Tate Jeffrey

It's going to be a boy! His name will be Tate Jeffrey Duke Stearns. Jeffrey is after my father, and Duke is my maiden name. Tate is a name that Mark and I liked from way back when. We both decided that it would be easier to just go with this one rather than try and find another one we both like. From the ultrasound pictures, Tate looks as healthy as can be!! They think I am a little bit farther along than at first, but only about a week or so.
In other news, we decided to remodel our kitchen. We will start that sometime soon. We are also adding another bathroom, so, we'll be busy for quite a while. Well, that's it for now. I'm off to bed and happy Easter!

Mark is home!

Mark is home!! Yippeee!!! He is home now until approx. July, so I am very happy about that. The picture is one of another wife, Erin, and myself as we wait to welcome the guys home. You can see the submarine in the background, as well as the city of Norfolk. So, we begin the most "normal" part of our married life now. He will be studying for his PNEO exam, and if he doesn't pass this he will be forced out of the Navy, so it's important that he does well on it. The test will be in early July. The only time that I have to see the sub between now and then is at the end of May for a return to service party. That should be pretty fun, so I'm not going to dread that. We *hopefully* find out if our baby is a girl or boy on Monday. As long as the baby isn't crossing its legs or something we'll be able to find out!! So, all is good here!! Thank you, Lord!

Insomnia

So, just to let you know, you are all incredibly lucky. Here I am blogging twice in one day. Although, I guess technically it's another day because it's like 4am. So, I can't sleep. The dogs are sharing the bed with me, and the take up the ENTIRE thing. Skipper is across the bottom and Mara is across the middle. Every time I move, Mara moves with me because she has to be somehow touching me and Skipper or she can't sleep. How's that for codependent?
I wish I had read my last post twice because I've found grammatical errors in it and that always annoys the crap out of me. Please, just don't point them out. I know they are there.
I've been online looking at houses in the Silverdale/Bremerton area. I have a ton I would love to live in. The key is going to be finding one we can afford. I am excited though...I'm going to be a stay at home mom for at least 9 months. Maybe longer. I'll decide when I get back to WA. I'm going to go ahead and apply at UW, and if I get in I may just go part time for a semester. If I don't get in, well...then I'll cross that bridge when I get there.
Ok, well, I can't think of anything else to write. Just hanging out. I think the baby has been moving around a lot lately, but I'm not sure. I don't know for sure that it's been kicking, but I think it has. I just don't know what feeling is it kicking...Confusing!
Well, I'm off to try to sleep again. Stupid spring forward. One hour less and I already can't sleep.
Stearns out.

PS. Vote for Katharine McPhee or Taylor Hicks on Idol...I love them!

Well, I am most definately in a green mood today. Mark has been gone for a week, and I'm not sure when he will be home again. I hope it will be later this week, but who knows. I went out to dinner with some friends of Mark's from the academy...we went to the cheesecake factory and I am so so so full. It was fun, though. Always good to catch up. Mark is going to be jealous when he finds out that I got to go to dinner with them though.
In other news, we just found out that we will be heading back to the WEST COAST here in December!!! We are so excited to be heading back home. We'll be apart for a while because he leaves in October, but I don't graduate until December. But, after that we'll be living somewhere in Silverdale and I will try to get my masters degree at the U. Alright, well, I need to go to bed, it's been a long day. Ciao for now!

Bio Bio Bio

So, Spring Break is long gone. I had a wonderful time visiting my family and friends in Snoho. Now, back to the daily grind of class and such. I am currently avoiding work on my Agouti Signaling Protein paper...the rough draft is due Friday, and I have two pages so far. Also, I have to read about 4 scientific papers before tomorrow. Needless to say, posting a blog is the best thing I can possibly do with my time right now.
On the home front, Mark is heading out to sea in the next couple of days. He's working all the time right now, which sucks for me. Hopefully soon this will all be a distant memory. But, first I must get through this little underway. All's well that ends well I guess. Let's just hope this ends well.
I'm heading to Costa Rica in early May, so that has been the most exciting news of the day. I will be gone for about two weeks, and I can't wait to see the countryside. I'll be taking a geography class while I'm there, so that will be fun.
Ok, must go write another paragraph. Maybe when I'm done with the paper I'll post it here. Not like anyone would read it, but it's an idea.

Last month or so

Alright, so it's been forever since I've posted, so this has turned out to be a pretty lame blog...sorry about that. Well, my life has been pretty eventful in this last month. First, my husband has been working AWFUL hours, and is heading out to sea soon. He is on his "fast cruise" which is a lame five day pretend underway. So, that's been fun. The only good part is that after Seatrials, which should be done by the end of the month, Mark will start PNEO (prospective nuclear engineer officer's exam) and that means a make your own schedule life, which we are looking forward to.
The other big news is that we "met" Pat, our baby. We aren't sure if it's a boy or a girl, but we should find out in about a month. The circumstances were not great, though, because the day before I landed myself in the ER. I guess I got the flu or something, because from 3-9am I could not keep anything down...water...nothing. I ended up getting several packs of fluids, medicine and a bunch of other crap. It was exhausting! So, after that ordeal I went in for a followup, and got an ultrasound! Mark was with me, and it was so amazing to watch the baby jump around and it sucked its thumb!!!!
So, in conclusion, we have had a busy couple of weeks, but it was so, gosh, indescribable to see our child. Even though I can't stand the whole 'Tom Cruise/Katie Holmes' thing, I understand why they use the words "amazing" and "incredible" when describing their relationship and the baby.

The big news

Ok, Well, over Christmas Mark and I got some big news...We're having a spawn! Mark, of course, wants to have a son, and I really have no preference of sex. Either would be great. After finding out (double checking, and checking again...so triple checking) I sat down and cried. Not exactly my timing for this momentous event. However, the Lord knows what he is doing, and I know that this is His timing, so I won't worry. Mark has been very supportive, everything I could ask for and more. School is going well, I told Dr. Horth (my lab mentor) and she was more supportive than I ever could have asked. So, that is what my life is like now. Pregnancy is going well except for the whole sickness thing...that really sucks. Ok, I will add more later. I'm off to the store.