I'm grateful for...#17

I'm so grateful for Eternal families.

Although Avery is a part of D&A's family here on this earth,

and I know that without a doubt;

I also know that we are all an Eternal Family.

I know that we will all eventually be a family,

because she was sealed to D&A in the Temple.

If I hadn't placed her for adoption,
she wouldn't have been sealed to me because her birthfather and I,

wouldn't have been sealed in the temple.

Adoption makes it so she is still able to be sealed to her parents.

I just love this Gospel. 

If this post is confusing beyond belief, try reading THIS.

I go into more detail and explanation there :)

I'm grateful for...#13

I'm grateful for Other birthmothers.

Knowing that there's other women out there that can relate to everything is a HUGE blessing.

They have helped me get through some times that I wasn't quite sure how I was going to do it.

They've helped me know that I definitely was not alone and that there are other who have gone through it just like me.

I love that I have been able to interact with them,

one of which, has become an incredible friend.

<3 

I'm grateful for...#12

I'm grateful for FSA conference.

The first time I attended FSA, I was pregnant with Avery.

Dustin and Andrea made me aware of it and brought me with them.

I've been in love ever since.

The FSA Conference, to me is like an EFY for Adoption.

I love the way I feel about it.

I love the way Adoption makes me feel and the Spirit is always so apparant through the entire thing.

I'm grateful for...#8

I'm grateful for Supportive Blog readers.

It felt SO GOOD to receive comment after comment from people that gave me support.

Most of them I didn't even KNOW and it was soo helpful to hear the kind words.

Not only did it help confirm to me that I did the right thing,

But it helped my self esteem too.

So,

Thanks to all of you that have been so supportive.

I can't even begin to explain how grateful I am for that!

p.s. I received a question on the post I did about music.

Besides Michael Mclean, Cheri Call (I think that's her name) sings a song called "Delivery" aboud Adoption which is SO good.

There's also a song by a man named Mark Shultz who sings a song called "everything to me"

Other than that, the song "One more Day" By diamond rio really hit home for me.

I loved all those songs. They really helped :)

I'm grateful for...#3

I'm grateful for LDSFS.

The way they treat Birthmothers is so awesome.

They give us free counseling for life and not once have I ever felt like I was bugging them.

They treat Birthmothers like Gold.

It's been 3 years and I still feel like they would be there in a split second if I needed it.

FSA Conference

We Attended the Families Support Adoption Conference this weekend.

It was fun!

We spent most of the time with Andrea and it's always fun to catch up with her.

Another awesome suprise was running in to Tysons case worker from when he was in Foster Care!

We had a really good long talk.

My husband is so amazing.

I'm always so in Awe at how incredible he has turned out after living the life he's lived.

I'm so lucky :)

Unfortunately,

I'm so so bad at this lately,

and I didn't take any pictures.

I took a total of ONE and it was this:

An adoptive mother gave me this Binky, because she thought Kali was the little one I placed for adoption.

But you know,

Technically,

I AM her birthmom!

hahaha.

It was a really good experience.

I always love those conferences.

and I love Andrea.

I always feel so lucky after talking to her.

I don't think there is anyone else out there that I would connect with as well as I do with Andrea.

I seriously can talk to her about anything. 

It's a...

15 weeks.

I really don't look forward to what I'm going to look like at 40 weeks!!

SOO,

We found out what we are having today!

According to the poll on this blog,

the # of votes for a boy won with flying colors!

72% voted BOY!

and

27% voted GIRL!

I myself predicted boy as well.

We got to Fetal Foto's a 6:30

and when they brought us into the room,

I felt like I was going to throw up.

I was SO nervous and SO excited all at once.

Tyson and I had gone out to get Mexican food right before.

I hoped that eating spicy food would make sure the baby wasn't shy enough to hide their Gender!

haha.

Not sure if that was the reason or not,

but once she put the Ultrasound recorder on my Belly,

the first thing the baby showed us was its cute little booty.

Something about seeing our baby for the first time,

on the screen,

caused me to want to cry of amazement.

The Ultrasound tech moved the camera around just a bit and there it was.

The result of our babys Gender.

We are having a.....

GIRL!!!!!!

When this result was made known to me,

I immediately started bawling.

I couldn't BELIEVE IT!

I still am having a hard time coming to terms with it.

We are having a girl!!

I was SO convinced that it was a boy.

She was up on that screen posing for a few minutes,

but kept turning her body so we could only see the back of her.

She started getting a little shy :)

We already had her name picked out.

Our little girl is going to be

Kalista Jean.

