Graduation

As previously mentioned, I am a college graduate. That is a pretty cool thing to be able to say. How quickly I forget that I am an exception to the rule, that many, many people never get the chance to earn a college degree, for a variety of reasons; no time, no money, no support, life got in the way etc.  I am an exception to that rule, but not by far.  The one key difference with me was that I had one of the single most important things to be able to make it to where I am at today. Support.
Marcus and I made the move to Davenport in August of 2009.  He has just graduated from Grandview College in Des Moines, where I was also attending nursing school.  We had been dating approximately one short year before we decided on this move and that what we had was a forever kind of thing, and not another simple college romance.  So we packed, we moved, and I could feel the hesitation from our families, I on the other hand, had none. Although there was hesitation, which was an obvious and usual reaction from parents, they never once told us it was a bad idea, it was wrong, that we were rushing things. My parents asked the typical questions, "are you sure?" "Is this what you really want, will it make you happy.." etc. My dad in fact actually said his typical line when I approached them with this proposal to uproot my entire life for a boy, "Are you asking me, or telling me? Because you are going to do what you want to do."  And he was so.right. I was, I was head over heels, ready to move, ready for something more.
After about 7 months of living together, Marcus and I sat on the couch together starring at 2 pink lines. (6 actually, since I took 3 tests "just to be sure") Yup, we were going to be parents, we didn't cry, we didn't jump for joy, we just sat there repeated things likes, "O my gosh.. seriously?? Seriously?? O my gosh.." But guess what, I didn't know it then, but looking back that was such an amazing moment in my life. I am so happy that I went through that terrifying, gut wrenching experience and was blessed 9 months later with our beautiful baby girl.
Marcus proposed to be on April 8th, one month after finding out we were going to have a baby.  We had been talking marriage for quite some time, knew we wanted to be together forever, but those vows came a tad earlier than expected. 6 weeks later......

















Yup, we planned a fantabulous wedding in 6 weeks. I was sick as a dog through most of the planning but the end result was amazing. We had so many people there, everything was perfect. If I could do it over again, I'd say no way. There is no way on God's green earth things could have panned out more perfectly than it did on May 22, 2010.

Adley in my belly.. when we found out baby was a GIRL!

So, life goes on as we are waiting for our princess to grace us with her presence. And approximately 5 months after saying our vows....

7lbs5oz, 20inches long

Now, I promise I'm going somewhere with this that relates to graduation and my support etc.  I was in nursing school through every.single.moment of what I just talked about. Sick as a dog? In school. Planning a wedding in 6 weeks? In school. Doctors appointments, painting a baby room, swollen feet? In school.  I never missed a beat. I had Adley on a Tuesday and I was back in classes the following Thursday. 9 days is what I took off from school. You're thinking, babies can't even go to daycare until they are 6 weeks? (you were thinking that, correct?) Yup, that's where my support comes in. My mom and my mother-in-law, being the down right most amazing women on earth swooped in to help. The took turns by week babysitting Adley so Marcus and I could go to class as well as helping with baths, laundry, cooking etc. As for the rest of my support, financially our parents really went above and beyond. They know how important education is and found it from somewhere within their amazing hearts to assure that I was going to stick with this pursuit of an education.  I am so incredibly grateful, and will forever be in debt to them. (Emotionally and financially ;) )
Nursing school was hard. Really hard. There were papers, tests, long hours studying. Not one single piece of my puzzle would have been put together if it weren't for our parents, aunts, uncles, grandma's, grandpa's and friends.  They were selfless. And today, I can officially say I am a college graduate. I made it, WE made it. Adley will be able to say that her mom graduated college and became a nurse, and that's what makes me most proud. As I said, many people have none of the opportunities I had, that I am an exception to the rule, and it makes my heart hurt. I will never know why I was so blessed to be born into and then married into two of the greatest families on the planet, but I was and I am forever great full. You can assure I am going to put my heart and soul into the nursing profession. I will do my best to see every day as a good one, even with blood on my shoes, and in moments with a heavy heart, I will thank God for putting so much support in my life to allow me the opportunity  to fulfill my dreams.

