Ultrasound

We have officially one more week until Nick graduates his LAST PLATOON!!!!! I am beyond ecstatic to have him all to myself for a little bit. Other great news, Nick won his meritorious Gunny board. He has one more board to go on, and if he wins that, he'll get meritoriously promoted in July. It would be perfect since that is the month our daughter is supposed to be born and that extra pay would be nice. That, and he deserves it. I can honestly say that he spends about 80% of his time at work. It's been really hard on me at times cause I love having him around and stuff, but I know it will be worth it. On Saturday, we went to go have a 3D/4D Ultrasound done to see Dannika. It was so amazing to see her in there. She smiled at us a few times and moved her arms up around her face. I plan on having another one done at 30 weeks to see how much she changes. Afterwards, we went to my coworker (SSgt Praxedes'), son's first birthday party at the park. It was way fun, and it made me even more impatience for Dannika to get here already. Nick was a big help with all the kids games at the party, and it couldn't help me think about what a great father he's going to be. It was really nice to have him for an entire day. I can't remember the last time he was home for a whole day. Other than that, things with the nursery are starting to come together. Instead of it looking like our storage room, it looks like a baby's room! There's still a lot of work to be done, but it is starting to look great and I can't wait to welcome her to it! Bless Nick's heart for spending the hours putting all the furniture together...thanks baby! 

The big 2-5 Birthday Bash

So my 25th birthday is on the 25th of this month. Unfortunately, Nick's platoon is doing their last day of their crucible on my birthday which means that I won't get to see him. He's been working really hard lately which means less time with me. I was really upset on Saturday morning when I called him and found out he was still at work when I was expecting him home. We got off the phone with me being in a bad mood. I had made plans to have breakfast (which turned out to be lunch) with Eddie that morning so I headed dow to Dana Point to the Jolly Roger right next to the harbor to have some brunch. It was good to see him since I hadn't seen him really since he got back from his deployment back in November. We sat and chatted for a couple hours, and I was getting fidgety from sitting there for so long so I cut the conversation we parted ways. I went to Michael's to buy more stuff for the Dannika's nursery and talked to Nick really briefly on the phone. I was happy he had finally left work and was on his way back from San Diego. I bought a few things and headed home expecting to see Nick there. I came in the house, and to my complete surprise, Eddie, Sarah (Eddie's girlfriend), and Nick jumped out and yelled surprise for me. The entire apartment was decorated. I guess Eddie was the plan to get me out of the house while Sarah came in and decorated the entire house. It was a total surprise and I was shocked at all the planning that Nick did behind my back. I got a few things from Nick...including a Coach diaper bag and a camcorder that I had been thinking about getting so that I could record our baby's first...everything! SSgt DeLaRosa stopped by along with SSgt Praxedes (two recruiters that I work with), and we ended up bbq'ing and just hanging out. It was just so much fun to be able to hang out with my friends and Nick. I hadn't seen Sarah in so long so it was good to see her cheery happy self. No one has ever thrown me a surprise party before, and it totally made my day. I love my husband so much!

I'll post pics as soon as Sarah gets them to me!

Week 23

This week wasn't so bad at work. I had a ton of time off...maybe more than I would really like. My boss pretty much told us to do what we had to do this week cause next week, we would be "balls to the walls" recruiting. I have a couple contracts lined up for next months so I am not sweating it entirely. Of course, I've learned from the past that 4 contracts can easily turn into 2...or even worse...no contracts at all...leaving the poor recruiter on a "donut". Then of course the heat gets turned on by the bossman on that recruiter sitting on a "donut", and life pretty much sucks for that recruiter until he writes a contract. So it's the vicious rollercoaster that we like to call recruiting. The conflict I had at work with a coworker kinda resolved itself. I mean no one really apologized cause Marines are entirely too stubborn to do something like that, but I think we both came to the realization that we can either hate each other or learn to like each other. The second choice was way more appealing since we are both going to be stuck together for the next 3 years. Nonetheless, the first 4 days of work, I hardly said a word to anyone cause I was still pretty angry, and the last day, we kinda forced ourselves to converse at a team breakfast. Nick got a 99 on final drill and his platoon got like an 89 or something. His platoon got 3rd place overall. I was so proud of him. I knew it meant a lot to him, and I was lucky to be able to get off work that day to go down to San Diego to watch him. He got to come home every single night this week. That was a definitely a first for me this cycle. It was nice to have someone to watch American Idol, Dancing With the Stars, and Grey's Anatomy with...oh and we have a new favorite show called "Lie to Me". It is sooo good! I recommend everyone to check it out. Nick also got work yesterday from his 1stSgt that he would be going on a meritorious GySgt board on Monday. I'm really glad that his hard work is starting to pay off and someone else has noticed it. I really hope he gets the promotion. It will be nice with the baby on the way and everything. Speaking of promotions, my CO spoke to me yesterday and told me that I should be up for the next SSgt meritorious board in December. I guess he thought I had pretty good stats as a recruiter. It definitely made my day a little. I have my next baby appointment on Monday and my 3D/4D Ultrasound next Saturday. I'm really excited for next week! Nick also has 13 more days till he graduates his LAST PLATOON...WOO HOO!!! Aaaaaannnnddd...my 25th birthday is in 4 days. Hopefully Nick got me that Coach diaper bag I asked him for along with the new big fat Chi straightening iron!!! I can't wait for next week!