We'll call her Kali for short.

So,

 Kali Jean

I can't even begin to express my excitement.

Tyson can't stop smiling and we are just the happiest people on the planet right now.

After seeing our sweet baby,

we are actually realizing that we are

HAVING A BABY!!

I'm already so in love with her and can't wait to cuddle her!

14 Weeks

I'm hoping it's just my computer because it has a wide screen...but I AM aware that my belly looks way to big for only being 14 weeks.

or maybe it's the shirt.

I'll keep making excuses to feel better.

haha

I had my Dr Appointment today.

I gained 1 pound!!

(haha yeah I was suprised it was only that much as well)

My feeling that this baby is incredibly active

was most likely presumed correct.

When the Dr was getting ready to listen to the heartbeat,

I told him that I've already been feeling the baby kick.

Just little flutters every now and then.

The Dr seemed suprised,

and I could tell he was thinking "that's just gas"

(ha)

But after setting the doppler on my belly,

the baby started kicking the thing like crazy.

I think he believed me after that.

Since I work there,

I listen to the heartbeat when I'm working.

and the last few times I've tried to hear it,

the baby would kick the doppler and move.

So I wouldn't be able to listen to it for very long cause the baby would move out of the way.

I've decided,

whatever the gender

(even though I'm pretty set on what I think it's going ot be)

This baby is going to have Tysons characteristics as far as energy goes.

If any of you know him,

you'd know exactly what I'm talking about!!

Anyway,

Things are going well.

I love seeing Tysons face when he hears the heartbeat.

8 more days until we find out...

BLUE OR PINK!?!

CRAZY BUSY!

I have completely abandoned my blog lately.

I have hardly had any time so, my apologies!! :D

So we've been married for almost a month

and it only feels like a week!!

We have been so incredibely blessed through all of this and I really don't know how I'm going to thank everyone.

We weren't sure how we were going to afford everything we needed for our house,

but after the wedding we discovered that we didn't need to purchase ANYTHING that we needed.

It's amazing how generous people are and I am SO GRATEFUL!

We are currently looking for a house.

Right now we're living in an apartment,

and feel like we're just throwing our money away!

So we'll see how this all plays out.

I will update soon with pictures from the wedding!

MARRIEEDD!!!

I married my soul mate on August 20th, 2010.

It was THE BEST day of my life.

The day started off amazing.

I woke up around 6:30,

and left for my hair appointment.

From there,

Tyson and my AMAZING Maid of Honor Keara

met me and we drove up to the Salt Lake Temple.

Because our Ceremony wasn't until 1:40,

We decided to do our pictures around temple square before so that we could still have our Luncheon before the reception.

(which, by the way, I would HIGHLY recommend)

We had our Photogapher and Videographer there at the same time

and I was so happy to see how well they worked together.

I LOVED it

It couldn't have been better!

Unfortunately, we don't have our pictures from the wedding day back yet,

but FORTUNATELY,

our amazing videographer posted our same day edit on Facebook,

so,

I'm posting it here:

Andee & Tyson SL Same Day Edit from Matthew Baker on Vimeo.

They did SUCH a good job!

I love them.

After the pictures,

we were able to go right in to the temple.

I can't even explain how amazing it was.

The happiness I felt while I was in there,

while being sealed to my Husband FOREVER,

was so amazing.

Words cannot express what an incredible experience it was.

After we were married,

we were able to go out for pictures with our family.

That probably took a total of an hour at the most and then we were able to get dressed,

and go right to the luncheon we had at the park.

The Reception was at 7 pm in my parents backyard.

Ask Tyson his favorite part,

and he'll tell you....

We jumped in the pool at the very end.

It was WAY better than I thought.

we were able to leave right after that.

My amazing aunt MaryJane, sent us to Park City until Sunday morning,

and then we went to MAUI until Friday Morning.

It was amazing.

I wouldn't change a THING about our wedding day.

I'm SO SO SO grateful for all of the amazing people in our life that helped make my day the best EVER!

Including the people that just came to the reception.

we were SO SPOILED through all of this.

We probably paid for 10% of the things we have been so very blessed with.
We have our apartment (which obviously we are paying for ;)!!)
We have everything we need already.
We received SO MUCH money in cash/gift cards,
that it paid for our entire honeymoon.
AND for all of the other things we needed for our apartment
(and there was quite a few things)

Avery was my Flower girl!

I will have those pictures posted when they come back,

there ARE a few on Dustin and Andrea's blog though :)

She was SO adorable.

I'm so grateful to them for letting her be part of the wedding.

