Owen's Birth Story

The ever so sought after due date....why do they even tease us with such a thing? I'm experienced enough to know that the due date really isn't such a thing. Not like a due date on a college term paper, either you turn it in that day or you get a big fat ZERO. It's more like a "Best by" date on a food or drink item. That cake I just bought is marked as best by such date but really it's even better a few days before yet still edible for a few days after that date. But still, we all get that date stuck in our heads and by the time we've spent 9 months being pregnant, sometimes miserable, deprived of several items, and anxious to meet our new little one, that baby better make an appearance at least close to that due date. So there I was at my 40 week appointment, yup, still pregnant, and the doctor offers to end the torture....induction. Now, let me just say, I'm not one for elective inductions. I know the risks and really, since that so called "due date" is anything but, I've always been in the mid frame of letting my body and baby decide when it's time and let things happen on their own. I rejected the doctors offer and was told to return the next week for monitoring and my next appointment. My thoughts "Ha! You won't be seeing me next week because this baby isn't waiting that long!" But he had other plans. I showed up for my monitoring the next week and he was as healthy and comfy as can be, imagine that! After the monitoring I went to see the doctor who again offered the induction. I struggled with this decision. If you know about my previous birth with Charlotte then you are aware that I suffered a 4th degree laceration. There was concern about me delivery vaginally again and possibly having the same outcome. I had already made the decision to forgo a c-section and attempt a vaginal delivery. But being induced meant that I was increasing my risk for other interventions that would increase the chance of a horrible tear, as well as a c-section. So why not just wait it out you ask? Because the other side to that spectrum was the size of the baby. We had done an ultrasound at 38 weeks and he was estimated to be about 7.5 lbs. So here we were, three weeks later and I knew he had grown! Big baby could equal a big tear! Not to mention my family was leaving that Sunday and would be gone for a week, of course I wanted them here. So yes doctor, I will take that induction. And if you can get me on the books for tomorrow, that would be wonderful!

The next morning Eric headed home from work (not sure why he made the decision to go in in the first place) and we made our way to the hospital. We arrived around 9:30 and I had warned Eric and my family that it was going to be a long day, if not two or more, and that there was really no need to rush. I FINALLY got my first dose of Cytotec (used to ripen the cervix before starting pitocin) around 11:30. Nothing exciting happened during the first four hours....yup, long and slow just as I expected! The next dose came around 4. Around 4:30 the nurse, who I LOVED, and I were chatting while I was having a contraction (super mild, not exciting). She was watching the monitor and mentioned how long the contraction was (3 minutes!). She then calmly asked me to turn to my side because Owen's heart rate had decelerated. I turned as she was trying to adjust the monitor. Her calmness quickly vanished as she couldn't locate his heart beat, at least not at a rate that's preferred. She told me to roll to my other side and started calling for help. I knew the first time that she asked me to roll that things weren't good. The second time she told me to roll I started crying. This was it. My baby was in danger and I would need a c-section. A whole crew of nurses and the doctor came rushing in. It was a very painful and very terrifying process as they broke my water and put a scalp monitor on Owen's head. The whole time I was crying, in fear and in pain. Once the monitor was in place and his heart rate was stable everything calmed down. Phew! Now if he would just stay that way for the rest of this process! Almost immediately my contractions got stronger and much closer together. I decided to get an epidural even though, at that point, things were bearable. It took forever to get the epidural and in the meantime the contractions went from bearable to horrible! They were so intense, but the worse part was that they were SO close together that I wasn't getting any breaks. After the epidural was finally administered I was so looking forward to some relief. But it didn't come. "Why isn't it working" I cried to the anesthesiologist and the nurse. He made some adjustments and finally I had very little relief. The nurse decided to check me right after the epidural and I was at an 8. I had gone from a 2 at 4:30 when they broke my water to an 8 at 6:30. About an hour later the anesthesiologist returned to give me another dose of something because I still wasn't feeling much relief. When he did, I felt nothing! It was working! It was working TOO much! (I know, never happy right?!) I couldn't feel any contractions. That's the point right? But I wanted to be able to feel them during pushing. And he wanted me to feel them too. His words "This will wear off in about an hour or two, because I want you to be able to feel the contractions and be able to push". My thoughts "I better be holding my baby much sooner than an hour or two!" At 7:35, as he walked out, the nurse (one I didn't like who made my nurse go on break which upset my nurse and I both) checked me again. 10! I was at a 10! And this chick wanted me to push!? How?! Tell me? The doctor came in, another person I didn't like, and when I asked to wait to push because his head wasn't down all the way yet, I couldn't feel anything, and I really wanted to prevent tearing..."the midwife had all kinds of ways to help prevent that...", she responded with crossed fingers and said "All we can do is cross our fingers that you don't tear again" and walked out of the room. Pretty sure my jaw dropped! I wish I would've been more of my own advocate and demanded more but when the nurse asked me to push I gave it my best shot. Chin to my chest was about all I could give her. She told me to not push until she returned and ran out of the room to grab the doctor. I told them I couldn't feel any contractions and would need guidance on when to push. Their response "just feel your abdomen, when it's hard, push". Seriously?! Lady, you have a monitor right there that tells you when I'm having one! Help me out! Or at least move the thing to where I can see it so I can help myself! I was so annoyed! So I waited and waiting while feeling my abdomen. I said "well it's hard right here but not over here...", the nurse replied "Nope, the whole thing will be hard". Waited some more. I said "I don't understand how I was having such frequent contractions and now they've just stopped all together?!" So she felt my stomach, which was hard here but not there, looked at the monitor and said "you're having one! Push!" OMG!!!!! I could've punched her! Pushing? Pretty sure I wasn't doing anything! They kept telling me I was doing great but all I could tell was that my chin was at my chest! LOL! Two contractions later and Owen was born at 7:50! At 7:51 my favorite nurse returned from break, the break she spent watching my monitor at the nurses station realizing that I had had my baby. I had a 2nd degree tear, but I thought that was better than a fourth! All of our family was kicked out for the epidural and never returned because it all happened so fast. Little did they know that the next time they would be seeing us we would be holding our baby! 

