Sister, Sister

We all have that one person in our life that kind of, sort of makes living worth while, right? Well...before I met my husband, it was my sister. She was my rock! She was the person that I went to with all my lifes problems. She was the person that helped me through all the good and bad times in my life. She was my best friend! I would still like to consider her that person. Even though we really don't talk that much anymore. We don't really hang out as often as I would like to. She's still my sister, and I think one day, maybe once Chloe gets a little bigger, things will change. We will be able to have that sister time again. I hope. I miss it. We used to just laugh at stupid things for no reason. We could cry together if it needed to be done...there was just so many things that I could tell her, and I knew it wouldn't get out to anybody else. That's what sister's are for, right?
I remember when I was about 10 years old, she payed for Modeling classes for me. That was my dream when I was 10 years old. I wanted to be a model. I loved Tyra Banks...LOL! (I just laugh at that statement now) But for real! I loved all that glitz and glam...that's who I wanted to be when I grew up!! Well....obviously, that didn't happen. Being that I'm all of a 5'1" female. That doesn't exactly get you too far in the modeling industry. I remember a few years ago they did ANTM for the short girls and the shortest was um....5'5" I believe...ugh...that's NOT SHORT! I'm short! LOL!
Ok, so enough of that.
Back to how amazing my sister has been in my life. She's been my rock. And I wouldn't have grown up to be the person I am if I didn't have her guiding me. I'm very thankful for her, and I just hope that one day in the near future we can re-kindle that relationship that we once had. I would love for Chloe to have as great of an Auntie as I have in a sister.

The much needed, way overdue Vacation

The hubby, the baby and I went on a vacation this past weekend to Harbor Springs, MI. It was gorgeous!! It was just a little, long weekend getaway, but it was much needed. Our last vacation we drove to NY, and we didn't really get to relax. As much fun as it was, it wasn't much of a vaca. We had to drive a lot to go around to see all of Andy's family. Which, was really nice to see them, since none of them had met Chloe yet.

So onto this vacation. We left Saturday morning. And for a 4 hour drive it wasn't too bad. About an hour before we arrived Chloe started screaming for pretty much no reason. We pulled over and I changed her and let her relax out of her car seat for about 10 minutes. That seemed to do the trick.

We were able to make it to the condo. So we got unpacked and then went into town to grab some lunch. Had some really good burgers, and got Chloe a grilled ham and cheese, that she really didn't like. LOL! She only wanted to eat our french fries. Whatev...lol! So then we went to grab some groceries to stock our fridge so we didn't have to eat out everyday. Got a few things, and went back to the condo. We relaxed for a bit, and then took a walk down to the water. It was gorgeous, and Chloe LOVED it! She loved walking up and down the beach and watching the water and the animals in the water.

The first night didn't really go as planned as far as sleeping goes. Well, we really didn't have any plan really. We didn't know how the bedrooms would be layed out. So the plan was just to wing it. There were 3 bedrooms upstairs with 2 like twin beds or bunk beds in them. So that wasn't an option for us to sleep in. So we figured we would put Chloe up there. Well...that was a bad idea. LOL! Because she fell asleep in my arms while she was drinking her baba, and woke up during the long walk up the stairs, she just tossed and turned for the 3-4 hours before we decided to go o bed. So I finally decided to get her and just bring her into bed with us. Well...that was a bad idea. She screamed bloody murder. So after not being able to calm her down, I took her on the couch and just layed her on my chest in hopes she would be able to relax. She did, and we both got a little bit of sleep. Woke up at around 6:40 to pee and took her into bed. Then we were able to get another hour or so of sleep and I slept in a little after Andy took her out when she woke up. But the next 2 nights we just brought her pack n play in our room and we ALL slept soundly the next 2 nights.
You Live and You Learn!
The trip was amazing. And except for her not going #2 for over 24 hours, and then having a REALLY hard time when she finally had to....screaming her lungs out for hours....and no sleep the first night...it was a very relaxing few days. Much needed!!

Meet Lenny. Daddy bought this for her on our way up to Mackinac City.

And that, my friend is the Mackinac Bridge...the one Bridge that I will NEVER EVER drive across!!

Too Late to Apologize?

