It’s been a really long time since I’ve posted and I’m really missing it. I find my days filled with chasing a toddler and cleaning up spilled milk from the never ending leaking sippy cup. I try to keep the dogs from stealing Avery’s snacks or from fighting with each other not to mention the new kitty. My hands are full but my heart is fuller. Don’t even try to tell me fuller isn’t a word. 😉
My husband is still teaching and is working a side job at a golf course restaurant. I’m so thankful for him. He has given me the opportunity to stay home and raise Avery. I know so many people who don’t get to do that. I have started with a network company called Rodan+Fields. I can see your eye rolls through the screen. Hear me out though. I looked into so many that seemed shady or that I just didn’t believe in. When I heard about r+f they had a great reputation and proven results. Naturally I had to try it… I fell in love with the results and had to tell everyone about it. I’m not going to try and sell you on it but I’d be happy to show you pictures of my before and after.
Anyway, that’s been our home life lately. We are blessed beyond measure. With the holiday season upon us I can’t wait to start new traditions and carry on the old. I can’t wait to blog and share with you guys along the way.
It’s Thursday morning about 7 o’clock and I’ve been up for a couple hours already with Avery. I find myself breastfeeding for the third time already this morning. It has honestly been a really hard process. The first few weeks I’ve heard are the worst and let me tell you there’s been a lot of tears from Avery and myself. The hospital told me most people don’t make it past 6 weeks with breastfeeding. So of course I decided to make that my personal goal. There’s been a lot of bleeding and scabs and soreness. I think we finally figured each other out. It’s a learning process but something I’m really glad I’ve been able to do for her.
I realize that I haven’t told you guys much about the delivery or my pregnancy. Things just got so busy so quickly.
I’m just going to recap quickly here about my pregnancy. It was my plan from the beginning to be able to work at my job up into the very end. I was so scared that my water was going to break at work. It was even the running joke with my boss that she was going to have to buy a new desk chair when I was done with it. Silly me for planning ahead. Things never go as planned. My whole pregnancy had been fairly easy. I hadn’t really had any problems besides my acne and my ocular migraines kicking up quite a bit. It was pretty much a textbook pregnancy. Of course, I worked in an OBGYN office for five years so my mind was always freaking out like, “I need to get past this week it’ll be considered a viable pregnancy. I need to get past this week and her lungs will be developed and need to get past this week and should be able to live outside of the womb.” Things like that always were crossing my mind and I was always thinking of something that could go wrong but God is good and he took care of Avery the whole time. It wasn’t until the last month of my pregnancy where things started to get a little weird. I went into a regularly scheduled appt with cold-like symptoms but they said that I had allergies. It wasn’t until later that we found out it was something else that needed to be treated with antibiotics. Let me tell you… they sure drugged me up. I was given two different antibiotics, an inhaler, a steroid had to get lung x-ray. Against all effort nothing cleared it up. During the last two weeks of my pregnancy my blood pressure rose quite a bit. Not to mention they found protein in my urine. So I was being watched for hypertension and preeclampsia. My doctor decided that I was close enough to term that they wanted to take Avery. If they would have left her in there until her due date there would have been even bigger problems. So I had my regular OB appointment and at that time she decided she was sending me straight to the hospital to get induced. I went to the hospital and they already had a room set up for me. They got me comfortable and gave me a robe and started the process. The end up giving me something they called ‘gels’ to ripen my cervix but unfortunately it didn’t work. With that they then t decided to go to a stronger medication. Oh baby! Let me tell you. That medication was so strong that it was causing my contractions to go haywire but not actually progressing my cervix. They had to take that medication out of me and then gave me an injection to actually stop labor all together. That was crazy. My body was shaking. I was sweating. It was just very very intense. They decided they were going to start again but to do half the dosage. After a few hours I decided that I was ready for my epidural. That process was intense as well. The anesthesiologist had trouble getting her needle in between my vertebrae. She said that I was very tight so she dug around for quite some time. Thankfully, she finally got it. My nurse kept telling me she’d come back in a few hours. Time kept passing but she didn’t want to check my dialation. Finally she said she’d come back in 2 hours to check on