Lachlan Alexander

When Anthony and I got married, we decided that we wanted to wait a couple years before having kids. That all changed about half way into our first year. I had gotten some vaccines mid June 2011 and that same night, I came down with a mild fever and heartburn. After a couple days, the fever went away, but the heartburn progressively got worse, I had never had heartburn in my life, but I figured it was just from the vaccines, I mean, it started the same day, so it had to be, right? I was also super tired, which also started that same night and continued to get worse. After about two weeks, I was at the point where I could barely go downstairs to check the mail without wanting to nap and the heartbun was keeping me awake at night and making me feel super sick. I told a couple friends that I thought I was sick from the vaccines and the first thing they said was to take a pregnancy test. I wasn't pregnant, I took my pill religiously! I couldn't be! But they insisted, so the next morning, I took a test, just so I could prove them wrong...

They were right.

I remember sitting there, staring at the test stick. Two lines. There were two lines! Immediately, I was overcome with emotion: I was going to be a Mum! But this wasn't in our plans! But I was going to be a Mum! But we wanted to wait! But there was going to be a BABY! But But But....

I was so overcome that I burst into tears and ran into our bedroom to Ant. He woke up and sat up to see why I was crying. As soon as he asked what was wrong, I threw the test at him! He asked what it was and through sobs, I said, "There are two lines, it's positive!" 

He said "so why are you crying?" 

I said "I don't know! I feel sick"

"You're not sick, we're having a baby!"

The rest of my pregnancy was filled with sickness, excitement, sickness, back pain, a move from Tennessee back to Florida and more sickness. But we got through it and I wouldn't take back a second of it. 

The final weeks of my pregnancy rolled around and I was praying and doing everything I could to avoid going into labour, in hopes that my mum would arrive in time for the birth.

I went in for my 39 week check up Tuesday February 21st 2012, and after I did the usual routine of peeing in a cup, blood pressure, getting weighed, etc. I went into the exam room and got changed into the super attractive paper gown, only to have the doctor come in, retest my BP and tell me that it was high. She did the rest of the exam and retested and it was still the same, so she sent me to L&D to be monitored. The Dr. said that if it didn't go back down, then I would have to be induced that afternoon, which happened to be my niece's 10th birthday!

We got to the hospital at around 4:30 and they hooked me up to a fetal monitor and blood pressure machine. After 2 hours my BP was normal (thank goodness! I did NOT want to be induced!) but I was having contractions 2-3 minutes apart. I could barely feel them (I thought I was just crampy from having a pelvic exam earlier in the day). My cervix was still very high and the baby was so low that they couldn't even find my cervix so they said it would be about 3 days before I delivered and they sent me home. They put me on bed rest and said to come in if the contractions got so bad I couldn't talk through them.

By the time we got in the car, they had started to get stronger but I convinced myself that it was my imagination because I was aware of them now. Nope, they kept getting stronger. By 8:30pm they were 1.5min apart and lasting a full minute, I could talk through them but was so distracted by the pain that my sentences weren't coming out properly. Well at least that's what I thought, everyone else said I couldn't talk through them. Everyone was telling me to go back in but I refused until my mum finally convinced me at 10:30.

My mother-in-law called the hospital and they told her to bring me back in, so I had Anthony and his Dad give me a blessing, we grabbed my hospital bags and the rubbish bin from the bathroom (I was sure I was going to vomit from the pain!) and we headed in.

My cervix was still very high but had dropped just enough to tell that I was dilated to 2cm. After 2 hours, there was barely any change in my cervix but because the contractions were so strong and close they gave me a shot to help me sleep. It didn't help with the pain but I was sleeping through the 90 second break between contractions. The nurse told me that every time she checked me, she pulled down on my cervix to try and get it moving for me.

By 5am I was still only 3cm but the contractions increased to 30 seconds apart so she checked again at 5:30 and I was 6cm!

