Cameron's Power School Graduation

This was a very exciting weekend for us! Thursday night/ Friday morning Cameron's parents flew in! Our first guests in South Carolina! We picked them up from the airport and took them to Cookout to get them something to eat. They loved it so much that we ended up going there everyday that they were here! (not kidding! haha)

Friday was Cameron's Power School graduation! It was a really nice day, a little on the warm side, but a great day nonetheless. The graduation ceremony was beautiful and there were just over 450 people graduating that day. Out of all those people, Cameron was one of 15 people to receive an award for Personal Excellence. None of us, including Cameron, knew he was getting the award until the called him to the stage. He was nominated by his Section Leading Petty Officer, which makes it even better that someone else recognized Cameron's hard work and his drive to keep improving. I'm so proud of all the work he has put into his schooling, and to see how much he loves what he's doing. Great job babe!

After the graduation we headed to Patriots Point to tour a couple submarines and an aircraft carrier. Ron and Jana had a lot of fun walking around the aircraft carrier. Cameron was able to take them to the engine room and show them what he'd be working on down there. He'll be on a sub, but it's still cool to see him applying what he's learned. I was not able to go look at everything with them. Being 30 weeks pregnant now, I don't have the energy and stamina I used to, and there are some tight spaces on the subs and aircraft carriers. So I hung out in the hanger while Cameron took his parents down below. On our way home we stopped by Cookout for a shake to help us cool off :)

Saturday we spent a good portion of the day at the beach and it was so much fun! We met up with a couple of Cameron's classmates, ate food, played in the water, looked for shells, dug a trench and played our own version of volleyball without a net :) It was nice to be out there with our friends and family relaxing. We all were pretty sunburned after that, so we treated ourselves to a Cookout shake :)

Sunday we took Ron and Jana to go see Charlie the Alligator. He lives here on base and Cameron had heard about him, so we stopped by on our way out. We only noticed the small gators at first, but then we got Charlie to come out and boy is he a big gator! Cameron and Ron were tossing sticks inside the fence and got the small gators to get really close to us, it was really cool! I was very happy that I finally got to see a South Carolina gator after living here almost a year! 

After that we went to Downtown Charleston. They have some really pretty historical buildings, parks and ocean scenery. We went out onto a pier to see some boats coming in and out, then walked through a park. There is a popular area called market street and it's a strip in the middle of downtown Charleston that's filled with vendors. So we walked up and down that looking at all the unique things people were selling, and once again, my pregnant body called it quits, so we headed home, but of course got a Cookout shake on the way home :)

It was a great weekend and I'm so happy that Ron and Jana were able to come out here and spend this time with us and to celebrate Cameron! :)

Happy Birthday to US!

Yesterday was Cameron and I's birthday!! Cameron turned 26 and I turned 24. I've always loved celebrating my birthday. Most people don't want others to know when their birthday is cause they don't want the attention of balloons and all that, but I LOVE IT! I want everyone to know when my birthday is. I want balloons and cupcakes/cake, parties, streamers, confetti and getting dolled up extra cute. I love parties and celebration so my birthday's (no matter how simple) were always a big deal to me.

So when I met Cameron and we found out that we had the same birthday we were so excited and honestly didn't believe each other at first haha. But it has been so fun to celebrate a birthday with him! Cameron always makes our birthday so fun!

I got Cameron 2 shirts from Under Armour, a range finder and a meat injector. We've been working on puzzles lately and we have some 2D Disney Princess ones that are painted by Thomas Kinkade, and Cameron secretly found an Aladdin one and gave that to me for my birthday, as well as a picture of Christ and the First Presidency to hang in our home (which I've been wanting for a while).

Since we were celebrating our birthday in South Carolina, we decided that we'd spend most of the afternoon and evening in Myrtle Beach. It was so much fun! First we went goofy golfing and we played 2 different rounds of 18- holes and of course Cameron won both, but I only lost the 2nd game by two points. After that we went to the beach. We brought our swimsuits but the water was really cold so we just walked down the beach and put our feet in. Which felt great on my hot swollen feet! Lastly, we went to Medieval Times were you get to watch a jousting and sword fighting show while they serve you a meal. It was a lot of fun and I'm grateful Cameron and I were able to go do that for our birthday.

