Mondays*~In The Past, your childhood, where you grew up, your friends, college, just everything you'd want to share about your PRE-MOMMY life!! Would love to see photo's!

Tuesdays*~*A Love Story, how you met your SO/DH, how did he propose, what was your wedding like? Where did you meet? How long have you been together? Please share photos!!!!

Wednesdays*~*Then Comes A Baby In A Baby Carriage, Tells us all about your babies, every one of them! Share photos!

Thursdays & Fridays*~*Ask Away!*These are the days we all get to ask you random questions! So be ready.

[AmandaEliz]

Monday: I'll go digging for pics today when I get home from work.

I was born in March 1980 in Lancaster, PA. My mom & dad were high-school sweethearts. They started dating when Mom was 16, engaged for her 18th birthday & then married when she was 20. I came along a month before her 24th b-day.
Me at about age 3:

Me w/ my cousin Jess also about 3:


I had a great childhood. It was mostly Mom & I because Dad drove truck long distance. I’m pretty sure that’s why I’m an only child. Mom didn’t want any more kids with my Dad gone so much. I grew-up in a very rural area, so I spent my days playing outside as a little kid. We lived in a trailer on an acre of land until I was 5 & then my parents bought the house they still live in. My parents essentially gutted & re-modeled the entire house over the course of my childhood. My Dad is really handy, so they did it all themselves. I blame them for my DIY projects.

I was an outgoing kid in elementary school. I was also kinda loud, so that got me in trouble. School was easy for me, so Mom always pushed me pretty hard. I met my best friend, Katie, in the 6th grade. She had just moved to our area from New Jersey & was horrified at how rural southern Lancaster County was. I was the person who invited her to sit with me at lunch & showed her around. We hit it off & were inseparable from that point on.

I went through a super-awkward period in Middle School. I had the HUGE early-90ies glasses. I’m not sure I want to post any of those pics… Luckily, I had Katie & we got to be shy together. Middle school was when some of Katie’s problems at home started. Her mom was bi-polar & her Dad was just an a-hole. She used to call my house late at night & ask us to come get her because her Dad was drunk & her parents were fighting or her Mom had some strange guy in the house. She would pack a bag & come stay with us. It usually took her parents a few days to realize she was missing & then they’d call & demand she came home. She was the oldest of 5 & took care of her younger siblings. They belonged to a nudist colony & Katie stayed at our house whenever they went there. She was at my house enough that Mom bought a 2nd twin bed for my bedroom so she didn’t have to sleep on the pull-out couch.

Then there was High School. Mom finally let me get contacts the summer before Freshman year. I felt like a new person & came out of my shell. Katie, too. We took all the advanced classes together; did our homework together & were both honor students. Mom pushed both of us really hard on school work. Mom knew she & Dad couldn’t afford to send me away to college without a scholarship or giant student loans. She also didn’t want Katie to stay in our hometown with her family, so she was pushing us to try to get academic scholarships… anywhere that wasn’t Lancaster County. The only thing I did without Katie was track (she only ran if someone was chasing her). I loved track; it gave me an outlet. My Mom is a wonderful person, but she gave me stress. I have always felt like she wanted me to do everything she never did. College, travel, a career, etc. I didn’t really date in HS. Between classes & track, who had time for boys? Meanwhile, Katie’s home-life was collapsing around her. She spent more & more time at my house. Our Jr year, her dad lost his job & they lost their house. They moved into a trailer park in the next school district over. Her parents let her stay with us to finish her Jr year, but absolutely refused to let her stay with us for her Sr year. She barely passed her Sr year at the new school & started dating a guy I couldn’t stand.
Me & my cousin Jen my Jr year (she was a Freshman at Pitt):