At 6:30 I was an 8 so she called the midwife. My waters hadn't broken by 7 and I was at 9cm so she broke them for me. Within about a minute, I had the overwhelming urge to push, but the midwife and nurses were nowhere to be seen! I remember saying "I gotta push, I really gotta push!" and My mother in law disappeared. She came back a minute later and said "she (the midwife) said to push" uhh ok. I was sitting completely upright on the bed, where did she think the baby was going to go??!

Another minute passed before the midwife came back into the room and she realised that I really was ready to push! they adjusted the bed, she and Ant lifted my legs and she told me to push as soon as I felt a contraction start. the first contraction came, I pushed and the midwife said, with more excitement than I expected, "you're doing really well, I can already see the head!"

Next Contraction came and she said she could see him trying to cry! I looked at Ant and he had a look on his face that I will never forget, he looked up and said "you're doing great!" I thought they were just being encouraging, while I sat there and wondered when the pain was going to start.

Contraction number three, I pushed and he came right out! much to the amazement of everyone in the room, including myself! I didn't experience any pain during the delivery!

I couldnt believe that I only pushed 3 times! Our perfect boy was born at 7:37am!

 Even though the labour was so bad (I had back contractions which don't mix well with a spinal injury) I pushed through, with the help and encouragement of my amazing hubby and mother in law. The actual birth was a piece of cake! It didn't hurt one bit and I loved that I could feel him come out! The look on Anthony's face as he watched and encouraged me through the birth was incredible. 

We had gone in there, with a list of 3 names: Spencer, Marshall or Gage and a set middle name: Alexander. we didn't want to name him until we saw him. Well, when I held him, I just wasn't feeling any of the names, in fact, the name that came to mind when I looked into his perfect face was one that Ant had mentioned in passing just a few days before: Lachlan. I told Ant, he smiled and agreed. so that was that, he had a name: Lachlan Alexander Mojica!

I ended up with what they thought was 2 minor tears, which they stitched up, only to discover a more serious tear behind one they had stitched, so they had to cut me open and re-stitch, which was so much worse than the birth! They had to check me hourly for the most part of the day and 2 hourly after that, even through the night. I wasn't allowed to get up even to pee for hours, to make sure I wouldn't need to go to the OR but luckily I only ended up with a small-ish hematoma, the Doctorr was sure the outcome would be much worse! They told me the next morning that they wanted me to stay in at least another night and I started crying because my mum was arriving early in the morning the next day, so they said that if I strictly follow the care routine, could go home as soon as Lachlan was cleared, which was that afternoon!

So there you have it! Our first perfect boy, Lachlan Alexander was born 2/22/12 weighing in at 6lb 15oz and 19.5 inches long <3

Happy Birthday Harper!

     A year ago today, our family of two became a family of three, as we welcomed Harper Marie into the world. What a joyful and wonderful girl she is. Here is her birth story!

     I really didn’t want to be induced, so I was hoping to go into labor on my own. My induction was scheduled for Tuesday, the 11th, at 7 pm, and by Monday, I was feeling like it was never going to happen. My husband and I planned one last date on Monday night. While we were out to dinner, I started getting some uncomfortable contractions. I decided I would start timing them. As the night progressed, the contractions got more powerful and painful.

     We decided to try and get some sleep around 8:30 pm. I slept for an hour maybe, but kept getting contractions. By 11 pm, they were getting closer together and more painful. We tried to ride it out at home as long as possible. We also thought, yeah, this is probably false labor. But when 2 am rolled around and they were not letting up, we decided to call the doctor. The doctor is supposed to call you back and when we still hadn't heard anything by 3 am, my husband said screw that, we are going to the hospital now.

     We got there at 3:30 am, and checked in. The nurse told me that they wouldn't send me home even if I wasn't in labor because I was scheduled to be induced later that night. But when they checked, I was dilated to 4 cm which was a huge upgrade from my 1 cm that my doctor had told me at my last appointment. So, it was official, I was in labor and it happened on its own!

