Happy Thanksgiving... Boy do we have much to be thankful for today and everyday! I will just list a few.. Just my ramblings. Enjoy.
~God.. He is the reason I am who I am, He gives me the strength to keep going when it seems to much a challenge. He surrounds me with love and His blessings have shown through this year for us. Thank you Lord for making me whole.
~My husband and love of my life John.. My rock and everything that makes me who I am and I am forever grateful for our paths crossing. I cannot imagine my life without you! I love you.
~My two beautiful girls.. They are two angels sent from God to grow my heart and surround me with love.
~My family.. without them both near and far I would be a lost lost person. I love you all and thank you for being such a wonderful family. I feel so fortunate to have an in-law family that I love as deeply as my own. I am a very lucky person!
~Amber.. Words can't describe what you mean to all of us, not just John and I but our entire extended family. You are such a blessing and we will never be able to repay you for the love you have shown us!
~My friends.. Also a part of my family and the small group of wonderful people that are always there to lend an ear, a shoulder to cry on, a sounding board to vent frustrations and a kindred spirit to clarify what the really important things in life are. All of you, both near and far.. even those that I have yet to meet in person... I love you and thank you for always being there.
~The sounds, smell and facial expressions newborns make... for those of you that don't remember.. come over.. it just warms your heart.
~Yes, shocking as this may sound to many of you but I am thankful for middle of the night feedings.. without them I wouldn't really be a mommy...
~Freedom and the soldiers that give it to me. I can not thank our armed forces enough for what they sacrifice for MY freedom, for those families that are separated from their loved ones for months and sometimes years for the sake of keeping me free! THANK YOU.
~For our fallen warriors. You gave the ultimate sacrifice for me and I will forever be grateful to you. Your families left behind are always in my prayers and will forever hold a place in my heart. You will NEVER be forgotten~
~Coffee.. I know, I digress but I am very thankful for coffee. Especially with a newborn at home!
~Turkey and dressing.. I am so thankful for the bountiful meal of Thanksgiving. Thankful that we are able to fill our souls with the goodness of a southern Thanksgiving meal! Bring on the pecan pie!
~My cats.. (This is my list, not Johns! haha) Right now I have Ashley kneading on my side. I just LOVE it when they do this, aka "making biscuits", for you cat lovers, you will understand how sweet it is to have them knead on you.
~XM Radio. Yes, this one is odd but it counts as one of those "little things" that I am thankful for. I LOVE XM and really don't know how I ever lived with out it.
~My big fuzzy house coat! Really, it is wonderful. I have never been a house coat wearer but when Annabelle was born, mom gave both Amber and I one and I have just loved it! It is perfect for those late night feedings when the house is chilled and I was snuggled in the bed.. Thank you mom!

I could go on... My life is blessed and for that I am thankful!

Please keep Amber in your prayers. She is much better but prayers are always welcome for her healing. Also as always keep our soldiers and especially their families in your prayers as many are separated from their loved ones this holiday season.
I hope you all have a very blessed Thanksgiving and look for photos and videos from Addison's very first holiday!!
Much love,
Carolyn

I just added new videos of AJ and Annabelle meeting her.. just click on the video log to the right and see for yourself!

Good morning everyone!
Today is day 6 with our darling Addison or AJ as we have taken to calling her and we couldn't be happier. She is just wonderful and so far a wonderful baby. I don't remember exactly how Annabelle behaved or her eat/sleep patterns when she was tiny... but I don't remember her being quite this easy.. maybe it is because we aren't a terrified as we were with Annabelle or this time we kind of knew what to expect? Regardless, Addison is just wonderful.. Currently she is sleeping about 4 hour increments.. yes, 4 hours at a time! and generally wakes about twice a night for food and changing. We believe she still has her days and night mixed up but we are working on having her more awake during the day. Just for a visual, she is laying on my chest right now while I type.. Very sweet!

Big sister Annabelle got to meet her yesterday and she was so sweet~ She has been at grammy and papa's for the past week while we were in Kansas so it was an exciting day for her to see both John and I as well Addison. She was very excited to see all the baby things (that were hers) out and was very excited to help burp and love on Addison. I have a video to share and some photos and will post when John gets back from work!

