May 31, 2011

This is the first of a couple “catch up” posts that I’m going do about Stella. Stella coming into our lives has changed both Blake and I in ways we never could have imagined. We are so thankful for her and for the blessing she is. I honestly can't believe she's almost 10 months. I know people talk all the time about "how time flies," but I feel like I can relate in a whole new way! My baby is just growing up too fast!

Blake and I definitely had talked about having kids, but we went back and forth all the time on when we thought we wanted to start having them. God obviously had a perfect time, so I'm very glad he didn't leave it up to us! I found out on Sunday, 10-10-10, that I was expecting! We had been to CB’s the day before I found out (CB's is an old burger place in Greenville that Blake's grandparents have been going to since they were growing up) and I was just not feeling “right” while we were there. The burger didn’t taste good and that is HIGHLY unusual – I have to have CB’s fix at least a couple times a month! Needless to say, my intuition was right and I was pregnant. Up until about week 14 I felt like I had the flu. If there was a pregnancy symptom – I got it. After getting into my second and third trimester I absolutely loved being pregnant. Everything about it was just incredible. What a miracle that God designed! If Blake would let me, I might have 10 kids! I'll settle for a few :)

The day of Stella’s birth was Tuesday, May 31, 2011. The previous day was Memorial day and we had celebrated our third anniversary over the weekend (although the actual date of our anniversary is May 31). I had been waking up the past couple nights VERY early in the morning and feeling all anxious. So, I decided to straighten my hair, ha (what else would you do at 4am?). I always wanted to be ready in case today was the day! I had been working from home for the past couple weeks since I was put on bed rest for high blood pressure. Silly me, I tried to assure my doctor (who happens to be the most fabulous doctor ever!) that my blood pressure was only high because I was having a stressful time at work. Apparently it doesn’t matter WHY your blood pressure is high. It only matters that it IS! Since I was up so early I started piddling around, feeding the dogs and getting the house straightened (if you know me – my house stays in a constant state of order).



Dr. Garner after delivery



Then, I “felt something odd,” which come to find out was my water breaking. Please note, I expected my water to break like Miranda’s in Sex in the City. Somewhat like a bucket being poured from between your legs. Well, that’s not what happened. I called my doctor after about the third time I “felt something odd” and he said to come on in and check myself in and they’d check things out. So - I immediately took a shower! Not that I advise taking a shower while you should be rushing to the hosptital, but hey, I still had to wait for Blake to turn around and come back home. So,we headed to the hospital about 9:30 in the morning. By the time I got up to the room and they checked me out I was still only dilated to a 2. The nurse tested to see if it was my water that had broke, but the test was inconclusive. Dr G came in around noon and was able to determine it was my water that had broke and then he was able to break the last “pocket of water” for me – um, ouch! By that time I was dilated to a 3 and we started the pitocin. I let myself feel about two good "knock your breath out" contractions and unashamedly asked for the epidural stat! That was about 1:30pm and very shortly after I dilated to a 5 and began getting sick (thanks anesthesia). The nurse, Heidi, let us know that now would be the best time to rest before all the action started, so we turned off the lights and attempted to rest. About 30 minutes later, Dr G walked into the room, flipped the lights on and said “It’s Time!” Sure enough, I was dilated to a 10 and the pushing began. (I later asked how he knew it was time even when he hadn't seen me in a couple hours and apparently the baby's heart beat goes into a certain pattern right before birth that he was able to see down in his office because of the fetal monitor - I love modern medicine.)

Y'all I have to tell you something funny. The weekend before I had Stella I put on sunless tanner (which proved to be quite difficult with that big ol' belly in the way). Needless to say, I didnt rub it in as well as I should have, so all I could focus on in the delivery room was the really awful lines on my ankles - I will never forget bad tan lines and purple toe nail polish during labor!



Blake watching my contractions



They opted to let me “labor down” for about 30-45 minutes letting the contractions push Stella as far as they could. After a few good pushes my sweet little baby entered this world at 4:52pm! What a wonderful anniversary gift!

Blake, my mom, and one of my best friends, Lauren Ammerman (who took all these beautiful, priceless pictures) were all in the room during delivery. If anyone is considering having pictures taken during your delivery – I say YES! There weren’t any icky photos. Lauren captured all the most amazing moments that I was too busy (pushing a kid out) to really take in.

I can't even adequately describe how special this little girl is! She's added so much joy to our lives!

The steers are here...

