At Last!

Here is the photo you have long awaited. After nagging from more than a few of you, I have finally managed to get a presentable belly shot on here at 22 weeks gestation. Frankly I have had a hard time getting a picture of me when I'm not in my PJ's or workout gear. I don't get out much I guess! But tonight we went to dinner with the wing commander and his family, an Iraqi general and his wonderful family, and a few other VIPs, so I got dressed up! And...I am a terrible blogger, I know. I have so much catching up to do. Maybe I'll get around to it sometime soon. Nate and I spent Thanksgiving in Baltimore where Heather lives with my entire family minus Matthew and Sarah. We went to a Penn State football game in honor or Tyler, and got to spend a day in D.C. But most fun was just hanging out with my family in our rented house near the Baltimore Inner Harbor. We had a blast! I'll post photos soon...promise.

Baby Ott at 18 Weeks

We're having a BOY!!!

16 Weeks

I keep getting requests from impatient friends for a belly shot post, but there just really isn't all that much to see. I have a little belly, but I'm still wearing my low-rise jeans no problem. The belly is not photo-worthy yet in my opinion, but I'll try to get one taken in the next few days and get it on here for you impatient ones. For now, this is what the little tyke looks like...generally speaking. I made our find-out-the-sex appointment for November 19th, and will try to post soon after that to let you all know what we're having. Nate is dying to have a boy, but will of course be thrilled with a girl. We're both excited to find out, but Nate is definitely the most excited. He is so stinkin' cute about it...even got a little giddy (in a very manly way) when I told him he needed to get off work on the 19th so he can go find out the sex with me. So sweet. He is going to be such a good daddy...I can't wait to watch him with our little one, whether it be a boy or girl. I promise I'll get a belly shot on here soon.

...very busy

I know I've been gone a while; so long, in fact, that I didn't even think to post about this huge news until people read the news on Kara's blog and wrote me e-mails telling me to get back in the game! So I'm back with news that we're having a baby in April. I'm 11 weeks pregnant, and feeling great. Nate and I are so thankful for this incredible miracle.

NATE IS HOME...more to come later...we're busy!!

eleven. days.

***Props to the power of the mind. About 70 days ago, I took Indi (our dog) to see Studley the stud (a very handsome yellow lab). She spent a week getting to know Studley, and then they decided to be parents. Since that time, Indi has exhibited every symptom of pregnancy: lack of bladder control (it runs in the family as well), hormonal moodswings, fatigue, ravenous appetite, and even cravings (BBQ and Thai food). She even lactated. So I prepared a place for the whelping to take place, and bought materials to build a small pen to keep the pups from pooping on the entirety of my *beautiful* back yard. She was due this past weekend. Well. I thought she was. Saturday came and went. Sunday came and went. No puppies. And if I'm not crazy, we're on Thursday now. Still no puppies. So this is what we call a false pregnancy. I am just amazed that a dog can convince herself she's pregnant, and be so persuasive in doing so that she goes so far as to let down milk 'til her teets are engorged and, from what I hear from her human counterparts, quite painful!! My dog is insane. And now she's depressed too. What are we gonna do with sweet girl.

***ONLY 11 DAYS until Nate gets home. We're on countdown!

***Kara, great idea about posting pics of the back yard, but you're right...I do want to surprise Nate, so it'll have to wait...but only 11 more days!

***Speaking of Kara, if you need a good laugh, or want to persuade yourself to have more kids, click on Kara's blog to see the cutest video footage in the whole world.

Did I mention he'll be home in less than three weeks?!?!?!

Still Here

I'm not supposed to say when this happened, but I got an e-mail from Nate a couple of weeks ago with this photo attached and cheekily captioned: "Still Here." Real funny huh?? This is the armored Suburban that Nate rides in all the time, and the one that took me on my few trips across the Red Zone. A mortar round slammed into it...while it was sitting empty thank God.

Bronze Star Medal

Someone asked me the other day why I haven't been writing much. I told her it's because the blog posts would be rather boring, and consist of the only three thoughts I seem to be capable of these last few months: 1. I miss Nate, and 2. I hope Nate doesn't get hit by a mortar round today. I've already mentioned those things, so I don't feel the need to write about them anymore.

BUT...now we're close enough to the end of this year that I can happily tell you that Nate is coming home VERY soon!! Three weeks or so, and I'll have my husband back, out of harm's way, and sharing my space again. Evidence of his impending return can be seen at my house, where I am in full "nesting" mode, completing projects I never thought I'd tackle so that everything will be just perfect for Nate. I've transformed my back yard (with the help of Sarah's oh-so-sweet boyfriend, Matthew, who undoubtedly cringes when he sees my number on caller ID), redecorated, painted walls, and put meals in the freezer. I am SO ready for Nate to be home!!!