Grammy and papa asked if they could keep Annabelle for a few more days (until we go there for Thanksgiving) and of course our reply was YES! as much as we miss her and want to get her used to AJ, we were NOT going to turn down a day or two more of only one child in the house! (THANK YOU GRAMMY AND PAPA!) Gran and O'daddy are going to be here Saturday to help as well! if it weren't for Thanksgiving I think they would be here already.. :) We can't wait to have them here and I know they are both ready to meet AJ and to spend some good gran/Odaddy time with Annabelle!
Side note here for those of you that didn't know we used an egg donor and neither Annabelle or AJ are genetically mine (all my heart just not my genes!)... Grammy took Annabelle to have her photo with Santa and the worker person asked if she, mom, was the grandparent... then before mom could answer the worker said, "of course you are she looks just like you!" I love that... I love it when people think my child/ren look like me or my family... it just warms my heart! :)

I can't believe it is Thanksgiving already, we didn't think we would have AJ yet and here we are a week into her life! Time does fly and we certainly have plenty to be thankful for this year!

Amber is feeling pretty good. Her blood pressure is better but will have to be checked earlier than the usual 6 weeks, she'll go back in just a week to make sure she is getting back to normal levels. Her milk has come in and I think she will keep up with our hungry baby! She is getting about 2oz per side per pumping. Currently AJ is eating 2oz per feeding so it looks like Amber will over achieve once again in the milk production! as much as a pain pumping can be.. (She will be up as much as we are at night) it will help get her body back to its slender pre-baby weight!

We are so thankful to have Amber in our lives. Without her we wouldn't be the family we are today! How truly is God's blessing to have us find each other. He is amazing and we give thanks to Him for all our joy!

Please keep all of our soldiers and families in your prayers... Especially those that are apart over the holiday season. For all of you traveling, we will keep you in our prayers and I hope you all know just how thankful we are to have you apart of our life. We love you all!

Carolyn

Last night wasn't too bad. Addison was up most of the night .. as expected.. and ended up in bed with us... I am not a big fan of this but considering we are in a hotel 700 miles from home, it will be ok. I think we let her sleep too much during the day yesterday and she wanted to look around last night while we were sleeping. The hotel we are staying in is undergoing reconstruction so we are all three sneezing and I woke to a massive headache. This might have been a good thing as I really couldn't sleep anyway because of the pain. Getting home will greatly help us all.. As long as Annabelle agrees! :) We shall see how that goes.

John has gone to get some breakfast so I am going to log off for now. We plan to be home Monday late. We will drive that day and it will take us a good 12 hours to make it back.

Thanks for all your prayers and I will continue to update
Carolyn

It seems the photos are cut off when I post them. I don't have time to figure out why and fix it.. sorry.. at least you can see a few of the babies in the shots.. :(

Addison Joyce Evans arrived into this world! Just a few minutes after we arrived in Wichita! God is great!

Addison is just perfect. Looks like Annabelle but slightly different and with a bit more hair and a bit darker as well.. Amber pushed ONCE! and out came a crying angel. Pink as can be weighing 6 pounds 11 ounces and 18 3/4 inches long.

Amber is recovering well. She had us scared for a bit with really high blood pressures and chills but over the course of the night, her blood pressure went back to a more normal level.

I am currently in the wal-greens parking lot typing as I wait to pick up my Zpac (Thank you Dr R!!!) and using the Panera next doors wi-fi..(Thank you panera!) JOhn, Amber, Mitch and Addiosn are back in the room waiting for the lawyers to arrive so Amber and Mitch can sign over their parental rights.. Funny how they have to do that when there is no biology there.. anywhoo... Amber is still on bed rest and will remain so until 9:30 tonight, then we may get moved to the post delivery room and she can walk about.

We plan to stay here until Monday or Tuesday depending on Amber and Addison and how we want to tackle the Thanksgiving traffic! What a blessed Thanksgiving we will have this year!

I will try to update more once we get to our hotel room (no wi-fi at the hospital) and I am sure Amber will want to add her two cents as well!

Thank you thank thank you for all yoru prayers! They worked, Addison is perfect and Amber is healing !

I will post photos once I get home (or we find a way to do so!)

Love to you all
Carolyn, John and Addison

It looks like Addison will be born today. Ambers bp was high and they wanted to take Addison NOW but they are going to wait a little bit to give us a chance to make it.

