It's Our Anniversary

Well, tomorrow it is.

2 years married! (8 years together)

Time has just flown by. I cant believe it. I am so in love and so content with my life, I wouldn't want it any other way.

And OF COURSE, Steve went all out and got me my first pair of real diamond earrings... ever. They are BEAUTIFUL! He really shouldnt have spent that much money on me, but he said I was worth it ;)

Aren't they just GORGEOUS!?

I cant wait to show them off!

Happy Anniversary , Boo.   I love you!

Day at the Lake

After weeks of Steve and Ricky working on the pontoon boat, it was finally ready to go out on the water. Yesterday was such perfect weather, that we couldn't pass it up. Mom came over to watch Maddie. I didn't want to take her out on the boat just yet, and she was more than happy to spend time with her.

        

         

                        

         

        

         

How Im going to get rich!

Maddie has been eating solids, well... purees for a few weeks now. She is doing great with them, but of course she makes a mess. I have some of the cutest bibs and burp cloths & now they are stained from all the green beans, carrots & squash.

So here's my invention....

Baby Food Colored Bibs...

Army Green color for your green foods.
Autumn Orange for your carrots, squash, sweet 'taters... and so on.

Once I can get my hands on some fabric, patterns and Dana's sewing machine.. Im going to attempt to make Maddie some bibs.

We shall see how they go.
After googling some bib ideas... I could attempt to crochet one first. Couldn't be hard.

Will keep all you non-blog reading people updated!

Avery's Bucket List: - An amazing blog I found

Click here to see Avery's Journey

Avery has what is knows as SMA. Here's what Avery Blog tells us about it.

What is SMA:
SMA is currently an incurable disease caused be a genetic defect and it attacks the muscles which causes inefficiency of the major bodily organs - especially of the respiratory system - and eventually leads to death.  1 in 40 people are carriers of the SMA gene.  Meaning my mommy and daddy had a 1 in 1600 chance of both having it and even then there was only a 1 in 6400 chance I would get it. 

Effects of SMA and My Life Expectancy: 
I have already lost the ability to move my legs and eventually I will lose the ability to move my arms and my head.  When that happens it will be difficult and eventually impossible for my body to pump air through my lungs which is why most babies, like me, who are diagnosed with SMA type 1 have a life expectancy of less than two years of age with some dying in as little as a few months or even weeks of birth.  In some cases children like me can survive with the dependency of a respirator, but their quality of life is not very good and more often than not, the life expectancy is still less than ten years of age and even lasting past two years of life is not guaranteed.


Avery has a Bucket List, and she plans to fulfill each one! Help add more memorable activities and milestones to her list! So visit her blog:Avery Can and follow her journey.


I read this blog and I see a happy, loving baby. An amazing family making the very most of every second they have to spend with their daughter. I think it is an amazing story and I plan to follow this blog! I think it is important to research illnesses and the families who deal with them. It can teach you a lot about who you are as a person, who want to be & how you can help support others in just about anything! 

Mom Breast Feeding while in ICU

Breastfeeding, the ICU, support | The Leaky B@@b:

I saw this on Baby Center and read the whole article. Wow. Just wow. I am a big crying mess, like one of the commentors said. The baby got to stay in the hospital for 5 months, as Mom endured physical therapy and learning how to walk again. They would place him by her neck, as that was the only place she had feelings... just to be able to feel her little baby just a bit.

This part broke my little heart....

When her tube was removed and she was finally able to speak, Serena refused to say anything until she was holding Gooney Bear: she had yet to tell him she loved him.

“I wouldn’t speak to the nurses because I wanted my first words to be ‘I love you Gooney Bear.”

I couldn't imagine going through anything like this. I had to wait 30 minutes or so before I could hold Maddie. The cord was wrapped around her neck as she came out, making Daddy unable to cut the cord. She didn't make a peep for at least 45 seconds, but her Daddy was right by her side the whole time. I was so exhausted from labor, that I just laid there, watching them clean her and get her to make some noise. She sounded so weak and so little, but she was a happy & healthy baby.

Things like this make us count our blessings and remember whats important in life. Love, Family, Friends, and supporting those around you.

To my family, you are my world. All of you make me who I am and I am proud to say, you crazy bastards are my family!!

Found day care. Lost Day Care ...