     I got my epidural around 5 am, and it was the best thing EVER! It didn’t hurt really at all like I thought it would. It was sweet relief. My OB came in after that and checked my progress, and I was already 6 cm! She broke my water at that point as well. From then on out, it was pretty much a waiting game. My husband and I discussed our favorite life moments together, and our favorite memories and reminisced over the past. And by 2(ish) pm, I was dilated to a 10 and ready to push. I pushed for about 1 hour and 15(ish) minutes and at 3:16 pm, Harper was born!!

     They put her on my chest and she was perfect (and purple). But, then they noticed that she had some fluid in her lungs, and that she wasn’t able to keep her oxygen levels where they should be. So they took her away to transition (which is in NICU, but the baby hasn't been admitted to NICU). I got probably 30 seconds with her before she was gone.

     My husband spent time with her because I couldn’t. I was having problems as well. I fainted 2 times after my epidural wore off, and was forced to stay in recovery without being able to see Harper. That was probably the hardest part. I wanted to do skin to skin with her and breastfeed her but none of that was able to happen because she was on oxygen and I was stuck in my hospital bed. I could only see her through pictures and videos that my husband was sending me. Harper was finally able to come stay with us the next day, and we were thrilled. It was a pretty crazy long day, but we were so grateful for our healthy baby girl!! I can't believe that she is a year old! What an amazing, hard, and rewarding journey it has been!

Gabriel Owen

Gabriel Owen came in to our lives in a very interesting way. It was unpredictable and totally Gabe!

My husband and I had been married for almost a year when we had discussed having kids. We never officially decided yay or nay but we agreed kids were definitely in our future......four months later I was pregnant.
It was hard to tell my husband because we never really said "Yes, Lets have a baby" and we didn't really actively try to get pregnant, it just happened. I was having a really stressful month at work and never really realized that I had missed my period and I was cramping a lot but nothing was happening. I remember thinking back that it had been a while and I ran to grab my calendar, I counted back weeks and realized it had been 5 weeks. Feeling nervous I waited until the end of work (longest 4 hours of my life) and headed to the pharmacy for the tests. That same night I took three tests and they all lit up like a Christmas tree. I was shocked! After waiting two whole days I finally told him that I was pregnant and he didn't say a word....he was completely silent while I am balling my eyes out waiting, waiting for jumping jacks, yelling, a hooray, a burp....I got nothing. I finally told him to talk because I was freaking out and he simply asked when the confirmation appointment is with our OB. It took him about an hour to recover and he still hasn't gotten used the idea of being a dad.

When it came time to tell my family we decided to wait for our weekly Sunday dinner. We all sat at the dinner table and waited until dessert when we said we had something to say. My youngest brother being the Joker that he is said "you're pregnant" I looked at him shocked and said yes! He felt stupid but they all had a better reaction than my husbands reaction.

All through my pregnancy I had really bad issues with blood pressure, I craved nothing but fruit, hated meats, and I am the reason that Tums is still on the market. I couldn't sleep lying down because of the acid reflux, I literally sat straight up in bed sleeping for the last trimester. My swelling got so bad that all my weight gain was from fluid and I have stretch marks in the strangest places to prove it. I remember my husband had to put my socks on because I was so swollen I couldn't bend over and he literally hammered my clogs on my feet with his fists everyday so I could go to work. As I got closer to my due date our OB decided to put me on bed rest (not fun at all) until the baby came because my blood pressure had spiked so high that I was admitted in to the hospital for 24 hour monitoring.

Gabe decided he did not want to come on his due date, In fact he wanted to stay incubated an extra two weeks. I was not dilating and my OB called my Cervix unfavorable (that jerk). I was so desperate to get him out that after sitting around for 3 weeks I was restless. I turned on Pandora, cranked it so high our dishes were rattling and boogied my big butt around the living room and dining room for 30 solid minutes. It. Was. Fabulous!! 12 hours later I was in labor.....FINALLY!