Me & Katie at OC Maryland summer of '98


I ended up being accepted to St. Joseph’s University in Philly on a full academic scholarship. Katie didn’t even apply. She had decided that she was going to Millersville (in our hometown) because she was going to marry the guy she met Sr year. We stayed super close in spite of everything. College was awesome. I still studied like crazy because I didn’t want to lose my scholarship, but I discovered a world outside of my Mom’s rules. I dated & had a semi-serious boyfriend my Freshman year. I loved the freedom & I loved Philly; there were endless things to do. I finished-up my Freshman year with a 4.0 & was heading back to Lancaster to work for the summer. My parents picked me up the Saturday before Mother’s Day in 1999. Sunday, Mother’s Day, we were woken up at 4am by someone pounding on the door. It was my next door neighbor. His wife worked the night shift in the trauma-neuro unit at Lancaster General Hospital. Katie had been medivaced in after a car accident & of course my neighbor recognized her. I got dressed, jumped in my car & went to the hospital. I don’t remember much of the drive & when I arrived at the hospital her whole family was in the waiting room. Her youngest sister jumped-up & hugged me… she didn’t leave my side the entire 36 hours we were in there. She went through multiple surgeries & then we were allowed to see her. She had so many siblings that the hospital staff assumed I was one of them. I knew the second I saw her that she wasn’t going to make it. Monday morning she showed zero brain function. Her parents decided to remove her from life-support. She died Monday afternoon. I worked 2 jobs that summer & did everything I could to not think about it.

The semi-serious boyfriend became a serious boyfriend & boy was that a huge mistake. He was an alcoholic & I don’t mean in the college-kid, he drank a lot kind of way. He drank every day. Well, I decided drowning the grief was the solution to my problems. I did enough schoolwork to maintain my scholarship, but mostly I partied. I barely went back to Lancaster & my parents were sick with worry.
Me & my friend Lauren my Sohpomore Yr in college. We were both hammered as we were on quite a winning streak playing beer pong... um yeah.


That lasted most of my Sophomore year; then an old HS friend who had been in Korea with the Army, surprised me with a visit. He had been a total wild one in HS, but we were great friends. He just looked at me & said “What happened to my Mandy?”. That was all it took. I started grief counseling the week he left. It did me a world of good. I dumped the boyfriend a few weeks later. I pulled my head out of my rear-end & managed to strike a good balance my Jr year between fun & school. I dated, nothing serious. I partied, but not in the same desperate way. I waited tables for cash. And I studied… a lot. I wanted to go to law school & not just any law school... Georgetown. I got accepted to an honors class that included the summer of 2001 in Northern Ireland working with an NGO (non-government organization). I spent most of the summer of 2001 in Belfast. It was fabulous. We worked like dogs at the NGO, but we had a lot of fun, too. I fell in love with Ireland. When I got back to the States, I went back to work at the bar I worked in every summer in college. I met Mike in August of 2001; about 3 or 4 weeks after I got home from Ireland, so I’ll pick-up there tomorrow.
This Devil's Causeway in Northern Ireland


This is a Unionist mural in Derry. N. Ireland is famous for the artwork on the buildings depicting the years of violence there.

[MelKD]

Wow, I'm so sorry to hear you lost your best friend. That must have been really tough. What caused the accident?

[Jule'sMomInOR]

When you were in Northern Ireland did you see any signs of political unrest or was everything pretty safe?

Thank must have sucked incredibly to lose your best friend. I'm so sorry. It's amazing you didn't do anything more rebellious. I'm glad you were able to bounce back nicely and keep on track with your plans.

[preciousgiftsmama]

So sorry about your friend That is just a horrible thing.

Sounds like a happy childhood and cant wait to hear about your love story!

Love your child hood! I am so sorry about your best friend. Im sure that had to be so hard! Car accidents are one of my biggest fears.

Cant wait to see some pictures! Sounds like you are a smart lady!

[starrsgirl]

Love the story. Thanks for sharing! So sorry to hear about your friend.

Your story seems kinda similar to mine....there's something that rings very true to me. Can't wait to hear more!

[AmandaEliz]

Mariah, we evacuated a few buildings in Belfast for bomb scares. A lot of places were very obviously damaged from The Troubles, but we weren't there during parade season (May), so we didn't see the worst of it. I've been back to the Republic, but not the 6 Counties, so I don't know what it's like now.

[mommytokem]

Mandy - So sorry about your friend that must have been hard.

How exciting to be able to go to Belfast.

[sethsmum]

I am so sorry about your friend, that must have been awful. Great story, sounds like your Mum is an amazing woman. I'm very jealous you have been to Ireland, I have never been and its somewhere I always wanted to go!

