Well technically it all started in Nauvoo, BUT it ended in Houston :p! The day I went into the hospital I was 36 weeks and 6 days. I woke up like any other day, ate an apple and a slim fast for breakfast ( because I was trying to watch my blood pressure) and sat down to watch my TV show. Next thing I know Jonny is kept telling me to check my blood pressure, so I did and it was on the high side. Not thinking anything of it, I called the doctors office to see how High was to high. The nurse told me if it was above yada/yada to come in..... well I thanked her and I didn't even think about telling her what my numbers where till I hung up..... they were far above that thrush hold! Next think I know Jonny is walking thought the door, saying that we should go to the hospital to get things checked out. I was waiting to go pick up my mom from the airport and was in the middle of my show, so I was not gung ho about going in yet. Needless to say Jonny was very convening so I JUST grabbed my purse and said ok lets go then, thinking that I would be home in a hour or two..... well was I wrong! We walk into the hospital and tell the my name and the blood pressure numbers and they admitted me right there !!!! When the lady said that they were admitting me I really said, " What, ummm no... I'm not due for 3 more weeks" in my mind I was thinking funny nice try! Next thing I new I was hooked up and propped up in triage room waiting to have my baby girl Via C-section...
Thank goodness for our friends in Houston, that I called to pick up my mom from the airport to bring her to the hospital! She made it right before I had to go in to surgery!!! Thank goodness I had breakfast, even though I only had a VERY small apple and a slim fast for breakfast it delayed the delivery for a few hours! I BEGGED Jonny for a few almonds before we went to the hospital, it was lunch time and MOMMA was hungry! Jonny did get me some Ice chips, but didn't let me eat to many of them...
Mom made it just in time, to take that last family picture, before Stella was born.
I walked into the room, I got a spinal tap, they laid me down and said OK! ( That was at 5:00) Jonny walked in and sat by my head, held my hand was talked away distracting me of what was happening. Well at 5:04 they said, " Are you ready?" .... " Its defiantly a GIRL." It only took them less than 5 minute to preform a C-section........ crazy! We were blown away of how much hair she had and that she had my little butt chin!
Jonny left my side to go be with our new baby girl, I watched him as he stood above her. He asked if he could touch her and next thing I saw was my two favorite people in the world holding hands! It was so sweet, Jonny had the camera around his neck and he was taking pictures left and right and snapped this one of me right as we first saw Stella.
Jonny picked her up and brought her over to me and she was so sweet, not crying at all just looking up at me. I think I kissed her head, but at this point things started getting a little foggy. For just being born Stella was wide awake for our first Family picture, of all of us together. I think Jonny looks like a pretty proud daddy!
Jonny left with Stella while I was getting patched up, I met back up with them a few minutes latter. Over the next few days Jonny was amazing! A few days before Stella was born, Jonny confessed that he looked up how to change a diaper. I had told him how at some point I'm sure. The picture above is Jonnys first time changing Stella diaper, I think he seemed pretty confident! Jonny is such an amazing father, Stella is such a lucky girl to have a daddy like him. I think from the moment She was born, she already had daddy wrapped around her little finger.
I debated wither or not to post this picture of Stella and I right after she was born, because of obvious
s reasons... This was the first time I held our Baby Girl, and I think this was the moment I realized I was a mom! With looking at all the pictures that were taken that day, this is the one that stands out the most to me! I DID IT !!!!! I carried and made such a beautiful baby girl, and I feel like this moment just says it all!
Yes, the whole weekend was a challenge, but one of the hardest thing to do was pick a name for our little cutie! I never thought it would be that hard to name your child, but think again !!!! We had so many names that we loved, but we narrowed it down to about 5 names that we liked. We would pick a name and called her it for a day to see if it fit... but the only one that felt right was Stella Mae Holden. The lady kept coming in and pestering us to hurry up and name our daughter, I felt like kicking her out of my room every time she came in.
Jonny picked out the outfit for Stella to wear home, he loved the little anchor jacket! He did a Great job dressing her and was very gentile with the little wiggle worm.
