Memory Lane

I have an entire list of topics I’m anxiously waiting to share with everyone, but how can I dive in without sharing the story of how I became this mommy blogging wife? So here it goes:

I was twenty years old when I met Sam. I was in the middle of a very boisterous stage of life, certainly not my finest. I was living in a big, four-bedroom home that my parents left to my brother and me mid-divorce with him and two of our friends. I was single for the first time in my adult life and I was living big.

Sam and I hit it off pretty well, but the dynamic of our relationship wasn’t something we considered serious. We were doing what any twenty-year-old couple does, we were just “having fun.” But four short months later I was pregnant. In fact, six days before Christmas is when I got my first, and fifth, positive pregnancy test. And that’s where my story begins.

It was a rocky pregnancy; physically I did wonderful, especially considering my body wasn’t quite at its healthiest for creating a new baby. Emotionally it was the hardest time of my life. An unexpected pregnancy at a young age with a young man who hadn’t been down the church aisle with me, it all added up to exactly what you would expect: difficult.

I lived with my mom during my pregnancy, left my four-bedroom party house behind. I slept on her couch, ate (all) her food, and most of all, leaned on her. She kept me afloat for those nine months, something I’ll always carry with me. And just three weeks before Leo’s due date, after several small break ups and one million arguments, Sam and I moved in together.

I was six days late when the doctor finally induced me, so my mom, Sam and I headed to the hospital at a very early 5 o’clock in the morning. Thirty-six hours after my first dose of Pitocin I was dilated a whopping zero centimeters. ZERO. So we opted for a cesarean and brought my first baby, my handsome baby boy Leo, into this world.

Our first year as parents was also our first year together in such a mature relationship. To say it was a tough year would be the an understatement. We were young and we certainly didn’t have a ton of money to support our brand new family. We were clinging to a long-gone social life and caring for a newborn was completely foreign to us. But the Lord knows we were trying with every inch of ourselves to adapt.

The early years consisted of a few breakups, wavering loyalty, a lot of soul searching, and eventually the greatest comeback Sam and I will ever make. It was at our absolute worst that we found our turning point. We erased our past and somehow, someway, we decided to get it together and commit. On March 11, 2016, Sam and I got married at Ceviche Tapas Bar & Restaurant in Downtown Orlando, and it was that very day that my fairy-tale began. It was a radiantly romantic wedding; dim lighting, cobblestone streets, and candlelit balconies.

We ventured to the Bahamas for a quick honeymoon, I couldn’t stand to be away from my Leo for longer than that, and when we came home we decided it was time to have our first planned baby. We moved to Lake Mary to give ourselves a little breathing room from the surroundings we had been used to, and our family became the only thing that mattered. Our trust in each other was blossoming and we were learning how to work as a team and support one another. I was blessed with the opportunity to experience a hopeful pregnancy, one with my partner by my side, and that gave me an entirely new appreciation for motherhood. We made a home for our family, one where our love and our babies could continue to grow. We had come full circle. At twenty-four I was completely devoted to being a mother and wife, and Sam grew into a hardworking man who excelled at providing his family with a beautiful life.

An accidental pregnancy, a rekindled love, a beautiful wedding, and a healthy baby girl. Of course we’ve faced some obstacles since then, life never actually goes easy on you, but we have faced them together and we vowed to always do so. So here I am, ready to find the next phase of my life and hoping this blog has something to do with it. That’s me, that’s my story, and I’m ready to raise my kids, love my husband, and build.