Such a Wonderful Christmas

This Christmas has truly been so special. I am so thankful for our beautiful daughter. My sweet little family of 3 had a great Christmas. We had brunch on Christmas eve morning with my in-laws. Christmas morning began at our home around 7am with a feeding then we opened presents. We arrived at my in-laws around 11am. It was truly a wonderful first Christmas for our little girl. God really blessed us abundantly. I look forward to next Christmas when Mary Katherine will be 13 months and moving around. We will also be able to travel to my parents for Christmas. This first Christmas was so special. We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas as well. See you in 2015!!!!!

 

Dear Mary Katherine

My Sweet Little Girl,


     You are 1 month old! Well technically you turned 1 month a few days ago, but this whole new Mommy thing has already taught me that my life no longer revolves around me and when I want to do things, so I haven't blogged in a while. In fact I can already see it is going to be very difficult to keep up this blog, but I will try my best. Last night was the most exciting thing you have done this month. You slept in your infant sleeper for 3 whole hours WITHOUT being held AND Mommy and Daddy were able to sleep in their bed! That is BIG news for this sleep deprived Mama. Sweet girl you have completely transformed my world for the better. You make my life so completely wonderful. You were born with the most beautiful strawberry blonde hair. You were lifting your head at 1 day old, and you simply get stronger and stronger everyday. God is so good! You have the longest most gorgeous eyelashes just like your Daddy. Finally long lashes to put mascara on!! Speaking of your Daddy my heart still melts when he holds you and kisses you and talks to you in sweet little whispers. He already bought you your first dress yesterday. He has such great taste. You will be the most beautiful baby at the Country Club Christmas Eve Brunch next week. I love staring into your eyes when you are nursing. You are a very good eater. You absolutely love to be swaddled and you hate to be cold, so you dislike changing of clothes and diapers. You did not like bath time at first, but now you do. I just love the way you smell after bath time. We are still working on getting you on a good routine. It has been a little difficult, but we are not giving up. Your first Christmas is in 5 days and we are all so excited to celebrate with you. I am really looking forward to next year when you will be 13 months and moving all around the place. But for now I want to enjoy these special moments I get to have with you while you are still so tiny. I am not sure how much you weigh because we have not been to the doctor in almost 3 weeks, but at that appointment you were 8lbs. 6oz. I know you have grown, but I can't tell if you are more or less then 10lbs. Mary Katherine Mommy and Daddy love you so much!! We are so blessed that God chose us to be your parents. You are surrounded by so many loving family members, too. Your Gigi has already been down here twice to see you and is planning another visit for next month. You truly are my sunshine. I thank God for you everyday! I love you so very much!

Happy One Month Birthday Mary Katherine!

Her Birth Story

Our beautiful Mary Katherine was 2 weeks old yesterday, and I want to go ahead and document her birth story before I forget anything.
On Monday November 17th, we had just a normal appointment scheduled. Everything seemed to be fine. The doctor stepped out, and then she returned with another doctor. My blood pressure was high again and they had a few other concerns. They wanted us to check in to L & D to be monitored. We had been through this before during my pregnancy and left the hospital without our baby girl. It really didn't occur to me that this could be the day we had been waiting for.

My husband and I settled in and began contacting family to give them the heads up. We still didn't know for sure what was going to happen, but we wanted our parents to be ready. Baby girl and I were monitored and tests were ran. Monday evening my doctor came in and said I had several symptoms of preeclampsia, and that we needed to induce labor. It took me a little while to process that we were about to meet our baby. Every emotion imaginable rushed through me. I am so thankful that Michael was by my side the entire time. He was so awesome, supportive, and encouraging. The next several hours were painful and exhausting. Then it was finally time to push. My doctor knew how much I really wanted to deliver vaginally, so she let me push for several hours but no progress was being made. Something was not right. The doctor suggested a C-Section saying that it would be better to not wait until the baby is in distress and it becomes an emergency situation. My husband and I talked and prayed about it and ultimately agreed that we would do what was necessary to keep her safe. It was not my original plan, but it was all worth it in the end. After my C-Section the doctor told me that she had turned face up and was basically stuck. I am glad we made the decision when we did. Mary Katherine was born

November 18, 2014

10:59pm

8lbs. 1oz. 21 inches long

I will never forget the first moment I saw her. I thought she was the most beautiful baby I had ever seen. Her Daddy and I love her so much. I could just sit and watch her sweet little face all day. God has certainly abundantly blessed us. I am so thankful for our little girl.