I'm very happy with our decision to be induced. He ended up being more than a pound over what Charlotte weighed, almost 2 pounds over (a pound over was the doctors suggestion for a c-section). It wasn't the long slow process I had thought it would be. And although very painful, it was quick enough to be worth it. And besides the 30 minutes I had to spend with that horrible charge nurse and the doctor that could care less, I had a wonderful experience. Owen was a champion eater from the get go which was totally opposite from Charlotte. Eric picked Charlotte up the next morning and brought her to the hospital. She was so excited and actually SPEECHLESS when she seen him for the first time. We got to go home by 11:30 that morning and we've been enjoying our pooping, sleeping, spitting up, baby boy ever since!

Charlotte's Birth Story

           Getting pregnant wasn't as easy as we had expected. First I had to convince Eric that having a baby was a fabulous idea. To my surprise it didn't take too much convincing since Eric was already imagining what it would be like to come home from work and have his child wrap their arms around him. So, in August of 2012 we decided to start trying, but had agreed that we wouldn't tell a soul (Eric's request)! Of course I had a grand plan, because everything in my life has to have a plan. I would stop taking my birth control in August and we would start trying to get pregnant in November. According to my plan, we had three months to make it happen...this would allow me to have the baby in between school semesters. Well, as always, the big Man above had a better plan! The three months flew by and I was still only seeing one line on those stupid pee sticks! I started to become discouraged as others around me were announcing their pregnancies. We were doing everything by the book (because along with planning, I obsess over everything too, so of course I was reading every blog/website imaginable)! I didn't understand why it wasn't happening when it seemed so easy for everyone else. Even though my three month time line was over, we continued to try. But still, month after month went by with negative test after negative test (and more negative tests..because you know, you can't just take one!). The hardest part of the whole thing was not being able to talk to anyone about the struggle. I didn't even really talk to Eric much about it because I didn't want him to know how obsessed I was! You know how they say '”if you stop thinking about it, it will happen”? Well, I'm a true believer in that logic now! By June I was done! I was convinced that there was something wrong with one of us and we needed to get check out. There was no “planning” in the month of June (let alone very little “trying”). I went to Tahoe at the end of the month for my friends bachelorette party which also happened to be the weekend I was supposed to start my period. When I got home from Tahoe I decided to pee on another stick. I figured, why not? This was almost routine for me now! Thank God for the Dollar Store pregnancy tests because those things are expensive when you take an average of 5 a month!. To my surprise there was the faintest of faint second line! I couldn't help but ask Eric if he could see one line or two, which he answered “there might be a second one?” not very helpful! So the next morning I took another test and there was, without a doubt, a second line! But I couldn't settle with just one test, especially a dollar store test, so of course I took another one! I couldn't believe it. I remember looking in the mirror at myself in disbelief! I called my doctor that day and went to the lab were they did another urine test....which came back NEGATIVE! I practically begged my doctor for a blood test because by that time I had taken 7 tests that all said positive (yes, still in disbelief). He agreed and the next day I got confirmation that I was indeed pregnant! I of course already had a box of baby items ready to give to Eric, things I had accumulated over the last 9 months. After I told him the great news he asked “when do we get to find out what it is?” (he was hoping for a boy). I was shocked and replied “you told me 6ish years ago that you didn't want to find out the gender of your babies until they are born! So that's what I have planned for in the last 6ish years...you're going to change that on me now?” And so after a brief discussion we decided to not find out the gender....craziness to some! On fourth of July we had a BBQ at our house and announced our surprise to our family and friends, who were shocked.

