If one more thing breaks, I might scream.

I am so over dealing with customer service and warranty people. With that being said, I am so thankful that we have spent a little extra money and gotten the warranties on all of our big stuff.

   To start with, Our dishwasher went out about a month after we moved in. In July, our A/C went out and was out for 2 weeks in the middle of summer. :( At the same time as the A/C, our sink was clogged and the plumber had to come out..and NOW our freezer in our 8 month old, french door fridge went out. After 3 weeks of the geek squad coming out, ordering the wrong parts, twice.. they finally decided we would get a whole new one. Thanks Best buy.
So, Sunday they will be delivering the new fridge and picking up the defective one. I didn't realize how much I needed a freezer until mine went out and spoiled ALL of my food in it. (yay again for extended warranties that will pay me for that.)

The process to get anything taken care of is so over-rated...............................but worth it.

Maybe I'll stop and get cheese with my whine. :)

My Birth Story

         As the time gets closer to celebrating Emma's 2nd birthday, the more I think about the day she was born. I cannot believe that my sweet girl is going to be 2. I remember hearing when I was a child that I was "growing too fast" but I never truly understood what it meant until I became a Mother. Here's my birth story.

       Six days before Emma was born, my best friend had her little boy. I woke up on Sunday, October 11th with a text saying that Joseph Riley was here. I was so excited but so READY for my little one to enter the world. Right about that time, I just assumed I would be pregnant forever. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday passed really quickly. I decided to start my maternity leave on Thursday just so I could finish the last bit of nesting that I had in me. I went to the Dr on Thursday morning and I was STILL only 2 cm dilated. When you are at a 2 for a full month, you get a little disappointed hearing that again. Thursday passed and Friday day passed. Friday night Nick and I stayed up catching up on all of our shows. We knew that it might be our last Friday night with just the 2 of us, forever. We had her room ready, bags packed, etc. We were just waiting. I went downstairs for a minute to get a drink and started having contractions. They were different from the other ones that I had been having so I started timing them on Friday, October 16th at 11:58pm. Nick came downstairs about 10 minutes later to check on me and asked what I was doing and if I was ok. I guess you tend to check on your wives more often when they are very pregnant. :) I told him I was ok but that I was having contractions and that I started timing them. He kind of freaked out because I hadn't done this before. He started asking questions like how long are they, how frequent are they and do we need to go to the hospital.. I was so terrified of going to the hospital for false labor and being sent home so I decided I wanted to stay until I just knew it was time. We tried sleeping/relaxing but it's really not an easy task when you're contracting every 5 minutes. Around 5am, I was in a decent amount of pain but still wasn't ready to go. Nick ran a warm bath to help me relax and to help with the pain. By 8am I decided it was time. 8 hours into labor, I was ready to get to the hospital. Both families were contacted and were on their way to meet their granddaughter/niece, Emma. We got to the hospital around 8:15am, they hooked me up to the monitors to make sure I was in active labor and then they checked me to see where I was at. A 3..a stinkin 3. Really? 8 hours of active labor and I had only moved up 1 cm. The only thought that I had was "this is going to be a VERY long day."  Another hour of contractions and the anesthesiologist came in for my epidural. The nurse checked me and I was already at a 7. :) They asked me to lean over the side of the bed and have Nick hold me up to make sure that I didn't fall while I was getting the epidural. If you know my husband, you know he can't stand needles. Have you ever seen an epidural needle? Needless to say, as I am laying on his chest I can feel his heart start beating super fast and he starts breathing heavily. The epidural is in and I look up at my husband to see he has lost all color. I ask him if he is ok and he tries acting like he is fine but he is not doing so well. The nurse looked over at him and asked if he needed to sit down. His first reaction was "No, I am fine" to almost immediately saying "Yes, I need to sit down." Poor guy, he did so well while it was happening but it finally hit him. By this time I was feeling good, Nick had his color back and the TX vs OU game was starting. We were able to relax and watch the whole game. Right before it was over the nurse came in and checked me one last time saying I was ready to push. Both families showed up right about the same time.. They waited in the waiting room while I started pushing. The nurse was getting everything prepped and I was telling her when I was having contractions. I couldn't feel the pain of them anymore but I could feel the tightening of my stomach. After about 30 minutes of pushing the nurse asked me to stop pushing if I could because I was going to deliver Emma before the Dr got there. :) As weird as this sounds to some, I never had the "urge" to push that you hear from a lot of people that have had babies. I never felt any pain, or even pressure.. I could just feel my stomach tighten. Maybe my anesthesiologist gave me the perfect epidural. Either way, I was okay with not pushing and it didn't bother me one bit. We waited for less then 5 minutes and made jokes about me only being able to think of food while I was pushing and then my Dr. showed up. 45 min total of pushing, waiting for the Dr and pushing again, Emma Brooklyn McElroy entered the world at 3:31pm weighing 8lbs 3.4oz.

Nick and I were amazed by how we both fell in love with something so tiny that we had only "officially" met within a matter of seconds. All we kept talking about was who she looked like and what features she had from him/me, etc. They finished up and left us alone with our sweet baby girl for a few minutes while the nurse went to get me food. While I was eating, I look up and see the man I love holding the most amazing thing that has ever happened to either of us. I teared up and took this picture with my phone..

So not only would I remember the feeling but I could share this with Emma when she gets older.

Her daddy is amazing and he loves her so very much.