Photo Update

 

This was me at 35 weeks. It seems forever ago as time is now crawling slowly by. Waiting to meet our Mary Katherine is requiring so much patience. I am so ready to hold her in my arms.

These are few maternity photos we had taken at our local botanical gardens. It was the perfect afternoon. It was a crisp, cool day. I especially love that we were able to take these photos where our wedding reception was over 3 years ago. I love this man so much and look forward to our next adventure as new parents. God is so good!

Life Lately

Wow! These past few months have been crazy busy for our family! I sure have missed blogging! Since I last blogged, we have bought a house, moved into our new house, painted our daughter's nursery, worked on finishing her nursery, and have been unpacking and decorating to make our new house into our home. I am still teaching. I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. I am almost 37 weeks pregnant. This pregnancy has flown by! I am so ready to meet our Mary Katherine, but I also still have so much to do before her arrival! God has blessed us so much, and I am forever grateful! My husband took a picture of me at 35 weeks, and we also had a few maternity photos taken last week. I am really trying to enjoy these last few weeks of being pregnant. Some days it's hard because my feet are swollen, my back aches, and I am pretty much just plain uncomfortable. I know it'll all be worth it when I am finally holding her in my arms. We already love her so much! God's plan truly is way better than mine! I am so excited to meet our daughter next month! We give God all the glory and are just so thankful that he chose us to be Mary Katherine's parents. I am so excited to be her Mommy! This is just a quick update post. I will be posting again soon and going into further detail about everything that has been going on. Until then here are a few photos of this special time in our lives.

Her Name

Growing up I was definitely the girl who daydreamed and doodled names of my

future children. Being that I am quite the planner and have had several names picked

out for quite a while I figured we would have a name chosen for our little girl

rather quickly. I. Was. Wrong. Naming a human all-of-sudden seemed like such a big

responsibility. My husband and I did not want to take the matter lightly and choose too hastily.

We discussed several names and prayed about what her name should be. I was comforted

by the thought that the Lord knew her before we even had a clue that we were pregnant.

He already new her name and has an amazing plan for her life.

We also wanted her name to come from family. Family is so important to both of us.

We gathered information from our mothers and grandmothers. We had quite an interesting

list of female family names. At 25 weeks pregnant, we finally decided on her name.

I am so happy to be able to talk to her and call her by name. Her name will be:

 

Mary Katherine

 

Her first name comes from my mom's name. While my mother is called Jeannie, her name

is actually Mary Jean. Then it was time to decide on her middle name. From Michael's side

we had Stephanie Ann, Petty Wynette, and Gloria Jean. We had considered Mary Ann, but it just wasn't quite right. Then we found out that Michael's grandmother's grandmother had the middle name Katherine. It was perfect. We loved the name Mary Katherine. It just seemed right. We also love the meaning of her name.

Mary means wished-for child

Katherine means pure

 

We prayed and prayed and prayed for this child, so she is certainly wished-for. We also want her to remain pure in God's eyes as she grows up. Certainly one of our prayers for her is to be pure.

 

We are so very excited to meet our Mary Katherine who is due in less than 15 weeks!

We thank God for this precious gift. She is already so loved.

 

 

We are so excited to meet you Mary Katherine!

 

 

 

 



WYWW



I am posting this a little early because in two days summer is over, and I go back to work.

Before I begin doing some packing for our upcoming move (more on that later), I will share what else is new around here. Besides being almost 24 weeks pregnant and loving it, I have a new haircut!

I am loving my new hair cut! Baby girl is moving all the time, and it is the most awesome feeling! God is so good!

