Rewind approximately 11 1/2 years ago... I met my husband the summer before going into my sophomore year of high school, I was 15, Steve a few weeks from turning 14. We were so young! I can remember playing field hockey, I was the lucky girl that had the boyfriend that would bring her treats for after the game. We went to different schools, so we attended four proms. We were not perfect, we had things that we worked through, but we were truly high school sweethearts. I loved him with all my heart, but not nearly in the way or to the extent that I do now. For us, as time has passed we've grown closer and fallen more deeply in love with each other. We know each other better than anyone else knows us.
We got engaged April 29, 2005... the night of RU Fest, day before Ag Field Day, though no correlation. It was a few weeks before my college graduation. What an exciting time in life. I no longer had a boyfriend, he was now my fiance! What a fun word, FIANCE! There was no real rush to get married at this point, Steve had one more year left of school and I needed to find a job. Luckily a few months after graduation, I was hired at the place I did my internship! It was a great job, simple enough but I was doing something good.... protecting soil :) At this point we were living in an apartment off campus, our first home together, it was great! Plus I was never cut out to do the whole roommate thing. We had gotten our first pet the past December, Bailey cat! We were so happy. May 2006, I had to have eye surgery, Steve was there for me every step of the way, what an amazing support! A week or so later Steve graduated. Of course by this time there was wedding planning happening! A girl dreams of this time, though planning got stressful here and there, it was worth it, it as for our wedding day!
September 15, 2007, our wedding day! The day started early, cold and rainy. By time it was time to hop in the limo to get to the bed and breakfast we had the ceremony at, it was warm, sunny and a bit soggy. After the slight glitch that the jazz band we hired for the ceremony forgot about the day, and we had to play a cd out of Steves dads car.... the day was perfect! We planned for months and in a flash the day was over. We have wonderful photos and a video to go back to, to relive the day but there it was an amazingly important day in our lives was over. Its funny because when you've dated someone for so long, you can't wait to get engaged. You get engaged and can't wait to plan the wedding. The wedding is over and on to the next thing.
Its so hard to live in the moment. To just enjoy the dating period without questioning when that ring is coming. Or to enjoy rather than stress about the hundreds of little details required in planning your big day. A good friend gave me some great advice for my wedding day... to do my best to stop every hour, look around to soak it all up and just say ahh this is my wedding day! The day goes so quickly. I remember being so upset to hear the time and there was only an hour left and than it was all over. We had an amazing day but it goes so quickly that it is a huge blur. Luckily our honeymoon lasted a lot longer, an amazing amazing amazing 16 day cruise in the mediterranean. We had the most incredible time, we saw so many beautiful things, experienced so many places. Those 16 days, though exhausted, flew by and before we knew it, our honeymoon was over.
September 15, 2008. Our one year wedding anniversary and the day we found out we were expecting our first child. We had only just tried the month before but I thought, hey if it worked, today would be a great day to find out on. I ran to the drug store, picked up a two pack of pregnancy tests and headed home. I don't know what I expected really, could it really have happened after our first try? I took the first one, waited a very long minutes, and there it was... a + sign! I cried with joy when I saw it. Just to be sure, I took the second, and yup there it was again! I had planned a nice home cooked meal to celebrate our anniversary and I knew I wanted to tell Steve in person, but in a fun way. Just a few months prior, we were lucky enough to go back to Italy and while we were there we went to visit Antonio Viva, a sandal maker in Capri. While there he gave us a pair of baby booties. I had put them away after the trip.... and thought that would be perfect.... I ran upstairs wrapped the booties and than placed them on Steves plate. When he came home from work I had him open them. I think he was completely in shock... I think his first words went something like "no way??" Of course I saved the tests to show him.
Fast forward 9 months... May 12, 2009 we are blessed with the most beautiful baby boy! Any fears or worries just seemed to slip away and everything was perfect. Jack was healthy and we finally had or very own family! Jack is now 8 months old and its so sad to think that a mere 8 months has passed but Jack has changed so much. He has so quickly gone from a helpless, tiny peanut to a our little man who is crawling around the house chasing the two cats, pulling himself up on everything and cruising, says "hi kitty", "ma ma", "da da" and "ba ba" (though we think the only one he means to say is hi to the kitty cats). He has grown out of hundreds of outfits, he is eating real baby food, sits in a big boy car seat and in a highchair! In a flash he went from my beautiful 6lb 12oz little boy to my 20lb ball of energy. If the last eight months has gone by this quick, I can't imagine how time will continue to go by so fast! Soon enough he'll be walking instead of crawling, talking instead of babbles, going to preschool..... its scary!We have been through sickness and health, good times and bad, ups and downs. We have survived and now we share a life together, a beautiful son that has brought us closer than I think either of us could have imagined... and I couldn't be happier! We are our own family and now thats what life is about, making sure we are safe, healthy and happy! Just as the past 11 1/2 years have flown by, I'm sure the next decade will fly by too. Like a friend told me.... I will try to live in the moment. To not get caught up in the daily little stresses that in the grand scheme of things, mean nothing. Life goes by too quickly, so I choose to live life to the fullest, to be happy now and always!
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