It was a quite a journey, but we did it! I could not have done it without such an amazing man by my side. We had our little chubby cheek, bum chinned baby in her car seat bound for our Houston home!
Once I found that that we were pregnant I started taking weekly belly pictures. Well, I tried my hardest, but life and laziness did get in the way of some weeks, but I think I did pretty good. I thought it would be really easy doing the chalk board every week, but it was harder than it seemed. Sometimes the creative juices were not flowing.... I started at 6 weeks pregnant and kept growing!
We moved back to Houston around this time and I was not very good about keeping up with the pictures. The move back was not that fun ether, being half way through your pregnancy with driving for more than 20 hours in a truck was rough, but we made it! ( thanks to Jonny, Such an amazing husband) At last at 20 weeks I felt like I was finally starting to show!!!!
At this point I was feeling pretty BIG, but not the, I'm glowing pregnant big. I felt like this picture below summed it up pretty well. I never felt the so called GLOW people talk about, lets just say the woman on "What to expect, when your expecting" was right. Needless to say, I was still happy that I was having a baby soo soon and that my crazy swelling would subside!!!
I had done my 36th week chalk board and was waiting for Jonny to take a picture with me in front of it, but instead I ended up going to the hospital :). the picture below was the last picture of my belly I took before I knew I was having a our baby girl so soon. (The next day to be exact.) I was at the chiropractors office waiting for the doctor, trying to get Stella to flip, but she was just to comfy and lazy.
Oh how this was unplanned, but the last picture of my big belly at 36 weeks and 6 days. I never thought that my belly was actually that big. I just kinda felt well.... Fat. BUT I KNEW THERE WAS A BABY IN THERE :)
when I look back at these pictures I almost miss being pregnant, even though it was not a picnic!!! Now that I know the risks of what could happen, with my pregnancies It will be better the next time around. And I will appreciate it more than I did. I still cant believe that my beautiful baby girl, was in my tummy, and that I made her from scratch :). Pregnancy is truly a miracle, and I feel so blessed to have been able to carry my child.
Since we have been in Houston, I have been blessed to have made some great friends in a short time! My friend Lauryan and Anna threw me the cutest baby shower. It turned out to be a absolute beautiful day outside, and I loved spending it with all the beautiful ladies who where able to make it to the shower.
They did such a great job with decorating, the theme of the party was Kate Spayed. I think they did a great job, its also how I would like to decorate our nursery one day! My friend Lauryan is such a good baker, and made the most delirious cream cheese filled cupcakes, YUMMMMMM. they were a hit for sure.
Along with the cupcakes we had yummy blueberry strudel muffins, a yogurt parfait bar home made quiche that was amazing thanks to my Anna husband Travis!!!! It was all so cute and clever, and very yummy.By the end of brunch I was so full, but just wanted more. ( good thing there was some left over to take home :) )
It was all so well put together and so cute! I could not have asked for a better/ cuter shower. Jonny was even able to come and hung out with the other husbands. We played some cute games to drawing babies without looking, to guessing how big my belly really is! ( Jonny wasn't even close on that game, he was way too small.... maybe he was just trying to make me feel better:) who knows )
I got so many adorable outfits that I can not wait to put our little girl in.. She will be in style, and the cutest baby girl around! I am so thankful to have made such good friends here in Houston who care enough to throw Jonny and I a shower and show us such support. I think she has enough tutus and bows to last her for a year ;).
