Pics, pics, and more pics!

    So I finally got my new camera! I got a (drum roll please) Nikon D5000! It's so much fun taking pictures and actually having them look good. Today I had some fun doing some naked baby pics. with Link and some in his diaper too! It's hard cuz I didn't have much to try and make a backdrop or something cute for him to be laying on, but I made it work. I haven't had the chance to upload them yet but I will as soon as I can. Noah says at the rate I'm taking pictures we better buy an additional external hard drive tehe! Well, that's about it for now I just wanted to tell everyone my exciting news. And yes I know it's not all that exciting for some but man it made my day/week/month! I'm excited to be able to get some good pics. of the kids when we go to Ut. I hope to be able to make it to the Zoo and maybe Thanksgiving point but we'll see.

Noah's Graduation

    Well the day that we thought would never come has finally arrived. Noah's graduation from training! Yes it has been 2 1/2 years and he is finally done. He technically has a quick training in Washington but today was the day he got to put on his wings and Intelligence badge's. He was pretty excited for it which is saying a lot since he's already been through his DLI graduation and he didn't really care about that one. His uniform looks so different now with his new badges it's hard to get use to the fact that he's come to this point. It was a lot of fun to get to go and watch him receive his certificate's and I even got to pin on the Intel. badge! We even dressed the boys for the occasion, Link in his "Daddy's Little Wingman" onsie and a mini Intel. pin and Asher got to sport a mini pair of Wings! I'll see if I can post the pictures but I may not be able to for security purposes.

The Story of Link.

 My little Link's story is a bit less dramatic in the begging than his older brother Asher's was but he did have his own little trials too. It all started when Noah and I were thinking about having another baby. We kept saying we wanted them to be about 2 years apart, but as time went on we got thinking. It took us quite awhile to get pregnant with Asher so we decided that instead of waiting we would get a head start on trying, you know just in case it took longer than we wanted. Well haha joke was on us we got lucky and got pregnant on the first month of trying. So instead of being 2 years or more apart they are 16 months.
 We knew the moment we got pregnant that we would be doing a scheduled C-Section since Asher was also a C-Section and since it's safer that way. So the pregnancy began much like my pregnancy with Asher. The constant visit's to my worst enemy the toilet and the constant taking of my best friend Zofran. I must say though that since we knew what to expect with my pregnancies my doctor was all too willing to call me in my Rx. the second we confirmed the pregnancy. Oh how I love and will miss my wonderful Dr. Walker! Anyways, so Link was better on my body than Asher since I was prepared for the worst. 
 When my 9 months was up I decided to have the wonderful noon time delivery. I know I know your thinking "You decided!" Well, YES I did! I'm not a morning person and the other option was 7, and might I add you have to be there 2 hours early. So YES noon was the time for me. Well, noon came and went and Dr. Walker was MIA. I must say I was not surprised since he was one of the busiest OB docs in Monterey. Now I have to insert that it was incredibly odd to be able to walk into the hospital on my own two feet and say to the nurse at the counter "Yes um... I'd like to check in to have my baby please!" But hey I gotta admit I felt about 1000% better than the first time. I even had the time to do my hair and makeup! No ugly post op photos for me thanks, been there done that!
 Anyways, so Noah and I had the pleasure of asking as many questions to the operating staff as we wanted and joking along with them until they got the call the the doc. was on his way. This is when they gave me my spinal block. Now I don't care what anyone says that is SCARY. I mean it's a guy sticking a needle into your spinal cord! One little oops and it's bye bye feeling in my legs, it was fun while it lasted! But I was blessed with the same anesthesiologist as I was with Asher and I even said "OH I'm SOOO glad to see YOU!" To which he answered "Oh ugh yeah? You know me?" So much for being memorable! Anyways, Dr. Walker got there and said "Alright well what are we waiting for? Let's get you your baby!" To which the whole room laughed and of course answered "You! We're waiting for YOU!" 
 So at 1:16 pm on June 7th my second little angel Noah Linkin was born. Following in his brother's shoes he was 20 1/2 inches long but then to get a jump start came in weighing 8.1 lbs. Exactly 1 lb. more than Asher. At this point in the surgery it started to get scary. See with scheduled C-Sections they break your water for you when they cut you open. This in turn can sometimes cause the infant to intake some amniotic fluid. Well Link was none to happy to be coming out sooner than he planned and ended up taking in quite a bit of fluids. My poor little one then had to have his lungs suctioned right after being born. What a harsh way to enter this world. However, I must say I was extremely grateful to the wonderful pediatric staff and the great job they did stabilizing my little guy. Also at this point in the surgery I began to feel an incredible pain in my chest. I must say I thought I was honestly having a heart attack right there on the surgery table. But my wonderful anesthesiologist was right by my side (they hover right by your head and talk to you the whole time) and kept giving me more drugs. Unfortunately it was to no avail and the pain was so intense my heart rate went crazy (so I'm told) and he immediately knocked me out.
 Now this was weird! I came to in recovery thinking "What the?" Last I knew I was incredible pain and the Dr. said "Don't worry this will make it better!" I must say, I have always wanted to know what it was like to be knocked out or pass out or faint for some reason because I never had. Well now I know, it's AWESOME! Except for the fact that the meds. they used to knock me out also made me really sick and I was throwing up for hours after that. Ha have you ever thought what it would be like to throw up immediately after your abs have been sliced through? Yeah, not easy! It basically just falls out, gross I know but just had to give you all a wonderful visual! 
 By this point my doctors came in to let me know all was going well and that Link was in the nursery on oxygen to help out with his breathing for awhile. He was in the oxygen helmet for a couple hours and then stayed for observation for another couple before they would bring him to me. Needless to say I was worried sick but was in no condition to go see him. However my worries were put to rest and he was brought to my room later that evening. 
 I forgot to add early in this post that my mom and Celene were both able to make it to this birth and it was so wonderful having them both there.