Me and the reason I am where I am today (my hubby): I didn't give him enough credit in this post, but even more so than any other piece of my puzzle; without him, my life, my journey, my goals would be incomplete.

Busy, busy!

So, the past two weeks have been absolutely crazy busy.  To start off:
-It's official, I AM A COLLEGE GRADUATE! I have finished every last little detail to walk across the stage on Saturday to accept my empty folder diploma to receive my BSN (Bachelors of Science in Nursing).  There will be a post soon dedicated entirely to my graduation, so stay tuned.  All I can say for now is, I.am.thrilled.  I have always told Marcus that the day that I graduate will be the 3rd happiest day of my entire life (after marrying him, and the day Adley came into this world), and I am feeling that still stands true.
-I have one hellofa dessert/snack that anyone reading must try. Homemade ice cream sandwiches. I will also devote a post to this later, they are amazing.
-I have a ton of family coming to our place for about 2 and a half day, another thing I'm super excited about, but with that bring cleaning. LOTS of cleaning. So, that is what I am doing today, instead of filling this blog with so many thoughts I have dancing around in my head, I clean.  Adley is at daycare, enjoying her day with her friends I'm sure. Although I know when she gets home this afternoon the house will once again be cluttered with toys and clothes and the like,I must persist!
I will be back soon with details of graduating and yummy dessert snacks!
A couple pictures of my peanut at the zoo (O yes, we went to the zoo yesterday!)

18 months

My baby girl is 18 months old today!
Seriously, 18 months old is the best. I've found myself saying this at every milestone... "O, I love 3 months old she's babbling to me!..... o wow 6 months old, she's sitting up on her own this is the best..." etc. But seriously, I mean it this time, this is the best. She is learning so many new words every day, the list is huge.  She may look like her daddy, be even tempered like him, but she talks excessively a perfect amount, and that my friends is from me.
These days she is testing more boundaries, needing more "re-direction" as our babysitter calls it; occasionally hitting, or pinching but we are working on it, and I know it's all part of her learning about life and the world around her.

A little bit about what my 18 month old peanut loves these days:

• Elmo- she could watch Elmo all day (although we don't let her), she loves Elmo p.j.'s, toys, books, anything Elmo and she is sold.
• Books- She has a favorite book with pictures and words under them and her favorite thing is to sit with me and have me ask her, "what's that" or, "where's the boat, hat, ball" etc. The smile she gets when I tell her, "yes! Good job, that's the hat!" is priceless.. so proud, this girl.
• Outside- I think if she could, she would live outside. When she is outside it doesn't matter if she has a toy or anything to play with, the girl just RUNS! She runs and laughs, and laughs and runs. The faster she runs the louder her laugh. She is just generally happier if she is outside, and truth be told, so am I.
• People- She is one to favor her mom and dad when she is sleepy or sick, but other than that, she loves her friends at daycare, she loves her aunts, her grandparents, or anyone driving by or passing us at the grocery store. She is a stranger to no one. In her littler heart, every single person she sees deserves a smile and a wave, and I absolutely love her for that.

Every day is something new, she can dry her hands after washing them with little help, she took a head dive off of the chair yesterday (minimal tears, no blood, she is good), and her new found love is flushing her potty (Elmo potty of course). There is no element of life this little girl is not exploring, and it is so incredibly fun.

I am thankful every single day for this baby girl I've been given. I know it's all been said before, but she is so much joy. 18 months... the most wonderful 18 months of my life.

Mama said there'd be days like this...