The contractions started slow and were painful. I got up at 2:30 in the morning and sat on the couch just trying to relax and wait for them to get stronger. I woke my husband up and told him I was in labor but he could go in to work and I would call him when it's time to go or he could stay home. His eyes got huge and he said he would go in to work for half  a day then come home. I called him around his lunch time and told him to come home and get me to take me to our OB because it was just getting worse. When we got to the OB they checked me and I hadn't dilated a bit....man was I mad! They sent me on to the hospital anyway because my BP was so bad I could barely pee and there were signs or Preeclampsia.

They admitted me in to the hospital and because I was so late they decided to go ahead and break my waters. I was crying at this point because of my labor pains and the nurse recommended I have an epidural before my waters are broken, I agreed. After the epidural was placed I was much more relaxed but I wasn't progressing at all so they started me on Pitocin. I was hoping that he was going to be here that night but as the sun started to set we realized that it was going to take forever. The Dr. kept increasing my pitocin drip and the night nurse kept telling me how we shouldn't be in the hospital and that we should have stayed home....she was not a nice lady. The next morning came and still no Gabe. The epidural bag had been replaced 3 times and I had a booster to help with the pain because it was just getting worse and the epidural was only working on half of my body. Finally after the shift change I woke from a dead sleep and told my husband that I need to push. He ran out of the room (there was a dust cloud he ran so fast) and screamed at the nurses that I needed to push. Now it always seems at this point they just slowly come into the room and slowly set things up, I'm all spread eagle ready to push and their smile talking at me to breathe and don't push and breathe and don't push and I just want to kick them and get him out so badly. Finally she is ready and I start to push.....and push....and push....blow a blood vessel in my eyes....continue to push.....and I push....no baby....keep pushing...still no baby. It was like this for four hours......FOUR HOURS OF PUSHING!!!! The nurse was so bored she started to braid his hair!

Finally the Dr. comes in, the nurse explains what's been going on and he feels the need to give me an additional boost of the epidural and for me to take it seriously (because apparently I wasn't for the last four hours??) The Dr. told me we were getting this baby out soon because he was hungry and wanted to eat lunch and the nurses kept telling me to hurry up because they needed to room for other birthing moms (because I totally wanted to take my time and I was in no rush to get the baby out) After thirty minutes of pushing the Dr. asked me if I would like some help and I agreed willingly, He got out the vacuum and after three attempts (Gabe's head of hair kept making it pop off, not comfortable by the way) Gabe's head was fianally delivered and I was able to push the rest of him out.

Gabe four days old

Gabriel Owen was born on September 22, 2011 at 12:46 pm. He weighed in at 10lbs 4oz 22 inches long. The OB was so shocked when Gabe popped out that it took him a good minute to recover, look up at me between my frog legs and declare"THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN A C-SECTION!!" I had about 20 people in the room during his birth and 3 of them were high school students who I think will never have babies. We donated his cord blood and the amount of blood he collected was a record for the hospital for a year. I couldn't walk normally for weeks and to this day I am proud to say that I gave birth vaginally to that whopper of a child.
After Gabe was born we found out that he had fluid in his lungs because of the labor and that he was struggling to breathe. He was under an oxygen tent for 3 days before we were able to hold and feed him. I was discharged from the hospital without him and that was the hardest thing I had ever had to do as a mom at that time. Gabe's oxygen levels finally came back to normal outside of the oxygen tent, he spent an additional week in the hospital with me by his side while we was given antibiotics for possible pneumonia.

As our first kid he came into this world unstoppable. This kid has the biggest personality and the most contagious laugh. He is my light and I love him. He acts just like his dad and looks so much like his dad it scares me. I love him and can't imagine how we felt so complete and happy without him.

Meat me in Indiana

           Our love story isn’t a very typical one. It started out my junior year of high school, Mitchell’s senior year. We were in the same first hour, a meats processing class. Yes, a class where you learn about butchering livestock. Romantic, right? We didn’t even really talk all that much through the course of that year, it all began on a school trip to Indianapolis, Indiana for the national FFA convention, my senior year. He came back to compete in a food science contest that I also was competing in. During the course of the week we spent on the school trip, we had so much fun hanging out.  