The story of Asher.

 Well this is the start of telling our little family story since we added our most recent additions. That is in other words starting with Asher! Noah and I moved to California for Noah's first part of training in the Air Force. We had been trying for awhile with one miscarriage under our belt's we were getting anxious to start a family. Needless to say once we got to California we immediately got pregnant (it must be the water/sun/ocean who knows!) My first pregnancy did not go very well even before the miscarriage so I was nervous about this one also. Apparently my body doesn't handle pregnancy very well so in protest it thinks I can't have anything in my body for the entirety of the pregnancy. Thus the morning sickness started. I must say though that my Dr. was AMAZING! He let me come in on his day off to get a shot of Phenergan, which basically knocked me out for the next 24 hours. But I was more than pleased because if I was asleep than I wasn't visiting the porcelain thrown! 
 Long story short we quickly found out that in order for me to do anything but lose wait I would have to take Zofran religiously. Which I did and I must say to any who are wondering Zofran is God's gift to the nauseous! Anyways, 9 months past and we had our little bundle of joy!
 Now the hospital story was quite the interesting one. I (like most 9 month pregnant women) was up at 3 in the morning to empty my then pea sized bladder when I realized "ugh that was a painful contraction!" And not 10 minutes later I had another, which is when they immediately skipped to 2 minutes apart exactly! So at 3:30 am we got in the car on the way to the hospital. I also must mention this is when I called my sister Celene and being the wonderful sister that she is ran to her computer and bought the soonest ticket to Ca. she could and told me to cross my legs. 
 Well, I did NOT need to cross my legs or any such action because Asher decided he wanted to make an interesting entrance. So hours came and went and I slowly got closer to having him. I must say at this point about 7 cm (mom's and dad's you know what I mean) I was getting nervous. See for those of you who don't know my family has a running tradition of C-Section deliveries. So as I got closer I actually got nervous because I didn't actually have anyone there to tell me what to expect (you know besides all the doctors and nurses)! I must also say Celene at this point was practically jumping with joy because I was going to have a normal delivery! Que the doctor coming in to drop the bomb! Apparently I was not progressing like they would have liked and in fact was swelling on top of it. So even if I finished dialating I most likely wouldn't be able to deliver normal so they decided on an emergency c-section. Well, at this point I just had to laugh because to be honest I was totally expecting it. So about 10 minutes after that I was in the surgery room, ha and I thought I was nervous before! I have never had a broken bone and have never had any type of surgery let alone major surgery. But all went well and we had a new little bundle of joy whom we named Steven Asher Lubben. We actually named him Steven after Noah's brother who passed away the month before (we love you Steve) and we have him go by Asher. He was born at 3:49 pm and was 20 1/2 inches and weighed 7.1 lbs. 
 And this ladies and gentlemen is the story of how Asher came to be and how I got the cool Mommy Scar to match my mom's and sister's!
 

Life With The Lubben's

I better start off with a quick bio. For those of you who don't know we pronounce our last name like Lovin but with B's instead of V. So that's why if we ever have a girl Noah is determined to name her Summer Lubben! He says he wants her to have her own theme song. Anyways, my husband is in the Air Force and we are currently in Tx. for the next week or so. We will then be moving on to our next duty station which will be in Florida! We have two little boys who's names are Steven Asher and Noah Linkin. They both go by their middle names cuz we just like to make things confusing! Asher just turned 19 months and Link is now 3 months! And yes, for those of you who did the math, they are only 16 months apart. This makes life shall we say 'fun'! Asher absolutely loves his little brother Link, and Link loves his brother Asher. They are always laughing and smiling at each other. And in Asher's case always giving the other kisses. Asher would rather kiss his little brother than mom or dad! We don't mind cuz it's just to cute. We will be visiting Ut. for the month of Oct. before we head over to the hot and humid state of Florida. Let's just say I'm VERY excited for this Ut. visit as it will probably be awhile before we're back. Well that's it for my first post so ta ta for now.