Just to add, there has been political unrest in Ireland for a long time, I remember they bombed Manchester when I was about 8 or 9. There was the Omagh bombing in 98. Its been bad again recently, on the news the other week there were cars on fire everywhere, people throwing things at the police, its awful. Its sad that after all these years there is still so much hatred

[AmandaEliz]

Sorry this is late, I've had a sick & very clingy little girl.
Tuesday: My love story
Well, it was August of 2001 & I was sitting at work on a rainy Thursday night. The bar I worked at has a ton of outside seating & a covered deck; I was tending bar on the deck that night. And because it was raining, I had 2 of my regulars sitting at my bar & that was it. So we were goofing off & I had already had a beer or 2. It was a pretty laid back place & the owner was outside with me trying to get me to do shots (while I was working). Hahahaha. I had way too much fun working at that bar all through college.
Anyway, I hear "Mandy?" from behind me & turn around. It was Jason, Katie's cousin. He was a year ahead of us in HS & kind of a trouble maker... really bad temper, but the 3 of us had grown-up together. I hadn't seen him since Katie's funeral 2+ years ago. He was in the Marine Corps & had been in Okinawa & Lejune & just didn't come back to PA all that often. Jason had another guy with him, but I barely noticed because seeing Jason brought it all back. By the look on his face, he was having the same reaction to me. I hopped out from behind the bar & gave him a hug & asked “what can I get you guys?”. Well they sat down at my bar. Jason introduced me to his friend. Mike. After I looked at him, I knew he had been in the bar before. He was a Lancaster County Deputy Sherriff. The bar was directly behind the county courthouse, so all the deputies, lawyers, judges & Lancaster City cops hung out there.
Turns out Jason & Mike had been in the Marines together, but Mike had gotten out almost a year prior & hired on with the Sherriff’s department. Jason was on terminal leave from the Corps. He had been in the Courthouse to get a copy of his divorce paperwork & bumped into Mike. Mike suggested they go get a beer & play catch-up. Well, Mike brought him into my bar. They hung-out until we closed down. The three of us had a blast talking about their Marine days & Jason & I laughing about how stupid we all were in HS. Jason & Mike were back Friday night… and Saturday night.
Mike & Jason at Police Week 2010:


Well, Saturday night I was the early-out server. So when I got off work, they asked me if I wanted to go to a party with them. It was actually pretty close to my parents’ house, so I said sure. We drove down there & the party was kind of a flop. Mike was a deputy & there was a lot of weed at the party. I wasn’t into that kind of thing, either, so the 2 of us hung out all night. Jason had bumped into a girl he knew & disappeared. Mike kept asking me when I was going back to school. He was up in State College during the week for the Sherriff’s academy, so he said he’d stop in my work on Friday night. Over the next few weeks, it went from being me, Mike & Jason, to just me & Mike. And then the night before I moved back to Philly he asked me if he could see me when I came home from school. I said sure & he kissed me. I came home every.single.weekend after that. Hahahahaha. I hadn’t even done that my freshman year.
We talked on the phone during the week & I came back to Lancaster on the weekends. Or he came down to Philly to hang out. I warned him that it was going to be a busy year. I started my internship at the Philly DA’s office on 9/11 & I was working on my honor’s thesis on Northern Ireland. The attacks on the Pentagon & World Trade Center happened on the first day of my internship. Mike & I kept-up our weekend relationship, but in November 2001, he & Jason both got mobilization orders back into the Marine Corps. They were to report to Quantico the Monday after Thanksgiving. He reported to Virginia & we began our long distance relationship. He was now about 4 hours away. My Mom said she knew it was serious when I invited Mike to Christmas. It didn’t matter though, we talked on the phone & he came to Philly. I drove down to VA, too. I graduated from college in May of 2002. Mike was there, of course.
Me & Mike at a wedding in May 2002