                On the plane ride home he was sitting in the row behind me and he passed me a note (ha-ha!) asking for my phone number - I of course obliged. Once we were home from the trip and life was back to normal, I realized how much I missed seeing him and talking to him. It took him almost 2 weeks to contact me after the trip. Once we had talked, we had set up a date for the following weekend, November 10th to be exact. I was so anxious the whole week leading up to our date, something that usually didn’t happen. He was every bit as nervous; more about the size of my dad than anything. :) After that first date we were inseparable. If we weren't at school or if he wasn’t working, we were together. 

                Mitchell was not a member of my faith (latter-day saint, a Mormon) at this point. During the course of the first few weeks of dating some things were happening in his life that were causing him a great deal of pain. He asked to attend church with me, because he was lacking  something in his life. Two weeks after attending church with me and my family, he began taking the discussions with our ward missionaries, two young men I will forever be grateful for. After his second discussion with them, they decided to determine how committed he really was to joining the church for himself (not just for me). They asked him to be baptized and without a bat of an eye he said yes! Everyone (but me) in the room, were silenced. Within a few weeks he was baptized and confirmed a member of the church by my dad. It was a special day that I am so happy I was a part of.  

                At this point we are 18 &19 - I'm getting ready to graduate high school. Our relationship continues on and we become each others best friend. We make each other want to be better. I fell in love so young, but I couldn’t imagine my life without him in it.  Two days before graduation, he lost his father. A pain and sorrow that neither of us will forget, a time you wish you could forget. Even during all his pain, he was there for me during my exciting time - graduating high school! He showed me then, what a great man he was. SO strong in a time that it felt like his world had ceased turning.  

                Once we had been dating for a year, we decided to do something crazy and fun to celebrate. We went on a hot air balloon ride. Which is ultimately where we got engaged.  We lived in a weird world for a few weeks. Teetering between engaged and dating. We both knew we had growing up to do - together and individually. So we continued our relationship as boyfriend and girlfriend until we knew the time to get married was right. We spent 3 years dating and in love. It was fun, hard and scary, but so worth it. We prayed a lot for guidance and to know when the right time to be married was.                              

                We were finally married for time and all eternity on April 23, 2011. Our wedding was beautiful, it was everything I imagined. Although, all the decorations, food and planning didn’t mean as much to me as marrying my best friend meant to me. We were surrounded by our loving and supportive families and our closest and dearest friends. A day I will never forget.  

                As I look back on our life together, we have had hard times, times of pain and times of happiness and joy. All of which shaped us into the people we are now. Here we sit, almost 4 years being married and 8 years of being together, living our life still full of hard times and pain, happiness and joy. I couldn’t imagine my life any other way than having this patient, caring and loving man by my side, and couldn’t be more grateful for everyday that we get to share together.  

         

Your Typical Fairytale!

    Once upon a time there was a boy and a girl, Erin and Tony, these two beautiful people fell in love. They began to date, then got engaged, married and then had a baby boy... The end!! 

JUST KIDDING! 

    Seriously though.... I met my husband at a sort of mutual friend's missionary homecoming party at the end Feb 2010. I had a ride home from this event (my sister who I came with had a wedding to attend and left early) who totally bailed on me, so I was now at this party where I didn't really know anyone. So the evening goes on and the party eventually came to an end. I was sitting there on a couch, contemplating how I am going to get home because my ride had left the party to visit a friend, when I see these 2 guys being dorks and going crazy over popping balloons. Weirdos. (I did find it rather entertaining to be honest) As these two friends are popping the balloons, or at least trying to attempt popping them, one of the guys (Tony, if you didn't figure that out) came over to me and asked for a toothpick.... I told him "no sorry I just tossed mine and couldn't see the container of them" but really?? Random!!!! (This is an inside joke for us so I had to share that part of how I first meet him)  

     The evening went on and we all ended up at our friend's house playing "typical Mormon YSA games" until I had to go home. Tony and I had talked a lot during the impromptu game night because those kind of games weren't our thing. We switched numbers and he some how ended up giving me a ride home that night! 