It's crazy to think that this is our last birthday with just us two. I'm 28 weeks today and have officially started the 3rd trimester! Our little Waylon will be here before we know it! :)
Here are some pictures from our day today :)

Second Trimester

I can't believe the second trimester is already coming to an end! Time is flying by!
This trimester has been so much fun feeling Waylon move and kick and finding out the gender and watching my belly really grow!
These last few weeks have been a little more rough because insomnia and heartburn have kicked in. The insomnia isn't too bad, it happens every 3-4 nights, and I've had heartburn just a handful of times.
My Baby Shower is next month and I can't wait! Because I don't live near my family, and none of my friends offered to plan the shower for me, I was planning it myself. Which I was fine with, I understood that my circumstances were different, so as soon as I found out the gender I got to work on planning the shower and making invitations.
Early April, my visiting teacher came over one morning to share that months lesson with me and when she got to my house realized that she had already shared the lesson with me. So she stayed for a bit to visit with me, and we somehow got on the topic of my shower. She found out that I was planning it myself, and immediately offered to plan the whole thing for me. I wanted to cry! She has completely taken over planning my shower, which took a huge weight off my shoulders. I really appreciated that she reached out to help me with this task because my family wasn't here to help.
I'm so grateful for the Relief Society in our church and for visiting teachers who listen to the spirit.

Cameron is just a few weeks away from finishing Power School! His parents are coming down for the graduation and we are super excited to see them and show them around the Charleston area. :)
Cameron starts Prototype next, which is 6 months long, and it's the last part of his schooling here in SC. Once he finishes Prototype, we will be stationed somewhere else. We're hoping for Bangor, Washington or San Diego, California. We really want to be back on the West Coast. The East Coast has been a fun experience, but we really miss being on the West Coast, and being closer to family.

The second trimester has been amazing and I'm so excited to be starting my third trimester and be that much closer to meeting our precious baby boy!

IT'S A BOY!!

Today we found out the gender of our sweet little baby!! Luckily, the day went by fast because our appointment wasn't until 3:45 pm. They did my check-up first and used the Doppler to hear the baby's heartbeat. I told my Dr. that the kicks were getting pretty strong and that Cameron had been able to feel them. She was surprised and said we had a very strong baby :)
After that we got to go in the ultrasound room to try and find out the gender. The whole pregnancy I've thought that we were having a girl, so I was expecting to hear that it was a girl. The baby was face down most of the time, so we had a hard time getting a good look at the booty to see if it was a boy or girl. The ultrasound tech had me lay on my right side, then on my left side trying to get the baby to turn around. The baby was moving a lot, just not into any positions that would allow us to see the booty. I was watching the screen intently, but I kinda zoned out for a second and the ultrasound tech said "Well, it looks like a boy to me!" I instantly focused and said "Really?!" haha She got a picture of the area and confirmed that it was a boy!! I was completely surprised, but extremely excited!! The whole rest of the day I kept walking around the house saying "WE'RE HAVING A BOY!!" It's so surreal!
Now that we know it's a boy, it's become so much more real! I didn't know that I could love this little baby any more, but today I had a deeper love for this little man coming into our lives! Cameron and I are beyond excited for this opportunity to be parents to this incredible little boy :)

Waylon Davis Flewellen

Baby Kicks

 Today started out very easy going. Cameron went in to study for a test he has coming up on Monday, and I was home cleaning and getting ready for the day. It was a beautiful day outside and some of Cameron's classmates were going to go hit some golf balls at the golf course on base and they invited us to come. So we went to Goodwill and got some cheap golf clubs and met up with his classmates.
 While we were out there I could feel the baby moving around and kicking. I've noticed in the last few days that the kicks had been getting harder and I was hoping that they might be hard enough for Cameron to feel.
 We came home and we were relaxing on the couch. Cameron was doing some genealogy work and I was watching Ice Skating. I felt the baby kick and put my hand on my belly to see if I could feel it on the outside too. I felt a small kick, so I quickly grabbed Cameron's hand and put it on my belly. He held his hand there for a moment and then.. THUMP..THUMP........THUMP!! Cameron wasn't sure he felt the first one but he definitely felt the other two.
 Seeing the excitement and surprise on his face made the perfect ending to a perfect day. That was such a special moment and I'm so grateful the baby was willing to give daddy some good kicks and give us that tender family moment.

We find out the gender on March 9th and we are so excited we can hardly stand it!!!We do have our names picked out. If it's a girl, she will be Kori Sandra Kay Flewellen, in honor of Cameron's mom, Sandra Kay Flewellen, who passed away. And if it's a boy, he'll be Waylon Davis Flewellen. We can't wait to put a name with the baby and start getting all the fun girl or boy stuff!!

Georgia Trip

 Today was a very fun day! Cameron planned for us to spend most of the day in Atlanta Georgia for Valentines! We left early in the morning because it was a 4-4.5 hour drive!
 First, we went to the Georgia Aquarium! It was one of the coolest aquariums I've been to. There were about 5 exhibits to check out. We got to see some interesting creatures like the Spider Crab, the Sea Dragon, Garden Eels and more. We also got to see otters, penguins, crocodiles, whales and jellyfish.
 The coolest exhibit that Cameron and I both loved was the Ocean Voyager. You enter a tunnel that is a part of the fish tank. So all around you, you see Stingrays, Manta rays, Whale Sharks, Groupers and many more. Then you enter a room with a small area for sitting, with a 30 ft wall of all the animals in the exhibit. We got to see some of the workers feed the Whale Sharks, and there was a Manta Ray that keep dong back flips.

