Surprise Christmas Visitor

We were sitting around after dinner Christmas and I get a strange phone call. I thought it was one of Jon's shipmates calling and playing a prank so I hand the phone over to Jon. Now, we don't use our home phone, so we don't give the number out. (We only have it for internet purposes). Jon hands the phone back to me and tells me that it is not for him. It turns out it is a woman from church I have made friends with. She has a little girl named Jasmine that is one year older than Alysha and they are great friends. They are also homeschoolers like us and we really like them. She was calling to see if she could come and visit us. I said sure, come on over!! Here I was feeling all lonely here in Florida and then Emily calls and wants to come over and visit. She is a really neat person and we have a lot in common. We have really hit it off. They came over for an hour or two and just "hung out". What a GREAT Christmas surprise! We took some pics before they left. Emily has three kids, Jasmine who is 13, Archie who is 10, and Jon who is about one year old. (Archie stayed home with his dad)

Alysha is taller than Jasmine, of course, she is such a tall girl. Jasmine is such a sweet girl and a great friend to Alysha. I am wearing a black shirt with a pair of black pants. It looks like I am wearing a black dress, I am not. I look misshapen. heehee.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Christmas in Florida was nice. It was lonely this year, not being near family for the first time, but we had a nice relaxing time together, just the three of us. Next year it will be one more......

Here are some Christmas pics....

I don't even look pregnant in that big shirt. Yes, I did buy Alysha some fake eyelashes! She begged and they are only for around the house. It is just for 'play'. We had a nice Christmas together. We always get up and open one gift, then we read God's Word together and celebrate the real reason for the season. It is our family tradition. Later we open up the rest of the gifts. I have started making a Christmas Quiche for brunch and we eat a nice dinner together. I really enjoy our Sund family traditions.

Christmas Eve we went to church for a Candlelight service. I wanted to wear something red. I found a shirt I have never worn before because I did not have a tummy to fill it out, now I do. I think I look like a big ole cow, but Jon and Alysha assured me I looked great. It is debatable.

We let Alysha open a gift Christmas eve also.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!!

This is funny

Top 17 Fatal Things to Say to Your Pregnant Wife
17. "I finished the Oreo's."
16. "Not to imply anything, but I don't think the kid weighs 40 pounds."
15. "Y'know, looking at her, you'd never guess that Pamela Lee had a baby!"
14. "I sure hope your thighs aren't gonna stay that flabby forever."
13. "Well, couldn't they induce labor? The 25th is the Super Bowl."
12. "Darned if you ain't about five pounds away from a surprise visit from that Richard Simmons fella."
11. "Fred at the office passed a stone the size of a pea. Boy, that's gotta hurt."
10. "Whoa! For a minute there, I thought I woke up next to Willard Scott!"
9. "I'm jealous! Why can't men experience the joy of childbirth?"
8. "Are your ankles supposed to look like that?"
7. "Get your *own* ice cream."
6. "Geez, you're awfully puffy looking today."
5. "Got milk?"
4. "Maybe we should name the baby after my secretary, Bambi."
3. "Man! That rose tattoo on your hip is the size of Madagascar!"
2. "Retaining water? Yeah, like the Hoover Dam retains water."And the Number
1 Fatal Thing to Say to Your Pregnant Wife...1. "You don't have the guts to pull the trigger........."

Birthday/Adoption Day

Today is my birthday! I am 21 years old!! Finally, I am legal! No really, I am 25......... heehee

For my birthday I wanted to go get Chicken Minis from Chick-fil-a for breakfast and then go register at Target. That is just what we did!! We got up and went and had breakfast, Jon, Alysha and I. I LOVE Chicken Minis, they are SO GOOD! Then, we went to Target and did their baby registry. That was THE most fun I have ever had. I mean, I did not get to do this the first time around, so this was all new for me. They actually give you a little scanner thingy and you go around zapping all the stuff you want. How great is that? Jon, Alysha and I went from aisle to aisle just zapping stuff left and right. We picked out the crib bedding from there. Jon really had his heart set on it, and it was nice, so I registered for all of it. It is Classic Pooh. I would never in my wildest dreams thought I would use a Winnie the Pooh anything, but I did. It is the Sage colored set. They had pink, blue and sage, but I am not a big pink person. I actually had what I wanted picked out off the Internet, it was butterflies with purple. It was very beautiful, but my hubby asked me not to do anything purple. Talk about a man raining on my parade. sigh. This would have been a second choice, but it is really pretty. I like the color sage. Here is a pic of the baby book and scrapbook I bought that matches the bedding set.