    Was it love at first sight? No. Not really... Definitely a connection though! In one evening I had really learned to like this man, who practically saved me from a grounding (I was in high school still... Did I mention that?), since I had a curfew still. He is sort of was like my "Knight in shining armor!"... Even his noble steed (his car) was white! Ha.

As soon as Tony dropped me off that night I knew there something special about him, so I actually walked straight to my room and prayed about him... I got only good feelings...

    We practically talked/texted every day since that day on! About two week later he came over in the evening to meet my parents and hang out. After he was about to head home, it was March 15th now, when he asked me to come sit in the car with him for a few minutes to talk. He opened my side of car,  I hopped in and he did the same on his side. We just sat there and talked for 30mins when finally he said,"do you know why I came over tonight?" And I had told him to meet my family and hang out... But he told me "nope... Well yes, but because I wanted to make sure I asked you out in person!" At that point I knew he was the one! I felt like guys just don't do that anymore... It also didn't help everyone I dated was in high school or immature. 

    A month went on and Tony was contemplating getting a new job. Well this new job required him to be gone a lot, so one evening Tony came to my house and asked me how I felt about him taking a job that would require him to be gone so much. Honestly, I knew he hated his job and I didn't mind the sacrifice of not being able to see him everyday, which is what I told him. At that moment Tony told me "I LOVE YOU" for the first time.... I had already known I had love for him but was waiting to know if it was mutual. Needless to say I was on cloud 9... It was probably the best night of our relationship at that point.

    It was fun that he travelled for his new job because I remember after I graduated high school he took me on a day road trip to visit where he worked,  he thought it was so pretty I needed to see it. We went to the LDS Oakland temple, saw the Golden Gate Bridge and so much more. It was a fun road trip and great bonding experience:) 

Graduation-2010

Oakland temple (and first photo ever taken together... Whaaaat?!) lol

    On September 11, 2011 Tony took me to Disneyland for my birthday!  Best gift ever... Or so I thought!! 

We spent our first day at Disneyland and it was so much fun showing Tony, my best friend, the place that made me the happiest! I remember Tony telling me it made him happy to see me so happy, but it was true, I was in Disney magic heaven! 

As we were headed to the park again for day 2, of our trip, Tony asked if I wanted to go take pictures in front of the castle before anything else so he could have a pic of me for his wallet! I said of course and we headed to get the picture done. 

    So I take a picture by myself like he requested and then he asks the Disney photographer if he could hop in one. Tony came and joined me for a photo. We actually took a few before he turned to me and said "Erin I love you so much." And me, trying to take this photo thing seriously says quickly "yeah love you too." His response, "no I really do love you Erin and want to spend my eternity with you." At that point his was getting down on his knee and I thought he was joking since he did that all the time... But eventually I caught on and said speechlessly "yes!!" 

The picture Tony made me take alone. Lol

Asking me to Marry him! 

I said "YES!!l"

    9 months later of fun, stressful, crazy wedding planning, we got married in the LDS San Diego temple, June 22, 2012! It was the most beautiful moment of our lives. 

Mr. & Mrs. Chavez <3

    We had our reception the next day back in Fresno, CA. It was fun and a lot of work! I was definitely glad when it was all over and I got to enjoy being married to my new husband!! 

Reception photos 

   We honeymooned at Disneyland, Universal studios Hollywood and the beach. It was a lot of fun and nice to get away from the our normal world for 7 days!

Honeymooning!

    We have now been married for a happy, almost, 3years in June! 

We have the most adorable baby boy, Elijah, who we were blessed with in April 2014. 

