And the results are in

Nick has finally finished his training, and is now just spending his time cleaning the gear, and getting ready for graduation. They spent the last week and a half being tested and ranked.

He scored the fourth highest on his P.T. (physical training) test. He missed the maximum score by ten push ups. The max for the two mile run was thirteen minutes and he came in at twelve minutes fifty eight seconds.

He was awarded an amazing honor of being one of seven soldiers picked out of 220 for an outstanding soldier. Each was picked for displaying a trait, he was picked for personal courage. They received special awards, and had a ceremony to celebrate it.

Only five more days and he will officially be a US Army Soldier and on his way to his job training.

Today we experienced hurricane Irene, which luckily was actually only a tropical storm by the time it got to Massachusetts. I spent the night and most of the day waiting it out at my sisters, playing games and watching movies. There wasn't really any damage, some broken trees and lots of rain.

The countdown to Graduation begins

Only ten days left till I will be in Missouri with Nick's parents, getting ready to spend the day with him, and I can't wait!

This weekend I got what will probably be the last of the letters he will be writing during his Basic Training. A lot has happened since he got there, he has learned so much and has grown almost just as much.

He has been given the nick-name of Mushu from Mulan because he is always pumped and running around everywhere.
The spent the last week doing a "ruck" march everyday. An 8K trip to the field training. Since he is the Platoon Guide he said he walked more like 12-13K running up and down the line keeping the soldiers moving. They spent a few days doing the obstacle courses you see in the movies, and he loved being able to put his training into action. He was voted to go through again for his platoon to compete against the other two, he was able to win with a time of seven minutes.
He had the opportunity, with a few others, to work with the Drill Sergeants on the platoons evaluations. They heard what they really thought of them and no one had anything negative to say about him. One even said he was the best Platoon Guide he ever had. It was refreshing to find out that everything he's worked so hard for has been noticed.
They all got fitted for their ASU's or "blues" (their dress uniforms) and he can't wait to show off how good he looks on family and graduation day.
He can't wait to move onto his job training, and is very excited to learn a new skill and find out exactly what he will be doing. Neither can I, because they are aloud a lot more phone calls and privlages during their Advance Inteligence Training then in Basic Training.
Almost there!

Congratulations! It's a........

The ultrasound revealing the sex of our little baby was about two weeks ago now. My sister was kind enough to write it down, seal it in two envelopes, and not tease me to much about the fact that she knew what I was having and I didn't.

 I sent one to Nick and kept one myself so we could find out together.

Three different days they were promised calls, his whole Platoon was almost just as anxious to find out as he was. It wasn't until today that he was finally able to call and the big surprise was revealed. Well, drum roll please.....

I cried, Nick cried, it was such an amazing moment that we were finally about to share.

We haven't picked out a name quite yet, but we will have one finalized when he graduates.

The nursery is going to be decorated with Raggedy Ann and Andy, and I have already started shopping for that! Nick can't wait to see everything I have picked out for our little baby.

Only 17 more days till his parents and I will be in Missouri finally about to see him again and I can't wait. He told me today that he is so excited to go somewhere quiet, sit with a nice big bowl of my brownies and ice cream on top with a package of Oreo's and milk and just talk.

They had their official pictures taken when they arrived in the beginning of July, and he said I should be receiving those in the mail any day now, so I will make sure and put it up. If anyone wants a copy, just let me know and I would be more than happy to send one to you.

 If you haven't already heard, it is advised to not send any more letters to him, because there is a good chance they wont get to him before he leaves for his job training. Once he gets to Maryland I will get his new address out to everyone.

And the good news just keeps on coming!

This past week as been full of exciting news. On Wednesday I was finally able to see the doctor for the first time and they did an ultrasound. It was so amazing to see our little baby for the first time. I am due on January 3rd and it couldn't be better timing.

Our little baby, their head is on the right.



Their tiny little foot!



During our phone call today Nick told me that he should be getting two weeks off during Christmas so he will be able to be here when our baby is born. I was so nervous to do this without him, but now I know that everything does happen for a reason.

Nick is doing very well in Basic, they were finally able to phase up into the white phase last week which means that not only is his job easier but they wont be micromanaged every second. They can perform their duties without the Drill Sergeants looking over their shoulder. The last two weeks they have learned about many different weapons including rifles, missal launchers, grenade launchers and machine guns. He had so much fun firing all of them and just as much fun telling me about all of them. They had their qualifying test on Tuesday and he got the title of sharp shooter on his practice round so he will receive a little medal to wear on his uniform to show off his skills.

 He has been promoted up in his platoon, so he is now the top dog. Although it doesn't leave him much personal time, he is loving it and it will look great when they are thinking of giving him a real promotion.

Only a couple more weeks and he will be done, and I will have lots of pictures of the new bald daddy to show everyone!