Photo Story Friday: A Few of My Favorite Pictures

Tomorrow my little girl will be 4..... and I still just can not believe it!! Wow...my baby girl.... my little angel (well, she's not always a "little angel") will be 4 years old. At the risk of being one of those moms who jumps too far ahead, only one more year until Kindergarten.... a little school girl... before I know it she will be a sassy pre-teen..... :)

For one of her birthday presents, we are taking her to Disneyworld!! She is just so excited about that...she can't wait to see Mickey & Minnie and meet all of the princesses!! And I can't wait to see the joy in her eyes when she does all of that!!

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

For my Photostory Friday post, I will share a few of my favorite pictures from when she was a wee little baby.... 4 years ago....

I love this picture wih her little mouth open....that natural instinct..."rooting" for her food.... and look at all that hair!!!

Her oldest brother got to hold her first:

I love this picture because Joseph was so amazed that the baby was out of my belly and really in his arms!!

One week old....

6 weeks old:

9 months old...this is one of my all-time favorites...ever... I even submitted it into a "cutest baby photo contest" (no, she didn't win):

Oh and in all this cuteness, I just realized that this is ny 200th post.... I can't believe I have been writing this much... I mean, that was the whole point of this blog, but still, I thought I might get too busy to actually keep up with it!! I'm sure glad I did!!!

And in honor of my 200th post, I'd love for you to leave me a cool comment....or "follow me".... or send your friends over...or "grab my button" and share the love!!! (it does seem like I am always asking you guys to do that, huh??)

Wordful Wednesday - In the OR

In honor of Angie's upcoming 4th birthday on Saturday, I have decided to do my Wordful Wednesday post about her birth story....or parts of it anyway!!

I had a problem-filled pregnancy with Angie...... because of my histpry of pre-term problems & labor, they did all kinds of precautionary steps to keep that from happening again..... I had a cerclage put in, weekly doc visits, bi-monthly sonograms and then bi-weekly NSTs. And although those things were kind of a pain to do (because I was constantly at the doctor), it was very cool to watch her grow via sonogram every other week!!

After all that, at 34 weeks, Angie and my body decided it was time for her to make her entrance into the world!! I had gone in for my NST, feeling great....and as soon as they hooked me up to the monitor, we could see the contractions coming.... every 2-3 minutes.... what...how can this be.... I'm not even feeling any pain....? So, my OB came in to check me and I was 2-3 cm, and he says "well, it's time to go have a baby"!!!

As soon as I stood up to make my phone calls and get Joe to the hospital, that is when I began to feel the pain!!! OWWWWWW...... I am not a good pain person.... I don't like to feel any of it... so I was not "enjoying" that moment!!

Because I had a c-section with Joseph (an emergency c-section, that I will explain another time), and because I was going to get my tubes tied, I already knew that I was going for surgery!! The problem that morning was that Joe had made me a huge breakfast that morning (obviously we weren't expecting this)....eggs, bacon, toast and grits...mmmm, sounds good right now!!! :)
But, after alot of pleading from me, they didn't make me wait (they wanted to stop the labor and make me wait a few hours because of all the food in my belly) and we were ready to go!!

Now, I was pretty worried about Joe because he does NOT handle blood or juices or any of that stuff well...and I was fairly certain that he wouldn't be able to handle it!! But, he was a trooper and stayed for the whole thing.......and then we met our baby girl.....

I sometimes look back at this picture and wonder why they put her in my arms....I was pretty loopy because they had to give me an anti-emetic that made me out of it....and if you turn this picture upside down, you can see how my eyes are barely holding up!!!!

Anyway, she was 5lbs 13 oz, which may sound small, but she was the biggest of all of my babies..... and she cried the loudest of all of my babies.....and she had more hair than all of my babies!!!

We weren't totally sure of her name yet, so for a few days she was known as just "baby girl".....well, actually she was originally going to be "Lily", so alot my family was still calling her that!!

Wow, I can't believe it has been 4 years!! We definitely needed that little angel in our lives and I thank God for her all of the time!!!

