Wow! Where has the time gone??? It's been almost a year since my last post. I've been trying to get back to blogging for the longest. Now, things are finally starting to settle down or perhaps I've adjusted to all of the "adjustments" that have happened in my life within the last year.
This past year has been...um...exhausting! I am however very grateful for all that has happened. Let's see...
1. Planning for a wedding started last year in March.
2. Our baby boy was born 9/4/14.
3. While I was on "maternity leave", I started applying for a new job.
4. Two weeks after returning to work, I got offered a new job at a new company. *going back to work was so hard for me! I loved staying home with our son!
5. My first day at the new job was also the first day we moved into our new apartment.
6. Wedding planning continues.
7. We got married 6/12/15! :)
So, as you can see, life has been super busy! Life is definitely no longer the way it used to be a year ago. I'm going try to start blogging...again for the 3rd or 4th time. I feel like I've lost my passion for writing and I want it back. I mean, I've got to have some kind of talent. I can't sing, my husband says I'm a stiff dancer (although I think he's just jealous I have better moves), so I got to have something I'm good at, right? ;-) So, here I go again!
Simply Melissa
Thursday, July 23, 2015
Saturday, August 9, 2014
Little Man Shower
A couple of Sunday's ago, we had our baby shower, and I must admit...I was really nervous about how it would turn out. I was counting on 3 people to pull it all together and hoped everything worked out. Once again, since this was something about me (well, our baby) I wanted it to be perfect. We decided to go with a co-ed baby shower. A couple of weeks leading up to the shower, I was getting very worried because I was not getting any updates on how things were going. I was so tempted to call each person who said they would contribute to putting this event together, but I had to keep telling myself "No! They are putting this together for you!" I'm working on not wanting to have total control of everything and remembering to pray about it instead.
To be honest, a few things did have me a little stressed out, BUT everything came together beautifully. We had a great time and that's what matters the most. Here are a few pictures from our Little Man themed baby shower:
To be honest, a few things did have me a little stressed out, BUT everything came together beautifully. We had a great time and that's what matters the most. Here are a few pictures from our Little Man themed baby shower:
One of the tables of goodies! My sister made the banner :)
First "game". Ron and I answering questions about each other to see how much we know. He was the winner on that one lol.
The ladies guessing how big around I am. Look at all the natural curlies in this pic! :)
My outfit for the day. Dress found at Macy's by Guess, earrings and necklace by Premier Designs.
Overall, I had a good time and was so happy to see the love and support from both of our families and friends. A special thanks to my future mother-in-law who provided the food, future sis-in-law who provided the cupcakes and other goodies, my oldest sister who did the decor and facilitated the games, and my mom, dad and little sister who helped tie up all the loose ends. And of course a big thanks to all who showed their support by helping us prepare for our little ones arrival.
~Mel
Saturday, July 12, 2014
The Journey of My Growing Bump
Sometimes I look at myself in the mirror and say to myself "wow...I can't believe I'm going to be a mother!" Even though I've always had a desire to be a mother someday, I just can't believe that it's actually happening, right now! I want to take this time to recap on my pregnancy experience so far. I meant to start a journal of this journey a long time ago, but it just didn't happen (see previous post). I'm now into my 8th month and I'm so excited to meet this little boy that I am carrying. Let's take a walk down memory lane...
On New Year's Eve, me and my babes celebrated together downtown and had a lovely, romantic time. The next morning, when I woke up, I noticed that my breasts were sore. I was already aware that my cycle was 5 days late, so I was beginning to suspect that maybe I'm pregnant. I jokingly mentioned it to babes and he just laughed while trying to give an explanation for my symptoms. Fast forward to a few days later. It was January 7, 2014 and I had a doctor's appointment the next morning for my annual women check-up. I was still suspecting that I might be pregnant and for some reason, I did NOT want to go to see my new OB/GYN not knowing whether or not I was pregnant. So, I went to Walgreens and picked up a pregnancy test that had 2 in one pack. Strangely, that evening my bladder was on overdrive. Almost every 20 - 30 minutes I had to go to the bathroom. I did not tell babes what I was doing because I was afraid that he would freak out. So, after I got off of the phone with him, I went and took one of the tests. My heart dropped when I saw the plus sign show up immediately. I was just in shock! Of course I couldn't sleep that night because I couldn't wait to take the 2nd test in the morning for confirmation. When I took the 2nd test, it came back positive as well. Even with all the signs pointing towards pregnancy, I was still in disbelief and wanted the doctor to tell me that I was really pregnant. Well at my appointment, it was confirmed and the medical staff began to prepare me for the next 9 months. I was 6 weeks when I found out.