When we were in North Carolina during the summer, all my wonderful sisters, sister-in-laws and mother put together a little surprise for me. We had just moved back to Houston, Texas and was still getting to know the ladies in the area, and trying to make some friends. I take pride that I am hard to surprise, but they pulled it off. I had baby sat my sisters boys that morning going on all kinds of adventures. That night was suppose to be girls night and guys night, I kept asking what we were doing and no one would give me an answer. I just assumed we were doing some kind of craft or something. Before we headed to girls night, my sisters, mom and I were able to go out to a nice dinner, it was a little fishy, because they seemed VERY RUSHED. We walked into the restaurant I had not even looked at the menu and they were ordering!!! ( I think I ended up just getting the first thing I saw) I drove with my sister Vanessa while mom and Jessica drove separate, for some reason, Vanessa was taking me all over the neighborhood, like I didn't remember what it looked like !! stalling for sure, but i had no idea..... The thought of a surprise of some sort popped into my mind, but I thought to myself...( WHO would even come) and quickly dismissed it. Well was I SURE wrong!!!
This is the video of me walking into the room, being totally surprised by the love and support of all these wonderful woman in my life!! I didn't know what to say, It made me feel really special that my family had put this together, just for me and baby girl!
All the decorations were all so adorable, thanks to my two amazing sister in laws Shannon, and Kaytlin! I love anything nautical and they hit it on the head!!!! Also the food was fantastic to pink chocolate covered popcorn GOODNESS, to knotted rolls there where to die for, along with pink lemonade :). I was so surprised to have so many women show up to support us in our growing little family! I felt such love, and can not wait to share that love with our little baby girl. I am truly blessed with the best family, and friends, I could not ask for anything better!
With me being 32 weeks pregnant, we decided that if we are going to do a trip before this baby girl comes we better get to it! We had talked about going down to Corpus Christi, but we had not gone to San Antonio yet and we had to check it off of our list. Jonny had his three day weekend, so when he got home on Thursday night, we hoped in the car and drove to our new adventure. We thought the drive was going to be a lot longer than it was, its only 2.5 hrs away! ( Very doable) We found a great deal on a hotel right in the middle of downtown, San Antonio. I was a little surprised In my mind I thought the city would be more like Dallas, but it seemed to be nothing more than a little town. With one sky scrapper, the little Alamo right in the middle and the river walk with restaurants that's about it. ( An older town for sure)
Jonny had done his research and found an awesome place for brunch. We drove to an old hotel made into a restaurant, that was also an old and still running flour Mill. It was so beautiful, we had our brunch outside next to the river walk and breakfast was soooooo good. We got ourselves pumpkin pancakes, waffle, and delicious biscuits and gravy!! We had a lot of food, but it was all so fresh and the bread was just made. I'm so ready for the fall and all the fall spices and tastes.
The Alamo was right in the middle of downtown, thankfully when we went there was not as many people out. Since our hotel was only less than a mile away we decided to walk, with being 32 weeks pregnant it seemed to be an ok idea! ( latter, not so much) Jonny read an article saying that, not drinking enough water can cause early labor, so AT ALL times he was pushing water on me whenever he could! Needless to say it seemed like I was always looking for a bathroom.
The battle of the Alamo happened so long ago, that a lot of the history was lost. The building itself has been made into a many different things, from a missionary home to a old strip mall to even a storage unit, so it had changed quite a bit. With some original walls still up, its still a piece of history. Inside the gates there is a large court yard, that is filled of beautiful gardens and monuments. It seems like such a large space to defend when there are only 100 men to defend it. The picture below is Jonny standing next to one of the original wall, its only like 7-8 foot tall.... that does not seem very hard to get over! ( I mean all you need is a step stool, for goodness sacks)
While we were walking around and listening to our tour tape we rented we finally found out what the, "Come and Take It" flag. Long story short, the men in the Alamo, captured one of Santa Anna's cannons, before the battle men where sent to the Alamo to talk and get it back so they could use it against the Alamo. Well, the men said, "NO, you cant have it back. Now leave!" If they gave back the cannon they wouldn't really have anything to defend themselves from the Mexican army! So they taunted Santa Anna to, COME AND TAKE IT!!!! Well, that's pretty much what happened. The Mexican army attached during the night, and they recaptured the cannon and used it against the men inside their own gates. ( They should of just broke it, and then gave it back! oops)
Even though the battle was lost, the war was won! The loss sparked anger into people and eventually was the result of getting, Texas, Nevada, California, and Utah. Sad that so many lives had to be lost because of the loss of support, but in the long run I guess it all worked out fine. I suppose the saying, " REMEMBER THE ALAMO" worked!!!!!!!!!!!!!
