New Kids on the Block

What else is there to say? Call me a dork, but growing up I was LOVE with the NKOTB especially Joey! When I heard they were coming to Dallas I was so excited. I got tickets back in June and couldn't wait for October 19th to arrive. We planned a girls night out! We went to Manny's for dinner and drinks for the non-pregnant women. It was funny walking up to the concert seeing all of the 30 year old women just as excited as we were. There were plenty of pregnant women there too! Here's some pictures from the concert and yes, this is the shirt I wore at twelve years old. It's a youth large and still fit over my 8 month pregnant belly! What do you think?

Tracie, Summer, Amber, Ashley and Me
Out seats were pretty bad, but we enjoyed it anyway. Here's a picture of the view from our seats.

A friend of Tracie's was lucky enough to have second row center seats. Here's the pictures she took!







We had such a good time! Thank you Tracie, Amber, Ashley and Summer for a great girls night out! Next time we will definitely take up man cards!

Love,
Shanda

Doctor's visits and Diabetes

Before we went to South Carolina I got a phone call from the doctor's office telling me that I had failed my glucose screening and needed to come in for a three hour diabetes test. I wasn't too concerned because I barely failed it. I needed to be at 140 after 1 hour and I was at 146. No big deal, right? WRONG! I failed two of the four blood screenings during the 3 hour test. I was very upset about this because I do not like needles. They said it would be controlled by diet, but that I would need to prick myself 5 times a day to test my blood sugar! No fun. This also meant more doctor's appointments. I had to meet with a dietician and now need sonograms once a month (basically two more than I would have had). The sonograms are the good part of this because I get to see how big she is getting. We will see how I do with this new diagnosis. Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention the week before we went to SC I was diagnosed with Carpel Tunnel Syndrome brought on by the excess fluid during pregnancy! SO MUCH FUN!?!?!? Can you hear the sarcasim? For that I can take Tylenol and wear and arm brace. I usually just wear it at night though.

Love,
Shanda

Megan's Photoshop talents

My friend, Megan, has a cool new photoshop program that she has been playing with. I sent her these pictures and this is what she created. I LOVE IT!!!! Thanks Megan!

Corey's Graduation from Army Basic Training

My brother, Corey, graduated from Basic Training from the Army on October 10th. I was able to make the trip with my mom and dad to Fort Jackson which is in Columbia, SC. It took us 16 hours to get there and 15 hours to get back! I think I traveled really well. My feet didn't swell and we only had to stop every two hours to walk around and go to the bathroom. It was really good to see Corey and I was relieved to see that he enjoyed basic training for the most part. I couldn't believe how much he ate while we were there with him. Actually I couldn't believe how many sweets and energy drinks he had while we were there! I think he had enough to keep him going for at least a week! Most of the ceremonies were held inside due to all of the rain! They didn't want us to park in the grass at the field where everything was supposed to happen. On Family day, which was the day before graduation, we had to go to an information meeting to find out all of the details for that day and graduation day. For Family day we had to remain on base the entire day and have Corey back at the Bay by 8:00. I apologize in advance for the quality of the some of the pictures. We were in a gym because of the weather. This is the Drill Sergeant in charge of all soldiers in the 1/34 Infantry.

After we received all the information we needed they walked us out a back door and ALL the way around to the front of the building. All of the soldiers were divided by platoon. Of course Corey is in Foxtrot which meant we had to go through Alpha, Bravo, and Delta before we could start looking for him. He actually came up behind us. Here is what we saw!

I got to laugh at his hair and he got to laugh at my big belly! From that point we were allowed to take him with us but we had to stay on the base. He wanted to go to the PX (Post Exchange) and see what he could buy! We actually found some really good deals. Mainly on perfume and alcohol! We found a 1.75 Liter of Crown Royal for $28! We couldn't buy it because Corey had to purchase everything and he isn't 21! That's ok, now we know for the future! After we spent about 2 hours shopping we drove around on base to see what we could do. First we went to the Fort Jackson Museum...
Next Corey showed us some of the stuff he did while in training. I can't remember what this is called...something Tower.

They do all kinds of climbing and repelling on it. Then Dad and Corey played Putt-Putt to kill some time before dinner. Dad won every time. Corey claimed he had never played.

Next we were off to Dinner at the NCO club. I hope all of Corey's meals weren't as bad as this one! GROSS! On the way there Kaden called to talk to his Unc. Right in the middle of their conversation they started taking down the flags on post for the day. Corey had to hang up on Kaden and salute.

After dinner we went to the bowling alley so that the boys could play some pool. I've never seen so many soldiers in one room!