Please pray for Amber, Addison and us for our drive

No news to report other than Amber's blood pressure is lower (140/98) and I hope she is resting. They did an ultrasound of Addison and she didn't pass her bpp like before but said that if she had been passing them it wasn't a concern, she was just being hard headed. :) The tech did measure her and said she weighs approximately 6 pounds 10 oz! with the fact at this gestation the baby gains about an ounce a day, she is pretty much on target for Annabelle birth weight of 6 pounds 13 ounces. Amber also mentioned they wanted to check her blood for her platelet count. There is a link between elevated blood pressure and lowered platelets which can increase the risk of too much bleeding at delivery, which we certainly don't want with her being anemic.. on the anemia front, the iron has increased her levels about a point, I think she is now an 8.6 when she was a 7.8 earlier! So that is good news.

I think Amber is going to talk to the dr (our dr) when she sees her again and just let her know that we are all ok with going ahead and delivering. If both Addison and Amber are physically ready. WE hope to have word some time this morning or afternoon depending on when she makes rounds. I would LOVE to have a date so we KNOW when this is going to happen but hate that it is because of complecations especially when Amber didn't want to do an induction. We'll let you know what comes of this conversation.

I am just sitting here on the couch wide awake with a stuffy head and somewhat sore throat (from the drainage I am sure).. dealing with yet another headache from the decongestant. So I am trying to hydrate and make it go away!

Thank you all for your continued support and prayers.. Keep 'em comming!

Much love
Carolyn

I got word from Amber a bit ago that her water HAS NOT broken (yeah) and that she has not changed as far as cm dilated or any of that jazz. Good news! She was waiting for blood test results to see where to go from there in regards to her elevated blood pressure. I was dropping off a meal for a friend that had surgery and while doing so I got a text that said they were going to keep her over night and would administer medications to help lower her blood pressure. I am awaiting a call back from Amber to see if there is more to this.. i.e. just how long they will allow her to go with such high bp levels, at what point will they induce, if at all. Will she need to stay on hospital bed rest if her blood pressures don't come down with medication? So much to ask and so few answers... :( As of now, we are not heading to Kansas. We are still on target to do the December 1st departure for me and John to drive a few days following... Personally, I don't see more that a week of waiting and we'll be driving West.. but I have been known to be wrong (if only a few times.. :))
Please keep praying and I will update as I have information!
Carolyn

Amber just called and was sick this afternoon. After getting sick she said she has a "trickle" and was unsure if that trickle was pee (yes, pregnant ladies sometimes pee without control!) or amniotic fluid. In addition she was having contractions that were "taking my breath away".. so needless to say she is at the hospital and we are awaiting news from the dr. We have alerted my mom if she indeed has started labor with broken water, my mom will come here to get Annabelle and we will depart for our 10-11 hour drive to Wichita! We are 36 weeks 3 days today, 4 days shy of Annabelle's gestation so I am not totally freaked out but it would be nice to know for sure if Addison is healthy or not. She has passed all of her "tests" with flying colors and appears to have no stress from Ambers contractions, which are now about 5 minutes apart. One other thing, Amber blood pressure was 170/109 when she got to the hospital and 160/107 (I may by slightly off a number or two there but those are pretty close to what she told me)

We will post as soon as I hear from Amber .... could today be the day? we shall see..

Love to you all...Please pray for Amber and Addison and for our drive if that is what we have to do today.
Carolyn

Hello everyone.

Amber is half way through her iron infusions so YEAH! for that.. She is still on bed rest and is going crazy watching tv and napping all day... as would I. She had our weekly BPP (Biophysical profile) this morning and Addison is just wonderful. Passed 8/8 with good breath "practice" and good levels of amniotic fluid. We have some photos but they aren't that good so I am going to just wait until we see her in person to post more photos! So now, we wait until Thursday for our appointment with Dr Rogers. Maybe there will be an alternative way for induction she and Amber can talk about so we might have a better idea of when miss Addison will make her appearance. With not knowing when it might happen and being 12 hours away makes for many a sleepless night .. let me tell you.. Pray for me and pray I can sleep now before Addison gets here.. !!

Annabelle and I are still somewhat under the weather. Today we are both heading to the clinic to get checked out and hope to find something to help us both sleep. She is napping right now but will have to be awakened in the next hour to head out. She also showed daddy her tantrum last night when he tried to put her to bed. John now understands the level of screaming I was talking about when she did it to me the first time. not pretty.

