Week 16: Avocado

Watch what you say... tiny bones forming in baby's ears mean the little one can now pick up your voice. Eyebrows, lashes and hair are starting to fill in, and taste buds are forming. And an ultrasound might be able to determine gender.

Two Years Down

September 2, 2008 - time has definitely flown by since this day two years ago. Since our wedding just two years ago, we both have different jobs, a new house in a new town (we'll even go as far as saying a new region), a roommate, a new car, a riding lawn mower, new cousins, nieces and nephews and a baby of our own on the way. :)

Though we know the future holds many battles for us, we both know that we have the best partner to tackle them with. We are lucky to say we love each other more now than we did two years ago. And we are so thankful for the never ending support from our family and friends.

Happy Anniversary, Bryan!!

Week 15: Navel Orange

Continuing the march towards normal proportions, baby Neal's legs now outmeasure the arms. And, finally, all four limbs have functional joints. Baby Neal is squirming and wiggling like crazy down in the womb, though mom probably still can't feel the movements.

John & Kate's Wedding

What a beautiful bride and handsome groom.

Bryan and I spent the weekend in West Chester, PA to celebrate the marriage of his cousin John to his now lovely wife, Kate. The weekend was enjoyed by all (if you don't count the hellacious travel issues like canceled flights, horrific Budget, my suitcase breaking, etc. - ha.). It was great seeing family we don't get to see very often and getting to know the ones I never met. :)

It crossed my mind this weekend that other than my mom, dad, and brother -- I've never had a close family member with the same last name. And now I have tons!

Week 14: Lemon

Adorable little baby Neal is busy with thumb sucking, toe wiggling, and (not so cute but equally amazing) making urine and breathing amniotic fluid as the liver, kidneys and spleen continue to develop. Lanugo (thin, downy hair) is growing all over the body for warmth.

Week 13: Peach

Baby Neal fetus is forming teeth and vocal cords... savor this, their non-functional phase. Baby is approaching normal proportions, with a head now only one third the size of the body. Intestines are in the process of moving from the umbilical cord to baby's tummy. (Much more convenient.)

Courage. Persistance. Triumph.

Some of you know Melissa. She's an old classmate of mine from MN. I've been following her story for a while now. She is an Iraqi Veteran. She has a Purple Heart. She is an amputee. Her hard work has landed her in a spot with the USA Paralympic Team going to Beijing in September.



She's a living reminder that life goes on after tragedy. Life is what you make of it. She is a hero in so many ways.

http://melissastockwell.blogspot.com/

http://www.melissastockwell.com/

Courage does not always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, "I will try again tomorrow"
- Mary Anne Radmacher
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Melissa Stockwell Is the First Iraq Veteran to Qualify for the Paralympics in Beijing

ABC News Story: http://abcnews.go.com/WN/WoodruffReports/story?id=4683793&page=1

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Week 12: Plum

As you move into the second trimester, baby shifts into the growth and maturation stage. After weeks in the critical development stage, almost all of baby's systems are fully formed.

PATRIOT '08 exercise meets units' training needs

Yet another article with Bryan...

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PATRIOT '08 exercise meets units' training needs

By Army Staff Sgt. Jon Soucy, National Guard Bureau

Soldiers from Company A, 48th Brigade Special Troops Battalion wait to board a landing UH-60 Black hawk helicopter during exercise Patriot '08 at FOrt McCoy, Wisc., Sunday, July 20, 2008. The company recently transitioned from being a heavy engineer to unit based on M113 Armored Personnel Carriers to a light unit that utilizes helicopters and humvees and the Soldeirs were using the exercise as a way to hone their skills working with new tactics. Patriot '08 was a large-scale training exercise that brought together elements from the U.S. Army and Air Force as well as units from the British, Dutch and Canadian armies.(U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jon Soucy)(Released)
download hi-res photo

FORT MCCOY, Wis. – Steel-grey clouds hung heavily in the calm air as rain threatened. Soldiers crouched in a single file line near the edge of a field, listening to the chop of rotor blades in the distance, growing louder as a quick breeze fluttered past.

Suddenly, two UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters appeared over the trees at the far end of the field. As they landed their rotor wash created a mad dance across the field as the Soldiers moved in a hunched-over fashion toward them.

Within seconds of clambering aboard the Blackhawks, the whine of the rotors changed slightly in pitch and the pilots lifted the birds off the ground, leaving the field quiet once again.

This airlift mission was just one part of Patriot '08, a National Guard-sponsored training exercise that brought together Army and Air National Guard elements, active duty and reserve units, and Canadian, British and Dutch forces.