We can't have asked for a better life as our "Happily Ever After" continues! <3 

Love at Second Sight

When I was a little girl, I told my parents I was going to marry a Canadian named Bryan (only because my cousin had married a Canadian named Brian). Little did I know at the time that it would be true! But how did I meet my Bryan?

It was 2008, I was a freshman at Brigham Young University in Utah. I got a text from a friend saying he was driving down from Canada for Halloween and wanted to hangout! I reluctantly agreed and on Halloween night I dragged a couple of my friends to go meet him and his friends at Village Inn. The friend introduced us to his friends, Bryan being one of them. Bryan had a girl with him, so I really didn't pay much attention to him at all. We maybe said hi to each other and that was it. Keep in mind, this is what I was wearing when we met: 

Michelangelo baby!! Great first impression right? He told me later that he thought I looked like a nerd (even though he is a huge one), so I guess it wasn't love at first sight. Anyways, I didn't think I was going to see this friend or any of his friends ever again, and I was perfectly okay with that. 

The next day, I went to a BYU hockey game. I got a text from my friend asking where I was, and I didn't exactly want to see him again, so I just said I was at a hockey game (not providing the details on purpose). Next thing I know, he and his friends (Bryan included) from the night before were there. He and Bryan came and sat with me and my friend at the game. This is when Bryan and I started talking and kind of flirting. But obviously, I didn't think anything would come of it, and I didn't want anything to come of it at that point. 

Long story short, my friend was mad and left the game in a hurry and Bryan stayed behind before getting in the car with said friend. Bryan asked me if I was interested in our friend and I told him I wasn’t. He asked me to walk to the car with him to say bye to our friend because they were driving back to Canada the next day. I guess that was the first time I really noticed Bryan in a way where I thought, “man, this guy is a really good friend and loyal, I like that.” 

Side note: a girl from one of my classes had seen Bryan at the hockey game and asked me who “that hot guy was” and I told her his name, and then realized, “HECK NO!”, I am interested in this guy, back off!!

That night or the next, I looked Bryan up on Facebook and couldn't find him because I spelled his name wrong. Little did I know, he was doing the same because I got a Facebook message from him asking how I was doing. I was so excited that he had sent me a message!!! 

It all blossomed from there. We talked every single day from then on out! Bryan told me he wanted to come visit me before Thanksgiving to go on a date! He drove 12 hours through snowy Montana mountains to come see me! (talk about a leap of faith! Imagine driving that long for everything to have sucked? Ha). From our first date:

We had our first kiss that weekend and it was glorious! Bryan drove down to visit me when he could (once or twice a month)! He also flew out to Nashville to visit me during Christmas break! I flew out to Canada to see him and meet his family (I met his parents previously) in May of 2009. At this point we had talked about marriage and knew we wanted to get married! 

Bryan proposed on my 19th birthday, June 15th 2009! (Side side note: I never thought I would be a teen bride. I never wanted to be a teen bride. But then I met Bryan and I realized that marrying the right person was more important than worrying about being a teen bride) He had asked me, my mom, and sisters to leave so he could talk to my dad. As we were leaving, my mom said she had forgotten her phone on her bed and asked me to go get it. I ran upstairs and into my parents room and Bryan came out of no where and was crying! My first thought was that my dad said no to us getting married! I asked him what was wrong, and the next thing I knew, he was proposing! We got married on August 22nd, 2009 and it was one of the best days EVER! 

Single White Rose

   It seems like a million years and a couple dress sizes since my husband and I first met. It is by no means romantic but it is very special to me...