I just wanted to give you all a brief update and thank you once again for your prayers!

Much love
Carolyn

Today we are 36 weeks pregnant.. this means that in just 7 short days, Annabelle was born! but more importantly we can deliver at the birth center now instead of the hospital! The birth center is much more like a home environment with less of the "hospital white" and much more what Amber wants. Amber is feeling ok. The iron is messing with her stomach and she is having some swelling in her feet but I hope as time passes both will go away. Maybe I am having sympathetic nausea in honor of Amber? I can't imagine having nausea for weeks/months on end.. God bless you pregnant ladies!

Annabelle woke with no fever today but now has a slight one of 100.0 she actually ate about a cup of gold fish and drank about 2 cups of milk. She has been the snugly bug today which isn't her usual demeanor but I like it. we watched Ratatouille, which she asked for by name and now is nap time. I am not sure but I wonder if I might be nesting as Annabelle was mesmerized by the rat, I cleaned like a mad woman... to include mopping?!?! for those of you that know me well, know I hate to clean and I REALLY hate to clean when I feel like crap. Nesting, I'd say...

Annabelle was so cute when I asked her if she wanted to take a nap she said no initially then said "yep" ... so up we went... Generally we read "goodnight moon" and we sing rock a bye baby and twinkle twinkle little star and I rub either her back or her belly... or both. Today, I was singing and rubbing her back and she lifted up onto her arms and said "Go now, I sleep" "I sleep mommy, go now" HAHAHAHA, cracked me up... poor baby was just beat.

I feel MUCH better today but still have a grumble in my stomach. I think knowing John will be home this afternoon makes the pain a little less apparent. and knowing he will be home until Addison comes REALLY makes me rest well.

As sick as I was last night I couldn't stop thinking about Thanksgiving dinner. Gosh I can't wait to chomp down on some cornbread dressing, turkey, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes and my Brussels sprouts casserole! Not to forget pumpkin pie and pecan pie! I may have to make this meal early just in case Addison decides to give us even more to be thankful for this year!

I am going to rest with some foodtv.. I want you all to know just how much you mean to me/us. We are truly blessed to have such wonderful friends and family. We love each of you very much and can't wait to share our joy with you!

God bless,
Carolyn

I am posting a day early for our 36 week update!..

Amber had her second iron transfusion yesterday and will have two next week and then two more the week after. I hate that this has to happen at all but at least it is not blood and I hope hope hope that it will do the trick to get her levels back to a safe normal range.

Annabelle is still sick and as of this morning I am too! Joy.. I thought I wasn't going to make it today. I was so weak, my head was killing me, my stomach was very sour so much so I didn't even try to have coffee! I am conjested and had some slight vertigo (a sinus issue I am sure) I planned to go to mom and dads today to basically rest some while mom managed Annabelle but about half way there she threw up again! I thought she was better with no fever and no vomit in over 24 hours.. guess not. I am thiking it might be drainage that is gagging her. But then again, she dosen't want to eat and tells me her tummy hurts. ( I know how she feels) After her throwing up in the truck (yes, both cars now have the just puked in smell) I decided to turn around and suck it up. We got home and I changed her, took the car seat apart and put her and myself down for a nap... we both slept about 3 hours and we both seemed to wake much refreshed and feeling better. She tried to eat some yogurt (might have eaten 1/4 of a container) and some noodles but didn't eat much.. at least she is trying. She only wants milk and water. I ran out of milk tonight so depending on how I feel in the morning, she may have to drink skim.

John gets home tomorrow afternoon! THANK YOU JESUS. I am so thankful I didn't get the call from Amber in labor.. that would have been all I needed. I haven't heard form her today so I hope she isn't actually in labor and didn't call because I have been so sick... I hope she just got plenty of sleep today.

I am going to sit back and watch some NCAA football.. take a bath and go to bed.

Please pray Annabelle sleeps peacfully and that tomorrow is a better day!