me. By that point I had told her several times that I felt like I needed to go to the bathroom and she told me no.. that it was just part of delivery and I didn’t have to go to the bathroom. Shortly after the nurses did a shift change. I told the new nurse that I needed the restroom so she checked me and said the babies head was coming out and called my Dr immediately. Now I feel like I could write pages and pages about how wonderful my Dr was but I won’t. Let me just say it brings tears to my eyes. I was so incredibly blessed to have her there. She was so kind and calm. She talked me through it all. Encouraged me the whole time. Then came the time. She asked if I wanted to feel Avery’s head. I didn’t think I would want to but I was so excited I said yes. Omg. That moment was life changing. I reached down and felt her hair covered head and bust into tears. I couldn’t believe it. Dr Adams and the nurses started crying too. Ugh again I say, BEST DR EVER. So with a few pushes and a few atta girls she was out! She didn’t cry at all which scared the living daylights out of me. I kept asking if she was okay as they placed her on my chest. I was told she was perfect and was just really content. Dustin was able to cut the cord. I’m so glad I had him by my side. I’m also really happy that my mom got to be in there and experience it as well. (Thank you Jesus for them) They ended up taking Avery from me to “make her mad” so she would cry and get the amniotic fluid out. She was perfect in every way. My heart was so full. When you are pregnant you always imagine what that moment would feel like… But words can’t even describe it. It’s seriously incredible. To feel her skin and hear her breathe. Knowing that she came from a couple cells and multiplied into that. Gods creation is amazing. I sit here pinching myself in disbelief that she’s mine. That I made her. It’s such a blessing.
I’ve actually turned into “that mom” the one who posts about nothing but her baby all day long. Shoot! You have a baby and try not to post. LoL.
There I was…. in the bathroom… peeing into a cup. I took the test…wait, is that a double line? It’s hard to tell. Maybe I should take another test tomorrow. Ughh that one too… faint double line. Okay okay just one more test. “Early Response. ” OMG very clear double lines!! I can’t believe it!! Tears.. lots of tears. Tears of JOY!
I waited till I was 7 weeks to go to what they call the confirmation appt at the ob-gyn. I had bloodwork done and did another urine test. Yup, I’m pregnant! #hearteyes Later that week they called me with my blood test results. After working in an ob-gyn office for 5 years I knew the possible complications but I wasn’t fully prepared for what they would tell me. “Danica, your pregnant! Congrats… everything came back normal and right on track except your progesterone. ” I didn’t get it.. they told me not to stress that it was lower then they like to see but weren’t going to put me on progesterone supplements because I was 4 days short of 8 weeks. Apparently, that is when they take you off the supplements. Why? Why wouldn’t they just put me on the supplements? If it will help the chances of my baby surviving why not do it? I slept on it and had many weeping tears before I decided to talk to the nurse again. She told me if it made me feel better they would put me on the progesterone. I ended up taking them because I was so scared and was experiencing cramping.
I went back to the Dr a week later for my ultra sound. Can you imagine my nerves? I wanted to be excited but I was so scared we wouldn’t hear a heart beat. I don’t even think Dustin truly knew how scared I really was because I didn’t want him to have the same fears as me. We got into the ultra sound room and I was feeling to vulnerable. A dear friend of mine was able to be my ultra sound tech. She was so excited and really brought my mood up. ❤ she put the gel on my tummy and BAM! There was my little jelly bean baby!! I couldn’t believe my eyes. I already knew the flashing spot was the heart and I was ecstatic. She allowed us to record the sound of the heartbeat but our recording didn’t turn out well. Needless to say the joy of my heart spewed out of my EYES like a waterfall. My baby was okay!!!
I’m 11 weeks 3 days now and besides feeling really tired I’m feeling great. I can see my belly starting to change and it makes me so happy. Unfortunately, I am suffering from pregnancy acne. I say struggling because I haven’t had this kind of acne since I was 15 years old in high school. It’s bad. I’m almost to the point where I started taking Accutane back in the day. Unfortunately, they can’t give me any topical or internal meds to help my pimply face or back… YES, back!! Ew! I have to keep reminding myself that it’s only temporary and it means my hormones are raging for my baby watermelon seed.
That’s it! My first trimester summed up for you all. I’m so excited I finally get to share with you all. The Lord is good! I’ve been blessed with this watermelon seed and I’m praying constantly for him/her self can’t wait for my next ultrasound.
I’ve been absent for quite some time and I feel that I owe you all an explanation..
