Living a life that's full of danger!

Occasionally I have the opportunity to fling myself out of a rapid moving aircraft at ridiculous speeds high above the Earth's surface. Due to the nature of pain that would result from striking the ground at 170mph I employ a parachute to slow down the process. Wednesday I had the privilege of jumping from a UH-60 Helicopter, also known as the Blackhawk!

Updating the Blog

Since it's been so long since our last post, let's get everyone updated!

Olivia is up and about. She crawls, climbs and walks along everything to get everywhere, which is great news for Olivia as she can move herself to get whatever takes her fancy, wires, plug sockets, shoes, paper, bits on the floor and all sorts of new and wonderfully prohibited items. This is not so great for me however, who has to make sure that these sorts of things are not within reach of little fingers.
She is starting to get a grasp on communicating her wants to us with words and actions. She is also sleeping through the night now as well, which was surprisingly easy to accomplish!

Matt is enjoying his studies and gets to spend more time with the family than we thought he would, though that is subject to change at any point. He is also doing very well in the physical side of things, out pacing everyone else.

As for myself, I enjoyed my birthday a lot! Matt surprised me with horseback riding which I have always wanted to try! It was amazing, I can't wait to go again, though I would like to try things that are a little more advanced... but I guess I have to walk before I can run.
I am also enjoying making things with my sewing machine. The going is slow, but that's okay, Olivia comes first.

Rolling Over

Olivia doesn't spend a lot of time on her tummy, but lately we've been letting her cry there for a few minutes each day... and a few weeks ago to my utter amazement she tipped herself to the side and over she went, rolling onto her back. Of course I'd forgotten my phone so I couldn't ring Matthew to tell him... but I told him as soon as he got to April's house that evening. He, having faith that his daughter is of a superior strength than most other 3 month old babies, put her on her front again, and she showed him her new found trick. Twice.

For the next couple of weeks we tried to video her rolling over for everyone to see... but every time we'd turn the camera on she'd just lay there, then cry. Finally she showed her true colours to the electronic recording device and over she went. Here is the proof.

Ahhgoo

Olivia is progressing in leaps and bounds. She is growing up so fast!

This is a typical day in the life of Olivia. She makes "oofing" noises and greets me around 8 or 9am with bright eyes when she decides it's time to wake up. "Good morning Beautiful" I say and she gives me a big smile. For the next few minutes I talk to her and she talks back along with smiles and giggles. After about an hour she's ready to sleep for a little while longer and does so, allowing me the opportunity to eat breakfast, shower, check my emails etc... Then she is up again and ready to play some more. Around now she is okay with playing on her own for a bit, kicking her blankets off, watching Mummy putting them back on, kicking them off again (it's a great game...). Sometimes she likes to chew her fingers, they taste so good! For the rest of the day she plays and she sleeps, sometimes needing Mummy or Daddy to cuddle her or talk to her. By the end of the day she's getting tired... around 7pm she's ready to start having little 10 minute naps readying herself for the big sleep that overcomes her around 10 or 11 pm... just in time for Mummy and Daddy to go to sleep.

To show a little snippit of her day, here is a video of some of her Daddy play time.




P.S. Ahhgoo = I love you.

READ ALL ABOUT IT!

Welcome to 2009!
Olivia had her first Christmas.
Christmas was spent in Alabama with Kellie.
Matt is back in his language classes.
We have netflix!


Olivia's first Christmas was a hit! We were able to travel down to Alabama to spend it with Kellie and her parents. We had stockings and presents and a Christmas turkey, it was almost complete... all it lacked was Christmas Crackers. And roast potatoes. And Uncle Steven and Auntie Sue's house. And the family Christmas party... but I'm not complaining! It was wonderful, just different... and that's okay.

We had a lot of fun at Kellie's house. I got to be a little childish and wrap things that already belonged to the people I was giving them to. My favourite was Kellie's slipper... which mysteriously vanished until Kellie opened one of her presents and SURPRISE it was under the Christmas tree wrapped up in Christmas paper the whole time. It was a fun game that will probably start to happen every Christmas. Maybe I'll have rewards for whomever guesses what I wrapped of theirs before the grand opening! We'll have to see...

Matt started back at language class the week before Christmas and is enjoying learning Korean for the second time. He is very happy with the way his new teacher organises her lessons and is finding the experience a great deal more productive than the last one.