Love to you all
Carolyn

John got home tonight and because of my rushed trip to Kansas, there was no car a the airport so Annabelle and I had to pick him up. She is feeling ok, at least acting as if she feels ok. She didn't eat much of anything but was happy and played as if nothing was wrong. She napped for 3 hours and woke to "Yogurt and Applesauce, good yogurt and applesauce" she must have been dreaming about that or something.. it was very funny.. Anyway, we drove the hour + to the airport and had about 15 minutes to kill before John's flight arrived. I planned to call Amber and chat but Annabelle had a different idea. Within a minute of putting my car in park, she starts throwing up... over and over. Thankfully it wasn't projectile but gross non the less. Grapes, yogurt, milk and juice. Nice shake combo don't you think? So I had the pleasure of trying to clean the car seat and her while waiting for John to arrive. Lucky for me I had a change of clothing in the car (thank you daddy) and had some clorox wipes to cover the sweet smell of vomit. GAG...

We picked John up and headed home. she was fine all the way home but everytime we asked if she wanted something to eat, cracker, apple or whatever, she just shook her head. Poor baby.

we got home and gave her (and her car seat cover) a bath. She went to be without a peep. lets hope now that she hasn't anything on her tummy she doesn't get sick tonight.

John leave again tomorrow am for three days but then will be home until the end of December ! Thank you Jesus! That will certainly make the wait for Addison a little less stressful.

I just wanted to share the joys of mommy hood with you all... I hope you are all well and know how much we love each of you
Carolyn (and family)

It seems Annabelle's snotty nose was more than just a snotty nose.. I just had my first vomit experience with her and just in time for John not to be here.. :) Poor thing was crying after I put her down and when I opened her door I knew she had thrown up by the smell. Instead of her crying and acting sick, she announces to me "NOODLES!! NOODLES!! " because they were kind of all over the room.. Lovely... Needless to say I am washing clothes and all of her bed toys (those of you that know us well know that is a full load of laundry)..

I took her temp and it is only 99.7 so there is hope it isn't really bad... I won't take her to preschool tomorrow and I only HOPE others would do the same.

She just went back down to bed with all new blankets and stuffed animals. One is a moose and when I told her his name was moose she told me "I like moose" Very very cute little sicky poo...

21 months and no vomit until now! I'd say I did pretty good...

Much love
Carolyn

Amber called this evening and informed me that the director of the hematology lab said they couldn't get an exact match for her blood type and with her being pregnant he didn't feel comfortable giving her the blood. He called Dr Rogers and they agreed that an iron transfusion would be the option to take. What is an iron transfusion? good question... I had never heard of such a thing but apparently it isn't very common but not unheard of... The treatment consists of I.V. iron and other minerals (I think)given twice a week for three weeks.. We are very happy that she didn't have to have blood products but unlike getting the red blood transfusion, but I feel badly that she has to do this 5 more times. :( Each treatment lasts about an hour and Amber said it really burned when going in... in part because it has to stay cold until delivered into the vein. (that doesn't sound like fun does it?) Please pray for her comfort and for this process to rejuvenate her!

I think that is the rest of my update.

Keep those prayers coming..

Love....
Carolyn

As I type Amber is having her transfusion and I couldn't feel more guilty. I know it isn't my "fault" but if it weren't for our child, she wouldn't be having to do this.
Please keep her in your prayers.
I am very happy to be home.... all the way today as Annabelle and I headed back to Ft C this afternoon. She is napping and I am soaking my poor ingrown toenail.. who knew how excruciating an ingrown toenail could be.. OH MY!

John left this am (very very early) and returns tomorrow night only to head out again Friday am for the weekend.. this was supposed to be an 11 day trip but with Amber having complications and really not knowing what might happen, he decided to cut the trip short and be available in the event Amber goes into labor.

I am going to try to rest...

Please keep praying..

Love you all
Carolyn

We just got back from Amber's appointment and there is good news and bad... the good news, her blood pressure is better. Still high for her but in the normal range. She isn't dilated any more so we are still only 2cm. She feels good and isn't really having contractions! Yeah and praise the Lord for good news. Now for not so good news. Amber is very anemic and is going to have to have a transfusion tomorrow of two bags of packed red blood. They don't know why she is anemic but Dr Rogers said if Amber bleeds like she did when delivering Annabelle "we are screwed". I think this quote made up Amber's mind as she really didn't want to have blood. I hope it helps her feel more energetic and that she has less symptoms. She is also on bed rest to keep her blood pressure under control. This is something that would be a challenge for anyone so pray she doesn't go crazy from her couch! I am heading to the airport in about 30 minutes and according to the doc, my return on Dec 1st should be safe. Granted anything can happen but it seems that we might actually make it to December! :)

Please keep Amber and family in your prayers. I know getting blood isn't comfortable for her so please pray for everything to be ok with this.

