The two most important men in my life!!

I have never been so in love. I am so in love with my husband. He is a good man. He takes care of us and is so cute when taking care of Jackson. I love our little guy so much, I never thought it would be this bad but I can't take my eyes off him. I can't even let him sleep alone. :) I am so very lucky to have these to guys in my life. It just makes me whole.

Jackson Lee Dalton

Yay he has arrived. I will just take ya back to when it started. Wednesday morning I woke up with this feeling that I couldn't quite put my finger on. Eventually it dawned on me that I was in early labor. I woke up my mom to make sure I wasn't crazy. I called Labor and Delivery and they told me to go through my day doing what I normally do and see where it goes. It turned out I had my 40 week doctors appointment today as well so I went to that and was told I was just about 3 cm 80% effaced at 0 station. I was very optimistic about that. So for the next 5 hours we walked, rested, cleaned house and waited. Whoever said it is easy to sleep when in labor is crazy. I couldn't sleep and around 4:30 pm I went to Labor and Delivery to get checked. They checked me alright and I was still the same so they told me to go walk around and come back at 7. So we did. At 7 we got checked and still nothing so they sent us home. This is when it got really bad. See my plan was the natural way so sending us home was the way to do it. I attempted to rest but the contractions got so bad all I could do was whine and cry and get through each contraction as it came. I lasted until about 4:30 in the morning of thursday and called the hospital and they said come in. We prayed and crossed our fingers that my laboring hadn't been a waste. When they checked me I was at 6cm and 90% effaced. YAY!!!! I was able to stay at the hospital and continue my laboring there. I did it natural and got in the birthing tub and around 8pm I couldn't take it anymore. I was exhausted. I threw up a few times and was basically hysterical because exhaustion had taken over so I got an epidural. The epidural was in and in effect by 9pm and I passed out for the next little while. It was nice to get some sleep. At around 11 am the nurse came in and checked and it was time to push. Let me tell you pushing on an epidural is very strange. Your legs are dead weight and you have no idea what is going on down there. After 48 minutes of pushing Jackson made his debut at 1:03 pm. I was so overwhelmed with joy and happiness I just cried. And so did Jackson. He came out screaming and letting the whole world know he was alive and well. Richard cut the cord and they put him on my belly. He was the most beautiful baby and just keeps getting more and more beautiful.
The next few days were spent at the hospital. Because of his size they had to check his sugar level 6 times the first day. He weighed 9 lbs 7 oz and was 21 1/2 inches long. We were both checked out many many times throughout the two days we were there and never any problems. Jackson is just an amazing baby. He never really cries and is already starting to hold his head up. We are so blessed to have this precious miracle in our family. I am honored that Heavenly Father has given me this opportunity to be a mother and have such an amazing husband who is so anxious and willing to be a good father.
My mom was there with us the whole time and she is such an amazing women. She helped us out so much and is still taking care of us. Without her we would be lost.
I look forward to this new adventure in our lives.

Dr. Appointment

So we went to the doctor today hoping to hear some good news or get things moving, but neither of those things happened. See the hospital has my due date a week later than we do so it ended up being a normal check up. She did check to see if I was dialated and that was negative. She then said that she doesn't strip the membranes until 39 weeks so yes I have one more week to wait. So Richard and I have decided to do everything we could think of. We went to the mall and walked around. Plan on doing that everyday. We don't want to get frustrated but it is sometimes hard not to. WE just keep praying that the Lord will send him with enough time to fly to South Carolina. So cross your fingers that Jackson will make his debut no later than Dec 15. :) More updates later.

We are Blessed!!

Thank you all so much for you comments and prayers. They have all worked, and definitely strengthened my faith and testimony. For the last two days Richard and I have been processing and clearing. He went to work on Wednesday and they gave him the NEWS. He is getting out but it's a good thing. His last official day of having to show up for work is next friday, but he was approved for Terminal Leave (for those not familiar with the military, that means all the leave days that he accrued throughout his military career, he gets to take at the end of his career and still get paid) for thirty days after that, so we will still get paid until Dec 21 and we will be able to stay here in Alaska and have the baby. Because he is getting out honorably we will still have health insurance for 180 days after that (thank goodness) and they are going to pay for us to fly home and ship all of our household goods as well as our car. I could not ask for more than that. WE got everything we asked for. I am so grateful and humbled. It will be so nice to have Richard home for the next month to be around for Jackson. I am very lucky in that aspect, I know that a lot of men don't get paternity leave when their babies are born so I am truly grateful for that. So for now we will still live in Alaska but come Dec 21 (right in time for christmas) we will be in South carolina. YAY!!!! Much love to all of you. And good luck Trina, your family is in our prayers. I can't wait for the day when you get your husband back for good.

