guess what!?

Baby #2 :)

I got a job!

This momma is now employed with AT&T! :D 

I know from family working for them that they are a great company to work for.

I am blessed that I finally got an opportunity where I can stay and grow and make it a career. 

It's gonna be a new chapter in our lives and we are so excited! 

We plan on getting out of debt (minus the house and car).

James will be going to daycare full time now which will be a little bit of a change since he only goes twice a week currently.

Just had to share the news! :)

water baby

I took James to the water park today. He LOVED it. After that we came home and played in the water some more. I definitely have a water baby.

No Air Force for this momma

ok guys, so I'm NOT joining the Air Force. I just can't leave my baby. Can't do it. I've come to peace with the fact that I'm giving up one of my dreams to be with my family. They are more than worth it to me. It seems like God has another plan for me anyway and I have an interview for a big girl, full-time, with benefits, 401k, and paid vacation days kind of job on Monday morning bright and early. He got me through the tests for the job today so I have a good feeling about this. It will be really nice to help out financially and be able to save for family vacays and such. :) Oh and once employed? baby numero dos is in the plans! :)

So what's been going on besides that? Well our little monster turned 1 last month. I cannot freaking believe it. Look at this kid. He's perfect <3

Almost Birthday Boy

Our baby's first birthday is in 4 days!!! WHAT?! Where the heck did the time go?

Yesterday we had a little party at our house with the other three people we know here in Oklahoma. We are having another big party in alabama with our family in July. Here are some pics from yesterday.

right now

A couple of weeks after my recruiter sending my application to get approved, I got a call from him saying my medical wasn't approved and now had to be sent to the Surgeon General for a waiver. He said it takes up to 30 days. It has been 4 days since then as I am typing this. So that's where I am at in the process. Waiting for a phone call and a MEPS date! I'll update as soon as I know something!

2nd visit to recruiter's office

Once I finally got my college transcripts in the mail (from out of state), my medical records from my surgery faxed to Sgt. Garcia, and my penicillin allergy test done (came back negative), then I had another appointment at the recruiting office. 

This time he weighed me again and I was about the same, so still good.

We did my official application, including pictures of my tattoos while wearing a dress shirt so that they could be approved and yeah, that was pretty much it besides talking some more and getting some questions answered. 

taking the ASVAB

I drove myself to take the ASVAB. 

I don't know why, but I didn't expect it to be at MEPS. 

but, duh, why wouldn't it be? lol 

I walked in and went through security and had arrived super early, so I took as seat in the lobby.

It was pretty cool though, because I got to watch people rushing around processing through to swear in. 

Once it was time to take the test, we were told to line up with one person at the desk and the rest in a line a few feet behind the first person. I was the first person so I stood at the desk. 

The guy working the at the desk was a Marine.

He wasn't rude exactly, but it was definitely clear that it was a military atmosphere. 

He took my phone and keys and put them in a drawer behind the desk.

He took my paper that my recruiter had given me and gave me a sticker with a barcode and my last name on it and a colored folder. 

(the other girls there and I tried to figure out if the colors had any meaning, but we couldn't determine any reasons why we had the colors we did)

Once everyone had their folder, we walked in a line to a computer lab and were told which computer to sit at. There was an open seat between each of us. 

I took my test and got my results in an envelope as soon as I was done and was free to go.

I didn't open it until I got to my car, but as soon as I did, I called my recruiter and told him my score (86) and got "hell yeah!" as a response. lol

At this time I was still waiting on the few things I needed to get to him before we could continue with the joining process. 

Meetin with my recruiter for the first time

My husband has always been supportive of my dream to be in the Air Force. 

He has been in the military, but chose not to continue that path for his career, so now I am taking my turn at it.

Like I said before, I had just started the process of getting approved to join about two years ago when I discovered I was pregnant with our first son. 

I had only filled out some paperwork, had pictures of my tattoos taken, and signed up to take a practice ASVAB. 

I remember being super happy we were going to have a baby, but also a little disappointed I wasn't going to get to join. 

Now that our son is almost 1, I started looking at the option of joining again.