Matt and I decided that as we rent movies from the local store now and then, it would be more cost effective to sign up with netflix. That way we can watch as many movies as we want (or as time will allow), and feel no pressure to watch them at inconvenient times before they have to be returned to the shop.

Like Father and Mother, Like Daughter.

To put it in Matt's words, we have a non-conformist child. Yep, yesterday was my 36 week OB apointment and surprise surprise our daughter is breech. At my last apointment 4 weeks ago, she was in a wonderful head down position and the lady told me that if she turned, I'd know about it. A few days later I started to feel a foot in my side and our daughter decided she liked that position and stayed in it. So for 3 and a half weeks I assumed she was in a head down, foot in my side position that she had found was particularly comfortable... in actual fact it's a head up, foot in my side position that she has found is particularly comfortable.

The doctors have given us two options... the first is a scheduled C-section. I would prefer not to go that route if at all possible... The second is to try and turn the baby manually at 37 weeks. This proceedure has a 50% success rate, is quite painful and has a few "side note" complications that could arise. Some of the things that could happen are:

-the baby could turn and everything would go as planned
-the baby could not turn and I would have to have a scheduled C-section anyway
-the baby could turn and the proceedure could cause me to go into labour, in which case I'd just have the baby normaly
-the baby could not turn and I'd go into labour and have an emergency C-section
-the baby could get distressed and I'd have an emergency C-section
-the placenta could come away from the uterus wall causing danger for both myself and the baby, resulting in an emergency C-section
-the placenta could rupture or get damaged resulting in an emergency C-section

There are a few others but I wasn't paying as close attention as I needed to so I've already forgotten them.

Aparently our baby being breech is more of a complication than I would have expected. I think we've pretty much decided to give the baby turning a try... the worst thing that could happen is that I'd have a C-section, which I'd have to have any way. The doctor will try to turn her next tuesday, 2 days before Matthew's scheduled eye surgery. Dispite the offered epidural for the pain, I'm quite nervous and would appreciate any prayers offered on our behalf.

A note to both our dear mothers to whom we did the exact same thing; Sorry.

The New Place

Just over a week ago we moved into our new apartment. Hooray! It was a taxing move that took us 3 days from the start of all the packing to the handing over the keys to the old apartment. Needless to say the unpacking isn't finished yet!

A little information about our new apartment:

-Ground floor (first floor to all the American readers)
-Two bedrooms
-Two bathrooms
-Spacious kitchen
-Pantry
-Washer and dryer hookups
-Built in microwave
-Alarm system
-Gated community
-24 hour maintainance
-Access to pool and gym
-Access to laundry room
-Access to tennis courts
-Access to children's play area
-Access to car wash facility
-Our own supply of beatles that seem to be attracted to our front door
-Upside-down front window that causes leakage problems in heavy rain
-Too few parking spaces
-Noisy upstairs neighbours
-A funny smell
-Two phone books
-Delivered newspapers in blue plasic covers
-Warmth-seeking spiders (sorry Grandma...)
-Roomy bathtub incase the shower with immediate hot water doesn't cut it
-A square hole in the wall between the kitchen and the living room so I can see into whichever room I'm not in
-Reverse working light switches which drive Matthew crazy
-Windows which block out almost all outside noises
-White walls which arn't allowed to be painted
-Pretty garden areas around about that I can peer at through my windows

All in all we're very happy with it so far. We're settling in nicely, getting our home set up, deciding where different things go, etc... all of those fun 'new home' things.
I shall take pictures when we have ourselves established so you can all see!

Farewell Old Friend

Yesterday, I had my hair cut.

It was a traumatic and painful change, but I felt it was time and let Matt deside the length. He chose to cut it at my shoulder blades, so now my hair is just slightly above my shoulder blades. I cried... but Matt was very kind and comforted me in a sympathetic and loving way. I guess I didn't need that little bit of pride after all... and it was worth it, my hair still looks good, just a little (or a lot) shorter.

An Answer from Heaven

Over the past 6 months or so, the apartment complex that we are living in has gotten worse and worse. More than once we have had to call the police for noise disturbances late at night, fighting, gunshots close by, etc...