Fast forward 9 months and we were anxiously awaiting the arrival of our little bundle of joy. Up until a few weeks before my due date, not knowing the gender was easy and fun! But as it got close, Eric and I were so anxious to find out! We were done being told what everyone else thought it was going to be and we were done calling our baby “it”. Eric was sure the entire pregnancy that we were having a girl, and I went back and forth, although towards the end I was pretty convinced it was a boy. My due date, March 7^th, came and went despite every effort to start labor, with the exception of castor oil..but that was next! On Monday the 10^th I woke up around 2am with consistent contractions. I made sure that Eric took his phone with him to work when he left around 3am just in case this turned into something exciting. After he had left I went in the living room and bounced on the birth ball while timing the contractions. They were about 10-12 minutes apart so I knew they weren't exciting yet. Around 7:30am, just about when I was going to tell my mom, the contractions stopped. That day my mom and I walked to try to get things going again. Around 5pm the contractions started again, but still not very exciting. Then around 1am Tuesday morning I told Eric that we should head to the hospital to get checked. I was having contractions about 7-10 minutes apart lasting about a minute each. They still weren't in a good pattern, but I just wanted to get checked to see if they were actually doing anything or if this was just false labor. We decided to alert the troops of our trip to the hospital, although we wish we would've spared every one the false alarm at 1am! Haha I was still only dilated to 1cm which was extremely discouraging, but I had effaced (I can't remember what percentage exactly). They could tell on the monitor that almost every other contraction I was feeling was only a braxton hicks so they gave me some medication to make those “go away” and sent me home to sleep. Sleeping was a bit difficult with a contraction every 10 minutes but I did manage to get some rest! My mom came over at some time Tuesday morning and her and Eric kept me company while I bounced my way through each contraction. I tried to lay on the couch but that made the discomfort 10x worse! Eric's dad came over just as we were deciding that it was probably time to head to the hospital again. Just for the record, my “PLAN” was to stay at home for as long as possible and to have a natural labor with no interventions or epidural. I probably should have stayed home longer but honestly, the excitement and curiosity of “how far have I gotten” got to me (I was also GBS positive so I had to make sure there was enough time to get the antibiotics). Around 3pm we headed to the hospital. When I was checked (by the same midwife that delivered my niece) I was dilated to a 3-4. She then asked “your membranes are leaking, when did your water break?” to which I replied “I think it just did!” as I felt the gush of liquid! She left the room to start my admittance process while I had the sudden urge to vomit! It was like a scene in the movies, my mom and Eric running around the room looking through cabinets and such in search of something, anything, for me to throw up in! Finally Eric grabbed the garbage can out of the bathroom and rushed it over to me. Poor guy, this was only the beginning (by the way....barf bags are kept by the head of the hospital bed)! I was so excited that I was able to get admitted! This was it! Our little “it” would be here soon! I spent the next 6 or so hours on top of the birth ball, bouncing my way through each contraction, with Eric massaging my shoulders with each one. Thank goodness for that ball...I'm so happy we remembered to take it! I had also spent some time in the shower which was very relaxing, but since they have to monitor the baby every thirty minutes, I didn't feel up to getting undressed again to get back in. I don't know what I would've done without Eric there by my side. Good thing people kept him supplied with coffee because I needed him! At some point during the night they had checked me and I was still only dilated to a 4. They started pitocin in hopes to speed things up. I could no longer bounce on the ball because they were having a hard time monitoring the baby but being in bed made the contractions 10x worse! With each contraction Eric would push as hard as he could on my lower back and in between each one we had my hot corn pillow resting there (yes, many trips were made to the microwave). Sometime early Wednesday morning I began to have an extreme urge to push with each contraction. I told the nurse that I wanted to be checked and when they checked me, I was extremely disappointed, and shocked, to hear that I was STILL only dilated to a 4! I was then told that I had to fight the urge to push...the baby was dropping which was causing the pressure, but if I pushed I would hurt the baby and myself. For those of you who need a better understanding of how difficult this was, imagine you have to go number 2 the worst you've ever had to go...but you're in the car, or some public place, and you have to squeeze your cheeks and use all your energy to NOT push! Now multiply that by 5 or 10 and you have an understanding of how this feels! The midwife suggested an epidural to help my body relax so that maybe I would dilate. I VERY much did not want to have an epidural but I knew that if this went on for much longer they may start throwing out the dreaded word “c-section”. I went through a few more AWFUL contractions where I had to pull myself up using the bed rail to help fight the urge to push before I seriously considered and discussed the epidural with my family and Eric. They had strict orders to talk me out of such a thing and we even had a code word in place to let them know I was serious. They stuck to the plan and reminded me that I could do it without the epidural...but I knew it was the right decision because my body wasn't able to do what it needed to with me being so tense. I finally gave the code word...”Fritos!”. The nurse on duty at the time had a hunch that the baby was posterior, or sunny side up. She had me lay in different positions to try to flip the baby. I could still feel each contraction with the epidural but at a much smaller intensity...which was perfect because I didn't want to be numb of all contractions and urges to push. Within 2 hours of having the epidural, which allowed both Eric and I to get some much needed rest, I was again having the urge to push. I was paging for the nurse but she wasn't coming so Eric's grandma went and got her. I told the nurse that I had the urge to push and she just continued about her business looking through cabinets and such. When I told her that I was very uncomfortable she thought I was referring to the oxygen mask and began to adjust it. I finally said “not the mask! I need to push!” with which she responded “OH! Well let's check you then”. After checking me she asked “do you want the good news or the bad news?” How do you respond to that in that situation? I didn't want any news if she was going to tell me I was still at a 4! I just laid there silent. I think she could tell I was hesitant because she finally told me that I was 9.5cm dilated and I could try to push. WWWHHHHOOOO WWWHHHOOO!!!!!! I still don't know what the “bad”news was...maybe that I still had .5 to go? This is when the fun began! A new nurse came on duty, relieving the one that assumed the baby was sunny side up, and she and Eric held my legs while I pushed. Because the baby's oxygen level would go down with each push, the doctor wanted me to push with every other contraction....again with the holding back?! Torture I tell you! The doctor guessed that we would have a baby by 9am (just 30 minutes from the time he was in the room) and said that he would be right back to break down the bed to prepare...he never returned. Instead, a familiar face entered the room, the midwife who delivered my niece, and who also broke my water! I was very happy to see her. Things started happening very quickly and the room soon filled with nurses. I remember hearing the midwife say over and over “I need Dr so and so in here for the shoulder!”...I was confused by that and so was Eric and our mothers who were in the room. Then, as I leaned back to take a deep breath and prepare for the next push, I opened my eyes and lying there on my now empty tummy was our beautiful baby...ok, maybe not beautiful at the time...I mean really...until they are cleaned off....! I was in shock! I had no idea that my baby had been born! Eric was supposed to announce if we had a boy or a girl and after a few moments the midwife finally asked “Are you going to tell us what it is?” but Eric couldn't see because the legs were crossed so one of the nurses opened up the legs and Eric announced “It's a girl!” Again, I was in complete shock! I had been convinced that it was a boy, even though I was wishing for a girl. I burst into tears I was so happy...Charlotte Grace was here! Eric was right, all along he knew it was a girl. And the hair!! She had so much hair! I couldn't wait for her to get her bath so we could really see what it looked like. Our sweet little girl decided to poop all over her and mommy. Poop was everywhere! But it didn't really matter, because I was holding my DAUGHTER. I was in disbelief that I had a daughter for a couple of days! And I wasn't the only one in shock....the midwife was amazed that the baby came out sunny side up! In her words “You pushed that baby out looking up! Only 3% of babies are born that way”. Okay so she thought I was super woman or something....but then came the hardest part of the entire ordeal. I had suffered a 4^th degree laceration. The pain from the repair was the worst pain I've ever experienced! They called the anesthesiologist to give me more epidural but it didn't matter because I only lost feeling in my left leg, nowhere else! She tried everything to get it to spread but nothing was successful. She finally looked at me and said “I'm sorry, but I have given you enough medication for a c-section and I can't give you anymore.” Eric had left the room at some point because he couldn't stand seeing me in that much pain, let alone seeing what was happening. My mom almost fainted because it was hard on her to see me like that. I honestly told myself that I wouldn't be having any more children because of it...that thought has since worn off. The repair took THREE hours. In the meantime, the rest of our family, our dads and Eric's grandma, waited patiently in the waiting room. They knew that the baby had been born and that we were both ok but they still had no idea if it was a boy or a girl. If I could go back (not that I want to relive that!) I would’ve had Eric announce it to those waiting, but in the moment (and not knowing it was going to be three hours) I wanted to witness their reactions.