A little update!!

So an update to my last blog. Richard went to work on thursday and he was told he needed to go take care of some paperwork. Well little did he know that the paperwork was part of his getting out of the army. The next thing he was told really made me freak out and cry for about 3 hours. Pretty much all of his paperwork is done and we are just waiting for his Sergeant Major to determine when he will sign the orders to let him get out completely. The catch is, as soon as he gets the orders we will have 7 days to finalize everything and get out. If you take a look at the numbers, we could be out of here in two weeks or sooner. I am completely 100% sure the Lord will take care of us and it will all work out but I am still scared. I am due in 30 days and I have to find a place to live in South Carolina, get everything settled, hopefully get the okay to fly out of here, get everything packed and make sure we still have health insurance. I talk to my mom everyday and she has assured me that the Lord only gives us what we can handle, so I am hoping the Lord knows if I can handle this or not. :) I really just hope and pray that all will fall into place quickly so we can be where we need to be and ready when Jackson decides to make his appearance. Thank you so much Kristin and Tenille for your comments and prayers. And to my wonderful mother who has been with me the whole way. I am truly grateful for your concerns and care. I will definitely keep you updated.

Trials and Tribulations!!

Every now and then we are given trials that at first we don't understand. Today is that such day. I won't go into the whole story because it goes back about 6 months but I will sum it up for you. Richard is in the military and according to them he isn't up to par where some of his officers think he should be. Because of these standards they have been toying with him and feeding him different stories about his future with the army. First he is finishing his contract, then they are threatening to kick him out, then they tell him he is deploying and now the latest is he isn't deploying but they don't have a specific date of when he is gonna get out. All the mean while this puts a damper on our plans. We can't plan any further than a week in advance. This is really hard to come by when you are supposed to have a baby in 6 weeks. I am overwhelmed with stress and anxiety. I am finding myself fall into a depression and just want to sleep. I don't have a happy ending and a lesson learned from this experience just yet but I hope someday I will. As for now I just ask for all of your prayers to help me keep my strength and remain calm. I so badly want to go up to his superiors and give them a piece of my mind but as you know civilians don't confront military officers like that. It is very hard for me. Richard needs your prayers as well to keep up his good attitude and strength to do his best no matter what. I need to be strong for him and for our little family. Thank you all so much for listening to my problem. God bless you all.

Husband Tag!!

-Where did you meet your husband? Sadly enough we met a local anchorage bar.

-How long have you been married? 10 months and 18 days

-What does he do that surprises you? he is very tender and when i least expect it play with my hair or rub my back.

-What is your favorite feature of his? his eyes (they light up when he smiles, laughs)

-Does he have any annoying habit? he likes to stick his finger up my nose

-What is your favorite quality of his? his calm demeanor, he is always rational and soft spoken

-Does he have a nickname for you? he calls me babe or baby a lot

-What is his favorite color? blue, red and yellow (he a primary colors kind of guy)

-What is his favorite food? he loves breakfast but can't get enough of my mashed potatoes either

-What is his favorite sport? football (dallas cowboys)

-When and where was your first kiss? the day we met (remember we met a bar, not always a good environment)

-What is your favorite thing to do as a couple? we love shopping, and watching movies

-Do you have any kids? not yet but in 6 weeks we will

-Does he have a hidden talent? he has an incredible memory

-How old is he? 22 (yep he is a lot younger than me)

-Who said I love you first? Him

-What is his favorite type of music? he likes rock, (the kind that you can't understand what they are saying) but he listens to country most of the time

-What do you admire most about him? how responsible he is in wanting to take care of his family and be the best provider he can be

-Will he read this? probably, he checks the blog sometimes