I never posted my Bridals.

We got them done on July 21st at the Great Salt lake.

Tyson came cause I wanted him to be in most of them..cause a marriage equals TWO..not ONE!!

So here's just a few of those:

(I'll post the ones from our actual WEDDING DAY when I get them back!! :D)

Here's to an amazing forever with my incredible Husband.

I LOVE YOU TYSON!!

10 days!!!

I can't believe there's only 10 days left until our wedding!!

We've gotten a lot done...

but we still have a LOT to do.

I never have time for anything anymore.

I can't even go to work without stressing about everything I need to do when I go home.

But it's okay,

cause it's going to be worth it!

We got our apartment :)

Tyson moved into it about two weeks ago.

I LOVE it.

It has two bedrooms and two bathrooms

and is furnished with:

a washer and dryer,

a diswasher,

and of course a microwave and fridge!

We have a pantry and both bedrooms have walk-in closets.

I'll post pictures sometime!

I'm getting my endowments out THIS SATURDAY too :)

I hope that most everyone can come to the reception!

It's in my parents backyard.

I'll get better at blogging once things have settled down a bit after the wedding ;)

PLUS,

there will be lots of pictures!!

Friends with my mom on FB?

If so,

you may have seen this post from her:

"Bye Bye Andee Aguirre...hello Andee O*****"

[I thought it'd be best to leave out the new last name...since this blog IS public!!]

and then her response to the comments saying:

"I am referring all questions to Andee and Tyson...haha"

So,

I thought that now would probably be the best time for a blog update explaining this.

YES,

it is true.

My last name is changing...and my fiance's name is also changing!

HAHA confused?

allow me to explain.

Ernesto is amazing.

I have said this many many times before, but I haven't really explained some of the reasons why.

When he was 11 years old,

him and his 5 other siblings were pulled out of there homes and placed into foster care.

They seperated everyone but his two younger sisters.

They were pretty young and were adopted together.

From what I understand, they converted to the church shortly after.

Ernesto and his two brothers were all seperated.

He had an older sister that was pretty much on her own at this point.

him and his younger brother 's' went from Foster home to Foster home.

After about 4 years of this,

Ernesto was placed in a boys group home since they couldn't find another place for him to go.

His younger brother 's' was placed with foster parents named 'M' and 'R'.

after 's' told 'M' and 'R' about his older brother Ernesto,

they decided to go find him so that 's' could have his older brother back.

When they asked him to come and live with them and his little brother 'm',

of course he said yes and him and 's' were reunited.

When 'M' and 'R' introduced Ernesto to the church, he became immediately interested

and was converted to the church at age 16.

I met him about a year later.

At age 18,

Ernesto and 'M' got in a huge fight.

he was a teenager so obviously he wasn't thinking clearly and he left 'M' and 'R's' home.

He had become very close to my young woman leader through me so he went straight to her home.

They took him in for 8 months while he prepared for his mission.

In the mean time, 'M' and 'R' wanted him home to them. They ached for him to come home because he was their son. Although it wasn't official, they still saw him as their son. 

He loved this family he lived with. They have become very close friends through all of this, even more than before. He left for his mission in April of 2008. 

While he was out, 'R' wrote him constantly. He began looking forward to all of her letters and started realizing while on his mission that 'R' was his mother and had been from the start.

During his 2 year mission, 'M' and 'R' adopted 's'.

When Ernesto came home from his mission, him and 'M' and 'R' went to the temple. 

They all felt this day like Ernesto belonged in their family...but they did not communicate this to each other...

until last Wednesday the 21st. 

Ernesto and I were talking. He was talking about how much he wanted Eternal parents. We were getting married so he was going to be sealed to me and we were going to be our own Eternal family. But who wouldn't want parents to be in their Eternal family?  

So, after a long talk, he decided that he was going to ask 'M' and 'R' if they would adopt him. 

he did it that night.

The second he brought up adoption, 'R' started crying. 

They started telling him how long they have been waiting for him to ask this. 

They couldn't contain their excitement.

SO, while they were talking, Ernesto decided that because his last name was changing, 

he might at well change his first name too! (he wanted it to go with the last name) 

I am SO excited for them!

The Adoption was finalized on Friday!!

He was going to come to the FSA Conference with me...but we decided his adoption was a little more important!!! haha.

I was extremely disappointed that I couldn't be there. They were happening at the same time.
But at least I was promoting what an amazing thing adoption is!

I LOVE ADOPTION!!!

As of  Friday, Ernesto is not longer Ernesto.
He is now Tyson :)

He loves that name and I love it too.