Eric stayed in the hospital with the two of us. I knew right away he was going to be an awesome daddy! We had to stay two nights because Charlotte was losing too much weight. It was so nice to finally come home as a family of 3. Labor and delivery was quite the experience. I've read MANY birth stories and I always wondered what mine would be. Of course I envisioned a blissful, yet painful (I'm not stupid), medication/intervention free birth. Instead I went to the hospital sooner than planned, had pitocin and even an epidural, and an aftermath that is seriously indescribable. Honestly, I'm happy with the decisions that were made. I could still feel every contraction and every push with the epidural, but I know that it would have been much worse given the circumstances if I hadn't received it. And of course there is always next time (Lord willing) to give it another try!

Update on life.....

I'm writing this blog for many reasons. First reason, I haven't blogged in a really long time. Second reason, I don't have much to blog about but when I do I think "I should blog about that". That thought is followed by "Nah...I haven't blogged in so long, I wouldn't know where to start". So I figure I should start somewhere! Other reasons include, but are not limited to: procrastinating studying, working out, and cleaning.
So where do I begin?! The last blog I wrote was about our honeymoon, oh how I wish I was blogging about another trip to that wonderful place! I'd love to say that a lot has happened since we got married but it's been pretty dull around here! One minor change, ok maybe it's not so minor, is that Eric is no longer working in Fresno and gone all week. He is now working locally which means he is home every night! This has it's pros and cons, more pros of course ;). I'll start with the cons....

• The mess!! Ok, I admit, I am NOT, by any means, a clean freak. I make messes and those messes tend to stay around for a few days. But that's MY mess! Now you throw a man's stinky shoes, candy wrappers, beer cans, mail, and clothes into the mix and I tell you what!
• Sharing the TV. I have several shows that I enjoy and feel that I MUST watch. Well, apparently, so does Eric! Many of them we can agree on, like Modern Family and Revenge. But the disagreement starts when General Hospital or the Simpsons is on!
• The bathroom mess! Yes, this should be included in the previous mess section, however, I feel that this one deserves it's own space! Every day, numerous times a day, I battle the MANY contact lens cases and solution bottles! I have been VERY good about always putting my things away, like make up and such, but this man just can't seem to grasp the concept. It doesn't help that he isn't even 1/2 awake while hes getting ready for work.
• I don't get anything done. When he was gone during the week I would hang out with friends, clean the house, work out, study, and so much more. Now, all I ever want to do is lay on the couch with him! All the other duties of life can be put off right?!

Now to the Pros.....

•  Lots of time together! This one is a hard one because we now get to see each other every day, which is awesome! But when he was working out of town we made it a point to have special quality time together when he was home. Fires in the backyard, camping, dinner, dancing in the kitchen.....now its almost like all the days are the same. I'm not saying that we don't have our 'date nights" because we do! In fact we are very spoiled with the fact that we can go out to nice dinners or out for drinks without a care, but it's not a "I can't wait to see you Friday so we can catch up and kiss and hug!" HAHA! Again, this one is a pro because I honestly love being able to come home to him every evening!
• Home cooked dinner! When he was gone I would eat Taco Bell, Chinese, or maybe a piece of chicken. If I wanted a home cooked meal I had to go to my parents house. Now, Eric cooks dinner almost every night!!! This is a girls dream! I can't even remember the last time I cooked dinner! (Ok that's really bad! I need to up my wifey skills!)
• Always having someone to talk to. I love being able to talk to him everyday about random stuff. We aren't phone people so when he was gone we would only text simple things. Now, I don't have to wait for the weekend and hope I remember what it was I wanted to tell him!
• Warmth. The heater just isn't enough!
• Hugs and Kisses anytime I want!

