I AM A MOTHER!!!!

On October 22, I gave birth to the most precious, beautiful child the world's ever seen! My sweet baby boy. Oh, I love him so! He was 8 lbs, 15 oz. and 19.5 inches long.... dark hair and gorgeous olive skin. He has my eyes and nose, and his daddy's mouth and chin. He has the most perfect little hands and toes, and he is the love of my life. I fell in love the moment I saw him! I had him via c-section, and he was actually 3 weeks early and they still considered him full-term. He was due November 11th.... and at just shy of 9 lbs, he would have been well over that had he been on time. I'm so glad he came when he did!


Today he is 2 months and almost 3 weeks old. He is smiling and cooing, and even laughing on occasion! I love him so much I feel like I might burst. Love just isn't a big enough word.

A Baby Boy!

Yesterday we had our 5-month Ultrasound, and we found out that we are going to have a son! I cannot tell you how excited I am! He is getting so big and beautiful, and I am filled with joy. Troy is already proud of his little boy- the nurse just kept saying, "Woah, yep, it's most definitely a boy!"  and I just smiled and squeezed his hand. Not at all surprised!  :) 

Time Flies

I cannot believe that I am going to be a mother. I just can't believe it. Sometimes it hits me out of the blue and I am dumbfounded at how fast time goes by. Yesterday I was a little girl playing with my brother in our backyard, making clubhouses and swinging on the tire swing our Dad made. Yesterday I was walking the halls of my high school with my girl friends, looking for the boys we liked, then blatently ignoring them (and giggling) as we walked by. I just graduated college, I just met my husband and fell in love with him. My own Dad and Mother just gave me away at my wedding. Now, here we are, living in Alabama and I am 3 months away from being a mother myself. It amazes me. Sometimes I find myself lost inside my own mind, seeing moments so clear I could have just lived them, and they were years ago.


I am so excited to have a baby that is part of me and my wonderful, handsome husband. I am looking forward to us creating a family and raising him together the best that we can. I am however, a little anxious about the labor/childbirth part. I don't know what to expect and I am tired of hearing people tell me how much pain I am in for. How it was the worst thing they've ever felt in their lives, and that is it was absolute agony.... But, of course, "you forget it as soon as they're born." This does not comfort me very much, people. I can handle pain but to a point.... but I do NOT deal well with anticipation.I am a "rip-the-bandaid-off" kind of girl. Like, if someone was to say, "Something has happened and I need to talk to you, but I"ll call you tomorrow...." ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? Um, NO, you'll tell me now! I'm not going to sit for hours and wonder what the H is happening.... tell me now, or shush and don't bring it up in the first place, for crying out loud! You know what I'm saying?? Seriously. I don't want to wait and wait for it, whatever it is.

I just want it to happen so I can get through it and enjoy life with my baby son. I know I am supposed to just enjoy the ride, but all the waiting and anxiety about what it may feel like and what it may be like, being left to my imagination, it frustrates me sometimes. Especially at night. When I am left to only the thoughts in my mind, it runs like the Energizer Bunny and won't let me have any peace. AHH!! Oh well, that is what God and prayer is for. My sweet husband always reminds me to leave it up to our Heavenly Father, and that whatever he wants for me, for us and for our son, is exactly what will be. I just need to have faith and trust Him. He reminds me that we are never alone.

Webster! :)

So, I have the CUTEST NEW PUPPY EVER!!!!!!  

Oh you guys, he is the sweetest thing! Troy and I just last week got him from our local shelter, and he is a 4 month-old lab/hound mix, and his name is Webster. He is brown and white and so cute it kills me!  :) He's got huge paws, so it looks like he'll be a big boy. He looks like a boxer in his face and especially in his ears, and he is stocky, so who knows how big he'll get! I love this little guy so much! We are in the midst of trying to house train him and it is a slow process, but he really is in all areas such a smart little pup.... he already knows how to sit and lay down on command and without words, and he can shake! He sleeps in our room, and lucky me, every night I get to hear snoring in stereo! AHHH, I love him I love him!!!!!  :)  He is perfect for Troy and me.... he is fun-loving, loves to play and run, and he's also a snuggler! A big time snuggler, this was HUGE for me! I wanted a puppy that would grow to cuddle and be affectionate but also be really active and playful, so we got the best of both worlds I think!  I'm just so happy that we got him.

Maui Wedding

Just got home late last week and boy, what a wonderful trip it was.... Troy and I went for his brother's Wedding, and it really was a great time! We left from Atlanta and flew into Maui a few days before Thanksgiving, and did a lot of fun and exciting things, such as leaping  off of cliffs, snorkling, swimming with sea-turtles, hiking and jumping into clear water lagoons from rope swings!  Great fun! I got a sea-side massage and saw a sting ray.... and a big school of those silver fish from "Finding Nemo," you know, the ones that made shapes for Dori to guess??  Anyway, that was very cool.... We enjoyed our Turkey Day dinner at a Luau in Wailea, and the wedding reception at the Four Seasons.... yeah, they really pulled together an awesome bash, let me tell you. But the best part was that it cost us $20 to get there! Sky-Miles covered the whole trip, can you believe it?
Anyway, I know, I seriously need to shut up, so I'll close now.... just wanted to share what I've been up to.... now back to trying to find a job here in Tiny Town, Alabama.