The sunday before Matt got home I was getting ready to go to sleep when I hear a couple of girls out on our porch that's shared by our neighbour. This isn't unusual as he is something of a party animal and often has loud people over with loud music playing (though he himself is lovely). As I was marking off my day on my caleder by the kitchen I hear a 'pop' from my porch and a smash outside my living room window. I then hear the girls acting like they were guilty before fleeing into my neighbour's apartment. That was enough for me, I went outside, saw that the back window of a truck car thing was laying in pieces on the floor and knocked firmly on my neighbours door. I demanded to know what was going on and after denying any knowlege of anything, my neighbour suggested some silly scenario that I knew was not true. I informed him of what I'd heard and that I was ringing the police before doing so. As I was on the phone, the girls I had heard fled the scene and drove away.
To cut the rest of the story short, the police came, my neighbour changed his story, mine stayed the same and the poor truck owner was found.

Needless to say, when I informed Matthew about it (after he had come home) he was not happy. He professed that we were moving (which we had already looked into doing) and went directly to the office. We found out that to move into one of the two bedroom townhouses here it would cost us $300... to break our lease completely and be able to move away from the complex it would cost us in the region of $1110 just to break the lease.
Shelly the manager, due to the circumstances, offered to waiver the transfer fee of $300 to move into a townhouse... We looked at the one on offer and though I was not impressed, I would have gone for it just because of the money it would cost otherwise and the added space it afforded compared to what we have now so that we could fit our baby in comfortably. Matt however refused to even consider it and politely told them that moving from one part of the complex to another would not solve the problem because we just don't feel safe here.

So we shopped around for another apartment complex and found a really nice one whose rent for a two bedroom apartment was only $12 more than the townhouses here, with a considerable increase in quality of apartment, space, storage, facilities, etc... We decided that the benefits outweighed the money aspect and we signed up for the apartment that was going to become available on the ground floor. Matt tried to go through the military to get orders so we could break the lease without fees, but there was no way that they could help.

The only options we had were dishonourable methods to break the contract or to pay the money. This caused me great stress for a good day or so and I prayed mightily to my Heavenly Father before giving the burdon to Him and accepting that whatever was to happen, would happen and that we would deal with it as best we were able.

Just days later when Matt went to the officce to talk to one of the staff members, Shelly, the manager informed him that she was not charging us the fees as our case had special circumstances in which the police were involved and a full investigation was under way. Can you believe it?! Shelly is a great manager for the company because she gets them money... she doesn't do things like this. That being said... she obviously does when moved upon by Heavenly Father through the spirit!

My prayers (and those of Matt) were answered so directly and immediately that I am still in a state of near-shock. Not that I didn't believe Heavenly Father was capable of miracles of such magnitude or import, but usually my miracles are small ones that come through less obvious means. This was such a big miracle to me that I just wasn't expecting...
Oh how my Heavely Father loves me and looks after my family!! It seems that as soon as I recieve one miracle, another one is already being put into play, just waiting for the oportunity to manifest itself!

So, on the 16th of September we shall be moving into our new apartment, without paying an extortionate amount of money! Hooray!!

By Popular Demand...

...a new post!

Hello blog readers!! It has been a good long while since anything was posted on this blog. Shame on me, I know. But! I will be better... so here is a very brief visit to the past year that has elapsed in silence.

On the 17th of September 2007 I, Ruth Stowers (Wiles at the time), flew to Arizona in the grand old US of A. On the 22nd of September we were sealed together for all time and eternity in the Mesa Arizona Temple. What an amazing experience and such a wonderful blessing, to be sealed to the man I love... forever. Never to be separated! Hooray for Temples!
Since then we have been living in North Carolina near to Fort Bragg... it's been an interesting year! For starters, we became pregnant! Oh yes! A little girl will soon be joining our family... only 11 weeks away! She is due to be born on the 28th of October (2008) and we are very very excited!
Matt has been away for 5 months in classes with only a few weekends and weeks home... but on the 8th of August, he got back from his final class in Phase II of his training. Which means that he will be able to stay home for a good long while! It is such a relief to me, knowing that he will be there for the birth of our baby. Not only that but it's so wonderful having him home!!! No one can truely understand what it's like to have their husband away for such a long time without contact unless they have experienced it themselves. I know that I certainly didn't understand it! But now he's back and life is just that much better.

