3d Ultrasound

So, a couple days ago (august 4) Andrew and I went to get a 3d ultrasound done so we could see our Layla!

The office was SO beautiful and relaxed! Blues, and Greys, and browns all around, VERY elegant! So from the moment we walked in we were excited, and relaxed.

I layed down on the table, and looked forward to see a giant plasma screen on the wall which is where we got to see our Layla! And she was (and is) beautiful! Her umbilical cord kept floating in front of her face, but we were able to see through it.

She was right against my skin, perfectly positioned for the technician to get amazing shots! As i said, the umbilical cord got in the way at one point, so Daddy started poking at my stomach and talking to her, and she started moving..That was a perfect moment :)

Here are some pictures from the apointment..Andrew and i both think she looks like me...<3

Pouty lip <3

practically eating her umbilical cord

(thats the umbilical cord in front of her eye FYI)

Resting her chin on her hand <3

 And that's our Baby Layla at 30 weeks <3
Definitely a beginning of a beautiful little girl!

Layla's florida Baby Shower

Well, it has been a while since I blogged about our baby girl! (I am now 31 weeks)

 June 4-11 (22 weeks pregnant) I went to Florida to visit my family and friends, as my husband was away to AT(annual training) for the army for two weeks!
 June 7th, my friends Amy and Bethlee through me a baby shower at Too-jays. It was a lot of fun, got some very cute outfits, a few books for my Layla to enjoy, and a bunch of gift cards/money (which is what we requested, since i had to fly all of this back to NY alone!)
 I was very happy to find that my grandma (nanny) and her friend Mrs. Diane Baker could make the 45 minute trip to be there for it! That was very special to me.

 It was weird realizing that it was MY baby shower! I had been to very few baby showers in my past, they were ALWAYS fun...But it was just bizarre to see that I was the "mommy to be" that the shower was for! I loved every minute of it...I ordered chicken fingers though, I won't make that mistake again...they were NOT good haha. Maybe it was because I was eating SO much Chick-fil-a that week (since we don't have any in New York), the competition wasn't fair. :) I will end this blog with a few pictures from the Party.

These are the lovely daughters of the ladies who threw the shower for me! <3

she waited the WHOLE night to help me cut the cake haha

Amy, who helped throw this for me, and her 5 month old Desmond

This was definetly a help to the Beginning of our little girl, and preparing for her!

There will be another baby shower for my Layla this Saturday (august 11th) So there will be yet another blog coming soon, As well as one to talk about our 3d ultrasound experience! Keep an eye out for those!

The Gender of Our Miracle

well, it was THE day. The biggest day in the pregnancy for some- Finding out the sex of our baby!
(May 24, 2012)

My husband leaves for work by 7:15 every morning...I was awake since he left, unable to go back to sleep.
Watching the clock, cleaning the house...doing everything i possibly could to make the time fly (or at least seem to go by faster!!!)
My apt. was at 12:20 so it wasn't TOO far away, the jitters were there though! My stomach turning in knots, random moments of jumping out of excitement...It was a lot to hold in! But the jumping was put to a halt quickly, as i had A LOT of liquid in my body for the ultrasound...including a few cups of juice to get my baby moving for the ultrasound.

My husband calls, and says he is on his way from work to get me for the apt! I was so excited i waited by the window for him! He got out of his uniform, and we left to see our baby.

On the way there we got talking names and stuff, he was telling me how he liked the name James Crew because his buddies middle name was crew, and he liked the sound of it...as did i.
Then of course i had my baby girls name picked out already Layla <3 and we decided on a middle name Adele. The whole way there I'm asking questions trying to find out if he wants a boy or girl more, and if he wanted to find out while i was on the table, or wait and find out alone.

As we are walking to the ultrasound room with the tech, i slow Andrew down, and said "babe. Tell me now if u want to find out in here, because if you don't then we need to tell her NOW!" he looks at me with this smile that said "...i want to see it and find out now...but i know you had a whole thing planned out to find out later..." i looked at him, smiled back and said "okay we will find out on the table so you can see for yourself what it is."
It was special for us. Andrew stood up and watched the Dr. measure out our baby, as it moved around in there, facing us, then my back, then us again...very very active baby! He was loving every second! The tech had to pause the screen in order to measure the baby it was so mobile! I remember her saying "oh good its laying still for us....and its gone again!"

