all for winrey

jeremy and i got winrey yesterday!!! so before i go into what we had to do, i will give you a little background:

we have been trying to get winrey since the middle of december. we wanted to wait until we were pretty much fully settled in to our new place before having her come out because we didnt want her to be more nervous than she already would have been. we booked her a flight through delta for the 18th of december having her arriving in stuttgart the 19th. so roberta took her in to the air force academy vet clinic to get a health certificate and an international health certificate. the vet wasnt completely sure on germany's rules about rabies vaccinations and said that she might have to be quarantined when she gets here if they dont accept the 3 yr rabies vacc. the vet did all of the checks and gave roberta the paperwork and roberta left. i looked online and found out that germany does in fact only accept the 1 yr rabies shot and that if winrey was sent here they would refuse her entry!! i was not happy. i thought the vet should have definitely checked on something like that and not just assumed she would just be stuck in quarantine. so i called roberta and let her know that she needed to have a rabies shot and with that we would have to wait 30 days for her to fly. so the next day roberta went in and got her a shot. a couple of weeks later i tried booking her a flight through delta again for the 22nd of january. we got everything good to go and the woman told me that it was going to be almost $700!! i got off the phone because the lady was already being rude to me and i didnt feel like getting into it over the price. the next day i decide that i am going to call and ask why it was so much when not even a month ago it was half that price. i spoke to someone and she couldnt tell me anything. i explained that it was the same cat, same kennel size, same weight, same departure city, layover, and destination city. i told her that $700 was a little ridiculous and if someone wanted to pay that much to ship a cat that she might as well have a seat on the plane! she really didnt know what to say and just asked if there was anything else she could help me out with. hahaha i NEVER ever have enough courage to say things like that! pregnancy can do some amazing things =)! after crossing delta off our list we had to find another airlines but the problem with other airlines is that they dont all fly into stuttgart, and we would have to drive to frankfurt. so we finally chose united airlines. they charge a fixed amount per kilogram and some other little fees and the ticket was going to be even cheaper than delta's first price! everything was set from there; got a new vet check for a 10 day certificate, she was going to leave the 22nd, arrive in frankfurt on the 23rd and we had a rental car reservation(since our car wasnt working)! BUT! could anything ever go as planned? i think not! the morning of her flight barney's(jeremys grandpa) truck wouldnt start so they couldnt make it to the flight! i was so crushed! we now had to figure out another day to ship her out that was within the 10 days for the health certificate to be good. and of course, we couldnt. it expired on that next thursday so we would have had to pick her up that thursday and that was the last day it would have been good. but jeremy couldnt take the day off because he had friday off for a training holiday! we figured out that she would have to get another vet check and we could ship her out that next week. that was the last thing we could do. so barney took her in to get the new certificate. everyday since the last flight we tried rebooking and there was always a restriction in denver and they dont even book when there is a restriction. finally on saturday, the 30th of jan, we got her a flight booked for wednesday, the 3rd of feb. on monday jeremy wanted me to call them back and book her flight for tuesday so she would be here wednesday. this was my original idea but jeremy didnt listen. i figured if anything went wrong on tuesday that we would still have one day left to try again! anyway, so i called and rescheduled and jeremy got a rental car and the day off for wednesday! i was happy but also very nervous something was going to go wrong!

well, it is now wednesday, the day to pick her up! we woke up at 6:30am and got ready and caught the 7:50am bus to patch. we got there about a half hour before the rental car place opened so we went to the commissary and got a few things, got money out of the atm, and waited about 5 or so minutes for the place to open. we got everything settled and we were on our way! it was really nasty outside. raining a lot and then it started snow/rain mix so we had to take it easy on the autobahn. we passed by one accident and then we got in a traffic jam because of another accident. it was a very long, slow jam. jeremy and i both had to pee really bad and it took us forever to get to an exit that had bathrooms. but we finally did and both felt relieved. =) anyway, so we finally get to the airport. we had to check into this place so we can get a temporary gate card to go to the cargo center. and the temp card can only be used at one gate. lame! so we got the first place we needed to be to pick up her import documents. we had to pay 20 euro for those. then we had to go all the way across to another gate where she actually was to get her vet checked. i was really irritated that we had to get her vet checked when we went through all the stuff we did to get her health certificates! we had to wait about 20 minutes for that to be done and pay 73 euro. then we had to go to a whole other gate to customs to get the paperwork cleared through them. we had to wait a bit for that and then we had to go back to where she was and show them paperwork and pay a 30 euro storage fee and get the documents to actually pick her up. after all of that we went outside and waited for someone to bring her out! so the whole process at the airport took us about 3 hrs! it was horribly exhausting. she looked really scared but when we were in the car on the way home she seemed to be doing fine. only crying a little bit when i talked to her. i felt really bad that she had to wait another couple of hours to be out of her kennel. we had to make a pit stop on another base to get her litter, food, and a litter box. then we were on our way home! once we got on our base jeremy wanted to stop at the commissary because he wanted to make nachos since he had been wanting them for a couple of days. while he was in there literally like a minute before he got back to the car to leave winrey peed in her kennel. we were seriously like 2 minutes from the house, but she probably just couldnt hold it anymore which is understandable! if i was shoved in a kennel for more than 24 hrs i would pee myself too! when we got home we put her in the bathroom where it is nice and warm and let her out. i got her food and water and then we bathed her. when we were done we tried drying her off with a hair dryer and she was NOT happy about that. she was hissing, growling, and trying to bite! so we gave up and towel dried her as much as we could. we let her just chill in the bathroom for a while since it was really warm in there and she needed to be dry before heading out to the other part of the house. i felt bad but it needed to be done. i would go in there and hang out with her and try to dry her off even more. she was almost all the way dry and we finished drying her off with the hair dryer. we let her out and she roamed the house crying. she would jump up on us for like a second and start purring only to jump down again to do more exploring. she seemed fine with everything and stopped crying after only a few minutes. when we went to bed she came up and laid with us. she got off a bit after but then jeremy said she came back up and slept with him for a while. i woke up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and she was lying at the end of the bed. it was great to know that she remembered us and wasnt hiding.