I hope not....
I made a blog about my wedding, and got way too into all the negative and bad things that happened. It pissed some people off. I deleted the post, and I am going to try and make up for my idiotic fail here. I hope....
So The only bad things I can really say that stick with me are the fact that the DJ couldn't find his CD with our First Dance song on it. And then the bathrooms backed up. But that's about it.
My hair and makeup looked SMASHING! Thanks to my sister!
The Food was GLORIOUS!! Thanks to my sister from another Mother, and my mother.
The ceremony was amazing because of our good Friend Jamie who became ordained just for us.
All the guests had a great time, and all we heard from everyone was how great of a time they had, and how beautiful everything was.
The tent looked amazing, even though a wind storm almost blew it down the night before. But it was up and standing for the reception. Kudos to the guys that fixed the corner that collapsed.
So now that I've gotten that all cleared up. I think that we should talk about my gorgeous wedding shower. My Sister, Sister from another mother, and my mother in law are all to thank for that. My Sister and Sister from another mother (Lisa and Jennifer) helped with set up, and clean up and also took it upon themselves to buy things to make the prizes and centerpieces and all that good stuff. Everything was a beach theme and looked absolutely BEAUTIOUS!! Jennifer made a 3 tier cake with chocolate sea shells covering it. OMG-let me tell you! Girl CAN BAKE!!! It was amazing!! Everything turned out awesome!!
So, what's next?
The food for the wedding (sorry I'm kind of going back and forth here) I'm just typing things as they come to me.
My Mom and Dad got this guy to set up his grill and cook for us. So that was awesome!! Jennifer made her world famous mosticholli (thats not how its spelled) and there were all kinds of other things like chocolate fountain with strawberries and bananas and snacks too. It was awesome!!
So, the wedding shower, the hair, the makeup, the food, the ceremony, the great people that helped it go off with a bang...did I miss anything??
I will take this moment to publicly apologize to my sisters for the words that came out wrong in the first blog. I wasn't thinking, I'm new at this whole blog thing, and I'm sorry. I hope that you guys will continue to read.

Blonde vs Brunette

Since I could remember, I was always a blonde. I think I started dying my hair at about 12 years old. When my parents went on vacation and I stayed with my sister, she cut and highlighted my hair. And ever since that point, I just liked being blonde better. (DUH! Blondes have more fun...) Well that got to be expensive. My hair grows like a weed....and the upkeep got to be a little too much. For awhile, my sister did it. But as I got older, and wanted it done more and more often, she wouldn't do it anymore. So then once I got a job I started doing the every 8 weeks thing. And as it looked AWESOME, it got to be really expensive. Because I wasn't just getting the little highlights here and there. I wanted my whole head blonde. So it was all over highlights.
Fast forward to me getting pregnant and hair growing LOTS faster then normal, and roots GALORE! NOT cute!! So I made the drastic decision to go back to my roots. Literally! I went brunette....and it was dark. But I fell in love with it! And that's how I've been ever since. So here's the reason for this blog. My husband LOVES me as a blonde, so I need your opinion....do I stay brunette, or go back blonde? Here's a reference....what looks better??

So What Wednesday!!

So, here is my first So What Wednesday Link up with Shannon Dew!

This week I'm saying SO WHAT if....

• Chloe JUST started drinking ONLY milk, and not Milk mixed with water and/or formula
• I know that I need to go to the chiropractor....but that shit cost $$! If I don't need it, I'm not going!
• I'm annoyed that I'm not getting my Twitter notifications on my phone....UGH! Stupid Smart phones!
• More often then not, I just throw my hair in a side bun so I don't have to dry it....
• 13 months later, I'm finally putting my foot down on this extra weight! It's time...

Pregnancy and Miss Chloe

I remember the day like it was yesterday. Finding out that we were pregnant. I believe the day that I took the test was December 11th. 2009. And as I said in my previous blog, I took the test and got in the shower. Peeking to see if it had completed every few seconds, but finished and hopped out and checked it and immediately got like the biggest happy face! Ran into the bedroom where Andy was still in bed and jumped on hugged him! We were both so happy!!
So as for the pregnancy, everything went pretty smooth....with the exception of the first few weeks. We though we miscarried. At about 6-7 weeks I started bleeding. I hadn't even seen the doctor yet because they won't see you until you are at least 8 weeks. So I called the doc the next day, explained what was happening, and they got me in that day. Did an ultrasound. Told us that either I had a condition where my uterus was like split, OR we were having twins...UH....NO! That's not an option! So after like 3-4 weeks of just freaking out we went back to the doctor to have another ultrasound done. Confirmed that we are pregnant, with just 1 baby, and it's perfectly normal and on track. So we were happy. Here I am, happy at 4 weeks!!

And then I found out that my cousin Shannon, who I haven't seen in over 10 years was pregnant too! Now THAT was super exciting. Totally gave us a reason to talk again, and reconnect. And now we have been talking pretty much everyday for the past like 2 years. It's been great!!
Here I am at 20 weeks....