So that sums it up for you. Super happy he is home now and I'm going to enjoy every minute of it, yes even the mess, because any day he could be sent off to tin buck too again!

Other changes? Well....I don't think I ever mentioned our newest addition to the Kahler family (you loose one, you gain one!) Shortly after Eric and I got married my sister in law gave birth to our beautiful niece Aubrey. I wish I was better at spending more time with her! I love to hear her laugh and see her smile! It's pretty crazy to see my brother as a father (whoa...even weird to type that!). It's so cute to see his loving side (that doesn't come out very easily or often!). He is a great daddy and Jacci is a great mommy! Aubrey is very lucky and very loved!!

What else.....Well we have started house hunting! That's exciting! However, God has been really testing my patience when it come to this...among other things. I know three months and 5 offers isn't much but if you know me then you know that I am very impatient! But I believe fully that God knows what is best for us and we just have to be patient and trust in Him. This is a very exciting time in our lives and we want to enjoy it!

I have also started my last class needed to apply for the nursing program at Delta. Physiology is said to be the most challenging of the sciences but I'm actually very excited and eager to learn about how our bodies work. I can't believe in 4 short months I will be able to apply for the program, that's if God doesn't mess with my grand plan! HAHA! Fact is, you never know what will happen. I may struggle in this class and have to retake it, which would post pone my application by another 6 months or so. BUT I'm hoping that God and I have the same plan this time around! 

I think that covers our oh-so boring life! I hope I can keep up with this blog, but I also hope that life throws some interesting events at me so I don't bore my few readers with nothing-ness! I'd like to leave you with my favorite Bible verse....
"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Hebrews 11:1

Honeymooners!

As we got off the plane in Sacramento I realized that it was all over. The planning, the stressing, the looking on pinterest for wedding ideas, the fun, the honeymoon...just like that, it was over. I was so thankful that we had such an amazing vacation to end it all.

In the beginning of our planning process I didn't see a honeymoon in our future. It was disappointing because I of course wanted the traditional "send off" to the honeymoon that would be spent somewhere tropical. Eric had just started at a company and hadn't received vacation time yet. I was just starting school which meant I had to cut back on work hours. The romantic week on a beach just didn't seem doable at that point. I was willing to settle with a little weekend getaway maybe to one of our favorite spots, Fort Ross. When Eric brought up the idea that he would probably be able to get the time off, it was his wedding after all, I was in full force planning mode...times two! Of course it was added stress but who would pass up the opportunity to spend a whole week with the person they love after 4 months of hardly seeing each other?! Of course I had to consider Hawaii but after looking up prices and considering the length of time we had, Hawaii didn't seem like the right choice. We thought about Fort Ross but I wanted somewhere different....and although we LOVE Fort Ross, there isn't a whole lot to do for an entire week. I wanted somewhere warm, sandy, and beautiful. Someone had suggested La Jolla...sounds tropical enough right?! I started researching and we decided this would be the spot where we spend our week of bliss.
When we arrived early Monday morning it had just finished raining. Everything was still wet and it was cloudy but still beautiful. Our room was on the 2nd floor and the balcony faced the beach which was only about 5 feet away from the hotel (only separated by a sidewalk). The next morning we woke up to the sound of kayaks being stacked on the beach right outside our room. At first I was annoyed, our peaceful relaxing honeymoon on the beach was going to be ruined by the noise of kayakers and many other beach goers, but after a couple days I actually enjoyed getting woken up by the sound. I think I may have even missed it when we got home.
While we were there we ate very good food at some great restaurants, all within walking distance of the hotel. We walked down the beach and collected MANY seashells. We got to a certain point on the beach where there were millions of shelled creatures...it was one of the coolest things to see. We spent a day laying on the beach and got some pretty wonderful sunburns...especially Eric who didn't evenly apply his sunscreen. On one of the days we were scheduled for a kayak-snorkel tour, but because the ocean was very rough that day we were told that the snorkeling wasn't going to be great and we were only going to be able to do half the tour. Even knowing this, we were very excited about doing this because all week we were very entertained by the people in the kayaks trying to get passed the surf. It took some people several tries and some even gave up. We were up for the challenge. Luckily we successfully made it out to the open ocean in just one try! Once we got out there I could feel the sea sickness kicking in which is very unlike me. I was pretty much miserable the entire trip. We did snorkel for a bit but only saw a couple of fish...the snorkeling seemed to make the nausea worse. We got back in our kayaks and made our way back to land since more than half of our group was sick. The best part of the tour which made everything worth it was seeing dolphins only about 30-40 feet away who lead us out to the buoy were we snorkeled.
A busy beach actually turned out to be very entertaining. Eric and I love to people watch and that's what we did for hours on some days. One evening a man was setting up to BBQ on the beach. He walked away leaving all the food on the table. It didn't take long for the seagulls to find his families dinner. The table was covered in seagulls! A friendly beach goer tried to shoo the birds away but was unsuccessful. The man came back with his family and cooked some dinner only to be flooded out by the tide. We found the whole thing hilarious.
We noticed that there were many active people at the beach which annoyed us. Every time you looked at the beach you would see someone running. It made us feel like we were very lazy. We don't think running or exercise should be allowed near vacation spots.
We weren't ready to leave at the end of the week but of course we couldn't have stayed there forever (we would've had to take up running). We hopped back on a plane and headed home and even though I was very sad that the whole experience was over, I couldn't wait to start the new chapter of our lives....marriage. :)

The Day We Said I Do

June 2, 2012. A day I will remember for the rest of my life. It's the day that I finally got to wear a big sparkly white dress. The day my dad walked me down the isle. The day I said "I do" to my best friend. The day I gained a handsome husband and became a wife. The best day of my life.