What an effing battle it has been to find a daycare for Maddie. It has been overwhelming and eye opening.

After getting over the fear of putting Maddie in daycare, and having to relinquish control of my baby to a total stranger, we found a place. Her name is Laura and we absolutely loved her. Maddie had a great time meeting her as well. Laughing & shrieking.. it was a perfect fit... Until she lost her license after a surprise visit. There is a retaining wall at the back her property that has a hairline fracture in it. Since it's on her property, it has to be fixed before she can open up shop.

I spent Monday calling day care centers and in-home day cares from 10am-7pm. Places were either too expensive, extremely ghetto, crazy rules & non-open-door policies (wtf?), 15+ kids, I mean the list goes on. Im frantically leaving messages and trying to negotiate prices, as Im just getting back to work, when I get a message from a craigslist ad I responded to.

It was a lady named Karen. She had wanted to watch kids in her home, but up to 3 only. I was interested because of such a low child to caregiver ratio. She said that she no longer was able to provide child care, after getting a job offer over the weekend. However, she referred me to the sitter that she just placed her son with starting this week. Her name is Tammy and Karen said she loved her, and so did her son Tyler. (I think that's his name)

I called Tammy to get her rates and what they include, if anything. She quoted me one price, and it was way over our budget. I politely declined and we ended the call. A few hours later, she called back and offered a price that was within our range. I was elated. We agreed to meet at her place today and we hit it off almost immediately. Her house is better suited for children and she has her daughter there as helping hands.

All of the kids (4.. Maddie makes 5) were eating lunch and watching a learning video. Adorable. They've been learning shapes lately, so they were excited! Maddie loved Miss Tammy and let her hold her pretty much the whole time we were there. She didn't get upset or cry at all. I think she liked it as much as we did. The kids were getting ready for nap time so we told her we'd let her know by tonight if we would like her to watch Maddie.

I just called her and we are set to go. I am so excited that I feel so good about this person. I know it will be tough at first but Im doing what I have to to make a new life for us :)

Here's to new beginnings!

Night Out for the Parents

We've been wanting to go out for a while, just the two of us. You know, have some "us" time. Well, we decided we'd have Nana watch Maddie while we (me, Steve and my mom) went to Darrell Harwood's concert. We haven't been to any of his shows since I was 5 months pregnant, so it was time for another one.

Everything was planned, and we were really excited to hear some good, loud music and have some drinks with friends.

I picked Mom up at 3:30pm Saturday, and we came back to my house to get ready. She hasn't really gotten to spend much time with Maddie, or baby sit her at all since Ethan was born... so she decided to stay here and let us go out alone. Either way was fine with us, but I made sure Mom knew I didn't bring her over just for her to baby sit!

We get to Stooge's at about 9:15pm to get a good parking spot and front and center stage! We noticed the parking lot wasn't packed, as it usually is wherever Darrell was playing. We got the 2nd parking spot from the door and felt pretty lucky. Once we read the sign on the front of the building, we realized why we got such a great spot.

Fri: Darrell Harwood

Sat: Southern Justice

Well no freaking wonder the place looked dead, he played the night before!!! Ugh.. we were a little upset but quickly found something to do.

We went bowling! We bowled for 3 hours and played 6 games! We had drinks and ordered greasy chili cheese fries! It was a good time for just the two of us!

Before leaving the house.. I think...

Even though I lost, it was my highest score
in as along as I can remember!

A little tipsy... taking a pic for Steve while he was in the
gas station. I think its "work desk worthy" don't you?

& this is after we got home, hanging out
before going to bed.

All in all, we had a great time together. We definitely need to keep having these date nights. I think it brings us closer together and brings out the fun in us!

I love you Steve! You are the man of my dreams and the father of our beautiful baby girl. I could not be more happier with you and our little family. You've given me everything I could ever want, need, ask for and I thank you a million times over for being the amazing man you are. Maddie absolutely adores you and I just know she's going to be Daddy's little girl!

To all you first time parents out there.... please try to make time for your spouse, significant other. There's nothing like being with your child and spending time, don't get me wrong. But being able to connect with your spouse, and stay connected, is a whole nother emotion. Being happy in your marriage brings happiness to other aspects of your lives, in my opinion. All it takes is a little bit of effort to keep the ball rolling, and to keep the romance alive.