I didn't really have any sickness throughout the pregnancy. I did get the flu a few times, or what seemed to be something to that effect. The puking and other stuff. But other then that, I was fine. I had a great pregnancy. I got REALLY big though....by the end, I got to the point where I didn't want to sit, stand or lay down. Everything was just uncomfortable. It was horrible. I just couldn't wait for her to come out.
So, August 19th was my 40 weeks.

As you can see, I was HUGE!!!!! Humungo! Like I was shocked that she was still inside...I couldn't believe it. I went to the doctor and they checked me and said that I was still only about 3cm and like 80% effaced. WHAT?! Are you KIDDING ME?! "Get this baby OUT" is what I was thinking in my head! So I hadn't changed much in the week that I had been in last. So the doctor stripped my membranes and made the comment that he didn't think that I would make it through the weekend. They were planning to schedule my induction for that following Tuesday if I didn't go naturally on my own. I had been having little tiny contractions at work that morning, but nothing that I was concerned about. So I went back to work. No big deal. Got through the end of the day, went home and still felt just fine. No different then I had. We went to bed that night, and I woke up every hour on the hour to pee. As normal. And then 1:30 rolled around. I woke up with some pains. And I couldn't go back to sleep....so I tried to pay attention at much as I could at 1:30am to see how far apart they were. Well...they were pretty close. At that time about 7-8 minutes apart. But that wasn't good enough for me. I tried my best to go back to bed. The bed wasn't wet, therefore my water hadn't broken yet. I was good. I wanted to sleep more. LOL! And so I tried to go back to sleep....tried, and tried and tried. Nothing was working. Finally, Andy woke up around 3. He asked if I was ok. I told him that I thought I was having contractions. So he got up and called the doctor. She asked how far apart they were. About 6-7 minutes now. So she told us to get to the hospital. So I hopped in the shower, Andy made us some food, and we got in the already packed for the hospital truck, and headed on out. We got to the hospital around 4am. Signed in and got to our room. I waited for them to come in and check me to tell me that we were staying before I called my Mom who was 2 hours away. They came and check me, and said that we were going to have a baby at some point today. So I called my Mom around 5:30am.

She showed up about 2 hours later, and my water hadn't broken yet, so they came in and broke my water for me, and gave me pitosin. A few hours later, the contractions started to get really bad. To the point where I started to cry at the pain. It was really hard to take. So that's when I got my epidural. O-M-G! My life was perfect now. LOL!!! So when they finally came in to check on my after that, a few hours later, the epidural was starting to actually ware off. I was starting to feel the contractions again, and they were getting stronger and stronger. Oh boy....BAD! I don't ever want to experience that EVER again. So they topped off my epidural, and waited a little while. Came back in to check me again, and all of a sudden they turned on the warmer over the baby bed and got the bed all ready for me to put my legs up and stuff. I asked what was going on, and the nurse just simply said "It's time to start pushing" So before I knew it I was pushing and breathing and Andy was standing right next to me holding my leg....this was the longest hour of my life. But yes, it was ONLY an hour before she came out. I cried a sigh of relief when I heard her scream. That was the best sound EVER.
5:50pm. 8lb 6oz Chloe Makayla

Baby Fever

So, as you are aware, or maybe not. We do have a beautiful baby girl named Chloe. She is 13 months old and was born on August 20, 2010. She's the best thing that's ever happened to us and I love her more then life itself. But of course being that she is 13 months old, she is a handful. As all babies that age are, I would assume. LOL! But because these first few blogs are my very first ever, I guess I should tell ya'll how Chloe came about.
So I got Baby Fever QUITE awhile ago....EVERYBODY at my work was getting pregnant, and I wanted it. I wanted that nice big round belly...I wanted to feel my own baby kick me in the ribs and make me have to pee every 10 minutes. I wanted it for myself, but at that time Andy wasn't ready....and well...it kind of takes 2 to tango. So I waited, and waited and waited....and finally came the day. Andy asked me if I still wanted to have a baby. (Well, Duh!) So we kind of sat down and talked about it. How would we handle it, and the bills and the expenses and all that. Well, we decided to get Aflac. Which was the BEST thing we ever decided to do. For $57 a month, I didn't have to pay ANYTHING out of pocket for labor and delivery. It was AH-Mazing!!!
So, anyways, I stop taking the pill, and we get to working on this thing they call baby making. We worked and we worked, and we worked for what seemed like FOREVER. Every month I would get so excited that whether or not my period was late, I was taking a pregnancy test. I just wanted to know. Well...every month for 3 months it came back negative.
Finally, I started to feel really weird. Odd things were happening. I won't go into too much detail, but the normal boobs getting bigger and soar and tender and all that good stuff. This time, I think I KNEW that I was pregnant. So I actually waited until I was 5 days late to take the test that time. But being that it came back negative the past 3 months, I was still a little scared that it might this time too. So I peed in the little cup, used the dropper to suck it up and drop it on the little thingy and then I jumped in the shower. I couldn't stand to just stand there and wait..LOL! I'm impatient. So After what seemed like an eternity, I got out of the shower, and took a good look at the test, and Andy must have been just as impatiently waiting as I was. He was still in bed, and yelled to me, "So???" So, I yelled back to him, "Um, I think it's a yes!!" It was for sure a yes!! And I couldn't have been more happy!!!!
So, that's the story of us GETTING pregnant. Stay tuned for the Story of how the pregnancy went and how little Chloe was brought into this world