this morning i woke up and she came out from under the loveseat and sat next to me. i tried getting her so i could put her on the window sill so she could look outside but for some reason she didnt want me to pick her up. i finally got her and put her up there and she got down a couple of minutes later, went over to her water thing and knocked it over! so i had to clean that up! what a little booger! she has been following me everywhere and comes up and sits next to me to cuddle and such. she is such a lover. hehee

i am so glad that we finally got her! i am also very grateful to jeremy's mom and family for taking care of her for so long! it was nice to know she was in great hands and being well taken care of! =)

24 week doctor's appointment!

today i went in for my 24 week check up! it is so weird that i only have 16 more weeks to go! soon i will be seeing the doctor every 2 weeks and then every week! craziness! =)

we got to my appointment a little late because jeremy had to scrape the ice off the windows of the car. but its no biggy, they dont ever say anything. i think were like 5 minutes late. anyway, so i went in and weighed myself and gave urine. i have gained 11 lbs since my last appointment on the 29th of december. which puts me at 6 lbs over my prepregnancy weight. =) after i did that the nurse took my blood. for some reason they can never get the vein on the first try so they usually poke me again. which is normally not a big deal. i am comfortable with needles and it just doesnt hurt or bother me. but today, the way she poked my vein the second time stung so bad! i even made a noise! i couldnt believe how much it stung. it was not fun, but she got blood and everything was good! hehe oh and my blood pressure was good too. last time it was really high at 150/80 and the nurse said something about it being a little high but it was fine, and i told her that i was just a little excited because it was the 20 week ultrasound! hehee so i was relieved that i was normal today.

after i came out of the room the doctor went in and i was called back in. it was a different doctor than the one i normally see, i think she was out. but he was really cool. he did my exam and then we did an abdominal ultrasound. we got to see and hear xavier's heartbeat. everything was measuring great and still looking good. it was funny because when the doctor was trying to get the heartbeat xavier kept moving like he didnt want the doctor to get it. hehehe he is already being a little stinker! we got to see his profile again! it was great!

after that we were done and i made my appointment for my 28 week check up. this appointment went fast and smoothly! it was nice. we came home and relaxed for a while. jeremy had about an hour wait until he could catch the bus. so we had some snacks and ate lunch together. =)

christmas presents update!

in my christmas blog post i mentioned that mine and jeremy's big christmas presents for each other still werent delivered so we didnt get them in time for christmas.

well, the week after christmas mine came for jeremy. i had someone make him a zelda triforce quilt which he loves! my main present for him though was a NES game cartridge that you can download NES games onto a memory card and insert into the cartridge and play the games on the NES(oppose to switching out cartridge after cartridge). he has been wanting that cart for a long time and it usually is out of stock. actually, when jeremy made his christmas list for me it was out of stock and i happened to get on there one day and saw it was available, so i ordered it for him! =)

around the same time we received a package from my grandparents and they sent us a little stocking for xavier, a precious moments nativity set, cookies, candy canes, and some other little goodies! it was really awesome!! my sister sent us a package as well and included was a couple of onesies for xavier! super cute!!

we recently received a package from afton and got some pretty cool gifts! jeremy got a really nice sony hd camcorder w/case! we were really excited about that for when xavier is born! he also got the game "scribblenauts" for the ds from her and justin! its a pretty fun game. i like it. afton got me a really nice burberry tote, victor & rolf's newest perfume/lotion set, a chi hairdryer, and her and justin got me a really nice charm from tiffany's that says "its a boy". i LOVE all of my gifts and jeremy loves his as well. he had fun playing with the camcorder!