Thank you all for your continued support and prayers. They are always appreciated and very much welcomed.

Much love to you all
Carolyn

but not really. :)

Today Amber, Bailey, Meghan and I spent the day at the hospital... labor and delivery ... Poor Amber woke this am to the feeling of not being able to breathe. It happened again after she fell back asleep so she decided to stay awake. It scared her, it would me too, and was really bothered when she was unable to really take a deep breath all day long. She called the doc and she suggested her go to the hospital to be checked out. Thus, we did.. and we waited and waited and waited. had the most incompetent nurse who just about killed Amber with her inability to take blood. The blood test indicated Amber is pretty anemic, even more than Thursday's level. She was given the option of taking more iron via pills or take a transfusion. After some discussion we thought it would be good to get her cervix checked do see if she has dilated any more and if she had, get the blood.. if she had not, wait until the appointment with doc tomorrow and get her advice. She was checked and is the same dilation as Thursday so no blood and home we went..

The good thing, is there isn't an additional complication causing the shortness of breath and that now I know we haven't progressed any further I can go home to Annabelle and John.. :) (miss you both very much) We are going to pump Amber with a bunch of beans to help along side the iron pills.. :)

I have scheduled my flight to depart tomorrow evening, 4:40p arriving in Nashville around 8:30p just in time for John to leave tomorrow at 6am.. :(

Anyway, please pray Amber's iron levels come up...
Much love to you all.
Carolyn

All of the excitement this week was certainly cause for consternation. And even though (with hind-sight being 20/20) Carolyn probably didn't need to go to Wichita, it gives us both peace of mind that she is there to be with Amber and will be able to see Dr. Rogers on Tuesday. In the meantime, Daddy and Annabelle are getting to spend some special time together over this long weekend (Tuesday is a Federal Holiday and most units will take Monday as a Training Holiday). Today we went to the Adventure Science Center in Nashville, and even though I did not take any photos, I was amazed at how perceptive she has become since the last time she was there. She is certainly smart and has lots of common sense (her mother's daughter to be sure). When we dropped Carolyn at the airport on Friday she said (with no prompting) "Mommy is going on the plane". When I told her she was right, she said "we going on the bus" - the last time we traveled as a family we dropped Carolyn with the bags to check in, and Annabelle and I went to the Long Term parking lot and got on the shuttle (which she called a bus) to go back to the terminal. She has an incredible memory for a 21 month old! We enjoyed our day together and I look forward to the next three. I know that I could not stay at home with her everyday like Carolyn does - that takes an incredible kind of patience. But I am really enjoying some special Daddy Time this weekend, and am thankful for every second of it!

I am here ... Made with little issue and just made it back to my room on base for the night.. Amber is doing well. She is very lethargic but seems to be feeling pretty good considering. She did tell me she is anemic, bordering on severely anemic so please pray for that. She had to collect her urine (Yes, I know.. kinda gross) and will take that to the lab in the morning for analysis. The results will be given to Dr Rogers Monday, we assume, and we have an appointment Tuesday 11ish. I don't foresee any big news before Tuesday unless Amber goes into labor or her lab results are alarming and they need to take action.

Please keep her an Addison in your prayers and I will update daily if not more often.. Also, please pray for Gran and O'daddy. They lost a dear friend today and prayers for comfort never hurts.

Love to you all
Carolyn

Good morning...

I am gearing up to head to Wichita for how long? I don't know.. My flight departs at 11:45 this morning and because it is the ticket I planned to use in Dec, it is a one way ticket... Right now we don't really have a plan of when I will come home. I hope we will have more news about what the doctor "thinks" about Addison's delivery. Amber is home! thank goodness, they discharged her last night and I hope she rested well. She is to call Dr Rogers today to talk to her about her tests and maybe we will have a better idea of what to expect. Amber and I both joke that we would really like a crystal ball.. the wait and unknown is really annoying..