I brought it up to Hubs and he actually thought it was a good idea. 

He has an awesome job, but it's in the oil field, so his hours are always fluctuating and we want something more stable for our family.

This would also make it possible for him to go back to college, so really we both get what we want! 

So after thinking it through and talking about it to death, we were out to dinner and I got really anxious and wanted to go to a recruiters office. 

My husband called to see if the recruiter was still there and he was, but was about to leave for the day.

He asked my husband a bunch of questions that would automatically disqualify me before even coming to see him and luckily non of them applied to me so he made me an appointment for the next morning.

He told me to bring a number of documents.

We walked in and was greeted by Sgt. Garcia, whom is now my recruiter. 

We sat down and talked for a few minutes.

He asked me expected questions like why I wanted to join and things like that.

He weighed me ( I was 10 lbs under the limit, so I am good, but plan on losing more before MEPS)

and then I took a practice ASVAB there in his office. 

It was on a computer and all I was given was a scratch piece of paper and pencil.

It really wasn't that hard for me, except the mechanical and electrical stuff. ha

I made a 76. (you need a 50 to be qualified for the Air Force)

Since I passed, he made copies of the documents he had asked me to bring, made me answer some questions, and signed me up to take the real ASVAB.
There were some other things, like
medical records from a nose surgery I have had, college transcripts, and penicillin testing I had to get back to him.

That was about as far as we went until I took to the ASVAB to make sure I passed it.

(and I did. lol I made an 86)

ASVAB post here:
http://landhcarter.blogspot.com/2013/06/taking-asvab.html

let's try this again

WoW. It's been a very long while since I've posted anything. 

James is growing like a weed (his first birthday is the 22nd!) 

I started a new part time job at a medical office. 

 We took a trip home to see my best friend get married and to visit with family.

AND

One of the biggest changes is I'm in the process of joining the Air Force. 

again lol 

If you've been following me for a while you know that I tried to join almost 2 years ago, but then found out I was pregnant. 

Well it's still a dream of mine, so I'm going for it. 

Luckily, I have so much support from my husband and family. 

I have been doing tons of research on a lot of different topics regarding joining the military and I've come across some blogs of other women's experiences of joining and have really enjoyed reading them, so I think I am going to blog about my experience as well so that maybe it will help someone in the future. 

So yeah.. gonna get some air force posts together and update my blog. :)

the last half of feb

It's been a crazy two weeks. Not really in a good way either. Hubs has been in texas again and it's been one bad day after another sadly. It started with a random blizzard last tuesday which made me have to leave school early causing me to get a little behind.

Then Wed morning at 4:43..I experienced the scariest moment of my life. It's hard for me to even type this...but I woke up to my bed shaking. I turned on the light and I saw my baby boy having a seizure...It will be forever burned in my mind. I snatched him up and he was lifeless. I was scared to death. I ran to my security system panel and was pressing the emergency buttons and all it was doing was setting off the alarm when I thought it was supposed to call someone. I finally realized to just use my phone and the ambulance was here not too long after I made the call. Luckily while waiting on them, James woke up and it wasn't until they got here that I realized how hot he was. His temperature was almost 104 by the time they checked it. It was a febrile seizure...which is apparently pretty common and most of the time harmless...it is still the scariest thing to see your child in that condition. I will be paranoid about fevers now.. so we spent hours at the hospital waiting on test results while they tried to figure out what was causing the fever. We left with no answers and just directions to watch him and keep him on advil. Well I did and the next morning we woke up and his fever was pretty high again, so I headed straight to his pediatrician and she gave him a prescription for Amoxicillin to knock out whatever was trying to hurt his little body. He took it for 8 days and he seemed to feel tons better...then he woke me up yesterday morning irritable because he was covered in an itchy rash.Turns out he is allergic..like his momma. So we were back at the doc yesterday to get a steroid and a big NO PENICILLIN on his chart. lol my poor baby has had a rough couple of weeks.
These were taken the night before it happened. His little cheeks were so red. He had a slight fever then and I had given him advil and it was going down at bedtime so I thought we were in the clear.