Baby Furniture

This weekend has been pretty awesome. Despite a conflict I had at work, it turned out to be a pretty decent weekend. Saturday morning I went to my pool function and watched Sgt Barry teach our kids MCMAP (Marine Corps Martial Arts). I really miss participating in our weekly Saturday PT sessions with my poolees. Nick has had a super busy week due to his final drill competition on Monday so I haven't seen him that much. Since this is possibly his last cycle on the drill field, I know it means a lot to him. He got home late Friday afternoon, and we went to Babies R' Us to pick up our crib and diaper changing station combo unit. Afterwards we went to Red Robin to eat dinner...it was SO good! I hadn't eaten there in so long. After we got home, Nick put the crib together and decided the diaper changing unit looked like a headache to put together so we put that off. I finally got to put my baby stuff in the crib and it is so cute! As much as I love the color pink, I decided against it for the baby's room. It just seemed way too cliche, and I wanted something a little more elegant. I went with this deep maroon bedding set with gold tassels. I'm going to do a classic teddy bear theme. I bought some stuff to hang on the walls from Pier 1 Imports. It's gonna look adorable. I'll put pictures up once the nursery is completely finished. It is still a work in progress. So SATURDAY NIGHT, Nick decided to put the combo unit together...HOLY CRAP. That thing was a nightmare. It took him like 3 1/2 hours to put it together. Bless his heart. I sat in the room with him for moral support while I painted these wooden letters we bought at Michael's that spell "Dannika". Either way, I was happy cause I was spending time with him. With both of our crazy work schedules, I cherish any minute I get to spend with him. Thank God for Nick, cause without him, I wouldn't have any baby furniture put together. All in all, I had a good weekend because I got to spend my evenings with my husband. I'm truly blessed. He felt the baby kick his face this morning when he had his head up to my tummy. It made me laugh. Life is such a blessing and I can't wait for our future together. 

The First One

Welcome to the Romer Family's blog! I'm really excited to start writing in this and let you know about what is going on in our lives. I'm hoping one day when I'm an old lady, I can read it to my daughter, Dannika Jane. As of tomorrow (Saturday, March 14th), I will be exactly 23 weeks into my pregnancy. My belly is definitely growing, and I am starting to bond more with my daughter. I can hardly wait to meet her! Last night was the first night I saw her kick in my tummy. It was totally weird, but it made me smile. I also notice that she likes to move around a lot after I eat something delicious. I've been going to the gym almost every single day to run and do cardio. It helps me feel a lot better about myself and my changing body, and I read in a bunch of my pregnancy books that it is good for you. I am completely excited to start decorating her nursery and start preparing for her arrival. As for work, I was offered a position to work at operations cause I'm pregnant, but I turned it down. Not that recruiting is the most fun job I've ever had, but I can't really stand the thought of not being able to change lives and put young people into the Marine Corps. This is also a really good opportunity for me to get a meritorious promotion to stay on recruiting. So far, I'm doing alright, so I just gotta keep pushing and finding those qualified kids that want to become a Marine! Nick has been super busy with work, but I can't complain about how much time off he has had compared to his last two cycles. He hasn't missed a doctor's appointment yet, and I am very thankful for that! This will be his last cycle as a drill instructor, and the last 5 months he has left on the drill field are still up in the air as far as what he will be doing. Hopefully they give him a break! He's been working non stop, 7 days a week for 3 years now! He just reenlisted for another 5 years in the Marine Corps, so that was pretty exciting. The $45,000 bonus he got isn't so bad either. We are officially DEBT FREE!!!!! WOO HOO! It's such a load off of our shoulders. I was really stressing about that since we have a baby on the way. We are also in the market to buy a house so that has been consuming a lot of our time. Other than that, life has been pretty mellow for both of us. When we aren't at work, we are at home watching American Idol or Top Chef (we're exciting people!). Things are going well for the both of us, and I am so blessed to have the life that I have. I really couldn't ask for anything more!