For starters, I had started a few blogging groups that were absolutely amazing. I had so much fun meeting new bloggers and meeting like minded people. I’m sad because I’ve had to distance myself a bit from these groups due to the business of my life right now. I’m happy to see that they are still flourishing groups though!
Besides that I was working so much. I used to love my job. I loved working with a growing company. I loved making good money and I loved the people I worked for. Late last year they decided they were moving me to a department I wasn’t familiar with. I knew it was going to be a challenge but I was willing to take it on. Several months in I realized my relationship with my boss was less than perfect. I was miserable. I found myself getting depressed. Feeling queasy at the thought of going to work the next day. I was crying when I was home with Dustin. My boss treated me horribly. The only way I can describe her is by using the term”work bully.” I had many conversations with Dustin and we decided together that I needed to get it of there. No amount of money was worth sacrificing my happiness for. I quit in May and now I work at a Drs office work my mom and aunt. Although, it was a major pay cut I feel it was the best decision for myself and my marriage.
BUUTTTT THAT’S NOT ALL!!
In the midst of all that we sold our first house for a newer and prettier home that we can afford much better. Its outside of town a bit but worth the drive. This move was motivated by us planning for the future. We wanted a house with a yard, extra living space, and smaller mortgage. Gotta plan for those future kids 😍
So there ya have it. It’s been a very busy 5 months and I felt you all needed an update. I’m hoping to be around more often so prepare yourself!!!
Xoxo,
I’m really into gardening and making my yard look the best that it can. I’m no pro though so I’m always reading and getting advice from my mom. I came across this helpful article. Take a peek! This story is from houzz – http://houzz.com/sr/m=7/u=L2lkZWFib29rcy82Mzk5MzEyNw==
My husband an I bought a house in the middle of July. We thought the house was turn key but as we were settling in we started noticing little things here and there that we wanted to improve. (Probably doesn’t help that I am completely obsessed with Fixer Upper and Property Brothers.)
The small dark kitchen drove me crazy. It seemed like the walls were closing in around me. Of course I jumped on Pinterest to see what kinds of projects I could do on a small budget to improve the space. After 10,000 episodes of Fixer Upper I decided that painting the cabinets white and changing the tan paint color would do the trick. Back to Pinterest it was since we didn’t know the first thing about painting cabinets.
I obviously needed to start with a deep clean since they looked a little grubby. Plus the house was built in the 80’s…that’s a lot of nasty build up let me tell you. As I was scrubbing I realized the house started smelling of bacon. Can I just tell you we have NEVER cooked bacon in our house. Seriously? GAG. Guess I should have deep cleaned those babies before then.
Now to choose a paint. Everything I was reading kept telling me chalk paint was the way to go. “Sanding not needed,” “Easy,” “Quick drying” so of course I had to do chalk paint. I’m easily persuaded. In this case didn’t work to my benefit. I went to Joann and bought white chalk paint and started on the pantry cabinets. After the first coat it was obvious another would be needed and I was okay with that and expecting it. After the second and third coat and still not seeing the results I was so desperately hoping for I was starting to panic. All I could see was the wood grain and paint brush strokes. ICK!!! I can’t go back now though, I already started!
I decided I needed to home depot and talk to the guy at the paint counter. He recommended BEHR Alkyd Semi-Gloss Enamel. He told me that it wouldn’t need a top coat to seal it. He said it came with it already mixed in. I have a horrible history of half listening and adding my own techniques. I had him mix a little green in the already white paint. It had a tinge of pink that I wasn’t digging so he added the green to offset it. PERFECT! I wanted to add Varathane Floor Finish High Traffic in crystal clear just to be sure the paint would be durable when I was cleaning them later down the road. The coverage was already 10x better! We did 2 coats of the white paint and used roller instead of brushes! It would well. Stay away from the fluffy rollers as they will leave a little fluff behind on your cabinets. Learned that one the hard way. Once they were all dry we did a thin coat of the Varathane. Don’t use too much or it will dry with yell drips.
We bought all new hinges in nickle color on Amazon. It was cheaper than Home Depot and Lowes. The handles were given to us by a family friend so I’m not quite sure where those came from.
Just the cabinets color change alone made a huge difference but I still wanted it brighter in the kitchen. We decided we needed to carry the grey walls of the living room into the kitchen. We used a grey from Lowes in the HGTV brand. We only needed one coat to cover. Loved that paint!
