Well, it's been a year...

Yes, that's right. It's been over a year since I updated our other blog. Blogger didn't like that I abandoned my poor blog for so long and is punishing me by not allowing me to access it, so I started a new one. A lot has happened in a year, so this post may bet a bit long. Here it goes...
Last July my husband made the decision to join the Army National Guard. This decision changes our lives for at least the next 8 years. For those of you who don't know, the Army lifestyle is very different. You automatically become a member of this huge, amazing family, and new words and acronyms like "hooah" (that one makes me giggle) and ACU, MOS, etc. become a new part of your vocabulary. It also tests your relationships, and you learn a lot about the person you can be. Before I go into more detail about this, I'll tell you about something that happened in September because it's an important part of this story. In September I found out I was pregnant. Surprise!! I was terrified and excited at the same time. Michael was just plain excited. A few weeks after we found out we were expecting, we learned that Michael would be leaving for basic training in South Carolina in November. Immediately following his graduation at the end of February he would head up to Maryland for an additional 3 months of training, and would be home in May. That's right, I was about to spend the next six months pregnant, with two toddlers, husbandless. We are so blessed to have family in town who helped us through it. I could not have done it without them. Let me tell you, those were the 6 worst months of my life. I can't begin to tell you how badly my heart hurt each and every day. How it felt like half of me was missing. I was fortunate enough (after some pre-term labor scares) to be able to go see my husband graduate at Fort Jackson, and then drive with him up to Maryland. Saying goodbye to him for a third time was almost too much to bear. Right after I got home I was put on bed rest because our sweet little Aubrey was trying to come too soon, just like her sisters did. At 32 weeks I was admitted to the hospital and put on a mag sulfate drip to stop my labor. It did, but I ended up with pulmonary edema, and spent two days on oxygen, while the lasiks they gave me worked their magic. Finally after 2 and a half weeks there, I was sent home on strict bed rest. At 37 weeks, Aubrey joined our family, but I'll save that story for another post :) I'll also save the details of Michael's training and his accomplishments for a later time as well. For now, this is what you get :P