Catching up

I remember back when I started this thing. I lived in Utah and wanted a way to express what I was feeling and thinking. I've always been better with written words than spoken words. I suppose you could say a lot has changed since 2012.

I moved back to Minnesota in October 2012. I'll be honest, I was soooo depressed. I felt like I wasn't on the path I was meant to be on. I stopped going to college at LDSBC after the first year, I stayed a while to keep working. I had a pretty fun job working at iBoats.com -- LOVED that place. Loved the people, the atmosphere, and the job wasn't too bad either.

A couple weeks after I got back to MN, I didn't know what I was going to do with my life. I felt like a lost soul. I had a lost soul. I wanted things to be different. I wanted to step outside my comfort zone and stop giving up. I felt like when I moved back home, I had given up.

This is where Cesar comes in. Talk about stepping outside my comfort zone! He asked me on a date, I went out with him. We've been inseparable ever since. He's a Scorpio, I'm a Taurus -- a match made in HEAVEN!

This was our first picture we ever took together. We had probably been going out for about a month. ... Man, we were a lot thinner, too. haha

We've been on soooo many adventures together, I wish I had pictures for everything! Here's just a few things we've done.

 ^Fishing at the river in Chaska -- one of our favorite spots!

 ^Fishing somewhere in Hutch, Stahl Lake I think? We found a baby snapping turtle!

 ^We went on a walk at the dam on one of my lunch breaks when I worked at Hutch Health. We were actually standing in the middle of the river on a bunch of rocks. I was very excited and nervous and the sun was really bright.

 ^We decided to go have a campfire and grill out by the animal sanctuary and river in Hutch.

 ^Getting ready for another fire by the river. We like being outdoors. :)

 ^Our first road trip together!! We went to SLC, UT for an afternoon. Sure, most of the time was spent driving -- we left Friday at around 4pm, got to SLC about 3pm on Saturday. Had a kick-ass time with Raegan and Ryan, went to the Cheesecake Factory downtown at City Creek, stayed at a nice hotel with a jacuzzi, and left Sunday morning at 6am only to get back to Hutch, MN at about 8am Monday morning -- I was a little late for work. ;) ahhh, but it was soooo spontaneous and fun!!!

^Cesar caught this huuuuuge northern at Lake Jenny. I believe it was 34" and 15 pounds! Delicious.

We've been on lots of adventures, but our greatest adventure of all has begun. We're parents!!! I love being a mommy and Cesar loves being a daddy. I am so grateful every day for my beautiful little family. Here's a little journey through the pregnancy --

 ^21 weeks

 ^22 weeks

 ^31 weeks

 ^36 weeks

 ^34 weeks

^40 weeks and bra shoppinggggg -- Man, I was sooo cute pregnant. I miss how cute I looked, but I do NOT miss throwing up every day for 40 weeks. But look how cute I am!

We also got married in there while I was pregnant -- April 25, 2014. I was about 6 months pregnant.

 We got married in our apartment with only my nana and Cesar's dad as our witnesses. We had a justice of the peace come to us, and we had an AWESOME cookout afterwards. The burgers were delicious - bacon and cheddar stuffed. Unfortunately, I could only take about 3 bites before I was full.

Now, on to one of the most important days for both of us. The birth of our little Franky bear!! I was due on 7/13/14, but our little stud muffin decided he wasn't done baking yet. I went in to labor on 7/16. I started having contractions at 11am, went to the hospital around 3pm. I was so worried I wouldn't know when I was having contractions and that I wouldn't make it to the hospital. (We lived right across the street from the hospital, so that's ridiculous haha).. I was discharged at about 5pm. I told Cesar I was going to have the baby that night/the next day and that he couldn't go to work. When I was discharged I was only 2cm dilated. I went back in at about 11pm because I couldn't handle the pain of the contractions anymore and I was tired of yelling and moaning in pain in my apartment -- the walls were paper thin so I knew all our nosy neighbors could hear me. We walked across the street to the hospital. The registration receptionist asked if I needed  a wheelchair, I was like nahhh I got this. Then I got a couple steps away and doubled over in pain -- those dang contractions were cramping my style! She got the wheelchair and we were off to birthcare. I was 6 cm dilated and 75% effaced. I go the epidural at about 4:30am when the other pain meds weren't cutting it anymore. I got to sleep after that. It was so funny, after I got the epidural, I was like omg I think I peed the bed. The nurse was like nah, your water probably just broke and I'm like no, I'm pretty sure I just peed. She checked me and was like yeah, you peed. hahaha TOLD YA!!! Then I got to sleep again. Nurse woke me to check me, and ended up breaking my water. I slept some more. Apparently I was having some pretty intense contractions but thanks to modern western medicine, I didn't feel a damn thing. Hallelujah! I went into active labor at 11:45am and Franky was born at 12:26pm on Thursday, July 17, 2014. Cesar was with me every step of the way. He was such a great supporter and told me I was doing a great job and was so proud of me. He made it so much easier and made my worries go away. My doctor was so proud of me because I didn't give birth during her clinic hours -- but during her lunch hour. I'd also like to add that I had the BEST nurse ever. Janelle was amazing and was so sweet and funny. All in all, the birth was a great experience. The stay? Not so much. I ended up getting kicked out of birthcare because so many women were having babies and there are only 7 rooms -- We moved over to med/surg on discharge day. I was pissed that we weren't in the secured birthcare and just wanted to go home. We went home at around noon that day.

Here are some pictures--

Oh how I love and adore my little family. All I ever wanted to be when I was little was a wife and a mommy. I'm so grateful to have such a wonderful husband and such a beautiful, handsome, sweet son.

I'm going to try keeping up on this whole "blog" thing. We'll see where it goes. I have a lot to catch up on. Franky is now 7 months old today! This is the best adventure yet.