My Husband and Daughter [Grateful Journey: Day 1- July 25th]

Oh, did you think I would start with anything else ;)

First and foremost, I want to thank God for my husband and my daughter. 

I met Ethan in 2009. I like to think it was meant to be. My brother had been Ethan's friend for years. Who knows why I'd never met him before... actually, never even heard of him! Hilarious. Anyways- one night my brother called me to validate a story he was telling. While telling all of the men in the room, 'Yes, he's right,' I hear someone say, 'Who is that, Brad?' Brad replies, "It's my sister." And then I proceed to hear the phone being passed around... and Ethan says, "Hey-- you want to discuss all of this over dinner sometime?" I LAUGHED. And I was a butt-head. I said, 'Dude, you sound like you're 12.' HAHA! What a jerk, huh? ;) He then said, 'I'm 19. And I have my own apartment!' I told him if he could find my phone number, he could call me. (Duh! He'd just get it out of my brother's phone.. Not my smartest move!) So, he called me about 4 minutes later..

We talked the entire night.

Not kidding.

And we finally met for a date on December 26th, 2009.. only 3 days later :) 

I am not afraid to tell you that it was love at first sight. I've never felt that way before. That instant, breath-taking moment where you think... 

This person is going to be my best friend forever.

We started dating that day. And we have been absolutely inseparable since. He is the love of my life. Of course, he drives me crazy on occasion, but he is SUCH a blessing to me! I know it's cheesy to say, but I really couldn't imagine my world without him in it. Sure, I have to ask him fourteen times to take out the trash. What wife doesn't? But, I don't even have to ask him for a hug on a bad day. I don't have to ask him to tell me I'm beautiful. He just does it. I have such a kind man. So giving. So uplifting. He always tells me how pretty he thinks I am. He always compliments my cooking. He always loves on me. He even kisses me in public. I'd like to think he's a keeper! ;)

We were married on December 28th, 2010. Almost exactly one year later.

I was 7 months pregnant with our sweet baby girl, Tayler. Yea, yea.. do the math. We went fast, but it was worth every single bit of it! She is THEE MOST important things in our lives. She makes us laugh on a daily basis. She has such a personality.

Tayler came in to our lives on March 31st, 2011 at 2:22AM. That little booger.. she's always been calling the shots. 

My water broke at 8:30AM on March 30th. I was admitted in to the hospital at 12:30PM. I was dilated 2. Shortly after, I was not dilating, so they started my pitocin. And guess what? At 12:00AM on March 31st... I was STILL only dilated 2. I was on my second bag of pitocin just praying for something. I wasn't allowed to have an epidural yet.. no food... just banana popsicles, contractions, and 'The Office.' At 1AM, they came in to check me and sure enough-- I was dilated a 5! WHOOHOOO. That meant an epidural was coming to save me! 

However, Tayler had different plans.

I started to tell my mom I felt like I had to push. Everyone kept saying, 'Hunny, you'll know when you have to push. You're only a 5.' So guess what? I pushed LOL! I HAD to. The nurse ran over and checked me... I remember her yelling, 'She's CLEAR!' I said, "What does that mean??' She said, 'You're a 10 and we're having this baby!'

My doctor had went home because they had schedule my c-section for 6AM at midnight when I was making no progress. I couldn't get the epidural because... they took to long.. or maybe it's because my daughter decided she wanted to come... NOW. HAHA! Either way-- I remember everyone walked out of the room when the nurse announced I was getting an epidural. I think they thought it was going to get ugly. It wasn't. I simply stated, "Well, lets get this baby out!'

I started pushing at 1:20AM. My doctor walked through the door at 2:00AM just laughing. At 2:22AM, Tayler was born. A gorgeous 6lb 3oz, 20" baby girl. I was in love at that first second. And I've been in love ever since. That little girl has my entire heart. Isn't it crazy how you fall in love with someone when you see those 2 blue lines on your pregnancy test? And you fall even more in love when you hold them for the first time. She is such a blessing to us. I am SO very thankful for my family! 

Thank You, Jesus for Your blessings on my life! You didn't have to do this for me, but You did and I am grateful for it!

This is us when Tayler was 3 weeks old. This photo was taken by Jessica Barber Photography. Check her out on Facebook! :)