The day started early at about 7:00 with my hair appointment. I had 3 hairdressers for my seven bridesmaids, two moms, and myself. Julie, Tasha, and Brandy did a wonderful job on everyone's hair. Tiffany did makeup for my mom, Eric's mom, and myself. We all looked fabulous! I was surprisingly calm all morning even though we were running a bit behind my perfectly planned schedule. Once everyone was ready we took some pictures at the hotel. One picture that I really wanted that day was the dress reveal. None of my bridesmaids had seen my dress and I wanted to capture their expressions. Those photos turned out GREAT! (with the exception of Sara being hidden) We then hopped in the limo and headed to the church.The guys got ready at the hotel as well and also took pictures there before heading off to the church.

It was fun to be at the church early because we were able to look through the blinds that covered the window and see the guests being seated. Also, this was when we realized that my veil would snag on the carpet when I walked down the isle. This was a huge concern because it could have ripped or been torn right off of my head during the ceremony. We had to do a quick fix. My ring bearer, who was a total trooper about the whole situation, was assigned to walk down the isle with with flower girl while holding the ring pillow then rush back to where I was so he could carry my veil. For not having much practice with it, and for being so young, he did a perfect job!!!

During our wait for the ceremony to start my dad gave me a present. It's a beautiful necklace that has the "family" birthstones on it..mine, Eric's, my mom's, my dad's, James' and Jacci's. It too remind me that my family if always there for me. I love it!

As we prepared to walk down the isle I started to feel the nerves. This was the moment I had waited for for so many years! Everything went perfect! Eric was very nervous and I got the giggles. It's a little funny because when I was little I was in a church Christmas program. I had gotten the giggles...bad! I will always remember how upset my dad was with me. I think he was embarrassed more than anything but I'm sure everyone else thought it was cute! haha! Maybe its an "on stage" thing because I started laughing during our ceremony and couldn't stop. There was a moment when I looked at Travis, the best man, and he had the most serious "stop laughing" look on his face. It just made me laugh more. One of my favorite parts during the ceremony was when we kissed and the whole church burst out with "whoooaaaa whhooos" and claps. Everyone was so happy that we were FINALLY married.

 Eric and I left in his truck that was decorated with what other than bud light cans and the rest of the bridal party followed in my brothers galaxy, Ben's Nova, and the limo. We just went around the corner and waited until the guests had left the church then we went back to take pictures.

After we took pictures we were able to join the party! When I walked into the reception hall I was blown away by how beautiful and romantic is looked. I was so happy with it! Early on during the planning process my dad had this idea of Eric and I being introduced and we would walk down the spiral staircase...instead of the normal "walk through a door" thing like our bridal party did. None of the guests knew we were on the balcony so we took them all by surprise. I'm so glad we did that! It turned out awesome!

Just a few facts (more so I don't forget)- Our first dance song was "She's Everything"...Eric sang the entire song to me...I loved it! We cut the cake to "How Sweet it is". His mother son dance was to "All to You". We danced with his grandparents to "Should've Seen it in Color". I danced with my dad to "Walk With You". The bouquet toss (caught by my friend Jessica) was to "Wishin, Hopin, Prayin" and the garter (caught by my cousin's boyfriend Mike) to "Rack City". The last song of the night was "Time of my life".

I hate to admit this (I'm sure someday I will laugh at the memory) but I'm probably the first bride to slap her groom during the wedding reception. First of all...I NEVER slap Eric....this was a first for us! For one he never makes me mad enough to slap him and also I just wouldn't do that. Oh but this....this was grounds for an exception! During the cake cutting I made him promise me that he wouldn't put cake on my face. I should've known better. He went for it and as I tried to dodge it the cake smeared all over my cheek and into my eye. Now...I want you all to know that I honestly thought I had cake on my hand and so the slap was intended to get cake on his face. I guess my hand was clean and it was just an ordinary slap in the face! I was so embarrassed!!! Our photographers got an awesome shot though! :)

One of the favorite parts of the night was the photo booth. I think everyone (who used it) loved it! I so enjoy looking through the album that has all of the pictures in it! They are all so funny!!!

I knew the day would be a whirlwind! I knew it was going to be gone in the blink of an eye. I tried to remember to take in every moment. I wish I could relive that day every year (or maybe even have another wedding-with Eric of course- every couple of years!). We loved every moment. Thank you to all who were able to make it and thank you to those of you who were unable to make it but kept us in your thoughts that day. And thank you to our parents who made the day happen!

Church: St Joachim
Reception: Oak Ridge Winery
Photography: Matthew James Photography
Video: my cousin Christian (so glad we have a video to remember the day by)
Flowers: Sweet Peas
Food: Devincis
DJ: Elite