We had the first ultrasound at 8 weeks, and for some reason, I was still in disbelief. I thought that maybe there was a mistake and the ultrasound would prove that there was not a little person growing in me. The tech placed the gel on my belly and began to search for the embryo with the ultrasound device. She glided it from left to right, up and down...she couldn't find anything. I began to get nervous. Then the tech said that she would have to use the device that would be inserted vaginally. So we tried that and BAM...there it was! I saw a sac and a fluttering heart. Then she turned on the doppler machine to hear the heartbeat and ever since then I have been amazed!
Throughout the earlier weeks, the nausea came, I couldn't eat much, I developed this nasty stale taste in my mouth that won't go away, and I was super emotional! I'm not a big "cryer", but I would cry about things that I probably wouldn't cry about if I wasn't pregnant.
I didn't want to make a big announcement about the pregnancy at first because I was worried. Worried that something might go wrong and I might have a miscarriage. I've seen this happen to someone before and I know it must have been hard for her to have to announce that she had a miscarriage. So, I waited a few more weeks. I've read that the "rule" is to wait until 12 weeks or the 2nd trimester, which is kind of what I went by, because your chances of miscarriage lessens. However, my now fiance was super excited to tell his family and friends so most of them knew before my family and friends.
We had another ultrasound at 18 weeks (which is also when we found out the sex of the baby). When I saw the head, the spine, the legs, feet, arms and hands...my God! I just fell in love! I felt like I had this life that I had to protect and care for. Then we found out that we're having a boy which made that moment even more special. I let my fiance pick a name for him because apparently, I'm not good at naming boys haha!
At each doctor's appointment, I was always anxious to hear the heartbeat because there was no other way to know how the baby is doing. And then the movement started. For a while, I thought that I had really bad gas, but then I realized that the movement in my stomach was not going towards the "exit". I would feel something move across or up and down my stomach. Ah ha! That's the baby moving! I think I started to feel movement around 20 weeks.
Now at 31 weeks, this little boy has lots of movement and I love it! I don't care if he's moving while I'm trying to sleep. Just as long as he keeps moving, I'm happy.
I also wanted to mention the symptoms that I've experienced that people don't usually tell you about. They talk about the morning sickness, heartburn, and swelling which I was expecting. So then there's the stale taste or metal taste in my mouth that won't go away. I also experienced tremendous pain between week 13 - 16 around my groin area. I mean, just getting out of bed was a task in itself because it was so painful. Dreams. Some of the dreams I've had since being pregnant are super weird, and that's all I'm going to say about that.
With my belly growing bump and pregnancy symptoms (which I appreciate), I'm so excited to meet our little one and praying that God helps us to be the best parents we can be for him.
~ Mel
12/31/13, enjoying ourselves not knowing that we were expecting.
On New Year's Eve, me and my babes celebrated together downtown and had a lovely, romantic time. The next morning, when I woke up, I noticed that my breasts were sore. I was already aware that my cycle was 5 days late, so I was beginning to suspect that maybe I'm pregnant. I jokingly mentioned it to babes and he just laughed while trying to give an explanation for my symptoms. Fast forward to a few days later. It was January 7, 2014 and I had a doctor's appointment the next morning for my annual women check-up. I was still suspecting that I might be pregnant and for some reason, I did NOT want to go to see my new OB/GYN not knowing whether or not I was pregnant. So, I went to Walgreens and picked up a pregnancy test that had 2 in one pack. Strangely, that evening my bladder was on overdrive. Almost every 20 - 30 minutes I had to go to the bathroom. I did not tell babes what I was doing because I was afraid that he would freak out. So, after I got off of the phone with him, I went and took one of the tests. My heart dropped when I saw the plus sign show up immediately. I was just in shock! Of course I couldn't sleep that night because I couldn't wait to take the 2nd test in the morning for confirmation. When I took the 2nd test, it came back positive as well. Even with all the signs pointing towards pregnancy, I was still in disbelief and wanted the doctor to tell me that I was really pregnant. Well at my appointment, it was confirmed and the medical staff began to prepare me for the next 9 months. I was 6 weeks when I found out.
We had the first ultrasound at 8 weeks, and for some reason, I was still in disbelief. I thought that maybe there was a mistake and the ultrasound would prove that there was not a little person growing in me. The tech placed the gel on my belly and began to search for the embryo with the ultrasound device. She glided it from left to right, up and down...she couldn't find anything. I began to get nervous. Then the tech said that she would have to use the device that would be inserted vaginally. So we tried that and BAM...there it was! I saw a sac and a fluttering heart. Then she turned on the doppler machine to hear the heartbeat and ever since then I have been amazed!