Friday the 13th. I am not superstitious, but today has been a whirlwind of craziness. By the way, it is only 10:45am.  It was one of those mornings where it felt like it was a rush from the minute I got out of bed.  So, let me recap. (Side note: I normally would not care about blow drying my hair, getting make up on etc. but today I have a presentation and have to dress up, look nice and such. Partially the cause of the chaos I'm sure, since I usually sport jeans, T-shirt and a pony tail on school days)
6:00am- Marcus wakes up to get ready, let the dog out, pack Adley's lunch. I am laying in bed leisurely thinking I have all the time in the world right now, I don't have to be anywhere until 8:30.
6:18am- Adley starts coughing, and sneezing, and coughing, then crying. I go to get her from her crib, there are boogers everywhere, she obviously has developed a cold over night.
Change diaper, clothes, pick out my clothes. Marcus takes a quick shower.
6:50- Marcus tells me to hop in the shower quick, he has 10 minutes before he has to leave. I think to myself, "well if you are going to leave in 10 minutes when I get out of the shower in a towel with my hair wet, and no time to get dressed or put makeup on, why don't you just leave now?" Instead of saying that out loud I just pleasantly agreed and hopped in. As predicted right when I got done Marcus needed to leave, so there we were, a hungry booger nosed baby who was wanting to watch "momo" (Elmo), and myself.  One hour until we need to be at daycare.
7:00- I throw on a t-shirt and sweatpants (which I wore to bed that night), and head to the kitchen for breakfast. There is yelling, laughing, more yelling. I whip up some oatmeal and throw some pears on her tray.  I poor my coffee-into my stainless steel mug, anticipating not being able to take a drink for a while- and throw some toast in the toaster for myself.
7:15- Adley inhales her breakfast, and is yelling "DONE!" at me. 15 minutes, that's all I got. I have drank no coffee and taken maybe 2 bites of my breakfast. O.K. Fine. We wash hands, her tray, she sticks her hands in peanut butter, we wash hands again. Finally I get to the bathroom to blow dry/straighten my hair, put make up on and get dressed. Still no drink of coffee. Adley all the while is moving dog food from one place to another, innocently trying to stick Q-tips she just found into her ears, etc. She runs in and out of the bathroom. I try to take objects from her constantly, while straightening my hair with one hand.
I hear Elmo's World music- Son of a... CRAP, its:
7:45- need to be out of the house in 15 minutes.
I finish getting ready FAST- still no drink of coffee.
7:50: I am a MAD-WOMAN trying to gather all things needed for the day; my two bags, Adley's lunch, blanket, paci, shoes, my keys, purse etc.
After SEVERAL trips up and down the stairs I think I have everything, bags on my arms, baby on my hips, paci in my mouth (serious). Here we go... NOT! Coffee is sitting on the bathroom sink. There is NO WAY I am not bringing that liquid happiness with me this morning. Back down and up the stairs we go. Ok, now we have everything
8:05: NOT BAD, I think. I get Adley in her car seat, buckled in, she wants her milk. Get the milk out of her lunch bag. I get in the drivers seat with all my bags. Spill my water. All over the passenger seat, inches from my bag. Close one.
8:08- Off we go to daycare. Reach for my coffee for my first drink of the day. Knocked it over. Minor spill. Another close call.
8:10- Get to daycare (only 4 blocks away, hallelu!) Go to get Adley out of her seat, "where is your milk?" I ask, all of a sudden I can feel my leg getting wet. WHY IS EVERYTHING SPILLING!?! Found the milk.
Get inside to daycare, tell the daycare provider Marcus will be getting Adley at 4:30, she replies with O no, this is the day I have an appointment and the kids need to be picked up by 3:30..... Crap.... she did tell me this, and I forgot. I smile and say O, no big deal, he will be here then.
8:15- Call Marcus to tell him he will need to leave early to get Adley by 330pm. Thank goodness it's possible.
8:16- First drink of coffee. The morning doesn't seem so bad anymore. :)
I am feeling better now, but man do I hate those mornings. I feel rushed, cranky, and sorry for myself. A quick recap can make me feel better about it, make me realize my stress is silly and that we are human and that these moments are life.  How boring would it be if every morning things went perfectly? I always feel a little ashamed when I realize I may not have been as nice to Marcus as I should have been, or attentive to Adley as I could have been. But, now I know, and am sending a thank you, I love you message to Marcus as soon as I post this.
Happy Friday the 13th, hope it is a great day, and you can laugh at your stressors and crazy moments! <3

Happy birthday, Marcus!