I am very sorry to all of you that were planning to come to the shower tomorrow as it had to be cancelled..I am especially sorry to Cerae and Sharelle. Thank you both for all your work for us, we appreciate your friendship and willingness to help... I wish there was another option but I really have no choice.. *hugs* Maybe we can have a party after Addison is here.. a "welcome to the world" party..:)

John got home last night as you know and will be able to keep Annabelle for at least 5 days.. we will probably ask my parents if they can watch her for wed/thur if I am not home ... (John has a TDY trip those two days, unless Addison decides to show her beautiful face) For the next few weeks we are going to be in a state of confusion so please bare with us. I will thank all of you NOW for your help and understanding in case it slips my mind in the chaos. Maybe we won't have chaos... who knows..

I need to finish packing... Thank you all so very much for your continued prayers. I will have my laptop (thank you John, great bday present) with me so I will update as often as I can!

Love to you all
Carolyn

OK... just after I posted the last update, Amber called and she is progressing in dilation, she is now a 2 or 2+ but it was a different doctor so they want to check her again at 9 to compare with the same size hands. :)

Thanks for the prayers.. I will continue to update.

Carolyn

I just got a call from Amber and they were going to let her go home.. that was until they checked her and found that she is 80% affaced, is dialated 1-2cm and is at station 2.... I am not exactly sure what all that means but non the less she is getting ready to have a baby.. will that be tomorrow or three weeks from now, we just don't know. She is having regular contractions so the dr is going to check her again in an hour (which it has alrady been an hour) and see how much if any she has progressed. Lets hope none... Her last appt was 9 days ago and she was totally closed so could this mean we are having a November baby? could be...

They did do a biophysical test on Addison and she passed with a score of 8/8! Annabelle didn't do so well on this test so it seems she may have some competiton with big sister! this test for those that don't remember test the attemps to breathe, the amount of fluid, the movements in a set time, and overall health of baby. Annabelle never did pass hers I don't think ... so in light of all this stress, at least Addison is thriving! :)

I am going to post this and wait for our follow-up report from the dr.. then post again..

Love to you all and thank you for the prayers!
Carolyn

John is home and should be arriving her at the house any time. I haven't heard from Amber yet so we really have no news as to what the furture holds.. John and I did decide I am going tomorrow regardless. I have just changed my flight to depart tomorrow 11:48a and will arrive Wichita at 4:45p. Should she go into labor at least I will be there without having the 12 hour drive with both of us and have her not go into labor. John can make the drive in 10-11 hours so unless she calls me and tells me to come NOW! The above will be the plan.

I have to say, I am totally stressed right now.. and we are just beginning.

Sorry this will be short and to the point but I just got a call from Amber, after her OB appointment and she has been instructed to head to the hospital for monitoring. Her blood pressure was high... 138/104 and they are concerned that she may have eclampsia. She has no symptoms other than weight gain and leg and hand swelling but the doc said this is common and one day you have no symptoms the next you have a stroke.

They are going to monitor her for the next 24 hours, keeping eye on her urine protein levels, blood work (not sure what they are monitoring here, and her blood pressure. If she remains with symptoms, they will need to begin an induction. As of now, Addison is fine but they will monitor her more closely as well once she is in the hospital.. (she may be there already)

I just got home from an appointment and have packed Annabelle and Addison a bag just in case we have to head out tonight or tomorrow. My mom is on stand-by for Annabelle care and i have yet to get in touch with John.... ARRGGh..... but he is due home tonight.. (thank the Lord!) I am a little stressed out right now so please pray both Addison and Amber are ok.. I feel very confident they will be and know that God has his plan... but extra prayers never hurt.

I need to eat as I almost passed out in the dermatology office... and start going over my emergency plan list!!!

Thank you all and I will post updates as soon as I have any..

Much love
Carolyn

John and I got our Army times yesterday and inside we found brand new 2009 Installation Guide. We decided to compare our current home to our soon to be home (we assume). John knew there really wasn't much of a comparison but I had no clue. Here are a few stats

We'll start with Ft Campbell... just the highlights
Installation population:
Active duty 30,865 Family: 62,723 Civilians: 4,317
Housing:
4,147 family units
Schools:
5 Elementary schools, 2 middle schools and one high school.
PX:
Home to the largest PX in the world
Climate
None listed because it isn't a big deal here

And now for Carlsile Barracks
Installation population:
Active duty 500, Family 738, civilians 1,140
Housing:
267 family units, 48 barrack spaces for enlisted soldiers
Schools:
None
PX:
Medium size PX and Commissary
Climate
Average high, 62
Average low, 44
Days above 90, 23 (note, they don't go above 100)
Days below 32, 106 (Crap) 106 days below freezing.. I need to say goodbye to the south... :(

So, that is that... how much my life is going to change next year.