I think he even looks like a Tyson.

It's really hard for me to get used to calling him Tyson...but I'll get it eventually.

SO! If you're coming to the wedding, please don't be confused when some stuff says Ernesto and some says Tyson...we had the announcements and sign in book made before all of this happened!!

So yes,

my fiance's name is different.

but NO, I'm not marrying someone else!!

haha ever.

June -- Funny Conversations

Cassidy - Cathy, you have beasts as kids

Mom - I know Cassidy, I know. It's beauty and the beasts

Emilee - Mom, you had to ADOPT a child to even get your eye color...

Me - yeah...and you had to adopt two to even get that.

Mom - What does that have to do with anything?

***

Me: Mom you have the wierdest facebook profile

Mom: Why

Me: this quote you have "As I lay in bed at night staring up at the stars, I can't help but wonder "where in the heck is the ceiling"

Mom: It's the story of my life! Seriously. Everytime I go to bed, I lay down and go "Ahh" and then I open my eyes and think "wait a minute..."

***

(While writing our guest list for the wedding)

Mom: did you invite Dudu?

Ernesto: What did you just say?

Mom: haha it's my Grandma

Ernesto: You call her Dudu?

Mom: Yes, someone called her that once and it just stuck

Ernesto: Bless her heart.

***

SORRY! Not very many funny ones this month...but only because I forgot to write them down!!

The Proposal: Our Story.

So,

We decided to get married after picking out the ring. 

However,

I did not get the ring until yesterday!

(now you know why I didn't want to wait until I received the ring to start planning the wedding!)

It was being custom made.

So that was going to take a couple of weeks.

PLUS,

We talked about it and we didn't want to have to make payments on the ring.

He wanted to pay for it in cash.

and because I wanted a summer wedding, with the reception in my backyard and all,

it would have been FOOLISH to wait for him to propose!

SO,

here we are,

47 days before the wedding,

and I FINALLY have my ring!!!!!

Anyway,

To the story.

I was at work on Friday.

At about 5:00, I called Ernesto.

I missed him and because I didn't get off work until 7,

I wanted to talk to him on the phone.

Here's how our conversation went:

Him: Hello?

Me: Hi, whatcha doin?

Him: Driving home

Me: From where? I thought you got off work at 4:30

Him: I did

Me: ...okay...then why aren't you home yet?

(he works about 3 minutes away from his house)

Him: (obviously smiling) ...Don't worry about it,

Me: haha DUH!!

....

I figured,

after this phone call,

(he's not very good at lying/keeping secrets! haha)

That he OBVIOUSLY was on his way home from picking up my ring.

(which made me EXTREMELY excited. I have been waiting for this thing for like...EVER it feels like!!)

So,

out of excitement,

I texted my mom telling her that I was 99% sure he had my ring,

explaining why I felt this way.

About 45 minutes later,

and after telling my co-workers how anxious I was,

he called me back.

When I answered he immediately said:

"Hey, I'm about 99% sure you're WRONG about me having your ring"

I was SOOO Mad at my mom!!

So,

when I got home from work,

I decided to pretend that I completely forgot about the whole ring conversation...

but then he brought it up!

he did a pretty good job at making me believe he didn't have it this time.

He told me that he did drive out there,

but they were closed.

He said he called the guy and he said that because of the Holiday weekend,

they would be closed until Tuesday.

I was pretty disapointed about this.

I told him to just call him and tell him that Monday was my birthday and he really needed to propose before then...and that my coworkers told me that I couldn't come back to work without a ring. All of this was true.

haha.

But I knew that it wasn't possible at this point, so I just accepted the fact that he wasn't going to get it until at least Tuesday.

Well,

about 5 minutes later,

He walked up, kissed me, said he couldn't lie to me and that he had the ring.

haha,

because I'm a brat,

I was SOO Mad at him for telling me the truth!

I was like "this is the one time you can lie to me...DANG IT!!"

(yes, I do understand that I'm a brat)

So, for the next almost 24 hours,

I worked on trying really hard to forget that I knew he had the ring.

I wanted it to be a suprise proposal.

On July 3rd,

We were celebrating the 4th.

We had a bbq and then we were going to go to Riverton park to watch the Fireworks.

While we were eating,

my mom says:

"So Andee, we were thinking of hiking up Ensign peak tomorrow. What do you think?"

I sat there for a second.

This was totally obvious.

I didn't think it could BE any more obvious.

Why would we go hiking?

On a Sunday for that matter?

After Church??