Corey made sure we left there in plenty of time to get him back to his bay by 8:00. He did not want to be late! Friday was graduation and we left in plenty of time to get in and get a seat. When we got there we found out that because of the weather the graduations were going to be inside and broken down into two squads per graduation. Corey's was an hour and a half delay! We just kind of hung out and watched all of the soldiers march up to the building. That was really cool! This is the Army band that played.

You can barely see Corey in this one...

Corey's Drill Sergeant giving his speech.

I believe this is them reciting the Army Code (or something like that).

After graduation we went out side and got to see Corey marching back to the bay doing cadences.

We got into the car and drove about two miles back to his bay, which is where they marched to. When we arrived we were able to go down and see the flags for Foxtrot and see where they do formation.

This is the orders for the day. I liked being able to see his schedule. I never would have believed Corey would get up at 5 am.

This is Corey's barracks. I think you can see him opening the door at the very top. The girls are on the first level. I couldn't believe they allow them to be that close to each other.

This is me at 30 weeks. I know, I'm getting big!

After Corey received his orders for the day we took him back to the hotel so that we could change. He had to stay in his Class B's all day. We grabbed some lunch at Chick-Fil-A and then we were off to the South Carolina State Fair. Corey enjoyed getting out, it was his first time off base in 10 weeks! He was a little surprised at all of the people who came up to shake his hand and thank him for serving our country. We were very proud of him. I had to keep a close eye on him because he kept eyeing all of the pretty girls! He reminded me so much of my dad. I can remember going places with my dad and he would ohh and ahh over the girls. I think the phrase I remember most was, "Damn Girl!" I think I heard that plenty while at the fair with Corey. I kept telling him that he sounded like Dad. Here are some pics from the fair.

I would have some pictures of the sky lift that we road, but I was too scared to take my hands off of the rail to take pictures. Corey thought it was very funny that I was so scared!

After the fair we went to Chili's (Corey's choice). I just knew he would want a steak for his first real meal! And then we headed back to the base so that he would be back by 8:00 for formation. We were allowed to go down and hang out with him for a little while. When his Drill Sergeant came down for formation he let the families stay and watch.

In this picture they were asking a TON of questions of the DI. He finally said, "Wake up will be at 3:00 a.m. By 3:30 all of your stuff must be downstairs ready to load." That used to be about the time Corey would go to sleep, if not later! I can't imagine him being up before that!

These are the last pictures I took before we said goodbye. You can tell because my eyes are red from crying!




It was a good trip and it was great to see Corey. He started AIT the Monday after we left and should graduate from that somewhere around December 18th. When he is finished he gets 14 days of leave. Hopefully Karlie will come before he makes it back so that he will be able to see her. I got the boys Army bears when we were at the PX. Here's Kaden with his.


I hope you enjoyed the pictures and the post. I'm sorry it is so long, but it was a fun filled 3 days!

Love,

Shanda

Tyler Baby shower

On October 4th, Laura, Denise and McKenzie (My sisters-in-law and mother-in-law) hosted a baby shower for Karlie and I. They did an awesome job! Denise's friend, Chris, catered it. The food was so good! Here are some pictures from the day.

Me at 29 weeks.

McKenzie and I

Denise and I

Me and My Mom

Here are the ladies that made the day! Chris and Denise

Look how colorful!

Everyone enjoying the food!








Me going back for seconds of the hamburger panani's that were so good!

Maryann Anothony and Rowyn Sommer

Megan and Rowyn Sommer

The box on the table was made by Laura. It had cards in it for everyone to fill out advice on different subjects to help me with Karlie. I will probably use it to store all of her "stats" from each doctor's visit.

Then it was time to open presents:



Laura and I

Cradle bedding from my Aunt Mary

Pajamas from Tracie




Cute jacket from Kyle's Aunt Mary. It is so soft!

And a Princess Piggy Bank too!

Cute onesies and pants from Aunt Linda

Blinged diaper bag from Nana. Love it!

Mom found this bib and by far it is my favorite because Karlie will definately be worth wait!

Mom also got her another box full of bows and other stuff! Can you believe all of the bows?



Vans from Gigi that I'm sure Karlie will love!

Box full of shoes from Neece, Gigi and Aunt Laura. A girl can never have too many shoes! Right Aunt Mary?

A box full of books from Gigi. This one was her favorite growing up.

A pack and play from Denise, McKenzie and Laura. Thanks guys!

Last but certainly not least, Karlie's special bear from Papa. Morgan and Grace each got a HUGE dog from him when they were born. They use them at their house to lay on and relax or just play with. And when they come to Papa and Neece's house they have one there too! We love it and I'm sure Karlie will too!

I'm sure she will have many pictures taken with it! Thanks Papa!

Thank you to everyone who was able to come. I had such a relaxing day visiting and enjoying the company. Thanks again to Denise, Laura and McKenzie for all of your hard work on the shower. I had a great time!

Love,
Shanda