marriage

food day date | anniversary

Monday, April 24, 2017

we're those kind of people that plan around food.
food is something that we love to share and explore together. and when we heard of the MidiCi grand opening, Brandon literally made plans that second.
being that our 2 year wedding anniversary is on the 25th, we decided to make a day trip out of it.

so this was our day, which mostly revolved around food and dining at MidiCi with some shopping. our mind was blown! the taste, the atmosphere and the employees. everything was immaculate. the manager really gave us a treat. and the employees friendliness, it was such a pleasure. they just kept bringing it on.

all 3 of our choices where at our table before Brandon could choose a drink. servings were plentiful and we only had one pizza for both of us, and we're eaters. salad was tossed fresh right in front of us and was the perfect proportion of cheese and crouton. and let me tell you, you havent lived until you've had the signature nutella© calzone with fresh berries. can we eat this everyday?

★★★★★
from us MidiCi
housemade meatballs with smoked mozzarella
caesar salad
double pepperoni (doppio pepperoni) pizza
burrata with melon & prosciutto di san daniele
greek (greca) salad
the meats pizza
americano
nutella© calzone with fresh berries.
this book, man! so life changing already. a must read.
2 years with this man could not feel any better.
love love love him.

five on friday

five on friday

Friday, April 21, 2017

one. sun's out
we've been outside so much lately, Noah is as tan as he can get. a couple of weeks ago we spent the ENTIRE weekend doing yard work. the kids loved it! we couldn't get them to come inside. we found worms, rollie-pollies and discovered sky's love for eating dirt.. good times! we also enjoyed the sunshine as the kids hunted for way too many eggs that ended up all over the dining room floor. these are the days I dreamed of when I dreamed of having a family and a home.

two. baby boy
i'm so curious! what will this baby boy look like? mommy or daddy? I think dad makes for such a handsome boy. I can't help but dream about how he will look, what his personality will be. shy and quiet like mom? or outgoing and talkative like dad?

three. spring cleaning
some would say i'm nesting, but i'm just normally this much of a clean freak. purging the kids closets have been on my to-do list for months but hadn't had the time. since I took a week off work, it was the perfect opportunity. after cleaning out all the grown out items, I noticed how little clothes they had that actually fit. so Brandon let me go buck wild at Target. what the what? there's one thing off my list. our closet is next. and can you call bathing both kids in the kitchen sink spring cleaning? it was faster, but what was I thinking? my back was mad at me after that.

four. sibling love
they actually like each other. i'm just kidding. but it's so cute when they play together, my goodness. skylar is a lot to handle, so noah doesn't always want to play with her, but when he does, it melts our hearts! sky still thinks her big brother hung the moon, and you can see it when he lets her play with him. I cant get enough.

five. i'm that mom
the one that cant stay away from her kids. people say they love their kids, I really really love my kids. its hard for me to stay away from them all day long. Brandon tells me I need to chill out with it, but I cant. I spend a lot of time visiting them on lunch breaks. and when I get a week off vacation, what do I do? spend time with them at daycare. they're just cool kids..

fun times!
happy Friday.

birth story

Birth Story | Noah Abram

Wednesday, April 19, 2017

a mother might give birth to a child, but before that a child gives birth to a mother.

this was it, I was a mother. and I couldn't believe how my world was about to change. so soon and before I "thought" my time would come, God had given me such a blessing in being a mother. it obviously was not "my plan" to become a mother at 19 years old, but He assured me He would stand by me and carry me through.
I had no idea what to expect during pregnancy but all in all, looking back, I was blessed with such a great and healthy pregnancy. and I absolutely did not know what to expect during labor. I heard stories that made my skin crawl and honestly frightened me for that moment to come. I had to make a decision, weather I would let the stories effect my delivery or would I take control and make this the most beautiful experience of my life?

February 2nd, 2013
I woke up to what felt like really bad period cramps at 3:20am. I had already downloaded the contraction tracker app on my phone so I started timing. I wanted to make sure this was for real before I woke anyone up at that fine time of night. after a few contractions I called my mom and very calmly told her to come to my room. she laid with me for a few minutes before I told her, "this hurts a lot, I'm pretty sure this is it." luckily I had everything packed and ready to go, so I rested while she woke my sister up and took a quick shower.
when she came back into the room, she helped me out of bed and I felt a gush as soon as I stood on my feet. there it was, the famous water break. I thought I would at least feel something pop, but I didn't feel a thing besides liquid running down my pajama pants. shoot! the feeling of peeing your pants is what it felt like to me. warm and gross.
so now I needed a shower and in between contractions, was perfectly capable of even shaving my legs and washing my hair. I remember telling my sister through the shower curtain, don't get pregnant, this hurts!