Me with my parents the day I graduated & then me & Mike


Shortly after I graduated, we decided I was going to move down to VA. I hated my internship & nixed the law school plan. That was totally scary; not know what I wanted to do after years & years of wanted to go to law school. We moved into our 1st apartment in Fredericksburg, VA in July of 2002. This was a big change for me; I had never lived with a guy before & we both had a big adjustment period. It worked for us though. I found a job waiting tables & Mike was an MP on Quantico. We went to Ireland in October 2002. We spent a fabulous 10 days traveling around the island. It was then that we started talking about getting engaged. Well, Christmas came & went with no engagement. Then, Mike started acting weird in January & I started to get worried. I shouldn’t have. One thing about Mike, he is terrible at keeping a secret. He gets so excited when he finds a gift for me that he thinks I’m going to like. Half the time, I know what my birthday or Christmas present is long before the day. Well, it was the 1st weekend in Feb 2003 & I remember it was really, really cold. I had the radio on & was baking a cake in our little kitchen. Mike appeared in the door way & he looked really nervous. I asked him “Are you OK? What’s wrong?” He just drops to 1 knee, holds out a little box & asked me if I would marry him. I was so shocked, I just stared at him until he said “Well?”. Of course I said yes!! He had this big plan to propose in the restaurant we met at. My cousin still worked there & he was in on it & was going to help. But Mike just couldn’t wait once he had the ring in his hand. That’s my honey. <3
Us at the Guiness brewery in Dublin (October 2002)


We decided we didn’t want a long engagement & got married October 11, 2003. I was 23 & Mike had just turned 26. It was a small wedding at Lancaster County Vineyards. We had about 90 of our friends & family. It was a perfect day & we both had a great time. By this time Mike was on terminal leave from the Corps & attending the Fairfax County Police Academy, so we didn’t have a honey moon. But that was fine.
Us at our wedding...

[jessanddane]

Great story! The way you met mike really seems like it was meant to be Love the wedding pic, and the uniform is great. I had Dane wear his at our wedding too.

[AmandaEliz]

Jess, Mike's only wedding related request was that he get to wear his dress blues & his brother (Army) got to wear his dress uniform as well. Since I thought Mike was pretty hot in his dress blues... I didn't argue.

[Daffodil]

So tragic about your friend, I'm so sorry.

Awww, your love story is so cute!!

And you have a great smile btw!! That must be where Ethan gets it from!

[preciousgiftsmama]

Great love story!! Waiting on your kiddos stories

[mommytokem]

I love how you met your dh and your love story.

[Arei_720]

Sweet How-we-met story! Love it!

[AmandaEliz]

Wednesday: (or Friday) My Babies

I would say I caught the baby bug pretty bad in 2005. I don't know why, just every time I saw a baby... I turned into goo. But Mike & I just decided we weren't ready. We wanted our careers to be established & we wanted a house before we had kids. So, we bought our house in March 2006, my BFF was getting married in NJ in July 2006 & then the 4 of us were going on vacation together to St. Lucia. I didn't want to be preggo for either of those events... so August 2006 was the magic date to start TTC.
Mike Dancing w/ my Mom at my BFFs wedding & me at the wedding

Me & Mike & then me & Krista (my BFF) in St. Lucia


We decided to try the first cycle after we got back from St. Lucia. I mean, who gets preggo the 1st month anyway, right? Me, apparently. I was so nervous that I POAS while Mike was at work & I was on the phone with Krista who was also TTC (she has PCOS, so they weren't wasting any time). It was positive. The next day, I ran to Target & bought a little sleeper. I wrapped it up & gave it to Mike when I got home & before he went to work (he was working midnights at this point). He was so confused until I handed him the pregnancy test. I called my OB & they set up my 8 week appt. I had to wait 4 whole weeks. Well, I didn't have any spotting or cramps or anything. But I couldn't shake the feeling that we weren't going to get to keep the baby. I went to my first appt at 8 weeks 3 days. The OB did an ultrasound & turned the monitor around so that I couldn't see it. I KNEW that wasn't good. She said they couldn't see a HB & the sack didn't look "right". So they drew my hCG & progesterone. The next day they called & my hCG was 280,000... waaaaaay too high, so I went back for a follow-up U/S. I was diagnosed with a molar pregnancy. They aren't common. It's when 2 sperm enter the egg & instead of developing into a baby, it develops into a mass. It adhears to your uturine wall & I needed a D&C... NOW. I went to the hospital the next morning for the proceedure. They knocked me out & it was quick & all I had was some minor discomfort when I woke-up. The shocker came when we talked to the surgeon post-op. She didn't want us to TTC for an entire year. Molar cells can regrow in a cancerous form, so they wanted to monitor me for a year. I had to have blood drawn once a week until my hCG hit 0 & then once a month after that. I did some research & talked her down to about 8 months. I may not have gone to law school, but I can be pretty pursusave.