Check out our before and after pictures! Feel Free to ask any questions!
We still have some work to do like the backslash and counter tops but I’m happy with the huge change already. 🙂
OKAY!!! Let me just start with saying… weddings are expensive.Everyone already knows that though. We tried to cut costs by doing alot ourselves instead of using an all inclusive $10,000+ venue. Can I emphasize the + ?!?
I was bound and determined to have a unique wedding. I didn’t want any of the color schemes being thrown at me in the venues we looked at and I sure didn’t want to use their cookie cutter florists.
My dream was to get married in the mountains and pine trees up in northern Arizona. Unfortunately, That couldn’t happen because my grandpa and grandma (not in the best health at 95) wouldn’t be able to make it.
I searched all over the valley for a venue that would fit the style and price I could afford.
We ended up at the Irish Cultural Center. Sounds weird right? I thought so too but picture this: cobble stone ground with a stone cottage and castle. Getting the vibe yet? Good!
We were able to bring in our own vendors and that was a huge plus to Dustin an I. We weren’t interested in the boring chicken and steamed veggies a wedding reception usually entails. We ended up having Joe’s real BBQ cater. If you are from the Phx area chances are you have tried/heard about it. YUM!
I contacted so many florists that quoted me 1,000-3,000 minimums. HOLY MOLY. I wasn’t expecting that blow so I kept shopping around. I finally went to Aj’s Fine Foods and looked around. They had the most unique and beautiful displays so for giggles my mom and I decided to ask if they designed for weddings. Fortunately, for us, they did!! They allowed me to pick the exact flowers in the exact colors I wanted. I seriously could not have been happier with the customer service, pricing, and final outcome. (I used AJ’s on Ray in Chandler)
My husband’s sister offered to buy our cake since she had a friend in the business. That was a huge blessing. The cake designer allowed us to show her a picture of a naked cake and the fresh flower decor I wanted and she recreated it perfectly. (Flavors: banana cream, pumpkin spice, and chocolate)
My mom, aunt, cousin all helped me create the center pieces. We bought lanterns from Kirklands and bought wood pedestals from Bed Bath and Beyond. We created a garland wreath with greenery from Arizona Flower Market and added fresh flowers tucked in from the grocery store. I really wanted the antique brass candle sticks that I had been seeing on Pinterest. What better place to find them then Goodwill baby? LOL. We bought mass amounts of candlesticks from Yummy who had a great selection to choose from.
The actual table clothes were purchased from Amazon.
Tables and chairs were part of the venue rental.
The altar was made from wood from my future father in law and mother in laws property up north. We stacked the wood on top of each other and added a few pillar candles and fresh flowers.
The ceremony table was a nightstand from Kirklands. I bought some artificial garland and flowers from Hobby Lobby to add some life to the table. The table runner was purchased off E-bay. The candelabra was from TJ-Maxx and the hydrangea were purchased from Arizona Flower Market. We wanted to do a salt ceremony. You can find the meaning here: http://www.weddingsandrites.com/salt-covenant.html . For the salt we used ice cream salt since it was bigger and easier to see from far away. We bought the decorative salt containers from Hobby Lobby. The ring bearers used glass geometric shaped containers from Urban Outfitters. There was a really old bible on the table that had special meaning to me. It was my grandpa’s old bible. It is absolutely beautiful!
Sorry if this is a lot of information. I just want to make sure you get the details incase there is something you would like to buy for your own wedding.
Through all the stress and the occasional tear we ended up planning our perfect wedding. It couldn’t have been done without the help of our amazing families. It was truly a beautiful day with beautiful meaning. I married the man of my dreams all the rest was just extra. To God be the glory!
I’m one of those weirdos where if my hair isn’t looking good that day it can send me into a funk for the REST of the day. I have to make sure at the very least my hair looks good. (it really can make up for a lack of makeup)
#1 Secret:
DIRTY HAIR!
Seriously, It makes all the difference. I can go days without washing my hair. If you aren’t used to that it can sound absolutely disgusting. For real though. My hair will be flat the first day I wash it. Even if I put awesome product and loads of hairspray 3 hours in and the curl is completely gone. I don’t have any tips to prevent that. If you know any please share! My 2nd and 3rd day are the best hair days. (3rd by far the best) Anything past that and I’m stretching it. It needs a braid or starts to get itchy. I think it’s a mental thing haha.
