgia, I took a swing at the gardening, but that ended up being a swing & a miss. My green thumb wasn't so... green. Ha! This year, or actually from this point forward, I intend to be an awesome gardener. My yard is slowly becoming more pretty with each day that my flowers bloom. My thumb is glowing green right now! :) Let's pray that it stays that way. 

This is one of my little garden areas by our front porch. The flowers are supposed to look as though they're flowing out of the barrel. And, because of my strong patriotism, the flowers are red & white geraniums, with a deep blue accent flower.


Josh's training will be picking up the pace a little bit so I will be finding new ways to stay busy. Luckily, Chase's nursery furniture is arriving here & there so I will be having a lot of fun setting up his nursery! Can you believe that my little man will be here soon? 2 more months to go & I will be bombarding my blog with pictures of my handsome baby boy :)

Tomorrow is mine & Josh's one year wedding anniversary... already! I cannot believe that one year has already flown by but it has been an awesome year. My husband, if you have never met him, is an incredible man. He has a heart of gold & you would love him. I am so blessed to have Josh as my husband & also as my best friend. He has taught me that there is more to life than what meets the eye & that there is positive in every situation. I love him so much. Tonight, we are celebrating our anniversary & going out to have a nice candlelight dinner.
Happy Anniversary to us :)

Have an awesome day everyone!

~This is LONG. My apologies~

It's been a while since I've been on here so I figured I would update everyone on everything. Well, first things first, I am having a baby boy!!! 

Isn't that so exciting? This is Chase Daniel McChrystal!

He's doing really well and so am I. Last night I had some bad pains in my left side so I went to the hospital to get that all checked out. It was nothing serious and Chase is doing great. He is a kicking fool! No matter what time of day it is, my little man is just a kicking away! :) I still have not gained weight anywhere else aside from my belly. I'm relieved with that- I know the weight will set in later on- This I have been told by the doctors.

In this picture, Josh is the one who is standing closest to the camera. He is helping his Ranger buddy who is rappelling down a 60' rock ledge.

Ranger School still has my husband in custody. Ha! But luckily it's only 5 days until I get to see him for the first time in 2 1/2 months. It may sound pathetic, but this has been tough with him gone. Maybe that's because I'm a "hormonal basketcase". It's okay...I carry the name proudly. I'll be very relieved just to hear his voice again. Hopefully that will happen in 2 days! I'm praying like crazy for all of our prayers to be answered. If you're interested in what Ranger School is all about, you can go here & continue to follow the 3 parts which are only 15 minutes each. It's pretty crazy what Josh & all of the guys are going through so when I watched this recently, it made things real for me. It really makes me appreciate all that Josh is doing, so much more. 

This is Josh learning to rappel down a 30' wall. This prepared him for the big rappelling task that you saw above.

Today, my mom had to go to the funeral of her Uncle Londo; my Great Uncle. This was sad to hear because I have always had this special connection with this family. Uncle Londo has two sons; Michael John Amato and Danny Amato. Michael was killed in the Vietnam war on May 13, 1967. When I said I have a special connection with this family, this is what I mean:

About 8 years ago, I found out about Michael & all about who he was. I never had the honor to meet him but everything that I had heard about him was amazing. He was such an awesome guy & cousin. Hearing all of these things made me want to "get to know him". I started looking stuff up online about him and found out exactly what happened on that day in May in Vietnam. I was so beside myself while reading all of this but filled with such pride that this amazing young man who gave his life for our country was my family. My mom drove me to the cemetery in NY where he is buried and she "introduced" me & Michael. With tears streaming down my face, I stood by his grave & talked to him for a few minutes. I never thought that I would be so emotional about a family member that I have never met but this proved me wrong. 

To this day, I have a picture of Michael that I look at from time to time. From the day that I "met" Michael, I have had this special connection with the Amato family; just because of that. When my mom told me that Uncle Londo's funeral was today, I got a little weepy, but I smiled at the same time. Uncle Londo only had 20 years with his son before Michael's life came to a sudden end.  Now, they will have forever to be with each other. 

Michael John Amato

~A Letter~

I received a letter today from Josh from Ranger School. When he went to Ranger School, I knew that sometimes I would get letters that would be hard to read. By ‘hard to read’ I mean upsetting at times, and just a scribbled jumble of words a majority of the time. Well today, I got the first letter that was hard to read in both senses. Basically, Josh needs prayers, from anyone that would do so; prayers to persevere and prayers for strength. I have no doubt in my mind that he will be perfectly fine these next 14 days. It’ll be rough but he knows that. After these 14 days, he’s home-free :) Reading letters like ones that I got today is hard for me. I don’t like to hear that he is having bad days, that the patrols are going well, but he’s freezing, or that he sometimes has no clue if he can push forward anymore. Not much longer, that’s what I keep telling him. I tell him to do it for himself mostly, and do it for his baby :) He claims that hearing that helps. . . So, I continue to tell him those things. I’m glad I finally got a letter, and like I said, I knew I’d eventually get a letter like that, but oh man.

On a lighter note, tomorrow is my doctors appointment in which I get to here our peanuts heartbeat! Who is excited? I AM!!! I’ve been counting down the days! You should see my calendar. It’s filled with a bunch of numbers going backwards. Some numbers for countdowns to doctors appointments, and for my New York visit, and then the HUGE countdown: Josh’s last day of Ranger School! This month looks like I’m so busy, but not really. . . I just love countdowns. Well, back to the baby, he/she (I cant wait to just say a name!) is the size of a naval orange now.  It’s crazy how fast the baby grows! But needless to say, I cant wait to see the little one again :) And I can’t wait for Josh to be there for one of the appointments to see his baby! That’ll be a big day for him.

Anywho, I need to take care of my dog and let him out for a walk. Updates tomorrow on the baby progress!