Luckily all of my teachers have been extremely understanding and let me have as much time as I needed to get my work done. I went to campus yesterday after James was fed and had the steroid in his system and in the loving arms at his daycare. I worked for about 4-5 hours straight and got not only caught up but 2 weeks ahead because James and I are heading home to Alabama a week from today! :) We really need it. I cannot wait to see my family and let them spend time with James. My mom and aunt haven't seen him since September. They are thrilled!

Valentines day was spent with my baby boy at a Mexican restaurant. He was a pretty good date. :)

James turned 8 months yesterday At his doc yesterday he weighed in at 21 lbs 3 ounces. I'm not sure how long he is. He is wearing 12 and 18 month clothes and size 4 diapers. He is crawling everywhere and pulls up on anything he can. He can feed himself little puffs and drinks out of a sippy cup. He got his two bottom front teeth the past two weeks and I'll start introducing finger foods this week probably. He is still breast feeding before naps and bedtime.

busy busy

man has it been a busy two weeks. 

hubs has been in TX for work and I've been here alone with my little man and furchildren. 

School started back and I absolutely LOVE it this time. 

We take apart computers and play with robots!

James has been doing awesome at daycare. So thankful for that. 

I finally went to the dentist.

I have appointments set for my cleanings, cavities, and invisalign! 

Hubs mom and gdad are visiting this week. 

James is loving all the attention and love he's getting and this momma is enjoying the breaks! lol

I started Crossfit and eating better yesterday. 

Today...I HURT. lol

I cannot wait to see the changes in the a few months. :)

daycare

Today was James' first day at daycare!

 I checked in on him at 10ish and they said he's doing great minus getting cranky before nap time. I took advantage of having nothing to do today and came home and cleaned a little better than I can if James is here. I miss my baby boy, but momma needs a break! I'm about to go enjoy some lunch somewhere...by myself. and I will love it. lol Then I'll go racing to pick up my baby cuz I miss him like crazy. Next week I'll be at school when he goes to daycare. Looking forward to getting this semester started! Here is a pic of James and I this morning. I asked him if he wanted to go to Daycare and I swear he looked at me like "What??! daycare....are you crazy??" and then acted sad the rest of the morning. my poor booboo. :(

2 years

Today is our 2nd wedding anniversary. 

This time two years ago we were waking up at the Bellagio and ordering room service. 

We were so excited/ nervous that is was FINALLY happening. 

We were going to be married in a few short hours. 

I can't believe this means we are now in our third year of marriage. 

The first year was challenging. 

Learning how to share everything and live with someone.

I was across the country from everyone I knew except Hubby, so when we weren't getting along, I had no where to turn to. 

We got through it and learned and I think we are better than we've ever been and I only see it getting better. 

In our two years of marriage we have lived in 6 different homes.

This 6th one is ours though. 

We are home owners. :)

We had our first baby boy that we are obsessed with.

I can't wait to see what this third year brings! 

Here's some wedding pics

This was us the day we finally got to Cali. (where hubs was stationed at the time):)

look at these old pics of us! lol They were taken at my 16th bday. 

Here is to many many many more years <3

our weekend.

It has been a good past few days. 

Hubby has been off and we got to spend some time together. 

We made a trip to PetSmart for some stuff for our fur babies and so James could see the fishies. 

He is getting so big! He can sit in the buggy (a buggy is a shopping cart for you non southerners) now. Which is a back saver for momma. lol 

We also ate lunch at Freddy's. Big boy sat in a high chair! 

My husband has been insisting I carry a gun with me to protect our son and I. 

He bought me a Sccy cpx2. 

We have spots reserved in a concealed carry class in March. 

It was filled up until then. 

We went to the shooting range so I could practice shooting. 

It was soo nerve racking at first. 

Every time a gun went off I jumped and I got all nervous, but once I started shooting I relaxed and had fun. 

It turns out the gun I got was too big for my hand, so it will be staying in my drawer at home and I'm getting a new one to carry. 

The world is a scary place and I'd rather be prepared and able to protect my son if something were to happen. 

The rest are just some morning photos :)

 Headed to the eye doc to pick out some new glasses and get contacts! :D