i still havent received my big present from jeremy but i know what it is. it shipped on the 10th of december and still isnt here. jeremy called the place and they said get back to them in a week. so he called again and they said get back to them in 2 weeks. so on the 25th it will be two weeks from when he called. and a month and 2 weeks from when it shipped. its totally lame and shouldnt be taking this long to get here. the only reason i know what it is is because jeremy accidentally slipped yesterday when we were talking about packages. i thought it was cute that he slipped and when he realized it, his face was super cute. =)

that is the rest of our christmas presents. i am currently working on the rest of afton's christmas present i will post pics when it is all done. =)

glucose tolerance test

today i went in for my glucose tolerance test! woohoo! hahaha i couldnt eat or drink anything since midnight last night and that was really hard. this morning i woke up super hungry and couldnt do anything about it. we got to the hospital at 8am. they sent me to the lab to give blood. i came back up and they gave me the bottle of liquid and a cup. the bottle seemed very big compared to what i was told it was going to be by other women that have had this test. so i open that sucker up and poured it into the cup and it wasnt orange(like other women said too) it was purple! it was sorta like prune juice i guess, but probably more gross! and i had to drink over 10 oz of that stuff!! i had to do it within 15 minutes, which i guess was fine, i just swallowed fast and hoped i wouldnt taste it. jeremy kept telling me to just chug it but i didnt want to chug is so fast because i didnt know how it would do with my stomach.

it was no fun sitting there for an hour to pass with nothing to do. jeremy brought his ds and was playing his new zelda game and i forgot to bring a book with me so it was really boring. while we were sitting there we saw a lady that came in and her water broke! her whole pant leg was soaked! it was really weird to see that and think i will be in her shoes in may!

so an hour passed and i went to the lab to get my blood taken. i came back up and jeremy told me there was a guy there with his wife that used to be in the same command as him in washington!! it was so weird. we knew he had been stationed here and i think jeremy has talked to him through email but we havent seen him yet. also, he actually works with our friend chris! and that is weird too!! small world!

another hour finally passed and i went to give my blood for the final time. i came back up and jeremy and i made out next appointment in 3 weeks and we went on our way. when we got home we played a little wii and i was getting very tired and not performing that great so i stopped playing and laid down. jeremy ate lunch then got ready to go to work. after he left i went to bed and slept until 3pm!! that was like a 3 1/2 hr nap! wow. i didnt plan on sleeping that long, but it felt great!

the test really wasnt that bad, i think the worst part was sitting at the hospital and not eating. i just hope i dont have to do one of these again!

the first one of 2010

i woke up this morning to a bunch of snow! it is pretty sunny as well and so its super bright outside and inside! it kind of hurts your eyes to look at it, but you have to since its so beautiful!

on new years eve jeremy and i bought our car! its a '99 silver volkwagen golf! we really like it and its it in super good shape! its a manual, which most cars are here, and it actually has a 5 cylinder engine as oppose to a normal 4, so it makes this little car faster. hehe ive already started planning trips to travel and we would have started this weekend but jeremy has the duty cell phone so he has to stay in the area. so next weekend, we are taking a trip to zurich, switzerland with chris and sandi. its only about 2 hrs away and we are just going for the day but i am super excited! there is a really big zoo there that we are going to go to and there is a lot of shopping and sites to see. so that will be our first trip while we are here. yay!

anyway, back to new years eve. so we got our car, and we came home and i took a nap. when i woke up we just pretty much vegged all day. jeremy played video games, i chatted with people. we watched some of "band of brothers" and then we started watching "the twilight zone". we have the collection and have never watched it. on new years eve at my house for as long as i can remember we always watched the marathon and i really liked that so we watched the first disc, i think it had like 6 episodes. actually i dont think i had ever seen any of those ones. it was cool. after midnight we called some people to wish them a happy new years! it was definitely weird being in 2010 while america was still in 2009. but it was funny to joke around with people. haha i text my dad and told him that i was texting from the future. jeremy was talking with his mom and asked if she was watching "the twilight zone" and she said "how did you know" and he goofed the first time, then called her back and said that he knew because he is from the future! it was funny. anyway, so we snacked a bit and watched some more of the show and then jeremy fell asleep so we went to bed. oh and fireworks had been going off nonstop all day long. and went it came close to midnight you could see fireworks all around! it was pretty cool. people on base were lighting them off too, but not nearly as cool as the off post ones!!!

our new years day was pretty uneventful. jeremy and i woke up and just vegged some more. haha we watched the final parts of "band of brothers" and after that was done we started watching the documentary that was on the bonus disc. jeremy got a call earlier on the duty cell about a red cross message so he was dealing with that while watching the show. we were waiting for the red cross to actually call us to authenticate the message and just as we were dozing off to sleep we got the call. so jeremy had to talk with them, then call the commandant and get everything straightened out. we had to drive to his office and when we were leaving we noticed it was snowing! it was pretty cool! jeremy had to type out a letter for this person and such and so that took us a bit. we got home and jeremy called adam to thank him for the dvds he sent us for christmas and they talked for a while. i made dinner and we ate and then when he got off the phone i called my sister, melanie. i talked with her for a while. when i was off the phone we finished watching the documentary and then played some super mario bros wii until we went to bed. it was a pretty mellow day, but it was nice to just chill.

today we are going to go back on the base that jeremy works and check the mail. there was another package waiting to get picked up and we think it was the other part of adam's gift. then i think we are going to eat at this chinese place that jeremy said was really good. later tonight we are going to see "sherlock holmes"! i am really excited about the movie because we havent been to the movies since the states! i really want some nachos!! =) anyway, so that is our plans for today. there is a lot of snow and i think its supposed to snow again! yay!