After that, we visited the Coca-Cola Factory. It was really cool to see all the history from Coca-Cola over the years. One of the galleries that we walked through had a small glass case that held torches used in the Olympics because Coca-Cola is a big sponsor of the Olympics. They had told us that if we asked someone, we could hold one of the torches. So we asked one of the workers and they let us hold the torch used in the 2012 London Olympics. It was really cool! We went through a couple more galleries and an area that showed you how they bottled the soda into the glass bottles.
 The last area you go through is the Taste It area, where you can taste soda flavors from all around the world. They had these pillars that read North America, South America, Europe and Asia. They had some very interesting flavors and some truly awful flavors. One that we thought was the worst was called the Beverly from Italy. It tasted like unflavored carbonated cough syrup. It was really bad.
 On your way out they let you take a glass bottled Coke off the conveyer belt as a souvenir.
 After that we headed home. It was an awesome day that we wont forget.

The First Trimester

The first Trimester was a roller coaster for me at the beginning. Right at 6 weeks, I started getting nauseated and threw up only a couple times. A week later, the nausea stopped, but I still threw up occasionally.
 At week 9 I got a cold, which was NOT fun! Being in the first trimester, you don't really get to take medication. Mostly Ricolla cough drops, juice, and lots of rest.
After that passed, I was doing much better. I only lost 2 lbs., which is really good for the first trimester. The last few weeks of the first trimester my hips started getting REALLY sore feeling. They hurt all day every day. Sleeping was a nightmare because I was constantly tossing and turning from one sore hip to the next.
We have a memory foam topper that was on our guest bed that we moved to our bed, which has helped a lot! I've also started doing stretches with my yoga ball, and that has relieved a lot of the pain.

We are beyond excited to be in the second trimester and getting closer to finding out the gender!!
We can't wait to meet our precious little baby!

Baby Flewellen On the Way!

A week ago I was supposed to start my period, but it never came. I started to have an upset tummy last Tuesday and it would last all day long! A few days later I noticed my boobs were hurting really bad. So I figured I was pregnant but I wanted to wait a week after my cycle was supposed to start to take a test. 

So this morning as Cameron was getting ready for work. I snuck into the guest bathroom and took the test. It was positive! After Cameron left for work I went to my doctor to confirm it. It didn't take long for them to confirm I was pregnant. 

They estimated that I am 5 weeks and 2 days pregnant, and due around July 25th, 2015!

 I told Cameron when he got home. I had my positive test taped to a pink and blue balloon, which was tied to a tool box that was labeled Daddy's Diaper Changing Tool Box. I filled the box with diapers, a rubber ducky, baby powder and lotion, and a onsie that said I Love Daddy. 

I'm beyond grateful to be able to carry this precious baby of ours! And it couldn't have come at a better time with Thanksgiving in just a couple days.

 

Here is the video of my telling Cameron :)

 

Staycation

Since Cameron graduated A school, he get 10 days of leave (time off). So we've been doing the tourist stuff!

Last Saturday we went and visited Fort Sumter and Patriots Point.
Patriots Point has a sub, a destroyer and an aircraft carrier that visitors are allowed to go tour. Cameron went once with his class at the beginning of A school, and when we went on Saturday, he was able to tell me what a lot of the stuff was in he Engine Room. It was really cool to see all those things up close, but I would never want to work on a sub or an aircraft carrier! I'm not claustrophobic, but I was getting uncomfortable with how small some of the stairways and walkways were!
The sub we went on was very very old, and the subs today are much bigger.
Fort Sumter was awesome! It was fun walking around and seeing the history that was there. There were bullets still in some of the walls! it was crazy!

Fort Sumter used to be as tall as the flag just above my hand

Yesterday, we got to go to Carowinds!

Carowinds is an amusement park here in South Carolina. What's really cool about the park is that half of the park is in South Carolina, and the other half is in North Carolina!

We had a blast! It was our first time go on a roller coaster together :)

We rode all kinds of roller coasters. There was one where you are laying down, and you go backwards. That one was our favorite! There was also one where you were standing up, another one that had your feet dangling. We also went on one water ride and we didn't get too wet, but it was a lot of fun because the ladies that were with us had us laughing the whole time!

 We also enjoyed a yummy funnel cake with chocolate syrup, carmel syrup, strawberries with sauce, powdered sugar and whip cream! YUM!

But what really made the day enjoyable was Cameron. If we went on a roller coaster that wasn't as crazy or intense, he still managed to make it fun. He would scream and yell like it was intense and it made me laugh the entire time! 