The 8 months passed & we TTC in April 2007. I got preggo the 1st time again. That one ended in a m/c at about 6 weeks. It really just felt like a heavy period. So we tried again in May. Preggo again. Lost that one at 7 weeks. Then, we thought we'd give it a full cycle & TTC again. Well, my body had other ideas. I O'ed super early & we unintentially got preggo about 10 days after my 2nd m/c. Total shock. My OB brought me in right away for blood work. My hCG level looked good & I was a little hopeful. I was sitting at my desk at work on a random Thursday morning. The office was almost empty. I started to get uncomfortable, so I went to the bathroom. There was the tiniest bit of blood when I wiped & I thought "here we go again." I put in a panty liner & went back to my desk. The discomfort escalated into pain, sharp and localized. Then all the sudden it felt like someone was stabbing me on the left side of my abdomen. I called the OB & they told me to come in right away. I apparently looked pretty bad because when I told my friend at work that I was leaving, so asked if I was OK to drive. I told her I was going to take the Metro & what was going on. She wouldn't let me, she drove me down to my hosptial. By the time I got there, I felt sick & the pain was horrible. Like kidney stone horrible. The admitted me immediately (probably because I puked in the OBs waiting room). It was a fully ruptured ectopic pregnancy. I needed emergency laproscopic surgery & they had to remove the left tube. I lost almost 2 pints of blood. I was destroyed when I woke-up from surgery. My OB told Mike & I that we needed to wait 3-4 cycles before we TTCed again & if we lost one more pregnancy, she wanted us to see a fertility specialist. She couldn't find any medical reason I kept losing pregnancies. We didn't deal with this loss very well. I threw myself into my job... I never worked less than 60 hours per week. Mike didn't talk about it & we started to grow apart. Quickly. In November 2007, I volunteered for a deployment to Afghanistan as a civilian with my job. I went home & told Mike I thought we should use it as a trial seperation & really think about calling it quits. He absolutely refused & truely wanted to fix our marriage. We talked a lot & things started to get better. We decided that I was still going to Afghanistan (for the extra money) & we'd TTC when I got home. That way if we needed medical help, we'd have the money saved. I was scheduled to go to Ft. Bragg for predeployment training on Jan 2nd, 2008.

I went to my 2 week pre-deployment training. I came home on a Friday & went back to work on Monday. I had had 3 vaxes while I was down there & the typhoid had made me pretty sick (felt like the flu). I couldn't seem to shake feeling like crap. I was tired & achy. By Friday, January 18th I was just in a horrible mood. My one friend was giving me hard time. She told me that she had known me for 3 years & this was the first time she'd ever seen me have PMS. Whaaaaaa? I pulled up my calendar at work & realized I hadn't had AF since before Christmas... Dec 22nd to be exact. I was over a week late (cycles were only about 23 days long at this point). Mike was in Pittsburgh visiting his family. I stopped at Target on my way home & bought a pregnancy test. It came back a HUGE blaring .


I was shocked, but honestly, had a really good feeling about this one. Needless to say... no trip to Afghanistan for me.

[AmandaEliz]

Ethan
I was due September 22nd. After all the trouble we had, I was blessed with an easy pregnancy. Barely any morning sickness. The only symptom I really had was that first trimester tiredness. Easy peasy. We found out May 6th, 2008 that we were having a boy. I was shocked... we don't have boys in my family. Mike was so happy & I was honestly just thrilled I was 20 weeks pregnant & the baby was healthy.

This is me & my friend Amanda from HS. She was due one day after me.


As I got closer to the end of my pregnancy, people kept commenting on how "huge" I was (gee thanks). I felt like a whale, so much so, that I wouldn't allow photos. I regret that now, but what can you do in hindsight. My friend Amanda, went into labor & had her baby on Sept 18th. I was still preggo. I was 0 cm dilated at 38 weeks... 0 at 39... 0 at 40. My OB talked me into an induction for Sept 29th. I was 41 weeks & "finger-tip" dilated. Worst.idea.ever.