Saturday, October 17, 2009, my due date, Emma was born. The perfect birth story for the perfect day.

Thankful

  Tonight Nick, Emma, The Weston family and myself went to get pizza on a different side of town then we normally would have eaten any day of the week. As snotty as that sounds, we really just did not fit in. If you are not from San Antonio, a week or so ago, there was an apartment fire that took a 6 year old boys life. I did not know this boy on a personal level but I have heard his name for 4 years now. He was autistic and we have been providing him with speech therapy for over 1/2 of his life. Tonight they had a benefit for him and some of the proceeds went to helping out his mom. As I sit back and think about everything, I am so completely thankful and humbled for everyone in my life. I have a healthy 22 month old that makes me happy everyday, I am so completely in love with my husband after 8.5 years, I love my job, my family is amazing, my friends are the best of friends one could ask for, and so on. It's sad that days like today make one thankful but I am glad that we have the humbling experiences in life to make you sit back and truly appreciate everything.

"A person that says sunshine brings happiness has never danced in the rain."

IT RAINED IN SAN ANTONIO! YAY!

Emma LOVED playing in the rain. Here are some of the pictures Nick and I took while teaching her how to skip, splash, run, and dance in the rain. Emma splashing in the puddles

Loving it!

Running

Dancing

What an awesome way to make memories with the ones you love the most.

Family Traditions

There are a thousand different ways that people find a name they like to use for their child. They could have read it in a book, heard it on a show or movie, or even know someone with a name they like. But how many of these people actually stop and think about the meaning to the name, or even know the meaning of the name?

For Nick and I, picking a name for our child was one of the hardest, most exciting things during my pregnancy that we had to do. Do you realize how many names there are out there? Name association was a big factor with us, also. We went back and forth between hundreds of names. Names we liked, loved, disagreed on, agreed on but were uncertain how much we liked.. etc. We were both certain that she would have a family name though..

Nick and I were both named after relatives. Amy is not but my middle name Dyanne is after my great Aunt. Nick's full name is after his great grandfather that would have been 100 years old the year he was born if he were still alive.

Coming up with a name for our baby girl...
Luckily Emma's grandmother's not only have great middle names, they combined to make a great middle name for Emma. My mother's middle name is Brooke and Nick's mother's middle name is Lynn. Therefore, you get Brooklyn. She was named after two beautiful ladies that just happen to be her amazing grandmothers. We had already picked out her first name- Emma- mainly because we both loved the name and kept coming back to it after looking at other options. A week after her arrival, my aunt Cheryl called me to tell me my favorite great Grandmother's name was Emmaline Josephine. She was looking through files at her house and ran across her birth certificate. We called her Memaw Josey, so I never would have thought her name was anything other than Josephine. If I would have known this before hand, Emma would have been Emmaline Brooklyn. Either way, I am glad to know that her full name is honoring some of the most amazing people that we know and have known and will love forever.

Planned like Brooklyn, or unplanned like Emma..she is full of family heritage and we hope that she grows up to be proud of her family name.

Planning Emma's 2nd Birthday 4 months early

Awe bittersweet..I have already started to look at decorations for Emma's 2nd birthday and I think Nick and I have found them! Why, you ask? I realize it is 4 months away but October is going to be an extremely busy month for us.

Layout of how our October looks:

Weekend 1: My 27th birthday.
Weekend 2: Driving up to Fort Worth for Emma's birthday party, Riley's birthday party and Myaann's wedding.
Weekend 3: Emma's actual birthday and San Antonio party.. :)
Weekend 4: Driving back up to Fort Worth for Laura's wedding.
Weekend 5: Halloween festivities.

Needless to say, we are planning now so Emma can have an amazing 2nd birthday with little distractions! I need help with venues. If you know of any fun places in the Ft. Worth area, let me know! Maybe a good park? Open to suggestions!

I really can't believe she is turning 2. I teared up a little just thinking about it.

Baby Fever

The closer we get to Emma's 2nd birthday, the more I think about having another one. It doesn't help that I know far too many people pregnant or that just had a baby.

When Nick and I started talking about having children, I would always say "I want our children to be close in age." That statement is still very true but the older she gets the less "baby fever" I have. Maybe that has to do with about 100 reasons why I think we aren't ready. Emma was planned, she came earlier than we had initially thought, but planned. I didn't truly understand how hard it is to be a mom, a working mom at that. I also did not understand how rewarding it would be either. I wake up every morning way earlier than I used to, I take naps way less than I would like to. Nick and I don't have our weekly date nights anymore, and so on.. But none of that matters when I see her face light up when she does something new, when I walk through the door after work and she comes running and screaming with joy, hearing a new word she has learned, how she claps for herself after she uses the potty, watching her pull her daddy's hand saying "up" because she wants something. Makes my heart melt each time. The unexplainable love and dedication that Nick and I have for her is by far better than I have ever imagined. Motherhood is hard but worth every early morning that we are given.

I guess the point of this blog is, are we ever really ready? Or do we just make it work..

It's NOT Saturday?

Waking up thinking it's Saturday when it's only Thursday, I immediately thought, "yep, it's going to be that kind of morning." But then I hear my sweet baby saying "Momma, out!" (meaning: get me out of my crib.) I walk into her room and she says "HI MOMMA" with a big smile on her face. As I pick her up she gives me a huge hug while patting my back. Thursday morning turned out to be pretty fantastic. :)