We spent over an hour just walking up and down aisles, trying to decide what to register for. :) So fun!!

Today is also a another special day. I now get to share my birthday with adoption day and it makes it so special. Today is the day Alysha was officially adopted and became a Sund. It was this day two years ago that Jon, Alysha, and I stood before a judge and she declared us a "family", united forever. It was second in importance only to our wedding day. Jon always makes this day special by giving her a gift. This time though we decided that we would let her pick out her own gift. (She is kinda hard to buy for now.) So we told her over breakfast that we were going to let her go to Target and pick out anything she wanted as her adoption present. Her eyes got as big as saucers. This is a kids dream, right? I did not give her a spending limit, I just said it had to be reasonable. I was really curious to see what she picked (and how much it was). After we had completed our baby registering, we turned in our scanner and started following Alysha around to let her shop. (First, we were so tired we sat down in the little eating area, all of our feeties were hurting!!). She went to Jewelry, then to clothing. She finally went to electronics and found two games she had been wanting for a long time. She ended up spending less than $50.00. It was fun. The whole day was special. What a blessed family we are.

Then we came home and I opened my birthday presents. Here is a picture:

I got the three wise men to go with my willow tree nativity set. All I need now are the shepherds and the background. I LOVE willow tree. They also got me some butterfly earrings. It was really great. Jon is going to cook me dinner, with Alysha's help. Alysha and I have started cross-stitching some things for the baby. That is what I plan to do for the rest of the day, relax, cross stitch, and let my wonderful family wait on the pregnant princess. :)

(fyi - I am 29 today).

ultra sound pictures

The first two pictures below are showing that it is definitely a girl. You can see the arrow in the second picture there pointing to right between the legs. Nothing there. I hope you can click on these to enlarge them like you could the other ultrasound pics. Otherwise it is hard to see. This is a butt-shot. haha. Those are her little butt cheeks. :)

In these the first two shots are her legs her little feet. (It is so fun to say "her") The last one on this set is of the whole baby. Her little arm is over her face, if you can tell.

These are the 3d like shots, where they look down on the uterus. If you look you can see her arm over her face. She looks more like a bug in these, just cause it is the type of shot or view that it is. The middle one is the best. It looks like she has a black eye, but you can see her nose and all. Nice. That is our little Shayla Sund!

It was a really great day. Seeing the baby always makes it so real for us. Of course now that she moves and kicks all the time, It is more real for me now that it was before. :)

pictures of me

Here are some pictures of me in a maternity top. I look more preggo when I wear an actual maternity top. :) Alysha took the last picture as a joke. Funny girl.

IT'S A GIRL

my coastie hard at work :)

Jon was out on a case this week. This is him driving the boat. They were doing a Search and Rescue (SAR). Luckily, this one turned out well, they found the man alive and brought him back to land for medical attention. What a cool job, being out on the water! I mean, if you like the water. I personally hate boats and being out on the water. lol. I prefer sunning on the beach, I like to keep my feet on land.

This is the Coast Guard dog. His name is MayDay and he gets underway with them most of the time. He lives at the station. That looks relaxing, doesn't it?

great weekend

What a great weekend we had. Jon was off this weekend and that always makes it better. Saturday night we went out to eat, just Jon and I. (Alysha had her Sunday School class Christmas party.) I have been CRAVING a good sandwich. So, we went to this place in Ocala called Crispers. I have never seen these restaurants before we moved here, but they are awesome. The best sandwiches you will ever eat. All they have are sandwiches, salads and soups. They do have some flat breads that look to die for. It is very expensive, but OH SO good. Jon and I got two sandwiches and one drink to share and it was 16.00. That is high, we can get three meal deals at chick fil a for that much. But, I digress........ I like to get their Jerk Chicken Sandwich. It has pineapples and some Jamaican sauce on it. It is the bomb! Spicy though, I paid the price later, still worth it. My hubby gets some monster sandwich that has four different kinds of meats on it, one being his favorite: Pastrami. It was a great "date" night. I finished all my Christmas shopping.

Sunday I slept until 11:00. Basically we missed church altogether, but I was so tired. We have been doing some extra cleaning because our friends, the Daltons are coming to visit next week. This is a good excuse for me to have to deep clean everything, something I have not done since I became pregnant. Pregnancy really tires you out. Sitting down just feels SOOOO GOOOD. All the extra physical exertion has helped me sleep harder. Unfortunately I am plagued by these vivid dreams. My dreams are so real and they are disconcerting. This is a new pregnancy development, although I have read it is completely normal. It really does amaze me all the things your body goes through............