Our family doesn't really do that..haha

At first I oppossed.

being the brat that I am (again),

I didn't want to KNOW that he was going to propose.

But,

then I started feeling guilty so I agreed with it and that was that.

About an hour later,

I went up to my Aunt MaryJane and told her to try to talk Ernesto in to proposing that night instead because I really wanted the ring and I knew that he was going to propose when we were hiking anyway.

She laughed,

told me I was a brat,

said no,

and I just decided to give up.

About 2 hours later,

we left to the fireworks.

It was my family,

My aunt MaryJane and Uncle Scott,

My Cousin Brandon and his kids,

and my sisters friends.

My Aunt found an AWESOME place right in the front behind the line we couldn't cross.

We had the front row of the fireworks.

The fireworks were supposed to start at 10:00.

At about 9:15,

I decided that I should probably run to the bathroom before the show started.

I told him this,

he said okay and I began walking.

On the way out of the park to the gas station behind us,

I ran into my cousin.

I started talking to him for a sec, then looked back at Ernesto who was motioning for me to hurry.

I thought he was being a little strange,

but just turned and proceeded to walk to the bathroom.

When I got into the gas station,

I saw the line.

It was WAY long just to get to the bathroom and I didn't want to wait that long..by myself.

Yeah yeah I know,

I'M A BRAT!!

So,

I decided to just go back to our blanket.

When I got there,

I told ernesto the line was too long,

then my Little brother Told me he REALLY had to go to the bathroom.

Well,

HE was a good friend to stand in line with,

and it was only like 9:30,

So I told my mom that I would just take him and we would go together.

While I was explaining this to her,

The people came on the speakers and began stating the rules.

He talked about how we can't cross the line and blah blah blah.

I wasn't paying attention because I was too busy listening to my mom tell me that it was too dark and she didn't want me taking him to the bathroom....

I was REALLY annoyed at this point.

I was like "What!?? I'm like...21 mom! You don't trust me to take your 5 year old to the bathroom!?!?"

She just responded "not right now".

I sat down,

rolled my eyes

and began scooting in to cuddle with Ernesto,

when the guy on the Intercom said...

"Can we get Ernesto Aguirre up here please?"

I looked at him as he stood up,

then at my parents....

at this point,

I started realizing what was going on!

I started laughing as he walked the VERY long walk up to the Microphone and Speakers.

When he got there,

He said "Andee can you come up here please."

I didn't know what to do at first.

my shoes were off so I stood up and looked at my family.

I knew my face was red at this point, and I began trying to get my shoes on.

My parents started yelling no and said to just go up there.

So,

I ducked under the "do not cross" line,

just as a Golf Cart came up.

the guy looked at me and said "here, let me give you a ride"

I got in the car and him and the four golf carts behind him followed as we drove up to my Sexy fiance.

When I got out,

I was shaking of...I guess...nervousness??

haha

Hundreds of people were watching!!

When I walked up to him,

he began speaking in the microphone.

I wish I could write what he said word by word,

but I can't because I was too busy staring in his chocolate brown eyes.

All I know is that he said the cutest things ever.

Then,

he got down on his knee pulled out the most beautiful ring ever and asked me to marry him.

I was so mesmorized by the GORGEOUS ring he had in front me that I said yes quietly.

He asked me to say it in the microphone and my response was

"Uh, YEAH!"

haha.

I guess I didn't sound very enthused about it.

but I WAS!!

So if you were there,

I'm sorry that I sounded so unenthusiastic!

haha I really was SOO in love with my ring that I couldn't speak.

When I finally got the beautiful ring on my finger and kissed him,

they gave us a golf cart and told him he could drive us back.

haha it was the most

awesome,

sweetest,

BEST way to propose to a bratty girl that was pretty much impossible to hide things from.

Cause I honestly had NO idea he would do it that way!!

I love him

and my ring...

is BEAUTIFUL!

The picture,

is what we gave them to make it look like...but we added our personality to it.

The picture doesn't do it justice AT ALL.

This the PRETTIEST ring I've ever seen in my whole life.

I LOVE it.

By far the PRETTIEST RING IN THE WORLD!!

Afterwards,

my mom did end up letting my take my brother to the bathroom.

and I guess the reason Ernesto was motioning for me to hurry the first time I tried to go, is because they were going to call him up any second.

So the second I was out of sight he ran as fast as he could up to the guys and told them to wait. haha. again. I'm a brat!!

OH and if you didn't figure it out,
Hiking up Ensign Peak was a Decoy...
They know me well. haha

May - Funny Converstions

This is a little late!

ha but it's better late than never right!?