Marcus, my hubby, turned 26 yesterday. I must say it is so sad to me that birthday's lose their zest after about age 21... I also feel ever since we found out we were having Adley and i was extremely sick right around Marcus's 24th birthday I have been slacking in the "making birthday's special" department. I used to plan forever to give Marcus a special birthday, including a pretty great surprise 23rd birthday party.  So, although I don't have the time to devote to surprises, or the money to devote to lots of gifts I tried to make him feel special just the same.
So, what did I do you ask? I cooked, I baked, we had champagne. I surely feel like I have to give gifts or plan surprises to make someone feel special on their birthday, but when I don't have those options, I COOK! I made a whole chicken, thyme as the main spice. I chopped and chopped and chopped veggies such as carrots, celery, onions (is that a veggie? hmm), sweet potatoes and others. It took a.long.time. While doing all of this I'm whipping up cake mix, for which I decided to use for cupcakes because they take less time to bake. In the end everything turned out fabulous! Adley on the other hand was not a fan of the seasoned veggies, but over all I felt accomplished and Marcus ate it up quickly! When he does that I never know if it tastes really good, or if he is just trying to eat it as fast as possible so that he doesn't have to taste it... I like to think the first.
I must add that on Saturday Marcus and I did get to spend a couple hours together golfing. I did consider this his birthday present and we had a great time, and the weather was beautiful. 
The champagne was not only for his birthday, but to celebrate me getting a job! I have been hired to the nurse residency program at Methodist Hospital in Des Moines, pending graduation and passing my NCLEX exam, I will start in August! This is so exciting for so many reasons. It was my first interview, it was the job I wanted, and it is proof that in a few short months I will be a nurse! It's hard to believe this 5 year journey is coming to an end. A LOT has happened in the last 5 years to bring me to graduating in exactly one month from tomorrow, I will share more later, but it is almost over! :)

Marcus and me at the Cubs game to celebrate our birthdays with his family.

Blowing out our candles. We share the month of April for our birthdays!

Word of the day

The word of the day- actually yesterday- is... "Crazy"
Yesterday morning while getting ready, Adley was putting dog food in her bathtub, obviously, and I said "you're a crazy girl!" and she yelled back, "CRAYY!" She is a sponge I tell ya!

Evidence

Just an extra  :)

Let's give this another try.

I got caught up one day in not wanting to do homework so I threw together a "blog" on another website. Obviously I had no time to devote, nor a desire to really post anything.  These days I am feeling better about where I am with life and feeling I have so much I'm learning about motherhood, and wifehood (not a word, I know this, bare with me) and so much I want to share, so again, welcome to my "blog".

Adley, my nearly one and a half year old baby girl is growing so much every day. With her it is like we have a "word of the day" because she is repeating and saying something new all the time. Each and every time it surprises me, and each and every time I get excited and then it almost crushes me. I know babies are supposed to grow up, but I didn't know that applied to MY baby!

She is as precious and ornery as she looks.

So another reason I am wanting to devote time to this is to log her moments, her accomplishments, her boo boo's (we WILL use mommy language on this blog), to remember the milestones that I am already too soon forgetting. I owe it to her to remember these things and I owe it to future children so that I won't be constantly wondering if they are on track, or rushing them to the emergency room with a 104 degree fever for the doctor to say its, "No big deal" (sorry Adley, sorry doctor, I am learning here!)

That said, I will do my best to post regularly about a variety of things from mothering, being a wife, and my struggles in the kitchen to my nearing title of Registered Nurse. Join me, will you!?