For those of you that are interested, Sharelle started a blog for Craven (Annabelle called him Haven) her blog is linked to this one on the right hand side and it is called "the adventures of Craven" check it out..

Much love and prayers to you all
Carolyn

No 39 isn't a countdown to a prediction of how many days until I believe Addison will be born or how many minutes of sleep I will have per day after she arrives but it is the age I am as of today. :) I am proud! almost 40 when many never thought I would make it to 20. or even dare I say, 16. but I am here, stronger than ever and at times and depeding on who you ask, mean.. haha. I have had a wonderful day. I woke to coffee in bed, brought to me by Annabelle (with daddys help). got to shop ALONE for a few hours .. of course I bought things for Annabelle and Addison, took a nap and now John is going to cook me dinner! Filet Mignon with sauteed mushroom and onions, baked potatoes and banana's foster for dessert. I CANNOT WAIT!! YUM. The only thing that could make this day better is if the election wasn't tomorrow. I have to say, every 4 years my birthday can really stress me out. And this one physically makes me ill..


I must go enjoy my dinner and .... have a big fat drink... or two.. or three.. hahaha...

Love to you all, even if you vote/d for O. Ugh...

WOW!! 34 weeks today?!? I just can't believe the time is just about here for Addison to join us. 34 weeks also means in just 29 days, yes 29 days I leave to go to Kansas for her birth. That is amazing to me.. looking back for some perspective, with Annabelle's pregnancy, in just 22 days she would have been born! (37 weeks gestation) Lets hope we make it to at least 38 weeks as that is when I am scheduled to arrive in Kansas.

Today we got up as usual and got ready for church. On our way John announces "CLOCKS" and we realize we failed to change the clocks and were indeed an hour early for church. We decided to window shop at, where else, Wal-mart and kill some time driving the long way into town. After church, which had a wonderful message about raising children and a very inspirational testimony from an Indian (from India not Native American) man who found the Lord and is now a part of Gideon's International (you know, the Christians that so graciously put Bibles in hotel rooms across the globe to include Syria, Vietnam and Bhutam!) ... it was very interesting, we had some lunch at Annabelle favorite place, Old Chicago pizza and then did some shopping...

We have been busy with getting the nursery together. I made the one of the last additions today of a small wicker table with drawers (on clearence at Pier one, thank you very much!)to go next to the rocker recliner. Here is a photo, but ours is white.

Yes, we FINALLY got a rocker/recliner at USA Baby in Franklin. They were having a huge sale (25% or more everything) and I decided it was worth the 75 minute drive to check it out. I was correct. Not only did I order a rocker I also go a few other much needed items. ie. changing table covers, cutsie baby shoes (big time sale on these... I think I got them 75% off) a second crib sheet and a feeding plate and spoons for Annabelle. I am just thrilled about the deal I got on the rocker/recliner. It is a Best Chair and instead of having a chair and ottoman that will take up lots of room I got the recliner that not take up too much space. In additon I got to order the fabric to match Addison's bedding. I choose Clemintine, no... there isn't any UT on it but it matches perfectly with the orange tint in the bedding. And I happen to love the color orange. I will post a photo once it arrives but here is one from the web page. ours will just be in clementine


I do still want to find a cute little lamp for the table for our night feedings but for now, I am very happy with how things are coming together. Finny how much easier it is when you know what you are doing, unlike with Annabelle.

Annabelle is upstairs right now NOT taking her nap. It is too funny listening to her talk to her toys. Very entertaining. While John and I are watching the Titans (going into overtime as I type) and Nascar (that would be John, not me) It is a beautiful day here today. Mid 70s and plenty of blue skies and sunshine.

I do have a few prayers requests.. Please keep Odaddy in your prayers for his ankle to heal, keep Cerae's parents in your prayers, her mom is in the hospital and needs extra prayers, Amber and Addison pray to keep Addison put until I can get there! and as always, pray for our, no your soldiers and their families.

Much love
Carolyn