After walking all day, what seemed to be ALOT... we decided to walk home. The outside of the Alamo is beautiful with all the carvings and stone work! We have wanted to see the Alamo for a while now. Well, now we have seen it and we will REMEMBER IT!
Some of our friends sugested taking a ghost tour with this company so we decided to give it a try. We had never gone on a ghost tour, but decided San Antonio would be a good place for it. Our tour guide was all dressed up in old time cloths with a lantern to light the way. Of course it was raining when the tour started, so good thing the lantern was battery powered :P. San Antonio is known for its haunted hotels, and old cathedrals.
At the start of the tour, he told us that he would tell us when and where ghosts are most caught on camera. He went on saying that every tour he gives there are a few that do end up having caught pictures of ghosts, spirits or whatever you want to call them. Jonny just laughed it off, and I was scared to take any pictures but was still curious if I could be that person. ( Now this next part is up to you, I do not know if its just plan creepy, real or a coincidence !) One of the first places we stopped was this beautiful old hotel called the Menger Hotel. It is the most haunted hotel in the city.... We did not go inside, but was outside looking in a window into a parlor. He then goes on to say that, this particular parlor is haunted by a woman. ( but don't worry she is nice) He then told us what she looked like, She is an African American Woman, wearing a black dress with a red shawl and a white apron. When I took the picture there was no one in the room, I just snapped a few pics of him while he was talking. Then we moved on...... Dun DUN DUN... Latter that night looking though my pictures, I did not see anything out of the ordinary, until I zoomed up. Look in the middle of the pic, behind the roped off section. inside the glass/ wooden thing.. I don't know about you, but I SEE A LADY STANDING THERE!!!!! ( GOOSEBUMPS........)
The tour was really long, by the time it was over I felt like I had just walked 10 miles!!!! ( and I REALLY had to use the bathroom) It was a lot of fun, but I don't think ghost tours is our thing. Needless to say, we both did not sleep very good that night.
OUR NEXT ADVENTURE SEA WORLD!!!!!!!
It was a beautiful day and we had lots of shows to see. We got there around 11.00 and spent the whole day going from show to show. Of course there was other things to do, but its not like I'm going on a roller coaster unless I want to go into labor!
They had everything from killer whales, dolphins, beluga whales to seals and otters in different shows, not counting the acrobats, stunt people and the trainers. I was very impressed with how well they have the animals trained. A few months ago I watched a documentary of sea world and how bad they treat their animals and how many trainers were killed by the whales and yada yada.... But even though the rules had changed and there was no one swimming with the killer whales It was still an amazing show!
In every show we saw we always sat in the splash zone, hoping that we would bet a little extra interaction. needless to say it seemed that every time we one splash zone didnt seem very splashy we would move, then next show that ZONE would get splashed.... But maybe it was a good thing because the people who got wet kinda smelt like fish after!!! So, the slash zone was not very splashy, but it was a lot of fun and we were so CLOSE to the action! All the shows were great, Below are just some short clips that I got, everything was going so fast I didn't know if I should take pictures of if or if I should take a video. Jonny's and I's, favorite shows where the ones involving the beluga whales. The trainers where actually in the water swimming with them, with acrobats diving from the rafters and swinging across the whole stage. NOT going to lie, if I saw this as a kid, I think I would want to do this as my dream job one day!!!! WHO WOULDN'T.... Yes, the killer whales where still very impressive and HUGE, but I'm not sure I would want to swim with one though.
The Alamo, ghost tour, river walk, and Sea World were all great! It was a successful trip, with LOTS of walking. I think I need a vacation from my vacation :P!!! I'm so happy and blessed to have such an amazing husband that loves me enough to go and see and do all the fun adventures around us. It would not be near as fun an wild adventures without him by my side!