Yesterday, the 10th of August was my 21st birthday. Heavenly Father was so kind to give me the best birthday present that I could ever receive (having my husband home). It really was the best birthday that I have ever had. I had my husband, my baby, my chocolate button birthday cake, I got to spend time with our dear friend April and her family, I got to speak to my Mum and Dad for a few minutes, I got to speak to Matt's Mom and family for a few minutes, I got lots of presents for myself and the baby from the baby shower the night before and then a few presents actually on my birthday from people who couldn't make it... it really was the best birthday ever.
Now life is going to continue as normal, Matt is starting his schooling in Korean, I am continuing to get bigger and bigger, yet the great love and happiness that I have been feeling for the past few days is still lingering on... Could a woman be any happier?! I am surrounded by everything that really matters and I know that the joy I feel is a gift from God. A great big hug of a gift with a "happy birthday" note attached with a ribbon.

So there is the year that I missed and I will try to keep our blog updated so that everyone can share in our experiences. Until next time!

A Wiles Old Time

Well today I said goodbye to my extended family for the last time before I leave.

The day started out with a temple recommend interview from my Stake President so I could go through for my endowments. During the interview he expressed his concern about a few things and suggested that I wait until I was in Mesa Arizona to go through so that Matthew could be a part of it... As he said this I felt such a peace that I knew it was right... it felt as though I'd been holding my breath for the longest time and now I was finally able to breathe.

I explained the decision to my family, and when they understood that it was what I wanted, they were happy for me. We got the family get-together things ready and my extended family started to arrive. We had a lovely afternoon and evening of talking, playing around, eating, picture taking, etc... and dispite all the set backs that we faced that morning, the building being double booked, some of the food getting eaten by other people, those regular sort of 'oh-no' happenings, the get-together was one of the best I have been to. Then again, maybe that was because it was for me...

When it came time for people to start leaving, it got harder and harder... We gathered everyone together for photographs in the cultural hall and went crazy. Literally! I got tackled by my uncle and cousin, so they could give me the bumps... and when I called for help from my two other cousins, they just laughed and grabbed my legs to help!

I wouldn't change it for anything though, I had a wonderful time... and I cried good and hard as I finally said goodbye to the family that I love so much.

The Musings of a Tuesday Morning

Well yesterday I got my hair cut and the hairdresser showed me how to do my hair for the wedding. This morning I have a bridal make-up artist teaching me how to do my make up (wish me luck!) and then I have my final dress fitting where everything should come together in one! I will be snapping a few photos for those of you who won't get to see me on my wedding day as I'm not sure how long it'll take for us to get our wedding pictures up here. The people who will be seeing me on my wedding day, they just have to wait a little longer.

Not long to go now! The packing is not going well... but I have faith that I'll get everything done to an acceptable standard. It's fun to think that in a week I shall be in Mesa Arizona with the man that I love and his family... hoorah for love!

I'm looking forward to Saturday. It will be a demanding day, but I have looked forward to the day when I would be able to take out my own endowments for years and now I am on the very eve of that time. I am so excited and yet, so full of love for my Father in Heaven, for blessing me to be here in this dispensation, when all the promises and blessings of the gospel are right here at my fingertips. What a blessing to have been able to live now... with all the miracles that never cease to arise. I am especially greatful to have lived in the shadow of the temple for 9 years, being able to feel of the wonderful spirit that resides in the House of the Lord and being able to have that constant reminder of the goals I set myself as a child. To be worthy to enter into that most holy of buildings, first for myself and then to be sealed to my eternal companion.

So now here I am, ready to start the greatest of adventures.

The calender

I thought it'd be nice to give you a rough idea of the events that will occur in the next month.

7th September
I leave work at the Latter-day Book Store in Chorley...

15th September
I will be going through for my endowments in the Preston England Temple. This will also be the day when my family will be gathering together to say goodbye to me.

Matt is hoping to be able to fly out to Arizona.

17th September
Myself, my parents and my sisters will be flying from Manchester Airport (England) and will travel via Atlanta, Georgia, to Pheonix Airport in Arizona.

22nd September
Myself and Matt will be getting married in the Mesa Arizona Temple at 3pm!
The reception will be from 6pm until 8pm at Bishop Arnett's house.

27th September
Myself and Matt will fly back to North Carolina where we shall reside at Fort Bragg.

That's our outline for the next few weeks... how exciting!!