Catching Up

Wow.

So, it’s been quite a while since I’ve written anything, much less blogged.

I started this blog several years ago, and wrote in it quite a bit over the next several years, including while I was deployed. However as things started to get more hectic, the blogs came less frequently. Eventually they stopped altogether. I have decided that I need an outlet now more than ever, if not simply for my own sanity, then for everyone else’s.

I am a newlywed. We were married on July 6th 2012. It was perfect. It was an outdoor wedding and the temperature was perfect, despite it being the middle of summer. It had sprinkled a little right before we were set to walk down the aisle, so it had cooled down. I remember that my best friend at the time was my “man of honor” and didn’t do anything to help with the wedding, so all of my other bridesmaids did everything they could and made it completely perfect.

March 31st 2013 I gave birth to the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen. We named her Penelope Joy and we both fell completely in love. It was a hard labor to say the least. It was almost completely natural, with only a shot of pain medicine during active labor. I was in labor for 12 hours total, pushing for at least 2 of them. I was so exhausted that towards the end I started falling asleep DURING contractions. As I felt her crown, suddenly my husband and mother were pushed away and more doctors and nurses rushed into the room. Her shoulder was stuck behind my pelvic bone and they could not get her out. When they finally got her out, her collar bone was broken, but she was otherwise perfectly perfect. I wouldn’t trade a second of it.

My husband and I are currently living with my mother and stepfather in Jacksonville, FL. We were in an unfortunate situation and this was our only way out. Now we are staying here until we get back on our feet. My husband is working at Lowe’s and I am staying at home to take care of Penelope.

Penelope is wonderful. She is a very happy baby and she smiles all the time. I can’t wait until she can laugh. She loves when we stick our tongues out at her and make noises; she has recently started imitating us and I love it. She sleeps wonderfully on most nights. She is also sleeping in her crib now; she was sleeping in our bedroom either in the bassinet or in the bed with us. I am so excited to watch her grow, and now I’ll be able to share it with every one of you.