WYWW

I thought I had this right the first time, but something didn't work so here I go again!

We are so happy and excited that we are having a little girl in November!

God is so good and faithful! We already love her so much!

We had a wonderful gender reveal party at Ormond Beach with my family. It was such a special day! We are so excited to meet our little girl in just a few months. This time last year Michael and I were in New York for a wedding and were able to visit Niagara Falls; it is crazy how much life can change in just one year. We are so thankful for all of God's blessings and look forward to what He has in store for us in the future. Now it's time to bring on all things girly!

We are having a GIRL!

Wow! It has been over a month since I last blogged! The first reason is that our computer crashed, and it took a while to get it fixed. The other reason is that we have been travelling all over the place this summer, but more on that later!

We are so excited to announce

We were able to have our gender reveal party down at the beach surrounded by friends and family. It was a wonderful day!! We have already been so blessed! We can't wait to meet our precious little girl!





My Dad

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I just wrote a post about my Mom, and now I want to share

a post about my wonderful Dad.

 

Tomorrow is Father's Day.

I am somewhat beginning to see my Dad through new eyes now

that my sweet husband will become a Daddy at the end of this year.

I am so thankful for my Dad.

 

He truly lives his life to be an example for his children.

He does not simply tell us with his words how we need to act.

He lives it out.

He is an extremely hard worker.

He is a planner.

He is organized.

He takes our Mom on dates and little getaway trips.

He took us on adventures like bike rides, four wheeler rides, jeep rides,

snorkeling excursions, and snow skiing trips.

He did morning devotionals with us before school.

He prayed with each of us individually before bed every night.

He is a giver to others.

He went to ball games and ballet recitals.

He gave piggyback rides.

He swam with us in the ocean so we wouldn't be afraid.

He stood with me on our back patio during hurricane Opal holding my hand and told me

there was nothing to be afraid of because God would always protect us. He said there is never any storm too big for God.

On my wedding day during our Father-Daughter dance, he told me

his children are his greatest treasure.

 

I am so proud to call him my Dad.

I am so thankful for his example and influence in my life.

There is nothing better than a Daddy who prays for his children, supports them

no matter what, and loves them unconditionally.

 

Happy Father's Day 2014!

 

 

 

Moms' Night Out

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OK so this movie was SO good. I can NOT remember the last time

I laughed and cried so much during a movie. It was hilarious!

I believe it was a mixture of pregnancy hormones, thinking about becoming

a mom, and being so grateful for my mom.

I would totally see this movie again.

 

My Mom is a stay-at-home-mom.

I am the oldest of 6 children.

For over 27 years of my mother's life she has been a Mom.

BUT she has not been just any mom. She has been OUR Mom.

Watching this movie made me realize how she probably felt quite often.

She was the one who was:

stuck with us all day

cleaning up after us

playing with us

keeping us safe

cooking for us

disciplining us

dressing us

driving us

dealing with sibling rivalry

dealing with tantrums

 

BUT

 

She never made it seem like that above list is what she was doing.

This is what I remember:

encouraging us

supporting us

reading to us

singing to us

dreaming with us

drawing with us

talking with us

listening to us

believing in us

loving us

 

She never made it seem like work.

She never made it seem like she gave up anything.

Her life was all about us.

While she was doing all of the above in both lists, she was not napping or going out with friends.

She was not shopping or spending time pampering herself.

She was doing loads and loads of laundry.

She was keeping the house clean.

She was cooking for a family of 5 then a family of 8.

She was praying with Daddy everyone morning before he left for work.

She was painting my nails and braiding my hair.

She did all of this with a smile.

I am sure she felt lonely and overwhelmed at times just like the moms in the movie, but

she never showed it to us.

She sacrificed so much for us.

As I sit here at 16 weeks pregnant imagining becoming a Mommy,

I hope and pray that I can be as good and strong and gracious and warm and encouraging and smart and loving as my Mom is.

 

I am so excited to welcome our little one

into this world, and I am so ready for my Mom to meet our little one.

 

I am so blessed to have the Mom that God gave me.