I didn't do makeup and threw my hair up in a top knot and we were off. the car ride was so uncomfortable and bumpy. I had a fit to throw with the hospital with the speed bumps in the emergency room entrance. how could they do something like that to a pregnant women in labor? it was painful!
as soon as we arrived, at about 5:30 I was taken into L&D in a wheel chair. they didn't even check my contractions or dilation before they emitted me to a room. my water had broken, so they obviously weren't going to turn me away. and I think my face told it all. from here on out, we just waited. I was 4cm dilated and 90% effaced. I was progressing quickly and smoothly. within the hour I was up to 6cm and 8cm in the next. I didn't have a plan of weather I was taking an epidural or not, I literally had no idea what to expect and just decided to wait and see. I was doing pretty good considering the excruciating pain. my mom encouraged my breathing and held my hand the whole time, assuring me I was doing great. they offered the epidural very lightly as if it was Tylenol and I seriously thought about it. I knew I could do it without the steroids and turned that option away. they did come back after a few minutes, I think when they realized I wasn't budging, and offered something to take the edge off, Fentanyl. I accepted that one and it did exactly what they said it would do. it definitely didn't take away all the pain and it was very short lasting. but it gave me a little relief and some time to regain energy before it was time to push.
after a few dosages of the Fentanyl, they said my midwife had arrived and she was getting ready to come in to check on me. "No, I don't want her, what are my other options?" *I had experienced terrible pain when she checked me for dilation in the office weeks before. she was very insensitive to the pain and basically told me to "deal with it." when I arrived to the hospital and was checked by one of the nurses, I felt not a thing! I mentioned to the nurse that when my midwife checked me, it was very painful that I shook uncontrollably for about 15 mins after and bled all day. she assured me it wasn't supposed to hurt. I just thought it worked this way before she told me that. so I refused to have her deliver my baby.
the nurse said there was a new Dr in that could deliver and I accepted. I hadn't even heard of the guy, but I wasn't letting that careless women near me. when he walked in, and spoke to me about what was going to happen and asked me how I was doing, I immediately felt peace. he was so kind and concerned about my progress.
who knew this was going to be the man I would choose to deliver all of my children.

after just being in the hospital for about 4 hours, the nurse told me we were going to do some practice pushing as she pushed on something down there. I still have no idea what she was doing, but I firmly mentioned, "I need to keep pushing." she called in another nurse and quickly told her to call the Dr, "this baby is coming now." it was like a ambush all of a sudden. there were people running in with carts, getting gloves on and masks being passed around. the Dr barely had time to roll his sleeves up before I told them "I'm pushing!" they didn't even have time to let some of the guests out that were in the room. awkward!
he very calmly instructed me and we were in it. the time was here, that quickly. I closed my eyes and listened to the nurse count as I pushed with everything within me. literally, everything. the doctor told me to push as if I was pooping. I know, gross, but that's the reality of it. I've since then have forgotten the level of pain I was in, but I tried as much as I could to keep my cool. I'm not really into all the yelling and grunting, so I just kept it all in as used it to my advantage of pushing. I remember letting on scream out as I began to feel the "ring of fire." geeze, that was where it really got real. I felt as my babies head crowned and came halfway out. his head was halfway out while I took another breathe and pushed again. I could see everybody around me encouraging me and cheering me on, but didn't hear one thing. it was like when you mute the TV. after about 3 pushes, he, very painfully, slipped right out and he plopped him right on my chest.

here he was, the promise my God had for me. in my arms, slimy and greasy. and perfect! he was absolutely perfect! he had a head full of hair and a calm about him. he squeaked here and there, but was very calm, even with all those hands on him.
after not even a minute of analyzing him, they changed him to the warmer where they tried getting some more noise out of him. he was still just a bit purple, so they gave him a few puffs of oxygen to encourage him. once the nurse touched him head, he became very vocal and I could not believe that beautiful noise.
the sound of heaven on earth.

still in some pain, I looked over at him and couldn't believe he was mine.
seven pounds eleven ounces
in between delivering the placenta and getting stitched up from the tearing, I couldn't help but stare at him. I wanted to hold him so badly. all I remember is feeling the desire to calm him, and attend to his cries. I wanted to feel his skin and kiss his head. he was the desire of my heart, he was suddenly everything that mattered.
the Dr was so kind when caring for me. he made sure I wasn't in any discomfort as he stitched me. I am, to this day, so happy I made the decision to ask for the Dr. he made the delivery so pleasant and stress free. he was very down to earth as he commented on the music playing in the background. he made conversation with everybody while still making sure I didn't feel any pain.
I will never forget his words, "this is the most beautiful delivery experience I've ever had."
my firstborn, my son.
my everything.