Throughout the earlier weeks, the nausea came, I couldn't eat much, I developed this nasty stale taste in my mouth that won't go away, and I was super emotional! I'm not a big "cryer", but I would cry about things that I probably wouldn't cry about if I wasn't pregnant.
I didn't want to make a big announcement about the pregnancy at first because I was worried. Worried that something might go wrong and I might have a miscarriage. I've seen this happen to someone before and I know it must have been hard for her to have to announce that she had a miscarriage. So, I waited a few more weeks. I've read that the "rule" is to wait until 12 weeks or the 2nd trimester, which is kind of what I went by, because your chances of miscarriage lessens. However, my now fiance was super excited to tell his family and friends so most of them knew before my family and friends.
Me at 4 months
We had another ultrasound at 18 weeks (which is also when we found out the sex of the baby). When I saw the head, the spine, the legs, feet, arms and hands...my God! I just fell in love! I felt like I had this life that I had to protect and care for. Then we found out that we're having a boy which made that moment even more special. I let my fiance pick a name for him because apparently, I'm not good at naming boys haha!
At each doctor's appointment, I was always anxious to hear the heartbeat because there was no other way to know how the baby is doing. And then the movement started. For a while, I thought that I had really bad gas, but then I realized that the movement in my stomach was not going towards the "exit". I would feel something move across or up and down my stomach. Ah ha! That's the baby moving! I think I started to feel movement around 20 weeks.
Now at 31 weeks, this little boy has lots of movement and I love it! I don't care if he's moving while I'm trying to sleep. Just as long as he keeps moving, I'm happy.
I also wanted to mention the symptoms that I've experienced that people don't usually tell you about. They talk about the morning sickness, heartburn, and swelling which I was expecting. So then there's the stale taste or metal taste in my mouth that won't go away. I also experienced tremendous pain between week 13 - 16 around my groin area. I mean, just getting out of bed was a task in itself because it was so painful. Dreams. Some of the dreams I've had since being pregnant are super weird, and that's all I'm going to say about that.
With my belly growing bump and pregnancy symptoms (which I appreciate), I'm so excited to meet our little one and praying that God helps us to be the best parents we can be for him.
End of 8 months...down to the final few weeks before meeting our baby boy!
~ Mel
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
Time to De-Clutter!
Have you ever felt like you had so much that you had to do, that all these thoughts start running through your head as if you're actually going to start doing the things that you need to do but it's so much stuff that you don't know where to start so you end up putting things off until another day and the stuff just piles up??? Whew! That was a run-on sentence on purpose because I wanted to express how I actually feel mentally right now. I've been in this space (mentally) for some months. I'm exhausted, overwhelmed and admittedly a little cranky. I have this picture in my mind of how I want things to be but it's not getting there fast enough so I begin to worry. Thinking about all these things that could go wrong. Thinking how messed up my future is going to look before I even get there. Oh, can I add anxiety to my list of negative emotions? Consequently, the clutter in my mind has spilled over into clutter in my living space and it's driving me crazy! I just feel so drained.
Ok, so you may be thinking "she's just hormonal because she's pregnant." Which may be the case, but I think there is more to it.
You see, last year when I was taking my group counseling class, I realized that I'm somewhat of a perfectionist when one of my classmates was describing perfectionism as one of her issues that she would like to work on and during that time I was thinking "Oh my gosh! That's me!" So I think that with all of this "newness" in my life, my perfectionism wants to go into overdrive. Everything has to be perfect and the way that I want it to be. I want to have control over the things that are happening or going to happen in my life!
Oh, but wait...that's not how life works, now does it?
I also realized that I have spent a lot of time worrying and not more time praying. It's so easy to get distracted and forget that my Father misses me and wants to spend time with me. I have to be intentional about making time for him just like I make sure I eat food everyday. I can't forget that He is the one who helped me get through tough times in the past and brought me to where I am today. I see it as my responsibility to make sure that He is #1 priority in my life, whether things are going good or bad!
Simply Melley
Ok, so you may be thinking "she's just hormonal because she's pregnant." Which may be the case, but I think there is more to it.
You see, last year when I was taking my group counseling class, I realized that I'm somewhat of a perfectionist when one of my classmates was describing perfectionism as one of her issues that she would like to work on and during that time I was thinking "Oh my gosh! That's me!" So I think that with all of this "newness" in my life, my perfectionism wants to go into overdrive. Everything has to be perfect and the way that I want it to be. I want to have control over the things that are happening or going to happen in my life!