She got all finished measuring and checking the baby's movements and such, then she asked us if we wanted to know what it was, as she showed us the screen. " Do you see those two lines" She asked... "That means its a girl!" I am going to confess, when she said "do you see those two..." i was thinking she was going to show me boy parts...so i was shocked at that moment to hear it was a girl! But as i watched my baby move, with Andrew holding my hand, it was amazing. I remember him saying "that's our Layla Adele" and i could tell he was already hooked. I cried a few tears at that point. Layla was something i had been praying for for years!

Ill take a second to explain what i mean. Andrew and I while dating, had a break-up point for a few months,. I was on birth control for ovarian cysts and the meds were making me extremely emotional and attached to Andrew (which was hard for him, considering i was 1300 miles away) so we broke up and i was DEVASTATED!!! plus i was weening myself off of the birth control because i had NO control over my body or emotions anymore. I went into about3 weeks of depression wanting Andrew and no one else...but realizing i didn't have Andrew anymore.
We went to my grandparents home for 4th of July, 2010 and i was just crying daily. I couldn't even sleep alone anymore without breaking into tears or panic.
One morning while there, i grabbed my teddy bear in my grandparents spare bedroom, and i lay down on the right side of the bed. There i looked at my bear, held it like a baby, and said "No matter who i end up marrying, one day i will have my baby Layla. My baby Layla is my new focus" So Layla is honestly my little miracle. She got me through some very dark times, before she was even born! I praise God for my baby Layla!!!!

After we found out what she was, we went to Denny's to tell his family--obviously they are excited to have a little girl to buy some cute clothes for! And then we went to Build-a-bear (Andrew and I did) to make our baby girl a bear of her own!!!! We stuffed it with love, did all the little steps and rubbing the heart and such (the bear has two shiny hearts, one from each of us). And then, daddy saw the "record your own sound" sign. "I want to do that!" he said. We go to the back hallway to record it (because the speakers in the store were playing music and such). He presses the button to record and says "Layla Adele, daddy loves you." in the sweetest daddy voice i could ever imagine. He is in love with our baby girl already! That made me SO happy to hear! (We only had him record, because we wanted Layla to have something with daddy's voice for in the future when he gets deployed, and isn't around to tell her he loves her when she needs to hear it.)

And then we bought it a G.I. Jane outfit, named it Adele, and took it home all excited to have it for when our Layla is born!!! All in all, It was an amazing day!!! (which did end with auntie Anne's and Starbucks-- YUM! lol)

Layla Adele, Mommy and Daddy Love you!!!!!  :)

Mistake, Or Miracle?

Well, Andrew and I had a lovely honeymoon. Nothing could have gone better (well, besides maybe spending a little more time at Disney theme parks) But the time together was priceless. I was ready to go home and begin our life together!

We got home December 25th 2011 late at night. Life was beginning again...whether we wanted it to or not. He worked almost 12 hour days (Mornings at a valet company, Evenings with me at his fathers Janitorial company) It was definitely a change from spending every day with me. Especially since we were barely making enough to get bills payed and our essentials.

We kept at this for about 2 weeks before something horrible started going on with me. Constantly sick, I got a UTI so 'Intimate time' with my husband wasn't so enjoyable at this time. We didn't know what else could be wrong. I took an antibiotic for about a week, and everything seemed to go back to normal. Just some nausea.

Then a thought came into my head-- I wonder if i am pregnant?? We were on birth control, but we found out 3 days into taking my Antibiotic, it cancels out the birth control. We had no idea...I started to get extremely excited, scared, overwhelmed...

I was ready to take my first pregnancy test (i had always looked forward to the day...so exciting ha ha) Either way...We bought some, I ran to the bathroom once we got home....Took about 10 minutes it seemed to open the dang box because i was so jittery and nervous! But no...After two minutes, it was negative. I was very disappointed.

Two days later we are in church ( week before Superbowl Sunday) and Andrew writes me a note saying "i think i want a baby...i don't see why we should wait..."(He had just gotten a new Army job that pays SO well, and i was able to quit my job) And  I almost started crying right there. i was so happy! I always thought i would want a child first, but no. It was Andrew James who asked ME!

The following Sunday, we went to his uncles home for a Superbowl party...It was a blast until i started running to the restroom every 5 minutes to vomit. It was horrible! i just wanted to go home! I kept thinking "maybe the test was wrong...maybe i am pregnant???"

 Finally, we went home, and i took another test..it was the type that you need two blue lines in one circle, one in the other to mean "pregnant" so i yelled from the bathroom..."Andrew...Andrew???" he came in and i hold it up and say "are there two lines?? i cannot tell its so faded!" he says "yes!!!" we look at each other Shocked! then just hugged :)

The next day i bought another test, a digital one. It also said Pregnant! the one i took the day after that said it too! Andrew and I were expecting our first baby!!!