I am posting a picture of the flowers Jon got me. He is a sweet hubby, most of the time. I came home from work one day last week and there were these pretty flowers waiting for me. Of course they were to make up for being.... well for being a man and hurting my tender pregnant feelings, but still it was great.

We are so close to the ultrasound, it is so exciting!!! That is number one on all of our minds. Jon leaves for work tomorrow, but he has special liberty for Tuesday. We are so close I can taste it!

Half way at 20 weeks

I am halfway there!! For the first time since I got pregnant I have started thinking about giving birth. I am not nervous or scared, mostly because I have done it before and I know what to expect. I was really nervous the first time because I had NO IDEA what to expect. Now, I mostly dread the aftermath, the recovering from it all. I was talking to a girlfriend of mine down here (she is on her third boy) and she is really nervous about the birth. I thought that was odd. It is the unknown that usually makes things scary. I am not saying I am looking forward to it, but I am not afraid.



I am planning on getting an epidural this time around. But, I am not banking on it, so I will still be ready with my Lamaze. I only say that cause I know there are always things that can go wrong with the epidural. Sometimes it does not "take" or it only works on half of the body, things like that. Let me just say that Lamaze is a lifesaver. For any woman who has given birth naturally, as I have, Lamaze is amazing. I could not have done it without it. I do hope this time around that I can have a pain free, as much as possible anyway, birth. But if I have to go natural again, it does not scare me.



The way I look at it is this. One way or another, this baby will be coming out. It cannot stay in there. Epidural or not, I will have a baby and the pregnancy part WILL end. Hallelujah. It cannot last forever. So, the thought of going into labor is kind of exciting because I know I will finally be at the end, this part will be OVER. Then begins a whole new chapter in life. :) I am looking forward to seeing the look on Jon's face when he meets baby sund for the first time. It will be priceless. Maybe I am not scared because it was so uneventful last time, there were no complications and I just suffered through to the end. I handled it once, I can handle it again. Either way, I am blessed to have such a peace about the whole thing.


Tuesday is the big day! We are all so excited. We have been counting the days until the ultrasound and now we are so close.

baby sund

I hung a stocking for baby sund........ how sweet that is!!!!!!

(Funny, I just noticed the order the stockings are in. We see who is the head of the household!! LOL)

my angel

Here is the mud covered truck. Jon let Alysha drive his truck on these trails. She LOVED it! I have not even driven that truck yet. lol

my angel

Jon took alysha "mudding" on his truck back in the woods in Inverness the other day while I was working. They have really been enjoying their daddy/daughter time.

here comes the bump

I read on my pregnancy calendar last week that I would really start showing in the next two weeks. Well, up to this point, I have been still wearing my normal shirts with materinity shorts and capris. Last night Jon and I were going out to eat (alysha went somewhere with her sunday school class) and I put on my maternity capris and picked a few shirts that are a little bigger but still my normal clothes. Unfortunately, when I went to put them on, my belly stuck out. sniff sniff. I cannot believe how much my tummy changed in one week. Jon thinks it is "cute". I was not so thrilled at the time.

So, I come to the computer to check my email before we leave and I have a new email from baby.com. I open it and the first sentence says, "Think you're big now? You'll start growing even more rapidly in the weeks to come...." That is NOT what I wanted to read. How hilarious that they would even write that. Here I was, unhappy about how big I had already gotten this week, and then I read this stupid email. So you think your big now, you are about to get huge.......

19 weeks

I am truly amazed at how fast this is flying by. December 18 will be here before you know it!! I recently read a book my friend Nicole gave me by Jenny McCarthy called Belly laughs. It was so great! I would recommend it to anyone who was expecting. I laughed out loud when i got to the chapter where she gave birth! So, funny. She described things I am going through that I did not even know were pregnancy related. Being pregnant really does a number on us females, men should be extra nice to us. (but, of course, they are not). I am having the normal symptoms: weepiness (I cry twice a day, seriously), frequent pee breaks (I go to the little girls room EVERY 30 Minutes), swelling feet (I have some tennis shoes I cannot even wear anymore), headaches (I have never experienced headaches like this before), and hormonal rages (I definitely have some new psycho chick living hormones now, but more on that later). I have not had the unpleasant symptom of staying hot, I freeze all the time, so that is one symptom I do have to contend with - yet. All in all I have had a relatively uneventful pregnancy and for that I am proud. Oh, and don't forget the heartburn. I have already went through a whole bottle of tums. I have some serious heart burn, nightly. I read somewhere recently that banana's are a natural heartburn reliever, so I have started this week eating some banana when it gets really bad and it seems to help, for a while. I will try anything! :)