***

Ernesto: Hello?

Me: Hi are you on your way yet?

Ernesto: Are you guys ready for us already?

Me: Yeah, it will be ready in like 10 minutes

Ernesto: Okay we're just leaving the couch.

Me: ....The couch?

Ernesto: Yes

Me: (Laughing) You're just leaving the couch. You're not just leaving the house, you're leaving the couch.

Ernesto: (also laughing)(to someone else) No, she's laughing at me (to me) We have to stop at the bank and then we'll be there.

Natalie: (yelling so they can hear) Hurry up losers!

Me: Natalie says hurry up...but I'm not going to say what she called you cause it was rude.

***

Through text:

Me: Mckenna! Happy Birthday!

Mckenna (who just turned 12): Thank you!

Me: I wanna take you out for this. When the Heck are you free?

Mckenna: Idk i'm pretty booked. lol I know a lot of people. maybe next week

Me: hahaha you're pretty booked? I feel honored to know you. So...how about next tuesday?

Mckenna: Fo SHO! After school?

Me: Sounds good! What time are you done with school?

Mckenna: I get home about three

Me: Okay let's do...four or five?

Mckenna: okay

Me: You ARE aware that you just Butt called me right?

Mckenna: no i am not lol sorry darlin

Me: Oh well. I guess I'm used to it :( this happens regularly man

Mckenna: hahaha I'll "accidentaly" call you soon.

Me: fine.

***

Trying on wedding dresses:

 [Emilee and Cassidy are both zipping the dress up]

Me: I'm not even sucking in with this one

Emilee: Well maybe you should! I'm getting blisters!

sad huh? hah

***

In the Burger King drive through:

Mom: Emilee, what do you want honey?

Emilee: Well, they don't have light lemonade, so I guess I'll just get...water

Mom: Okay can we get one Ice water.

(while waiting for our food)

Emilee: They're probably gonna give me a little tiny cup. They ALWAYS do that. Mom will you ask them what size it is?

Mom: (to the BK Worker) What size is the water?

(BK worker shows us the cup)

Mom: Is that good Emilee?

Emilee: Oh my! That's the kids size. Seriously (Mimicking the fast food restaurants everywhere) 'can I get a Diet Coke?' 'Would you like a Biggie or extra Biggie?' ...'Can I get a water?' 'Would you like a Extra Small or Extra Extra Small?' This is why America is Fat!!

***

Driving

Cassidy: What is in the guys hair!?

We all look ahead of us

Me: Is that a napkin??

Mom: (laughing) No! That's a toupe  (sp?)

***

Cassidy: I'm so sad I failed my Audit

Emilee: Mom, Cassidy let Timmy Drown!

Me: Who the heck is Timmy?

Cassidy: a Dummy at work (she's a lifeguard)

(all of us laughing)

Mom: You said that WAY too casually

Emilee: Well it's okay, yesterday she made up for it by giving mouth to mouth resuscitation to an ant.

Me: What?

Emilee: yeah, She put it in the hot tub and then felt bad so got it out with the net thing

Cassidy: I'm the one that put it in there! I just kept remembering. I knew it was small but I still remembered, 30:2!

Emilee: She was freaking out and wanted to save it

Cassidy: yeah and then I sprayed Victoria's Secret Perfume on it.
(we were all laughing hysterically for about 20 minutes)

Okay, here we go!!

Let me tell you the story.

It's kinda long, but it's a good story.

A story that I will tell forever :)

I met him my Senior year of high school.

He had been in my ward for a year at this point but I never paid much attention.

I don't know why, but I didn't.

The first time I actually saw him,

I liked him.

The first time I actually looked at him,

I wanted him.

His name?

Ernesto :)

It wasn't until our Senior year that I actually started talking to him though.

We were at a mutual activity.

I started the conversation.

It was lame. He remembers how it went,

but I'd prefer to block it out ;)

By February of 2007,

we were dating.

We dated throughout the rest of high school

We walked at graduation together.

Then,

in about July of 2007,

I broke it off.

He had a mission that he needed to prepare for.

I wanted him to focus on his mission.

I felt like dating more,

and I didn't want to distract him anymore from his mission than I already was.

So I broke up with him.

In late September,

I began hanging out with Kris.

and in October,

I began dating Kris and Keltson.

Ernesto didn't know about this.

I didn't want him to know.

I didn't want him to think I was over him.

I didn't want to hurt him.

He was still in my ward.

We still saw each other every now and then when I would come down from school.