A week later i went to a OBGYN to have it confirmed...there it was confirmed..i was 6 weeks pregnant!!! If you did the math, you would realize that i was already pregnant when Andrew told me he wanted a baby! I was about 2 weeks pregnant by what the Dr, says!!! So God opened my Andrews eyes to want a baby, and to want to try for a baby at the perfect timing!God works in amazing ways!!!                                     

Our baby at 12 weeks!!!

People have tried to tell me that this baby isn't a gift from God, It's a lesson from a mistake Andrew and I made (the antibiotics) but i have pulled myself out of that way of thinking since last Saturday (May 05,2011) at 7:19 am when i felt my baby move. This is a gift of life from God!!!

It is now may 18th, yesterday was our 5 month wedding anniversary, and our 19th week of being pregnant! It is still a shock to us, but we are SO happy to be a part of Gods miracle of life!!!!

Our Love's Beginning

I am 18 years old, Just married December 17, 2011 to the love of my life, a true gift from God, and an amazing soldier in the Army, Andrew.

 I am originally from Florida. I moved to NY in august, 2011 to stay with his parents as we prepared for the wedding in a few months...How did a NY soldier meet a Florida girl, you ask?

Andrew and I are both born again Christians, and were raised in God-loving homes. Back in 2009 my friend sent out a mass email to her friends, all in a panic that "if she didn't forward the email, she would be kicked off of Facebook" (or so the email said...but God used that moment of panic for much bigger things!) Andrew and i Both got the email, and both commented on it, to let her know that she need not panic, and it was just a spam people are sending out.
When i saw Andrew's comment, i decided to add to his comments, and somehow it turned into a conversation between the two of us on this email.
We obviously ended up adding each other as friends, and i thought he looked familiar. (cause as a15 year old girl, i HAD to stalk his photos...and he was a hunk! obviously still is ha-ha)
 Either way, we later realized that we had met before...for a BRIEF moment at a christian camp we both go to annually...2 years prior to this Facebook event!
 It's funny how small this world actually is...when God is planning it out anyways :)
After this, drew asked me to be his long distance girlfriend 6 months later (I would have said yes that day on Facebook though.)

As time went on, his brother was graduating Army Boot Camp in South Carolina (aka right in between where Andrew, and i live.) So my mom agreed to drive me up to see them for that weekend and we had a BLAST! first time i met his parents- very nerve wrecking!! But it was perfect!

Andrew holding my hand as I slept through the movie :)

Andrew surprising me at my front door

July, 16 2011 Andrew proposed! He flew down to Florida with his mom, dad, and youngest sister (which i had NO idea till he showed up at my door) He then proceeded to tell me that i was NOT working that weekend, and my boss had put me on the work schedule so that i would not suspect anything special that weekend...Like going to Disney World with my soon to be fiance!!! I set up the proposal myself-- his plan was to take me to the castle in front of EVERYONE and ask me to marry him publicly during  the fireworks, but my claustrophobia changed that! I would NOT follow him into the crowd, out of complete panic almost yelling "why cant we stay back here???" Out of love, he found us a bench to sit and watch the fireworks.  After, we walked up to the castle and i asked him if we could get a picture (the castle was lit with a white spotlight...it looked magical) he kept saying that you cant see well, so we will have to wait till lights turn on to take one...well i was too stubborn to accept that! :)  I asked his sister to take a picture of us, she did. I showed it to him and said " see??? you can see us just fine! ugh" and he looks at me, smiles and says "how well can you see this?"gets on his knee, and proposes. :) To this day i kick myself for being so stubborn...but he turned it around on me and made it perfect!

My Stubborn moment/ Proposal setup Picture

right after he asked :)

(We were married December 17th 2011. figured i should add a picture from that as well--Prayer dedication)








He also took me to Disney World for our honeymoon, (YAY) and kept it a surprise until it was time to pack (which for us, was our first night together- right after the reception...and some "bonding time" of course :) We were newlyweds that by Gods grace, saved ourselves for each other, what else would you expect?) It was an amazing weeks honeymoon!

Andrew playing with my sister Hannah

My family is from Florida, so they traveled up and spent Christmas eve with us at Downtown Disney. My family loved the time getting to know my new husband, especially my baby sister Hannah!





So there you have it. Our relationship bundled into one (Large) blog :) There will be more to come...as we are now expecting our first baby!! And we find out the gender on May 22! :)