   I was seventeen years old and working at the movie theater. It was the "go to" place in our town, where all the kids hung out and the parents would drop off their teens during the weekend for the movies to babysit the kids. It was directly across from the mall, so a lot of people used it as the hang out zone. The smell of popcorn is forever a nostalgic smell for me. When we walk into one, immediately, the memories start to come back. When you start working at the movie theater they put you in concessions. You learn to pop popcorn, fill cokes, hand out candies, work the registers and do a lot of dirty disgusting work. It gets crazy and insane. The coveted place to be is in box (ticket sales) or in booth (the projector area) you don't get as dirty and you don't have to carry the smell of greasy popcorn home with you. Most of the girls would work box and the boys would work "Door" which is basically clean up duty of the theaters and crowd control. I was working concessions on my first day when around the corner comes a crowd of hooligans, a bunch of guys hooting and hollering. They all came to meet the new "meat" aka the new girl (me). They introduced themselves to me, little did I know that the one that told me his name was "lucifer", would be my husband.
My husband called himself Lucifer because "sympathy for the devil" was his theme song. He was funny, cute, and had an amazing smile. There was another guy I was more interested in at the time. He had dreamy blue eyes and dark hair. He was tall and could charm a snake. I really liked him more and flirted up a storm with him. Eventually I was 'promoted" to box and this is where the real magic began.

    With Randy (my husband) working "door" he had the chance during the day shift and weekday nights to hang out around the ticket area. He would tear the tickets and tell people with theater the movie was in. What was nice is that he would be able to talk to me during the boring times when no one was buying tickets. This is where I got to know the real Randy and start to get a crush on him. Soon after we starting talking he notice another new girl who started working concessions. She was cute, bubbly and bouncy...everything I am not. He was definitely interested in her. After some encouragement from me he finally asked her out. During the entire relationship he would seek me out for advice on what to do, where to take her. She and I had started to become good friends. After a short while she told him that they are not meant for each other and that he needs to ask me out instead. One week later we were dating.

    We never really told people that we were boyfriend and girlfriend because we never discussed it. One day under the full moon and a beautiful starry night Randy gave me my first kiss. I told a friend that because we kissed we were boyfriend and girlfriend she told him what I had said and that is how HE found out that he was my boyfriend and no longer on the market.

    Several years before in Young Womens our leaders were talking about how we need to know when we have the "right one". They said that he would be the perfect man in some ways. He would be endowed, a return missionary, gentleman.....on and on the list went. I started to get overwhelmed because A) i was homeschooled and the boys that I knew would never ask me out in the church and would only meet guys outside of the church B) the boys at church were too scared to ask me out because of my parents C) I had a feeling that I would never marry a mormon. I went home that night and prayed to my Father in Heaven and told Him that the "sign" for me to know that the man was "the man" he would give me a single white rose (my favorite flower) After that I never told anyone what my favorite flower was. I would always tell them my second flower a sunflower (they are the happiest flowers in the world!!)


    Randy took me on our first official date to Applebees (we had been seeing each other for a good while but never really went on an actual date until a few months later). He ordered me a surprise desert and took me back to his home where he had candles lit all over his living room with two big beautiful sunflowers in a vase in the center of the coffee table. We ate our dessert in candle light and i was really starting to fall in love with this guy. He was so handsome and sweet and kind and loving and everything that I wanted and it was becoming harder and harder to see myself without him.

    One day after a very long day at work I was tired and met up with him at his house. He was outside with his buddies hanging out, i walked up to him and gave him a kiss, he handed me a single white rose and said "Because I love you and I thought of you when I saw this flower" That day was the day that I knew I would marry this man in the temple. He fulfilled all my dreams and answered my prayers..it sounds silly to think that a single rose could do that but it did.

    Randy was not a member of the church. He did not believe in the church and had no intention of joining. Rand proposed to my after we had been dating for 5 1/2 years, He proposed to me after he had graduated from college (I told him I would not marry a bum) on a Sunday in front of my whole family. I was so happy I cried like a baby. We were married on December 31 2009 in candlelight in my parents home surrounded by white roses.
Randy started to get interested in the church when we found out I was pregnant. The teachings of the church surround family and that is what really spoke to him. We were sealed in the temple on July 2, 2011 when I was seven months pregnant with my oldest.

Our story is not so special but it is our beginning. It is perfect to me and will forever be the best love story.