Days leading up to the BIG DAY

         I wish I would have been able to keep up on my posts while the events were happening because it is all a bit of a blur now, especially the days before the wedding. I had planned our wedding date perfectly, in my opinion! Before he even proposed I, of course, had a GRAND plan! And this time...it went exactly how I planned it (sticks tongue out at Blogs title). For years I have planned it all out...if he proposes by this month then we can get married that month and my bachelorrete party can be that weekend, we will have kids by this age...you get the picture! And every time that proposal didn't happen on my timeline I would have to scratch it all out and start over! But this time, this time it worked!!! When I decided I was going back to school I mapped it all out all over again. If he proposed in the coming months then we should get married June 2nd. That would give me approximately 1 week before the wedding for last minute preparations/relaxation (YA RIGHT!) and 1 week after the wedding before summer semester began to rewind and get things situated again (I didn't think there would be a honeymoon in our future). Of course other dates would work but this one fit perfectly...don't you agree with my craziness?!
             Needless to say...he proposed! January 14th. Giving us about 4 1/2 months to plan my perfect wedding. As most of you know the planning began as soon as we got back from our trip and we had most everything planned within weeks! And guess what?! It happened perfectly! June 2nd ended up being the most available day of the season for most vendors!
             I ended up having about 2 weeks before the wedding without school and I am so glad I did! My mom had done a lot of the decor herself while I was busy studying, moving, and working so there wasn't MUCH left but boy did it add up!! And we kept adding! "Oh! We should do this or that!" As my mom said...it's a good thing I wasn't living at home during the last few months because the wedding probably would have cost a lot more in decorations, I would have gotten no studying in, and we would have been constantly coming up with new ideas and spending way too much time making those ideas happen. I have to say that I surprised myself and probably others with how calm and "unbridezilla like" I was (ok I might have had my moments!). I started to feel the pressure those last couple weeks but luckily we had so much help with decor preparations from my Aunt Judy and family friend Sheri (and all others who helped).
              A few days before the wedding a pretty big wrench was thrown right at my head! The reception venue failed to tell us that they could not provide Budweiser products...only Coors. Now, this may not seem like too big of a deal to most....but if you know Eric's family then you know that this was a biggy!!!! I dreaded telling him! He surprisingly took it quite well. He also was pretty insistent on getting 3 kegs rather than the 2 recommended by the coordinator (strongly recommended!).
              I also, before the beer incident, was informed that my grand plan of having guests outside the hall, while we took pictures, to enjoy appetizers and cocktails was a horrible idea! I left the venue in tears....yup it was finally time for my break down. I just hate it when I have a plan and it doesn't go as I want! I suppose the coordinator felt bad because she called me later that evening and told me that they would make it work and not to worry. I'm making the coordinator seem so awful but honestly she was awesome!!!!
              I should also mention another hiccup we had during this planning process. After finally finding a church to hold the ceremony we thought we were in the clear! Shortly after booking the church my mom discovered that the priest was on trial. She followed the trial and one morning sent me a text that he would not be marrying us...he was found guilty. It was pretty funny when my maid of honor called me that morning. I had a feeling she was calling to tell me the bad news. It was because of her that we had even considered St Joachim so I'm sure she felt a little nervous about telling me. Luckily, I had already known of the issue which was a relief to her! Eric's mom was a big help in finding us someone to perform the ceremony. The poor guy was so overwhelmed with everything going on because of the trial that every time I spoke with him he seemed confused...never knowing who I was or when he was supposed to be marrying us. In fact...he called Eric a couple days before the wedding to make sure he WAS marrying us...seems there may have been a mix up because a Spanish speaking deacon thought HE was marrying us! We had met with him to go over vows and such and he asked for my baptism certificate. He said he didn't know how to use the copy machine and would return it to me at our next meeting. I knew leaving it with him was a bad idea! I knew that if my mom found out that I had left it there she would be furious! But how much damage could he cause? Well....apparently a lot. At our next meeting when I asked for it back he had no clue what I was talking about and swore he never kept it but offered me a COPY! Oh man! My mom better never ask for that thing back!!! Luckily days before the rehearsal he called to say that he had found it!! I was so relieved I had to tell me mom the story!
                   Oh and then there was the vase fiasco! Two days before the day we were supposed to take the vases to the florist we found out we didn't have 1/2 the vases! We looked all over Lodi and Stockton for the perfect vases. Luckily the florist was able to improvise and our centerpieces still turned out beautiful!
                    Goodness I'm sure there are more of those little things that seem enormous that the time but lets move on shall we? Rehearsal day..............
                     Luckily we were able to decorate the reception venue on Friday. SO thankful because it took all day and I wouldn't have been able to deal with it on our wedding day! We had awesome help.....my parents of course, my Uncle Roger, Aunt Judy, Uncle Jerry, Aunt Marsha, Bridesmaids Jeana, Gina, Sara, Jacci, Nicole, maid of honor Brittany, Jeana's boyfriend Tim, our friend Ben, Cindy, Scott, and even Cassie and Brian! (gosh I hope I covered everyone). I'll admit that I did have a little breakdown there also. It was getting late in the day and I was hoping to be finished my 3 so we would have time to get ready for rehearsal at 5 (We didn't leave until about 4). A lot of the people had left and there was so much left to do. Ok, so I might see things that others don't, that may not NEED to be taken care of...but this was the wedding I had dreamed of and I wanted everything perfect! Poor Eric got the brunt of it....he better get used to it! haha! But he's the worst at seeing what I see. I see a crooked table cloth and he sees a perfectly set table and that was not the time to tell me "It's fine Christina...lets go so you can get ready!" oh no no no (as he would say)!!! We did finally leave even though I knew there were still many things that could have been done. It calmed me to know that my Aunt would be there in the morning to finish up the details.
                    We quickly got ready for the rehearsal and headed to the church...where the issues continued. The parents were all late and the Deacon was becoming VERY agitated. I finally decided to start without them. It went well for the first 2 minutes until he was trying to line up the bridal party in some really odd way. I had to speak up which only flustered him more. Once I got it perfect we continued. It went fairly smooth from there.
                    After the church we went to dinner at Scott and Cindy's home. We really wanted the backyard feel where people felt free to get up and mingle rather than sit at a table and stare at the person across from them. Nicole and Tasha did an amazing job decorating for the dinner. It was so romantic! I thank Scott and Cindy for agreeing to have it in their backyard because it was absolutely perfect!! We handed out our gifts after dinner. We had gotten all of the parents and present grandparents a photo book of all of our engagement pictures. We even wrote little love notes in each book. Eric got the groomsmen flasks with their names engraved, with the exception of Mason who is underage..he got a fancy knife set. I had started buying for my girls early so the gift boxes kept getting bigger...I just can't resit! It started with robes. I wanted all of the girls in matching robes with my mom and Eric's mom in different matching robes and myself in a white "bride" robe. It took me forever to find the perfect ones! I don't think I took any pictures of the robes but those will be in the wedding pics. Then I decided to do something a little more personal and make them those super cute wire name hangers that some of you may have seen on pinterest. I thought...how hard can this be?! I soon figured out that they are very frustrating to make and time consuming but once you get the hang of it they are actually pretty fun. I had one, almost HORRIBLE, mishap while making them. As I was bending the wire it flew up and hit me directly in the eye. I sat there with my eyes closed for a minute praying that it wasn't as bad as it could easily be. When I opened my eye is was quite blurry. I immediately put some ointment in that I had from a previous eye mishap a while back. I just wanted it to go away, rewind 3 minutes please!! It was right after I put the ointment in that I realized that it was cut metal that had scratched my eye and I should probably get it checked to make sure there wasn't any metal remnants that would rust and cause a bigger problem. It wasn't painful at all luckily. I looked at the clock that read 5:00...CRAP! All my wonderful eye doctors are most likely home by now. I called a friend/coworker to check and sure enough the doctor was out....but luckily our newest addition was sticking around and was willing to wait for me at the office. I rushed over and had it check out. Luckily it was only a superficial corneal abrasion...but right across the pupil making my vision blurry. It was 100% healed by the 3rd day!....DARN THOSE HANGERS! :) I had also found some super cute flip flops for the girls and moms and I had matching white ones.