By February of 2008,

Ernesto had his mission call to Houston, Texas.  

a few days after telling my parents I was pregnant,

Ernesto found out as well.

I was terrified of his response.

I didn't want to know how he felt.

I didn't think he even knew I was dating anyone.

I discovered about a week later,

that he didn't have hard feelings towards me.

He still talked to me every now and then

and he even hung out with my sister at my house sometimes.

He watched as I got engaged to Kris.

He sat upstairs as I brought Kris over to meet my old young womens leader who lived in his basement.

I was supposed to get married on April 18th.

He was supposed to leave on April 16th.

After calling off the wedding,

he seemed to talk to me even more.

He invited me to his farewell bbq

and he was so forgiving.

I couldn't believe how forgiving he was towards me.

He acted as though I hadn't completely betrayed him.

After leaving on his mission,

I received a few letters from him during my pregnancy.

I didn't write him back ONE TIME throughout the pregnancy.

I was stressed, and I honestly felt like there was nothing there between him and I.

I had no feelings for him.

After placing Avery for Adoption,

I began writing him back a little more.

I knew he needed the support and I felt wrong to just ignore his letters.

He got home in April of this year.

the day before he came home I was dating someone.

The guy I was dating asked me if he should be worried and without even skipping a breath I replied "NO!"

However,

the day after he came home,

I saw him for the first time in two years.

There was definitely something there.

he gave me a hug and I could feel the sparks.

I wanted to talk to him more,

but couldn't because I only saw him as I was leaving the restaurant Chili's with my Friend

 (my old young womens leader living in his basement!)

a couple of days later,

He texted me.

a couple of days after that,

he called me.

I broke it off with the guy I was dating the day before Ernesto and I went on our very first date in two years.

and now...

we're getting married!!!

I'm so in Love.

He is THE MOST amazing man I have ever met in this world.

The things he has overcome in his life are incredible.

Anyone that has had any type of interaction with him loves him.

I'm so grateful to be his future wife.

I'm so excited.

This has all seemed so fast.

After my experience Last year,

I swore to myself that I would not let myself rush into a marriage.

But,

I know Ernesto.

I've known him for Three and a half years.

I know everything about this amazing man.

and

from his past,

there is no better man out there that could relate better to how incredible my situation is with Avery.

I just feel like he already belongs to my family.

He fits SO WELL.

I love him SO MUCH.

I can't wat to Marry this man.

I can't wait to be sealed to him for ETERNITY!!

He is my other half.
He is THE ONE.

We want a summer wedding.

I want the reception to be in my backyard.

So,

it's going to be a short engagement.

But, that is OKAY!! haha probably better in fact.

I'M SO EXCITED!!!!!

p.s.
I saw a rainbow today.

mmmhmm

I've got another rainbow going on.

But this time,

a bright, amazing, lovely, never ending rainbow.
(and it even actually POURED rain today)

100,000,000,000 times better than the last.

You're gonna have to excuse me.

I'm basking in the moment.

I will tell you the story....

Soon :)

This is why I love Carrie Underwood.

 Such an Amazing, Talented, AWESOME Woman.

She's my Idol.

HEART IS FULL

I was going to write this post the day after mothers day,

but my life is so busy that I never had time to finish it.

SO I'm sorry.

In all honesty,

I was expecting birthmothers/mothers day to be BAD.

I was not looking forward to either of them and almost started crying everytime I would think/talk about it.

Here is an example of how my day actually went:

* I woke up.

[The night before at like one in the morning I posted my Adoption Video on facebook.

I felt like I should do SOMETHING for birthmothers day. Especially since it seemed most of the other birthmom friends I have on facebook were already doing it.]

I got on facebook before getting ready for the birthmom walk.

I had received probably 8 comments on my video from different people wishing me a happy birthmothers day and saying the SWEETEST things to me.

* One of my very good friends was coming with me to the birthmom walks. He brought me candy, gerber daisys, and a card wishing me a happy birthmothers day. I was SO grateful for that. It wasn't expected and I couldn't stop smiling when he gave them to me.

*We go to the birthmom walk and about10 minutes after getting there, Dustin Andrea and Avery showed up.  We were there for probably a good hour and a half. Avery was ADORABLE and we played with her forever. She is such a light in my life. I felt so peaceful after leaving. I'm SO glad that I can be a part of her life.

* When we were leaving Dustin Andrea and Avery gave me the SWEETEST gift. I got another Willowtree statue that I can add to my collection, Sour patch kids and the CUTEST cards. Avery drew me a picture. Just looking at it melts my heart. Few people can understand how much a picture like that means.

