Ask and you shall receive

We have been blessed in a variety of ways. Wes and I found each other with the least of perfect timings: he was getting ready to deploy and I had lost my boyfriend in Afghanistan. It was a weird time to meet. Wes was already in a deployment mindset and didn't want to get tied down, and I was not ready for another relationship. Yet somehow we have managed to create our own little family in less than 2 years and couldn't be happier. It is crazy to think about all of the blessings we have received as a family. Wes has come home safe and sound from his deployment, we have a seriously handsome little guy, and have had a fairly easy post-deployment PCS.
However, there is one part of our life where we have had some struggles. After my c-section with Mark, there were some major complications. It was a hard recovery and after a series of tests in both Colorado and here in Virginia, we have yet to find any answers to what exactly is going on. The doctors told us nothing but bad news, anything from more surgeries, to precancerous cells. But the hardest pill to swallow was the fact that the doctors believed Mark would be an only child. We had been planning a big family; we liked the idea of tiny feet running around, yelling at each other and making a huge mess in our living room. It was so hard to tell Wes, and while he didn't show a huge disappointment I could tell it was tough on him as well. We realized that we could still have our large family through other methods like adoption, surrogates or even hormonal methods. Our hearts were set on it, but we still found the time to wonder and pray about what another little Finkster would be like. There is no doubt that we would love a child unconditionally no matter how he or she became a part of our family, but the thought of having another baby danced in our heads. I finally prayed, lots. Mostly for an answer, but also for another miracle baby.
Mark is our first miracle baby. We had taken every precaution to not get pregnant before Wes deployed simply because I didn't want him to be left out, plus we knew that once Wes came back from Afghanistan we'd have a fairly easy year. However God had different plans. By some miracle, little Mark found his way into our family and we wouldn't have it any other way. And now, we have yet another miracle baby. The one that we thought would never get here.

After several weeks of fighting for tests only to receive incorrect results (it said positive yet the doctor told me they were negative, silly Army) and having to get them done again, we have the results we've been wanting to hear. When I went into the ultrasound test, the lady said that we'd look for a little "surprise", but she was no surprise to me. I knew she'd been there for a while, 7 weeks to be "exact". Sure I'm nowhere near far enough along to know what she is, but I have a huge gut feeling she is a girl :) we already even have her name picked out. When I told Wes the news, he was thrilled. We went out to lunch and he saw the ultrasound picture and instantly had the biggest smile I've seen on him for a while. It's safe to say she is our little miracle, but I've come to realize that our family IS a huge miracle. How lucky are we? I hope I'm not jinxing us by saying all of this but we are just soo happy right now. There are so many families that wish they could even have just one little nugget and we have been blessed twice already. We are the luckiest mommy and daddy ever, and neither of us would have it any other way! The three of us are so excited for October to get here so we can meet our littlest nugget. Until then, we'll be listening to her heartbeat, reading, singing, and playing with her. We can't wait for her to get here!

Mom-esticated

I constantly get asked, "so, what do you do all day?" You can see why this would get old and, slightly, frustrating. Apparently sitting at home drinking coffee while my adorable son plays quietly isn't enough...oh wait...that's not my life, is it? Alas, 'tis not.

You see, my life is far from organized or clean. I'm no Martha Stewart and my kid is no angel. I never have dinner on the table at dinner time and my poor husband hasn't seen the carpet in our bedroom since I moved in with him, especially now that Mark throws everything everywhere. I felt like a sorry excuse for a wife for a few days, but then took a step towards what I like to call "Mom-estication". Just what is this so called new life outlook? I shall explain more thoroughly.

Mom-estication is the process of being a much classier, younger version of the ever popular Martha Stewart/Betty Crocker stereotype. Some women may be offended by these terms while others strive to be just like them. Hence why I made my own title for it. I loathe the terms "house wife" and "stay at home mom". I feel like they underestimate my duties around the house. They both indicate that I do nothing else but cook, clean and watch the baby. When in reality, I do much more. Anything and everything from digging carrots out of Mark's nose, to cleaning up the a fore mentioned carrots out of our carpet, to organizing closets and making a home made dinner from scratch by the time Wes is home. Is it always on time? No. Is the house always clean? Absolutely not. Does anyone mind? Not really. And that's why I love my husband. He understand what it's like to be a full time mommy, never underestimates me and helps around as well. He's the complete package! I'm such a lucky ducky. It can be very easy to get lost amidst all of the house wife confusion. Sometimes people call me that without meaning any harm and that's ok. However, I wanted to elaborate on why those names are so ignorant. If anything, my husband is a much better "house wife" than I am, and that is perfectly fine by me, both of us actually. In our house we don't care about who does what, or whether the chores are split up evenly. As long as stuff is getting done we're ok :) we work as an awesome team and it comes together awesomely. By now I'm just rambling, so much of this probably doesn't make sense. And I'm ok with that :)
<3 the Finks

Virginia, thus far

We have had about a total of 2 weeks of living out here on our own, and I have to say, Virginia is just beautiful! I didn't expect to like it this much, but I could not help myself. After my parents left I really got to unpacking, which was a little rough with a crazy crawling nugget. But now that most of our stuff is unpacked we have gotten into our own little family groove, and we all love it. We have never really lived together just the three of us so this experience is brand new yet magnificent.
So far we have managed to go to the zoo and even a few Civil War areas. It's all pretty neat considering I spent the entire last semester indulging myself in anything America, and well, Wes just loves anything American. Mak has been a super star. He is up and away, a non stop crawling machine. He is still the silly baby everyone loves, but now the silly is mobile and on the go.

Lately I have gotten a chance to work on my "house wife ness". I've been tackling the cooking scene with about 75% success. Not bad for a newbie!! I think Wes has liked most of my experiments so far, it's hard to tell since he is such a good eater :) one of his many charms! Mark has been doing food experiments of his own. Marky has had everything a baby can dream of eating, even whip cream. It's so fun watching him get into trouble. Lately he likes racing us around the house; I feel running might be in store for him later. We've also been ever so slowly, planning his 1st birthday party. I love how involved Wes as been. We don't even have a theme, location, or a guest list. But that's ok. If we end up celebrating with just us three and a delicious baby size cake I'm pretty sure we will all love it anyway. I've come to realize that as long as the three of us are together it doesn't matter where we are, who we're with or what we do.Wes has a wonderful way of making everything better; his positive attitude never seizes to amaze me. I can see where Mark gets it from.

With that said, we do miss all of our family so incredibly much. It has been weird living so far away from everything I know and love. However, Wes and Mark are doing such a good job of keeping me on my toes. It's hard to even think about missing someone when I have one telling me he needs something for his potluck in class and another one screaming in his crib. But, alas, such is life, right? Can't help but love them both either way <3