 

If you haven't seen this movie, you really should go see!

 

 

5 on Friday Pregnancy Edition

 

 

 

It has been quite a while since I have posted a 5 on Friday.

Since finding out that my husband and I are expecting in November,

life has been a bit different around our house.

Now that the school year is over, and it

is finally summer I have more time to blog!

I thought I would do a pregnancy edition today!!

 

1. How far along and gender: I am 14 weeks, and we will find out the gender in July!!

 

 

 

2. Baby size and movement: our little baby is the size of a peach, and I am so excited to begin feeling movement in a few weeks!!!

 

 

 

3. Sleep and Food Cravings: Once I get to sleep, I sleep pretty well. I get up often to use the

restroom then toss and turn for a while until I get back to sleep. I had pretty bad morning sickness

and wasn't able to eat much. Now that the nausea has finally subsided I am so hungry. I have been craving eggs and grits, cereal and milk, pickles and ketchup, French fries, and watermelon!!

 

 

 

4. Best Moment and Happy or Moody: I am so excited to go to the doctor this Monday and hear our baby's heartbeat! I am very happy this week! God is so good! The only time I get emotional is during

a sweet song or commercial.

 

5. Symptoms and Looking forward to: I have headaches, but that is about it. I am looking forward to feeling our baby move, finding out the gender, and beginning the nursery!!

 

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

 

 

 

 

Our Little Miracle

 

I am so excited to officially announce

that my husband and I

are expecting our first child

 in November 2014!

 

I will be 14 weeks on Saturday.

We were able to share the news with our families

right before Mother's Day, and it was very special.

We are humbled and blessed and thankful

that God chose to give us this gift.

 

We are already so in love and can't wait

to meet our precious baby!

God's timing truly is so amazing, and I am looking forward

to this new adventure. My sweet husband has been so amazing. My

first trimester has been rough to say the least. Morning sickness is only one of

my many symptoms. Thankfully the closer I get to Saturday I have

been feeling much better! I am just so overjoyed that I couldn't wait to share

our wonderful news with all of our family and friends. God has blessed us

with our very own little miracle, and I am just so happy!

 

 