On Thursday, Nate's boss pinned the Bronze Star Medal on his lapel. The ever trustworthy Wikipedia says this about the Bronze Star.

"The Bronze Star Medal is a United States Armed Forces individual military decoration which may be awarded for bravery, acts of merit, or meritorious service. When awarded for bravery, it is the fourth-highest combat award of the U.S. Armed Forces and the 9th highest military award (including both combat and non -combat awards) in the order of precedence of U.S. military decorations."

I'm proud. And I am so thankful that I married a brave, honorable man.

Brotherhood of Marines

The bar is over, but I don't feel like writing, so I'll share a piece I wrote while I was in Iraq a few months ago. Brotherhood of Marines I saw something today that taught me volumes about the brotherhood of Marines. As I stood in line to grill my sandwich, I watched a young corporal preparing two meals to-go. There was nothing really special about the meals, except this. It was obvious to me that this Marine was carefully selecting different things for each tray. One was for him. The other was for his buddy who stood guard at the gate. He carefully selected meat and cheese, meticulously grilled and wrapped them, then chose sides. I was moved by the obvious care with which the Marine made lunch for his buddy. But the bond between these Marines goes far beyond chow time. The International Zone has its own Marines who stand guard to keep the area safe. There are about 50 of them, and they live in the basement of the Presidential Palace. I sat down with a few of them, a team of four, to get a taste of what it means to be one of them. And I learned this: the Marine Corp is a family.The men I spoke with are all between age 19 and 23, and all single, though the one from Rhode Island has a girlfriend. When the topic of girlfriends rises, the other three give him a hard time, something he’s obviously accustomed to by now. I can tell these four guys are close. They are all part of a group of five who are on the same guard schedule. When I indicate my assumption that this must be why they are so close, one of them replies, “Ma’am, if anyone of the 50 Marines down here walked into a dark room, I could sniff and tell you who it is.” These men don’t just share a job; they are brothers.There was something about these four that reminded me of that bad joke that John Kerry tried to cover up a few months ago – the one about young people who don’t study hard enough ending up in Iraq. Let me say this. I have never met more impressive, intelligent, respectful, honorable, funny, handsome men in my life. These young men are the best America has to offer. They are not washouts, dropouts, or losers. And, while their peers are back home beer-bonging at a frat party, these young men are on the rise as leaders. They keep their living quarters cleaner than my grandmother’s house and they bear the burden of ensuring safekeeping of the people who live in the Green Zone. These men make me proud to be an American.And while the four I met utter not a word of complaint (aside from the fact that they need more beef jerky), they are making sacrifices. I try to get them to talk about these sacrifices, and they really won’t have it. They talk about their fellow Marines who are fighting in more dangerous areas, under fire daily. They feel guilty because they are in a relatively safe place. But they know their time will come. Today they protect their fellow Americans – the people who live and work at the Embassy in Baghdad. But they look forward to that day when they can take their turn protecting Iraqis from the bloodshed that has driven a stake into the heart of Iraq. It is a timeless honor to sacrifice for our countrymen, but I wonder how many of us are so eager to live a life of sacrifice for people not our own, for people of a foreign land.When I direct the conversation to thoughts of home, I get a reaction I’m not expecting. Talk of family is usually the one thing that gets people talking about sacrifice. Missing home and loved ones is maybe the hardest part of the tour of duty. These four love their families, and they talk about the things they look forward to about home: BBQ on the beach, sleeping late and letting mom wait on them, the food (this came from the Italian boy, of course), and girls. But they all agree on something that shocks me.When they go home on leave, they can’t wait to get back to their brothers. When they are home, they call back to the unit, missing their fellow Marines. My small mind fails to comprehend how a group of young men can bond so seamlessly – more tightly than many siblings. These men would die for each other in a heartbeat. I pray not one of them is forced to make such a noble choice. But I have no doubt each one of them would happily lay down his life for his friend. These men are Marines. They are family.

Pictures

Click HERE to see photos from our trip to South Africa. Sorry - no stories yet. I'm taking the Bar in five weeks, so that's keeping me pretty occupied. Pictures will have to do for now I guess.

trip of a lifetime

I don't know what made me think I was going to want to spend a single second of my precious time with Nate writing on this blog! Once he arrived in Cape Town, nothing was further from my mind than logging on to a computer, so I've not posted a single thing about our AMAZING trip. South Africa is breathtaking, and we had the time of our lives. I've got lots of pictures. Look for those and more on the trip in the next couple of days. I'm off to take a nap...jet-lag is getting me.