Oh, but wait...that's not how life works, now does it?
I also realized that I have spent a lot of time worrying and not more time praying. It's so easy to get distracted and forget that my Father misses me and wants to spend time with me. I have to be intentional about making time for him just like I make sure I eat food everyday. I can't forget that He is the one who helped me get through tough times in the past and brought me to where I am today. I see it as my responsibility to make sure that He is #1 priority in my life, whether things are going good or bad!
Simply Melley
Monday, May 26, 2014
May 2013...
A year ago I would not have imagined my life to be going in the direction that it is going in now. Last year, May 2013, I was preparing to begin my practicum for grad school. I was getting so close to the end of grad school and was so ready to graduate in December 2013. I was also working on myself. I was still healing from a broken heart so I wanted nothing to do with men at that time and I just wanted to work on me!
I was content in my solitude and really enjoyed spending time with God. Praying and meditating on God's word everyday became a relaxing (and much needed) time for me. I was growing spiritually and was looking forward to where He was taking me. I knew that He would help me to graduate in December and I knew that he would help me on my way to becoming a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor. Really, I was expecting to be single for a few more years and just focus on my career. However, God had other plans.
Late August 2013, I reconnected with an old friend that I met when I was 18 yrs old and he was 20 yrs old. Not thinking anything of it, we started to hang out more, talk on the phone everyday, and started to get closer. I didn't want to get hurt again so I started to question whether he was "the one" because I prayed and asked God not to send another man my way unless he is the one that I am going to marry. I also prayed that God would allow me to recognize him whenever I did meet him.
Could this old friend that has disappeared for a few years then recently showed up as this heavy presence in my life be the one that I would marry? We began dating for a few months and briefly talked about marriage so I felt comfortable continuing the relationship with him. Well, fast forward to January 2014, we find out that we are expecting and we're both excited. I never thought that I would be pregnant before getting married, but honestly, it was bound to happen soon. Since our relationship was still new (according to most people), I was still trying to figure out if our relationship was heading in the right direction, even though it felt right. Then on Valentine's Day 2014, my sweetheart surprised me with a proposal to spend the rest of my life with him.
In December 2013, I declared that 2014 was going to be a great year and so far God has surprised me with blessing after blessing. I've been promoted twice on my new job, I passed the CRC exam, I'm 6 months pregnant, and my fiance and I continue to grow closer to one another. I'm so thankful for God's faithfulness even when I'm unfaithful.
I have my share of days when I feel overwhelmed, upset, stressed, annoyed...and the list goes on. Those days, however, are over shadowed by the things that I am grateful for and I try to focus on that rather than dwell on what's not going right. It's been a bit of a roller coaster this past year with all of these changes (expected and unexpected) happening in my life. I'm glad to say that I am happy where I am today and I'm looking forward to what God has in store for my future.
~Mel
I was content in my solitude and really enjoyed spending time with God. Praying and meditating on God's word everyday became a relaxing (and much needed) time for me. I was growing spiritually and was looking forward to where He was taking me. I knew that He would help me to graduate in December and I knew that he would help me on my way to becoming a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor. Really, I was expecting to be single for a few more years and just focus on my career. However, God had other plans.
Late August 2013, I reconnected with an old friend that I met when I was 18 yrs old and he was 20 yrs old. Not thinking anything of it, we started to hang out more, talk on the phone everyday, and started to get closer. I didn't want to get hurt again so I started to question whether he was "the one" because I prayed and asked God not to send another man my way unless he is the one that I am going to marry. I also prayed that God would allow me to recognize him whenever I did meet him.
Could this old friend that has disappeared for a few years then recently showed up as this heavy presence in my life be the one that I would marry? We began dating for a few months and briefly talked about marriage so I felt comfortable continuing the relationship with him. Well, fast forward to January 2014, we find out that we are expecting and we're both excited. I never thought that I would be pregnant before getting married, but honestly, it was bound to happen soon. Since our relationship was still new (according to most people), I was still trying to figure out if our relationship was heading in the right direction, even though it felt right. Then on Valentine's Day 2014, my sweetheart surprised me with a proposal to spend the rest of my life with him.
The proposal at 024 Grille Restaurant at Westin Hotel. What a surprise!
I have my share of days when I feel overwhelmed, upset, stressed, annoyed...and the list goes on. Those days, however, are over shadowed by the things that I am grateful for and I try to focus on that rather than dwell on what's not going right. It's been a bit of a roller coaster this past year with all of these changes (expected and unexpected) happening in my life. I'm glad to say that I am happy where I am today and I'm looking forward to what God has in store for my future.
~Mel
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)