If you are used to washing your hair everyday because you tend to get greasy don’t fret you can still do it. Your hair can be trained. Test it out. Day 1. Start by washing your hair. Style it for the day business as usual. Wake up day 2… Probably noticing a little grease… ?DRY SHAMPOO! It’s your secret weapon. Even if it is greasy at the end of the day don’t worry. Training your hair is not a quick process. It takes a little feeling gross at the beginning. You WILL be greasy but fight through it. Time to start the process again. Day 1. Wash your hair. Day 2. Dry shampoo. This time there is a Day 3. Dry shampoo. You hair will get used to this but you really have to be dedicated. Like I said, I don’t usually go longer then 3 days because I start to feel icky. Keep doing this process and each time going a day longer. Your scalp will stop producing the amount of oil that it did when you first started.
#2 Secret:
EXTENSIONS
Please don’t tune out. I used to have the same bad connotation when I heard the word. The only reason why you feel that way is because you have seen REALLY BAD ones. If you get cheap extensions you will look cheap. Remember, this is solely my opinion. I’m not saying you need to spend $300+ but with my experience $100+ is going to get you a good set. As much as I’d love to try Foxy Locks, Bellami Hair, Laced Hair Extensions I simply do not have the money. I think my husband would kill me but I hear nothing but good things about them and I really want the length they offer so maybe someday. Instead I go to Sally’s Beauty and get the EuroNext Premium Remy hair in 18′ clip ins. I cannot stress enough that I do not use these for length as much as I use them for volume. They really truly make a difference. They add the depth to my hair that I like and get complemented on. There’s so many people that do not know that I wear them and that is exactly how you know that I’m doing it right. EuroNext makes the color I need that matches my hair completely. That is the biggest most important tip I can give. Make sure they are the right color.
Now you have 2 of my BIGGEST hair secrets. Side note: I am a firm believer that when you do wash your hair you need to be using a quality product. I haven’t had any luck buying a shampoo/conditioner from Target or any other store like that. I find that they dry my hair out, strip the color, or leave it dull and flat. If you have questions about product or tools don’t be afraid to reach out. I look forward to any questions you might have.
I always knew my prince would come. I just used to think he would be on a motorcycle covered in tattoos with the height of an NBA player. Silly me. Little did I know that God’s ways are much bigger than mine. He showed me that is was so much more than the appearance (although, my husband is a TOTAL babe!)
I was truly looking for my future husband in all the wrong places wondering why my heart got broken time and time again. I had all these prerequisites and eliminated anyone who didn’t fit the mold. I got cheated on and lied to more times than I could count.
I knew I needed to break away and decided to give up and wait on the Lord. He knew what I needed and that I wanted a man who loved Jesus more than he could ever love me. So I waited. I waited years! I wondered if he would ever come. If he was on his way he wasn’t on a horse he was riding a turtle.
If you haven’t noticed I’m obsessed with Instagram. I feel like you can learn so much about someone by the pictures they capture and share with the world. I was scrolling through when I was stopped in my tracks. My friend posted a picture with a group of her college friends and I saw a cutie that I HAD to know more about. So of course, I texted my friend and grilled her on this new guy. She told me he was interested in someone else. Darn. Haha… you guys are silly… If you thought that stopped me from creeping his page you are wrong. What’s that saying? If you want it you gotta go get it! I liked a picture here and liked a picture there. Score! I caught his attention. He added me on Instagram and then of Facebook. Believe it or not we talked regularly for a year before I made him meet me. I knew from that first date that I wanted to get to know him all I could. I remember saying, “if he isn’t the one I’m to marry then he suuuure has set the bar high.”
He taught me to trust after all those horrible relationships I had been in. He taught me to talk when all I wanted to do was shut down. He taught me patience when things didn’t go my way. He is so patient with me even when I’m so crabby in the morning. He is my support system when I just want give up on something.
I waited in every sense of the word for this man. Even though I didn’t know what God had for me I waited. It has been so worth it. Even though since I was a little girl I imagined I would be married at 18 with kids at 21 I couldn’t be happier with the way my life turned out. I met him later in life. I waited.
I urge you to wait in the Lord. Trust Him and know that His timing is perfect. HE WILL BRING YOU YOUR PRINCE. I promise.
Papr Wings and Sunshine 