Are we there yet?

Update time! A lot has happened since I last posted, which is usually the case since I'm now going so long in between posting things. There's been a lot of good news, thankfully, but also some pretty bad news. Shall we start with the good? Answer = yes.

I'm 33 weeks now! Arglemuffin! It's crazy how time is flying by, and I can't exactly say that I'm 100% ready to be a parent, but I CAN exactly say that I'm 100% ready to TRY. It's crazy to think that in 4 weeks he'll be considered full-term. He can come anytime after that, as far as I'm concerned. Here's a picture of my droopy new appendage....

Though I'm pretty sure I look miserable, I promise I'm really not, as evidenced by this more happy-faced picture:

I'm just a rounder version of me, that's all. When I see myself in the mirror I tell myself, "Why Crystal, you're looking very baby today." True story.

In interesting news, my sister Jenny and her boyfriend Gilbert are here visiting me from San Antonio! Though I'm finding it pretty hard to keep them entertained, I'm thoroughly enjoying their company and am dreading going back to aloneness once they go back home this Saturday. They've taken a ton of pictures that I'm hoping she'll email to me, so that I can say I'll put them on this blog and never get around to it. :) I went to Pittsburgh with them yesterday, had a ton of braxton-hicks contractions and complained of hunger a bunch...lol....but other than that I've had to work almost every day they've been here. Luckily, they've been able to do and see a lot of cool things on their own.

Oh! And I had my 3rd and final baby shower today. I've been so very blessed this pregnancy. I thought that due to my distance and lack of friends, I wouldn't even get one shower, and I got way more than I ever could've imagined. Two wonderful ladies from work didn't offer, but TOLD me they were throwing me a shower, and it turned out really great. Again, I'll have pictures at some point in life, and I will post pictures of all three very awesome showers in the future. For now, you just get to see how I made out like a bandit!

In case you don't know, that's a lot of baby stuff! There are items galore and I really can't believe how generous these WV folk have been to me, Dimas and the little one on the way. I won't list all the cool things I got, but I will say that we now have baby's butt and bath needs covered for awhile. :) Also, a high chair, a bouncer and one lady even crocheted him a blanket, then monogrammed his name on another blanket! Again, I really can't say enough about how lucky and blessed I've been. I'm pretty sure that if Dimas and I let them, they would spoil our son rotten. :)

In the last bit of good news, I received a promotion at work......wait, did I already tell you that in an older post? Well, in any case, I got promoted to this really cool new position in this really interesting unit that I am loving. It's hard work but it's important and I feel good about it. Yay.

Unfortunately, it's not all happiness and rays of sunshine all the time, and some bad things have happened over this last month as well. The first being that my grandpa passed away July 15th after a fairly short battle with cancer. Thankfully, I was able to see him one last time when I went to SA in May...and seeing him was one of the main reasons I wanted to go so badly. On the other hand, I couldn't make it to be with him during his final days or go to his funeral, which saddens me deeply. My family says it was first class all the way, and as a war veteran and being the good man that he was, he deserved nothing less. I thought some pictures would be pretty nice to share with you all:

While he was still sick, I'm very lucky that he was doing relatively well when Dimas and I visited in May. This is the picture placed in his obituary....he was 18, just joined the Army, and looked so happy:

Sigh....while I'm still so sad to have lost him, I'm thankful he's no longer suffering and I know he's with God. As he used to tell us all the time, and what's now written on his headstone: "It's not goodbye. It's so long." I'll miss you, grandpa.

While we're in the bad news category, I have more to share. As it turns out, after a long time waiting and a good battle fought, Dimas is most likely getting stop-lossed and deploying sometime this fall. While there is ALWAYS hope that somehow this won't happen, we're preparing for deployment and all that comes with it. I really can't say much more than that, mostly due to the fact that I don't know much more than that, but I still want to thank everyone for all the prayers over the last 6 months or so. While there is probably a 99% chance of deployment, I do believe your prayers have helped us deal with this in a positive way, and I know we'll get through this stronger than we were before, just as with the last deployment. We've always believed that things happen for a reason, and this is no different in our minds. So, I'll keep you as updated as I can and, even though we're preparing for the worst, we never let go of that strand of hope.

Anyway, sorry for the sadness, but it's just a part of life sometimes. It always seems that in years that really big, good things are happening, some bad things have to happen as well. It definitely makes me appreciate the less eventful years a little more. :) Take care everyone. As always, you are very loved by me, Dimas and the little one on the way.