Keeping up with the Phillips': September 2008

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Hello from Naples!

Hi everyone! I just wanted to give an update that we are all settled in (as much as is possible) in our hotel room in "The Stork's Nest" in Naples. We are literally right across the street from the hospital, and have access to the gym, exchange and commissary, and everything we could possibly need here. Though a bit tight, the room has a little kitchenette, so we are able to eat in most meals, which is nice. We also have a theater, bowling alley, and plenty of walking trails here, so we have plenty to keep us busy. Neal is still commuting back to Gaeta this week, but he will be able to be down here with me full time until the baby comes starting Saturday.

We had a doctor's appointment on Monday, which went well. We have a new female OB, so we got to meet her, and we both loved her! My blood pressure is still very low, so they are very happy with me (thank Mom for good genetics!). I am doing well on all my vitals, and the baby's heart rate was 144 - right on target. The baby is still very active these days, though it has settled into a favorite spot with legs/feet usually poking out of my left side. It's a funny sight to see the little bulges when it squirms. They verified at an earlier appointment that the head is down, so we are good there. And Monday, we got the good news that my body is already starting to prepare itself for delivery, so it could literally be any day now!

We have our list of phone numbers to call, and will get word out as soon as we can when the big day arrives. And if possible, Neal will try to find a computer to post a blog update once the baby makes its appearance. I will try to post every few days just so everyone is kept in the loop. We love you all, and can't wait to show off our little one!

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Garden pictures!

As I haven't updated info about the garden, I thought maybe I should.

As of now, we've pulled all the tomatoes except the cherries (they're still producing like crazy), and I managed to get about a dozen cans of diced tomatoes out of them, as well as some really good salsa. The zucchini had slowed down, so we pulled them as well. The cucumber plant only gave us three cucumbers and then died, so we'll have to figure out what happened there. Unfortunately, even though we had friends checking in on our garden in July while we were home for a quick visit, it seemed to have a hard time while we were gone. But we knew it was a possibility.

We left the bell peppers to grow for now, as we think they were getting crowded by the zucchini. We may have been right, as they have started blooming again now. We've definitely learned for next year to give the plants about 2-3 times as much space as we think they will need, as overcrowding seemed to be the story to this year.

We have six basil plants left, and they are doing fairly well. I have to keep an eye on them, pick leaves regularly, and snip the blooms off. But they are still growing strong, and they smell great!

Lastly, Neal's butter beans are just about ready to start picking. We're still waiting on them to get just a little bit bigger. And this past weekend, we were finally able to pull the first dozen or so pods of purple-hulled peas! They look great, and we are just waiting to get enough to cook up and have a real southern dinner! We've found we have to check them every 2-3 days, as they are all starting to pop like crazy!

And here are some pictures of Neal's babies! I'll try and get more soon, as they're even bigger now!

The butter beans:

The purple-hulled peas:

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

A baby update!

Sorry it's been a while. After a July trip to the US for a wedding and last-chance visit with family before the baby arrives, things started to kick into high gear for us. Anyway, several people have been asking for pictures, and though I've been horrible about taking them regularly, I wanted to post a few.

As for life right now, we're steadily working on making way for this baby! We've begun clearing out our second bedroom (currently Trajan's bedroom and extra storage space), and should be getting a call on our baby furniture any day now. I've started washing baby clothes, and can't wait to have a dresser to put them all in! In doing so, I realized that this child has a ton of clothes! We may not even make it to wear everything by the time it grows out of them all! But there are some adorable ones, and some stuff I can't wait to use. Now I just have to decide what to pack in our hospital bags.

We'll be heading down to stay at a temporary lodging facility on base in Naples around mid-month. The OB likes the women who live far away (we're at least an hour from the hospital) to stay there starting at least two weeks before the due date, just in case. Neal will be commuting up to Gaeta for a week, but the last week he'll be given some time off. We will have access to a phone while there, and hopefully it will be on a military line so we can call out via a U.S. number. But either way, definitely know that we will get word out when the time comes! As for updating the blog, I'm not exactly sure when that will happen, but we'll get an email out with pictures to everyone asap!

One of the Navy spouses here is throwing us a shower Sunday, so I'll probably have more pictures to post from that. But for now, here are some of the latest:

Me, back on the 4th of July, at a local BBQ (27 weeks) ...