But enough about my trials and tribulations. Don't you just love this time of the year? I do. I am not big on any certain day, like thanksgiving day or Christmas day. I love the season between those two days. I love the feel in the air this time of year. The weather cools off and it is pleasantly cool outside. I love hearing all the Christmas songs on the radio (my favorite is Breathe of Heaven). I love Christmas lights, others and my own. The Christmas tree is so peaceful to have up in the house. Most days I really look forward to it getting dark so I can turn on the lights. There is something special about this time of year that has nothing to do with presents. It has nothing to do with the commercialized holiday that you see in stores. This is the time of year we celebrate our saviors birth and it is the most holiest time of the year. It is a time to thank God for all of our blessings, because we are all blessed. Merry Christmas everyone!

creating cookie masterpieces

Alysha wanted to make and decorate some cookies, so we did!! She had lots of fun.

This is our finished product, one batch anyway. They are in the ILOVEU handshape. The cookies are for my interpreting agencies Christmas party. We only ate the ones that did not turn out.

18 to life

I am now eighteen weeks. Alysha and I were just discussing just how FAST this whole thing is going by. I am heading fast towards month number 5. She said maybe it is because I am really not showing yet. When I do, maybe it will be different. Right now it is just a number. Of course, I can feel that baby do his exercises, normally about 30 minutes after I lay down for bed. Isn't that always how it is?

I do not think this is a prison sentence, as my title indicates, BUT... (there's always a but), I have been thinking. This countdown to may 2 is fun and all, but the baby being born is just the beginning, not the end. I do not cross the finish line come may 2 and I am done. On the contrary, my fun is only beginning. My life is about to change dramatically. It is so funny what people that you hardly know will tell you when they find out your are expecting. I was talking to a lady at church the other day. She has three kids, 13, 9 and 19 months. Now most people, when they find out the age difference between my babies, (yes, alysha is a baby), they have a comment. Usually something like I cannot believe you are having another one, better you than me.... blah blah. Basically, they think I am crazy. (Everyone is entitled to their opinion, although I seem to get theirs whether I ask for it or not.) Anyway, back to the church-lady. She proceeds to tell me that when she had her last one she was frustrated and depressed for a long time at the loss of her freedoms. She tells all about how hard it was, again, blah blah. By the way, this is the second time she has seen me and told me this story. Now, the first thing that pops into my head (both times) is "Did this not happen when you had your first two?"

I guess people are just being nice and trying to prepare me for what they think is to come. I hear all kinds of stuff, many times from strangers. One comment I get alot is how great a help it is going to be having an older child. I always laugh and say that I have a built-in babysitter. Alysha appreciates this. But, 90% of the time, it is some kind of negative comment about how hard life is gonna be. What can you do?

I am aware of what it means to have a baby. I know it has been a long time and this time I do not live anywhere near my mother. That will be the hardest, simply because I will not have any family to help me out. I remember when Alysha was small, even going to the store was a major ordeal. I do know that I will be severely limited and life will revolve around the baby. So, that being said, I am not naive enough to think everyday is going to be roses. Babies are alot of work, but this is what we wanted all along. I mean, we have been trying for a long time, we did this ON PURPOSE. I think it is a happy occasion, something to look forward to, not dread. I am aware life is going to change and it is a change I wanted. This is why we made the decision for me not to work, so I could be with this baby at least the first year. This has always been our dream to have a baby and for me to be able to stay home and take care of it. I was not able to do that with Alysha, I had to work.

I do have one good stranger story. I took alysha bowling with the homeschooling group the other day. This one mom, whom I have never met before, starts asking me questions about the baby and stuff and then she said the most uplifting thing. She was in the same situation as me, she has a daughter in college right now and she also has a ten year old. She said it is like having two only children. That is so cool! I love that. It is like having two only children. That is a really interesting way to look at it. There are definite benefits to having only one at a time. She even said her kids are really close, even though they are so far apart in age. That has been one of my biggest worries. (really my only worry).