Split between three locations – Camp Ripley, Minn., Fort McCoy and Volk Airfield, Wis., – Patriot '08 was a 21-day, large-scale exercise featuring more than 45 units from as many states. But, unlike other such training events, Patriot '08 featured no observer-controllers or graders.

Exercise planners said that gave commanders the ability to build the exercise to meet their unit training needs.

For the Soldiers of the 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, that resulted in additional training time to prepare for their upcoming deployment to Afghanistan.

"We're focusing on making sure everyone is fully medically-ready," said Army Lt. Col. Tom Bright, commander of the 48th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 48th IBCT. "But when we're not doing that we're focusing on new equipment training."

For Bright, whose unit was recently stood up as part of the Army's modular restructuring, it also gave him an opportunity to work with his subordinate commanders in order to flesh out the battalion's new role.

"The challenge for me is the BSTB is still a new organization within the Army," he said. "What this gives us is an opportunity to pull all the leadership and the Soldiers together and start to develop that synergy between elements, so we can make the BLT instead of having bacon, lettuce, tomato and toasted wheat bread. Now, it's going to be the sandwich."

And for others, making that sandwich meant a shift in how they operate. After returning from Iraq in 2006, the 48th IBCT transitioned from being a heavy, mechanized brigade with M2 Bradleys and M1A1 Abrams tanks to a light infantry unit.

"We were always cruising around in M113s (armored personnel carriers)," said Army Staff Sgt. Bryan Neal, a squad leader and combat engineer with Company A, 48th BSTB, 48th IBCT. "And then when we were deployed to Iraq we had Humvees – up-armored Humvees – with 50 cals (machine gun) on top and we were riding around doing (route clearance) missions. Now we have six, cargo-back Humvees so we move either by air or in those vehicles and march everywhere."

For the exercise, Bryan and his Soldiers trained with these new vehicles and methods, something they normally couldn't do at homestation.

"The airlifts have been a big help," he said. "It's a lot of stuff that we don't normally have or can't get our hands on, but with (the exercise) we have all those assets here and we've definitely been using them. It's really been a plus to have all that. You train as you fight, so that's what we're doing."

Training as you fight for some, however, meant training on skills that normally aren't a part of their skill set, such as medics' training and calling in artillery fire.

"What (the unit leadership) wants to do is cross-train everybody," said Spc. Paul Cunningham, a combat medic assigned to the 148th Brigade Support Battalion. "They always told us to learn the different weapons because you never know – you could be the one who has [use it]."

And for the medics of the 148th BSB the exercise also gave them a chance to refresh skills more closely related to their medic duties. As part of a three-day mass casualty exercise, the medics treated incoming patients at an aid station.

"As medics, we're trained on the aid station stuff, but they trained us more to be with the infantry," said Cunningham. "So, we're out there with the aid bag dealing with the patient and then moving them back to the aid station. So for a lot of us, we're familiar with this, but we didn't train in detail on it. So, it's good training."

The exercise also gave the participants the chance to train others at the exercise. For Neal and his Soldiers in Company A, that meant training Air Guard personnel on convoy operations and how to react to IEDs and ambushes.

"They're going to be mounted on vehicles with a gunner, (truck commander), driver – all riding down the road," said Neal. "They'll spot (an IED) and call it in. They'll move out and then they have to react to an ambush. We have (opposing forces) out there with blanks, pyro, smoke; the whole nine. Once they get through the ambush, they'll get struck with an IED. We have IED simulators that will throw up a huge fireball right next to the vehicle."

And according to the Airmen who went through it, the experience was one many wouldn't soon forget. Though, for some, the toughest part was using the radio.

"We're watching as people are coming at us and firing at us and I still have to call in (on the radio) and stay calm and just talk to the (higher headquarters)," said Airman Vanessa Wilson, a personnel clerk with the 180th Fighter Wing of the Ohio Air National Guard. "It was exciting because I've never done this before and it was exciting because it gives you just a little bit of a taste of what you may have to do if you get deployed."

But Wilson did take away one thing from the experience.

"When we came back and (the trainers) gave us our constructive criticism they said 'well, you probably should have told (explosive ordnance disposal) where you were located.' Now, next time I'll know in order for (EOD) to find where the IED is, that I probably need to tell them where I am. So, you learn from it."

It's Official; We're Expecting

Well, we're at the end of the 1st trimester - so we're happy to make an official announcement - Bryan and I are expecting a baby. Our new addition will arrive in February and we're both VERY excited.