* When I got home from the Walk, I got back on facebook. I had 20 notifications! All of which were from people wishing me a happy birthmothers day and giving me SO much support. I couldn't even believe it. I had SOO MUCH SUPPORT. I got really emotional as I read them all. I can't even explain how grateful I am for all of you. Your support means more than words could ever express.

* I went to work my night shift at work that night...and my COWORKERS were the same way. MAN I love my job. I am SO lucky.

* The next day, Mothers day, Was my good friends homecoming. He just came home from his mission. He is in my ward too! So, I went to Sacramant. I was VERY worried about this to be honest. I wasn't planning on going because it was mothers day and I knew all of the talks would be on mothers. So when I found out his homecoming was this day, I was dreading it.  I got there late because I knew his talk would be last and I thought that might help ease the pain a little.  The last speaker before him was speaking.  Her talk really got to me. She explained in her talk that she understand that mothers day may be a difficult day for some. She made sure to be very sensitive towards this, while still explaining what a gift it is to be a mother.

*When Sacrament was over, they passed out the Annual mothers day gifts. The bishopric stood up and asked that all of the women 18 and graduated stand because they were going to receive that same gift. I LOVE my ward. They are so sensitive to my situation.  I don't think the bishopric even realized how much this meant to me. But I had a really hard time with this last year.  and even then, an amazing woman in my ward got a gift and gave it to me last year. She told me that I was still a mother regardless of whether or not I had a child that I was raising.

*At about 6 on Mothers day I brought Andrea her mothers day present. Avery was there and she was SO sweet. I seriously love the relationship I have with Dustin and Andrea. Thank you Dustin and Andrea. If it wasn't for you, I would not be where I am right now.

I would like to thank EVERYONE that helped me through this. Most of you don't even realize that you contributed. I LOVE everyone in my life. So if you're reading this, consider yourself one of those people.

I hope that your mothers day was as peaceful as mine. I hope that all of the women out there that are in a similar situation as me, or if your someone that feels mothers day is one of your LEAST favorite holidays, I hope you felt the peace that I felt. You deserve it.

 I felt so bad the next day. I was planning on doing the same for all you mothers/expectant/hoping to adopt mothers...but that day was busy. and now I feel kind of selfish. So consider this, a HAPPY BELATED MOTHERS DAY to all of you!!

Not meant to be...

FIRST of all,

I would like to announce that Dustin and Andrea were finally approved to Adopt again!

Spread the word!

You can find their profile HERE!

I'm so excited for this!

****

Okay now on to what this post is for:

Last night, I worked until 11.

My mom called me at about 9 and wanted to know if I could stay up until 2:30 to pick up my little brothers because they were going to the midnight showing of Ironman 2 and she had to wake up early. 

I agreed to this and then I texted a VERY good friend of mine to see if he could do something with me until then. He agreed and that was the plan.

By the time I met up with him After work it was about midnight. I told him I was hungry. I know that eating late is SUPER unhealthy, but I was STARVING. I had been working all day. So I suggested that we should go get food at village inn. They're open late right?

He agreed. So we drove to Village inn and as we were walking in the door, the employees were walking out. It closed at Midnight. What the Heck!??! Since when!?

So,

We decided to see if IHOP was still open.

They weren't

SO,

we decided to try Wendys.

We pulled into the drive through and I began looking at the menu.

I found what I wanted and it looked SUPER good.

We were about to order when the lady came on the microphone and said

"sorry, we're closed."

I was SOO mad.

I wanted those Chicken Fingers!!

So, after thinking about it,

We decided to go to Mcdonalds.

I don't like Mcdonalds.

The only thing there that I eat are their snack wraps.

BUT I know they're open for 24 hours.

So,

we drove to Mcdonalds and pulled into the drive through.

the guy came on the Microphone and asked if he could take our order.

I was about to order when he came back on and said

"Oh, before I take your order, we are currently only taking cash. is that okay?"

umm...no. It wasn't okay.

again,

I was MAD!!

I WAS HUNGRY.

apparantly it wasn't meant to be.

haha.

But I didn't care.

I was hungry.

SO,

we decided to try Burger King.

When we got to the drive through for the place,

the lights were on.

After about 30 seconds of sitting there,

the lights all turned off.

At this point, 

we were laughing really hard. 

we were driving all over the valley to get food...this was getting ridiculous

So, 

we decided to try ONE more place. 

We went to a diffrerent Mcdonalds.

and FINALLY,

they were open and both cash AND cards were being accepted!

At least that bought some time right? 

and we had fun.