                After rehearsal I spent the night at the hotel and some of my girls joined me...Brittany, Sara, Jeana, and Gina. Nicole and Jen also spent some time but went their separate ways come bed time. It was so much fun to spend an hour our so talking about the upcoming events. :) Some of the groomsmen stayed at the house with Eric that night...which I thought was so cute :) haha!!!!
               Overall I really enjoyed those last two weeks (really the entire 4 1/2 months!). Again, I thank everyone for their help and also for putting up with me during my "moments"!

Bachelor and Bachelorette Parties

         Eric and I both had our bachelor and bachelorette parties on Cinco De Mayo weekend. My bridesmaids tried to keep the entire thing (other than the date) a secret from me....but as Eric will tell you, I am a very nosey and sneaky girl! We were in the car one evening with Ben, Gina, Sara, and Travis and the guys were talking about Eric's bachelor party plans. Now, just so there is no confusion, I was 100% NOT trying to trick anyone into telling me details about mine! I playfully said "Travis, guess where I'm going for MY bachelorette party!"....I was completely expecting him to say "I don't know" or "I can't say" and I was going to respond with "VEGAS!!!!!" even though I knew chances were slim that that's were we were going..I just wanted to tease them that mine was in Vegas and Eric's was camping! Well, leave it to Travis to say "TTTAAAHHHOOOOEEEE"!! It was a delayed reaction as Gina looked to the back seat at Sara and they both said "UH! TRAVIIISSS!!!!!!!" HAHAHAHAHA! Yup he ruined the surprise! Eric swears I did this on purpose but I promise I didn't. I promised the girls that I wouldn't tell the other bridesmaids or my maid of honor that the secret was out and I would act totally surprised when I "found out". I didn't have to keep the secret for too long though. Brittany, my maid of honor, was over one night and we were talking about wedding details and such when she said "Do you realize what weekend your party lands on?" I shook my head no and she said "Cinco De Mayo!" I didn't see the big deal and she must have seen the confusion on my face because she continued with "Tahoe is going to be CRAZY that weekend!". I giggled and said "Tahoe huh?!". She was so upset that she had spilled the secret that I HAD to tell her that I had already known!
          The weekend was incredible! We had 14 girls in 3 rooms at Monte Blue. The girls had the room decorated SO cute!!! It was all seven of my bridesmaids, my cousins Stacy and Kat, and my friends Kim, Megan, Whitney, and Jessica. It was so much fun to have us all together! We learned how to dougie in the hotel hallway/foyer, played "suck for a buck" which got me somewhere around $164, went to the pool, shopped, ate good food, went to clubs, danced until 5am (even my pregnant sister in law!!!), and tried to feel tipsy..but never seemed to succeed. Thanks to them I have enough lingerie to last my entire life!!!!!!!!!!!! haha!!! I know there are so many other awesome memories but I just can't seem to think of them all (that's why I'm blogging...my memory is HORRIBLE and I need something to look back at).
               Eric and his groomsmen plus some other friends and family went camping at Bodega Bay. I don't know much of what they did other than drink a lot and go crabbing. The guys asked me to make a pink tutu for Eric and also one for his blow up doll. They got him a beer helmet that they decorated with pink flower and butterfly stickers. Lets just say that the few pictures I did see of the weekend were pretty hilarious!
               I know I'm on repeat but we seriously have the best friends and family!!!!!!!!!!!