It was the first night of Scarowinds for Halloween, so we decided to stay for that. For those who don't know, I don't like scary stuff! I don't like getting scared, I don't like scary things, I don't like it! If I watch a scary movie, I have to watch a Disney movie afterwards so I wont have nightmares!

So, we went to Scarowinds, and I told myself that I could handle it and that it wouldn't be that bad, and to suck it up because Cameron really wanted to do Scarowinds. We went through our first Haunted House called Last Laff, and it was freaky. You could pretty much tell who was real and who wasn't. I got scared but I thought I handled it pretty well. I didn't like it, but I did it. Then we start heading towards a haunted house called 7th Ward. I then realized we would be going through haunted houses all night and I wasn't ok with that. We got through the line and I teared up a little because I was getting scared. Cameron suggested that we could leave but I told him I wanted to be tough and do it. Then we started walking up to the door of haunted house and I lost it. I grabbed Cameron's arm and said as I was frantically crying' I don't want to go in, I don't want to do this, I don't want to do this.' He felt really bad that it scared me, and I felt horrible that I was scared of everything. So we decided to go home. I felt horrible but Cameron comforted me and made me not feel as bad.

This staycation has been the best!

We also got to go to the Columbia, South Carolina Temple on Wednesday. We always enjoy going to the Temple :) 

A School Graduation

On September 19, 2014, my husband graduated A school, and because he had the 3rd highest GPA in his class, he graduated with Distinction.

I'm so proud of him for getting through the first part of his schooling! Even though it's nice that he doesn't get to bring his homework home, he still has to make sure he gets it done in the time that he is given, along with studying. There were weekends that he would have to go in for 2-3 hours on Saturdays and Sundays.

His schedule for A school was Mon-Fri, he would leave between 5:45-6, and he wouldn't get home until 6 pm, then be in bed by 9. Sometimes he wouldn't get home until 8. Plus studying on the weekends. Most Fridays he would get off early, which we looked forward to every week. 

I also had to have a schedule while he was in A School. Mondays I needed to have laundry done so he would have his PT (Physical Training) clothes ready for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday; eventually it was just on Wednesdays. Then Thursday nights we had to get his dress white uniform ready for Friday. Every 2 weeks we had to cut his hair to make sure it was within standards. I made breakfast and lunch for him everyday so he wouldn't have to get up as early, and every night I made sure dinner was ready when he got home so we would have more time to spend together.

I'm very excited for him to be done with A school! He will be starting Power School in November, and until then he will be on T-Track, which is basically doing work on base, like Watch( making sure people who go in to study are students and not civilians), cleaning, etc. 

I've heard from the other wives that Power School will require Cameron to be gone more, and his schooling will be more intense and more in depth, so I'm going to do what I can to help lighten his load so he doesn't stress out. He's so excited to learn more in Power School and to continue his education in the Nuclear field, and I love seeing how excited he gets about it.

I'm so proud of my honey! :)

South Carolina

We have been living in South Carolina for a little over 3 months now. At first it rained a lot and we LOVED it! It hasn't been raining as much lately. A couple weeks ago, there were a few days when it was kinda chilly outside, but it's been in the high to mid 80's and beautiful!

We've been able to go to the beach quite a bit, and let me tell you, we are loving every minute of that!

There is so much GREEN here! I don't think I've really seen gravel anywhere except on dirt paths. There are big green trees, some with moss on them. There are so many squirrels here, it's insane!

Cameron graduates A school next Friday. I'm excited that he's finished with this first part of his schooling, but the next couple parts are gonna make his schedule crazy.

We've made lots of friends, and we have BBQ's almost every weekend :)

It's been interesting getting used to the new terminology, and I feel like Cameron speaks another language sometimes with all of it. I'm even learning about it while he's sleeping. There's been a couple times when he's fallen asleep before me, and he will start talking in his sleep about torque, turbines, folding things and anything else he may have learned that day. I just laugh, go along with it, write it down and tell him about it in the morning and we get a good laugh out of it.

In our ward we are Primary teachers to a cute CTR 4 class. We have 4-5 kids that consistently come every week, and they make us laugh each week with the things they'll say. But it's amazing to see them learn a new concept and to help them understand Heavenly Fathers teachings.
This last Sunday was Fast Sunday, and the kids get Tootsie Rolls from the Primary Presidency if they are good during sharing time. The teachers hold onto them until they get to class. We'll, our kids wanted their Tootsie Rolls real bad. But we explained that we were fasting, and we encouraged the kids to fast for the class hour and not eat their Tootsie Rolls. And they did it! They were so proud of themselves! It was awesome to see them do that.

We are loving every minute of being here. I can't wait to see what the other seasons are gonna be like :)