Our Wedding and Honeymoon! So AWESOME!

 I am officially Mrs. Smith!!!! (How cool is that?!?!!!)

The whole weekend was awesome.... Friday, Bekah got in to the airport and Daddy and I picked her up, and we passed the time together smoking our traditional reunion cigars and giggling all day! It was the best!  Then that night, we went to meet up with Cris and Jules who drove in that day on a loooong trip from here in Va, and I am indebted to them for it, 'cause I know it was a long day, but they took a nap and then we went to the hotel, and there I was presented with a big ass blinking ring and a hot pink sash that said "Bachelorette" that I was instructed to wear for the night! We went out and then my cousin, Niki (Maid of Honor) met us there in town and we had a fabulous night, eating great food, drinking and laughing....it was a perfect party! We then went to the grocery store, stocked up on wine and snacks and went back to the hotel room, played cards (Apples to Apples, so fun!), and all of us piled into the two beds and fell asleep.
Saturday we got our nails done (took a very long time since this is a small town and there were only a few people who could do them at a time). and so we drank champagne and had snacks and hung out 'till the Rehearsal Dinner! Rennie arrived, and we all headed over to the restaurant, where we met up with Rebecca and Ian, and all of our friends and family! We had the whole place to ourselves, had delicious food and wine and great conversation, and it was a blast!
The Wedding Day.... June 24th.  .... it could not have been a more beautiful day!  We got our hair did, and headed over to the church to get dressed.  And just as I put on my Wedding dress, not 5 minutes later we all look down as I am getting ready to walk out into the lobby, and there on the floor is the whole bottom of my dress, ripping off onto the ground, hanging by threads. You could have heard a pin drop in that room, as all eyes turned to me to see what I was going to.... would she cry? would she faint? would she freak out and beat somebody over the head with her bouquet?  Nah, we just tore the rest of it off, brushed some clear nail polish to keep it from fraying, and after I had one unsavory moment that passed, I composed myself and we were off!
They rang the bells for us, which everybody else heard but me, for some reason!  :)   Then, I took my Daddy's arm and we walked up to the french doors. We looked at each other and smiled, and headed down the isle. It was AWESOME!!!!!!!  Troy looked incredible in his dress blues, and his dad, brother, my brother and Troy's best friend were all there smiling!
After the ceremony, and the lighting of the unity candle, we stood at the alter, and Troy's friends from the Honor Guard at Arlington, I know them lovingly as Chubbs and Perry, walked down the isle to us, and crossed their swords, instructed us to kiss in order to pass, and then Perry swatted me on the ass with his sword, welcoming me to the Army!
 We rode in a Cadilac Convertable to the Reception, doing 80 the whole way, all thewhile our driver blasted the horn for all it was worth,and everyone in town waved!  We got to the reception, and though a lot of it is a blur, I remember vividly my first dance with my Dad to "What a Wonderful World," and with Troy to Dierks Bentley's "Good Things Happen," (w/ Alison Krauss) and with my brother to "Gettin' Jiggy with It," and "Baby Got Back," (Troy's ringtone for whenever I call him!)  We ate great food and  drank wine and champagne, and danced our fool heads off! We sang,"Pour Some Sugar On Me," and did some swing dancing, and my neice Samantha stole the show with her own gettin' jiggy all over the dance floor, the whole night!  :)   Little mini-me, I tell ya!
Ah, the Honeymoon!  Our Honeymoon was absolutely perfect! I can't tell you how much fun we had, It was awesome! We spent most of our time on the beach laying out and swimming. We went snorkeling and saw all sorts of neat fish and fan plants and urchins….Troy saw a barracuda! We went shopping and visiting in Christianstead and went to a Wedding on our beach! A sweet couple from Texas, who are our age, renewed their vows after 10 years of marriage! It was so beautiful! We went to a HUGE "Pirate's Buffet" at our resort on our last night, and we ate like kings and queens, and watched stilt-dancers perform 18 feet in the air and drank Banana Coladas and Lime in the Coconuts and drank 'em both up, and we each ate about 10 Alaskan King Crabs each, easy!!  And smoked cigars and drank at night on the beach under the stars, and we night-swam in the ocean, and lounged in the pool one night with 3 other couples, and it was perfect. Just perfect.
....and there you have it.

Well, I had my first boxing class yesterday at 6 AM, and can I just say that it was probably one of the hardest things I have ever done. Seriously, I will spare you the details, but basically my body was pretty pissed at me for pushing myself so hard, and it let me know on no uncertain terms that it was not appreciated! At all. I could hardly stand afterwards, and was embarrased of the fact that even though I've exercised, more so lately for my wedding, I felt like I wanted to curl up in a ball and cry afterwards, it was so tough! But today I feel fantastic, and so glad that I am finally getting the chance to learn something I have wanted to for a long time. It is not going to be easy, that's for sure, but I am excited to get going with this! I don't have any interest in contending, certainly won't be anywhere near ready to do that for probably a very long time, but that isn't really the point of it for me. It is so much fun, and it is one more thing I get to knock off my list of things I want to do before I check out.