Take Me Back Tuesday: My First Five Years

Since it is my Birthday Week (remember this post), I am going to "Take You Back" to MY early years.... back to when I was a wee little girl..... back to when my mom was still alive and I had no cares in the world... back to when I was still a child myself!!

Hmmmm... not sure I was the cutest newborn around...

2 Months Old.... (what do you think of my dad.... woo-hoo....)

1 Year Old.....

4 Years Old... I tried to be a ballerina; but was really a tomboy at heart....

5 Years Old.... wow, wish I still had a tan like that... (i was a water girl too.... loved the pool)

Thanks for walking with me down memory lane.... I really enjoy these "Take Me Back Tuesdays".... so much fun to go through old pictures and reminisce!!!

Anyway, it's a rainy, stormy, yucky day here today..... I guess it's a good day to be at work, so I don't feel bad about not being able to go outside!! I am trying to decide what I "want" for my birthday.... Joe keeps asking me, but most of the time I prefer to "give" gifts instead of "get" them.... **Note to Joe & Dad: even though I just said that-- I do still want a gift!! hee-hee :)


And, I wanted to send out some Happy Birthday love to a couple fellow Aries, who have also become my friends through this blogging world!!
April - her birthday was yesterday
and
Amy - her birthday is today!!!

Head on over and wish them a HAPPY DAY!!!

Take Me Back Tuesday: Finally got my girl!!!

I have joined along again for Take Me Back Tuesday....... oh how I love to look back and reminisce!! This week, I'm not taking you back too far.... just a few years, when our little angel made her entrance into this world!!!

You see, we needed this angel... I.needed.this.angel. I had just lost my mom a few months prior and I was struggling with all I had in me to take care of myself and not to slip into some kind of depression--- (it was extrememly hard watching my mom get progressively worse & then die).
We knew she was a girl and we knew that her middle name would be my mom's..... but we weren't sure of her first name until she was actually here!! And it turns out that, along with it being a name "in the family", Angelina was also the name of the nurse that held my mom's hand as she took her last breath!!!

Anyway, this is the moment when I knew my family was complete--- my 3 boys already loving on their little sister!!!

I will post more pictures and more stories soon, as her birthday is in a couple of weeks... my little angel will turn 4!!! WOW...... where does the time go???

Take Me Back Tuesday: Mommy & Me

Once again, I've come across another blog carnival that I'd like to join!!! Kari (A giveaway addicted mommy) hosts Take Me Back Tuesday, where I get to go back in time and share some old memories and pictures to go along with them.


SOOOOO, for my first ever "Take Me Back Tuesday", I'd like to share some memories of my mom!! As most of you know, I lost my mom about 4 years ago.... and as you also know, she was my best friend, my confidant, my "ear", my voice of reason, my hero!!
I love to take every chance I get to talk about her and relive some fond memories I have of her!!!

Of course, this is a memory that I don't remember... oh, I was a wee little 2 week old baby and we were at "my" baby shower. The baby shower was scheduled pretty late in her pregnancy and I came about 3 weeks early; hence my attendance at said shower!!

This is my mom and I when I was about 5 years old. It was Easter and I had just gone egg hunting. I remember how my mom loved to put my hair in pig tails and then braid it. BUT, I also remember that she had to chop-it-off because I got to a point where I would not let her brush it without a major fight (hmmmm.... sounds like a certain 3 year old that I live with)!!!

This is my mom and I at my high school graduation. This may come as a surprise, but I was a bit of a trouble maker while in high school and I'm sure there were times when my mom wasn't sure she would ever see this day!!!

And boy was I happy to make her (and my dad OF COURSE) proud of me!!!

Awwww..... 24 hours from now, I will be sitting on the beach relaxing.... watching my kids make sand castles & jump through the waves...... running my toes through the sand as I sip on my margarita (or some other "adult beverage")..... soaking in the sun as I chat with my best friend!!!

Awwww.... I can't wait.... 4 days of fun in the sun!!!! Don't hate.....