They started my induction at 0700 on Monday 9/29. It took me forever to dilate. By 7pm that night I was only 2-3 cm. They broke my water & the contractions turned unbearable. I suffered until about 10pm & my OB checked me... I was 3-4cm. I broke-down. Pit contractions are horrible. I caved & got the epidural. I was able to nap a bit. I finally finished dilating at 0430am on Sept 30th. I started to push. The L&D nurse got me started. They could see the top of his head in about 4 or 5 pushes. Then I pushed for another 2.5 hours with very little movement. I was starting to get hysterical because I kept thinking it couldn't be good for him to be in the birth canal for **** near 3 hours. The Dr came in, felt my stomach & told me Ethan was in a bad position. Really? I hadn't noticed. He was able to get him to turn a bit by manipulating my abodmen. By this point, the epi had worn off & that was pretty painful. Then I pushed for another 30 mins with only a little bit of movment. My heart rate started to go through the roof & my O2 sats started to drop. Luckily, Ethan was far enough out to be vacuum extracted. He was born at 0729 on September 30, 2008. He was born on Mike's 31st birthday. Ethan was 9lbs 13ozs & 21 inches long.
Me & Ethan minutes after he was born

Ethan at 1 day old.


We brought him home on Oct 2nd. I had a bit of a rough recovery from his birth. I blew-up like a balloon because of all the fluids they pumped into me & had pitting edema in both of my legs. I was very, very sore. I love my little man more than life itself, but he was a challenging baby. He was colicy. He was a lousy sleeper & he had a temper!! Starting at about 7 or 8 months, he used to hold his breath until his lips turned blue when he got mad. He was the light of my life though. I loved his big blue eyes & his curly blond hair. I loved how independent he was (is!) He walked at 10 months & has been running non-stop ever since. Now, we are starting to ease up on the temper tantrums & he is the sweetest boy. Still independent, though. He likes to try every thing on his own, first. He has finally turned into a snuggler. He likes to sit in my lap & watch a movie after Avery is in bed. He asks for hugs & kisses & still amazes me every day... almost 3 years later.
Ethan at 3 months with Mike

My fav Ethan pic...


Ethan at almost 1 year


Ethan, now... my big boy

[AmandaEliz]

Avery
Mike & I were sure we wanted another baby. Neither one of us could shake the memory of how much trouble we had staying pregnant the first time. Ethan weaned himself from BFing in late June 2009 & I got AF back. My cycles were magically normal... 27 days like clockwork. A huge difference from my 20-24 day cycles before Ethan. We were NTNP while I was BFing & decided we'd TTC after Ethan turned 1. So, the 1st cycle after Ethan's 1st b-day... knocked-up! I got the BFP on Halloween 2009. I was so excited & again, just like Ethan, I knew in my heart that this one was going to stick. I was due July 12th, 2010.
This was only 11 DPO... but still a BFP


Wow! It was much harder being preggo with a super-active 1 year old in the house. Ethan was having ear problems, so I didn't get much sleep. I was working full-time & exhausted. I was also really, really moody & angry for Avery's entire pregnancy. LOL. I was convinced that the baby was going to be a boy... so I was shocked at our 20 week u/s. Mike said that if we ever have another baby, he'll know the sex because it will be the opposite of what I think. I was over the moon at having a little girl. I'm very close to my Mom & am so excited to have that with Avery.

I adopted a totally different attitude with this pregnancy. I had BTDT & I knew what I didn't want. So I told my Dr... no induction, no epi. I did the Red Raspberry Leaf tea & Evening Primrose Oil. I was determined to have an NCB with Avery. Well, my birth story is posted in the Sub-Forum, so I won't rehash it here. Avery Kathleen was born at 426pm on 7/14/2010. She was 9lbs 15ozs & 21inches long. Her middle name is Katie's real first name... Kathleen.
Me at the hospital (between contractions )

Avery at 2 days old


Avery was a much easier baby. She wasn't a great sleeper, but nothing like Ethan. She is a Mama's Baby in a way Ethan never was. She is much more laid back than Ethan, but I think she's going to be onry! She is just into everything. Ethan was an early walker & much more interested in being on the move. Not my Avery, she took her time walking, but is into EVERYTHING. I've had to re-evaluate all my baby proofing. She wrinkles up that little nose & I know she's up to no good. She thinks Ethan is the best thing ever & follows him around. They play together very well considering their ages. Some evenings, I end-up with both of them in my lap watching a movie & that right there... is heaven. I was always super independent & self-sufficient, but being a Mommy is just awesome. I love it more than I honestly thought was possible.
Just a few Avery pics because you guys see a lot of her.
All Smiles


With Ethan


Up to no good...


My b-day girl