A Heart FULL of Thankfulness

As I sit here listening to the rain on this early Friday morning, I am humbled by just how AWESOME God is. This time last year my life had hit such a low point. I had just found out I would no longer be teaching at the same school, I had no clue where I was going to find a job, and we were having to look for a new place to live. Last summer was hectic to say the least. I feel as though all I did was go on job interviews. These interviews would go so well then nothing would come of them. What I didn't see while I was in the midst of the storm was that God was weaving together His timeline - HIS PLAN for my life. He was setting things into motion that would place me exactly where I am today. These last 12 months have been a journey of learning what it truly means to trust God. He is in control NOT me. Only in my weakness and dependency could he work in and through my life. While we didn't know how we would survive financially month to month, God always provided. It has always been difficult for me to ask for help especially financial help. I would guess it stems from a first-born thing as well as a pride thing. This year we have had to humble ourselves in ways that were very uncomfortable, but God used those times to show us His power and His great love for us. We are so thankful for all the help and support of our families. Last year God was able to work in my life and prove His faithfulness to me time and time again. I truly know from the deepest parts of me that I can count on God; He will always take care of me. To be a child of God is such a wonderful thing. I was also able to reflect on many things through this year's journey of waiting on God. I realized I can look back to several times in my life when God was trying to teach me to wait on Him and those times helped to prepare me for this past year. It seems silly now, but as a teenager I did not have many boyfriends. Most of my friends had boyfriends as well as my sister. I remember praying to God and asking Him for a boyfriend. I felt as if I had to wait FOREVER. Now though I can look back and be thankful that I only had a few boyfriends. I am so thankful to God that I did not share my heart with too many young men. I am so humbled by God's plan to bring Michael and I together, and I am thankful that I did not have a long line of relationships before dating Michael. In the grand scheme of things, I realize now that I didn't actually have to wait that long to find Michael. BUT when you are in the midst of waiting it seems to take forever. That was the case with my Exit Exams to be able to intern before I could graduate from college. I had to take sections of that exam over and over and over again. I was so worried I wouldn't graduate. It seemed to take so long for me to finally pass all the sections. I knew that nothing but God's grace and mercy would get me through that time in my life. When I decided to rely on Him instead of myself, I finally passed. Then God thought it was time to work on the whole waiting thing again. During the course of our 6 year dating relationship, we had so very many friends get engaged and married before we ever graduated from college. I didn't understand why I was having to feel so left out. Why did I have to wait SO long. Of course I was elated for my friends; I just wanted to share in their joy and experience that stage of life at the same time. Michael and I had decided early on that we would not get married until we had both graduated from college. I know God put that in our hearts, but sometimes it was very difficult to accept that when all my friends were getting married and starting their lives together as husband and wife. Then the day finally arrived!! Michael proposed to me, and it was THE BEST DAY EVER!!! We were college graduates, and we were engaged. Life was grand! Then there was another lesson in waiting on the Lord! Boy was He trying to get me attention! Ideally we both wanted jobs before marriage. Living requires money, and we didn't have any! We both began interviewing right away. It was pretty much a series of rejection. The waiting was stressful and exhausting. Then God did something amazing. You really do have to appreciate His timing and his humor. I received THE CALL with my first ever job offer THE DAY BEFORE our wedding! I was humbled and blown away. The Lord is my shepherd and I shall NOT want! It was such an amazing feeling knowing we could go on our honeymoon completely carefree because when we returned we would both begin our new jobs. The Lord wanted me to learn to wait on Him in all those previous times as preparation for what was going to happen in April of 2013. Losing my job was certainly a hard pill to swallow, but as I reflect now I am so grateful God worked out everything exactly the way He did. I am now teaching 7th and 11th grade English at a great school that is close to home (so no more hour long commute). I know that there is no perfect school, and that all schools have their faults because schools are run by humans and all humans are flawed. I also know that I have found a place where I can be the teacher God designed me to be. This week leading up to Easter was Spiritual Emphasis week, and all the services were just so amazing. God is not only doing an awesome work in our school, but He is using the people of that school to continue His work in my life. I have only been teaching these students a few weeks, but I already care so much about them. I am humbled and honored that God chose me to help reach them with His love. My prayer is that He will use me to show His light and truth for their lives. I am so very thankful for all of God's lessons on waiting in my life. Time after time He continues to prove that He truly does have a great plan for my life. Thankfully now I can go into the next lesson of waiting knowing so genuinely that He will give me the desires of my heart in His Time. Michael and I want nothing more than to be parents. We have been trying for 15 months. I know there is a reason God is having us wait. I know that we can trust God and that He will work out all the details in His time. God says my faith can move mountains so I choose to believe that my faith can bring me the desires of my heart in the form of a baby. We look forward to growing our family. We are excited about what God has planned to teach us this year. In the midst of the storm, it may seem as though there is no end to your misery in sight, but know that God always has a plan. I for one am glad the He is in control. I wouldn't want it any other way. My heart is so full of joy and peace and love and gratitude. God is certainly not dead! He is most definitely living on the inside of me, and He has a great plan for my life! God is so good!

5 on Friday

 

 

 

 

I realize I am a little late, but this has been the best week

I have had in a long time. I must share about it.

God has been so good to me. I have 5 super 

great things I am loving this week!

 

1. My New JOB

I began teaching 7th and 11th grade English this week

at a school that is only 15 minutes from my house.

I have had just the most amazing time. The school

is great and the students are awesome! I am

so blessed.

 

2. It is APRIL!

I love this month for a multitude of reasons.

Currently this week the weather has been 

beautiful, and we have the most 

gorgeous flowers growing in our yard.

 

 

 

3. April is my Birthday month!

I will be 27, and I am actually super excited!

Michael is always great about surprising me, and

I am looking forward to seeing what he has for me this year.

Two years ago he whisked me away to Savannah GA for a surprise trip!

It was the best trip ever!