Sunday morning Blake and his dad left for Roswell, New Mexico to pick up 25 Corriente steers (well, after Blake corrected me, there are 24 heifers and a bull). Blake and Greg arrived back at the farm around close to sun-down Monday night.

The horses were quite excited to see all these steers! They stayed right up by the trailer watching every move.

This is the newest addition to the family – Amos Moses, a 4 year-old blue roan from the Aaron Ranch!

This girl looked like she was ready to get outta that trailer after a long 9 hour ride!

Pawpaw and Stella. I love seeing Greg in a cowboy hat!

And away they goooooooo!

And then the horses decided to show those steers who really runs this place….hence the horses now running those sweet girls (and boy) around the pasture.

The herd settled down pretty quickly and took to their new home really well!

I took a pic of Blake’s roping horses (yep, they’re twinkies – Howard and Emilio – and I can NOT tell them apart most times until they get up close).

Here are “my” two – Cadillac and Amos Moses. Blake just lets me call them mine, but secretly he has other plans of turning them into more roping machines!

We got up right after the sun came up this morning and checked to make sure the herd had not gotten out. They were all there - safe and sound!

Of course this guy showed up. Cadillac doesn’t like to miss any possible rubs or pats!



Happy Blogging!

I’m so excited to finally start blogging. It’s been something I’ve wanted to do for quite a while now and so I’ve made the decision to go ahead and start. This will mostly be a on-line journal of sorts to chronicle our lives and all that God is doing. I feel like I must warn you, though, that there may be an excessive amount of pictures of my sweet little girl, Stella. I also may be doing some “catch-up” posts about her birth, etc. Just for my own benefit!

One more warning – I PROMISE to try really hard not to make spelling mistakes, but I can make no guarantee that this blog will not be riddled with grammatical errors. It is a pet peeve when I catch other people’s spelling and grammar mistakes, but when it comes to my own writing it seems all my elementary school training goes out the window. A tad unfair, I know, but I just can’t help it. I forget where commas and semi-colons should be used. I have an obsession with run-on sentences (apparently, my thoughts go on and on and on and I can’t seem to find any good place to put a period)! So, again, I thought it would be prudent of me to give you this information up front.

A little more about my story, just so you have some background going forward. I grew up in a suburban town outside of Dallas with my parents and younger sister. I did come from the “Leave it to Beaver” home or as my husband says, the “Raisin Bran” family. I wouldn’t change it for the world. I have the most loving and supportive family I could ever hope for. All (well, 90%) of my extended family lives in Georgia, which is also where I was born. Even though we are separated by many miles they play a huge role in my life and helped shaped me growing up. I can’t stress how important my family is. At the end of the day, they will always be there even when friends are not (however, I do love, love, love my friends).





May 31, 2008



After years spent in public school, I ended up graduating high school from a small, Christian school. Though hard at first to leave my friends and make a change like that half way through high school, I would never take back all the awesome friends I made that truly changed my life. I kept in close contact with my best friend growing up, Ryan (who later become my sister-in-law – I am one lucky girl!). We went to the same elementary and middle school together, then she moved to another school district a couple towns away. Her older brother, my now husband, was the most loud and boisterous person I had ever met. Everything about him was just compelling (and completely opposite of me). Every time I was at their house I was just wincing and waiting for him to call me out or say something that would completely embarrass me and turn me an awful shade of red (I was probably the most shy person you had EVER met). BUT, I had the absolute biggest crush on him. I still question how I could adore him after he’d chase us, relentlessly, around his house with kitchen knives.



One year exactly before Stella was born



As Blake and I grew up and went our separate ways, I continued to keep in touch with Ryan (she was the priority after all). Ryan and I had such an amazing friendship, and I can’t think of one time where we’ve been in a fight or even been mad at each other. Our friendship is just easy and comfortable. While I was at college getting my degree in Healthcare Administration, mine and Blake’s paths crossed again. Everything was different and we both felt it. He was still stationed in Japan serving as a Rescue Swimmer in the Navy and I was living in San Marcos attending Texas State University. Needless to say, we started dating and he proposed in December 2007. We were married May 31, 2008 and welcomed our first baby girl, Stella, on May 31, 2011. She has been the most amazing gift and I am so blessed that God has entrusted her to us. We now live in a rural town outside Dallas with our four horses, two dogs, one cat…and as of today, about 25 Corriente cattle!



I vow to never make my blogs this long and lengthy EVER again, but I felt the need to give you some background on who I am (minus all the nitty gritty). Thanks for joining me on my blogging journey!



Our little family - December 2011