The day my life changed

Andy proposed to me in March of 2005. After that obviously wedding brain took over. Everything I thought about from that point on was wedding, wedding wedding! Until the day that I checked my Myspace....(yes, I said it...Myspace) and I had a message from some girl saying that she was my sister.....HUH?! Um, well unless your blonde and your name is Lisa, I don't know what you are talking about. She wasn't ANY of those things. She was like 14 years old, half black and well...NOT blonde. LOL! Her name is Shantell....and well, she wasn't lying. She was my sister. Half sister, but nonetheless, my sister.
So anyways, back to this Myspace message. In so many words it said that I was being lied to my whole life, that the parents that I know so well as Mom and Dad took me from my birth mother, and all this other stuff. So I kind of just put this to the side. I had a wedding to think about. I didn't want to be bothered. This girl OBVIOUSLY had the wrong girl. I messaged her back saying just that. "I'm sorry, but I truly, I think you have the wrong girl. I'm sorry I couldn't be of any help."
Well, that wasn't good enough for her. She kept messaging me and telling me all these things. I just brushed her off. Until she started posting baby pictures of me, and then adoptions papers and things with my name all over them. Ok, now I'm thinking WTF is going on?! I tell Andy what's going on, and he's just as skeptical. But with all this documentation and what not, I'm kind of a little interested to see what's going on.
So, after the best wedding EVER, and going on the BEST Honeymoon EVER....I take all this information to my Mom and am very excited for her to tell me what's going on. I pull up the pictures on Myspace and show them to her. Almost immediately she starts tearing up. And I look at her and the only words that come out of her mouth when I showed her a picture of the lady in question is, "yes, that is your birth mother."
So, 21 years old, JUST married, and I find out I'm adopted. BAM!! That's a bomb that I was NOT expecting.

We all start somewhere, right?

So, since this is my VERY first blog post EVER, I think it's necessary for a little back story first. So, I'm 25, I've been married for 4 years and we have a baby girl named Chloe. She's 1. But...HOW did we get here? Here's the story:

I graduated from good ol' Stevenson High School in 2004. My parents threw me a graduation party at my sister's house a little while after graduation. My brother-in-laws cousin Corey came with his (then) girlfriend Lindsay. Corey has a GREAT friend named Andrew. He was out partying somewhere that night, but Corey invited him to the party. The more the merrier, right? Well, Andrew was a little too intoxicated to this about relocating. So he didn't come...but of course he asked if there were any "hot 18+ year olds at the party...." Typical 23 year old male...lol!! Well, there was, it was me (toot toot) but I wasn't exactly single then. I was on the verge, but not yet.

So, fast forward a few weeks and we go to my 2nd grad party up north....which I almost didn't make it to. The BF at the time didn't want to go, and he was my ride up north...blah blah blah...so when we finally DID make it. Well that was the first time I saw Andy. He was cute. Kind of just my type. I liked what I saw. And obviously hated what I was with. So at the end of that weekend, I'm not sure why, but we needed a ride home. And well, Andy had a car...a nice one too. So we hitched a ride with him. When we got to the BF's house, I purposely left my phone in his car....and called him about 15 minutes later to come back. (well duh! I wanted to see him and tell him that I'd call him later.)

The next day, Lindsay called me and said that Andy wanted my phone # and I should go up to East Lansing to party with then that night...so I did. I called Andy, and met him at his house that night. We went to East Lansing. And woke up on the same couch the next morning.

I called the BF and broke that off...IMMEDIETLY! And from then on Andy and I were kind of a thing...we didn't go official until September 16th though. And then that November he took me on my first vaca to New York. FIRST TIME EVER on a plane! OMG! I'm sure he was just as scared as I was....LOL! THEN, in March he took me (and some friends) to his parents condo in Florida. OMG-Heaven!! That was when he proposed. (we won't go into detail about that)

So, that's pretty much how my life as a Seed started out. Stay tuned for some more fun facts and stories about life after the proposal! It gets interesting!