 

4. 1 Year Blogging Anniversary

On April 12 my little blog will celebrate being a blog for

1 entire year! Be looking for some reflection posts in the future!

I have truly loved every minute of blogging!

 

5. My Hubby

This guy is just so great!

Every day with him just gets better and better, and

now we get to work at the same school! I love getting to

eat lunch with him and talk with him during the middle of

the day! This has definitely been a great week!

 

 

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

 

 

 

 

Announcement

 

 

I want to take a quick moment to give all glory, honor, and praise to God.

He has provided me with a new job. I am thrilled!!!

I will be posting more details in April after I begin.

I am so thankful for God and all that He has done for me. He is so good!!

My God is so faithful. I look forward to this next part of the journey.

God is SO good!

 



5 on Friday

 



 

5 Reasons Why I Love my Husband

 

1.       He is a COMEDIAN

Michael and I met in 7^th grade. He has been making me smile and laugh like no other person ever could since the beginning. This is very important to me. I always say Michael is the fun one in our relationship and I am the serious one. He brings so much joy and laughter into my life. I am so grateful for his special way to always bring a smile to my face.

 

2.       He is a good LISTENER

He quickly figured out that sometimes all I want to do is talk and vent and don’t necessarily need a solution to the issue at hand. He listens to all my dreams, problems, and little stories that happen  throughout the day. I am sure he gets tired of listening to me because boy can I talk, but he never acts like it. I am so thankful he is willing and caring enough to listen to me when I need his thoughts, advice, or just his ear. I love him so much.

 

3.       He is my SUPPORTER

I am constantly torn between my dreams and being realistic. Michael is so great about being supportive of what I want to do with my life. He not only supports our family financially, but he supports my hopes and dreams. This is also so important to me. He believes in me and my abilities. Sometimes he believes in me even when I do not believe in myself. I need his encouragement, and he gladly gives it. I am so appreciative of his constant support of me mentally, physically, spiritually, and emotionally.

 

4.       He is my PROVIDER

I realize that supporter and provider are similar. I just needed an entire number to say I am so thankful for his hard work. His job is very demanding and often follows him home and keeps him busy on the weekends. He is the Athletic Director of a local school, and there is always some problem for him to fix or event for him to organize. He is very dedicated to his job even when he is totally exhausted. I am so proud of all his hard work especially when I lost my job in May. Praise the Lord I start a new job next week in April. He provides a comfortable life for me and I am so grateful. While he works so hard he still comes home and knows how to make me feel special. He does so much for our little family. Even after a long day at work, he will come home and play with our rambunctious puppy. Watching the two of them together truly melts me heart. I am so in love with this man.

 

5.       He LOVES me for me

This one is pretty self-explanatory. We have known each other for 14 years and been a couple for 9 years. We know each other fairly well. He knows my flaws and my good attributes. He has seen me at my best and my worst. No matter what he still loves me. He loves me for who I am. Michael is the best guy for me. I am so thankful that he chose me. I love going through life by his side.

 

 

 



5 on Friday

I am linking up again today for 5 on Friday!! I am so happy it is the weekend again!! This has been a great week! I have so much to be thankful for!!!!!

 

1. My handsome husband

He is the best guy for me.

He works so hard for our

family. He knows how to

make me feel special. I love 

when we laugh together.

He makes my life so much better.

In 4 months we will be celebrating

3 years of marriage. I love him

so much!

 

 

 

2. My number two are some of my sisters. My sister in the middle

turned 18 in September, and my sisters-in-law turn 18 this month.

All three will graduate from high school in May. I am so proud of them!!!!!

 

 

3. Biore Deep Pore Charcoal Cleanser

4. Lancôme Advanced Genifique Youth Activating Concentrate

5. Loreal Youth Code Pore Vanisher

 

 

 

I will be trying all of these new products next week.

I turn 27 in April, and my skin is changing. I must find something

that will work better for my face. I have fair, dry, sometimes red, blotchy, sensitive skin.

If you have any ideas for skin care, please let me know!

Happy Friday everyone!