Motherhood+Life+Home+Fitness: Brooks

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

OUR LIFE TOGETHER {05.12.2015}

Let's start from the beginning...

It all started in 4th grade at Golbow Elementary in Katy, TX. E and I attended school together until 7th grade and then I moved to a different school district about 30 minutes away in Cypress, TX. We lost touch for about 5 years.

Erik was an offensive lineman in football his senior year.

I was the Varsity Cheer Captain my senior year.

Somehow, by the grace of God, E got my number and we attended our very first date, Sweeney Todd the play at Klein Oak High School. A few months past and he finally asked me to prom. We arrived to prom as friends, but while dancing to Big Green Tractor, E asked me to be his girlfriend and I said yes! Prom was May 8, 2010 and it was there we shared our first kiss, which E's mom captured for us.

We dated for 8 months and during that time, E moved to Huntsville, TX to attend Sam Houston State University and I stayed in Cypress, TX to attend community college.

On December 23, 2010, E asked me to marry him. Although we laugh at the story every day, it really was a beautiful night at Santa's Wonderland in College Station, TX.

After begin engaged for about month, I finally decided to move in with E. We got our very first apartment together on January 11, 2011. Just one month later, we welcomed sweet baby Chief Crunchy Richards into our life. He was only 6 weeks old when we brought him home! His name is a combination of nicknames given to E and I. My father always called me "crunchy" growing up and E's dad called him "Chief."

A few months passed and we decided that we wanted to bring another little pup into our lives and found Brooks Harlow on Craigslist. She was only 8 months when we got her. Her name is a combination of names and things we love. I have always loved the name Harlow but never really felt it appropriate for a child. E named her Brooks after Garth Brooks.

We moved around a bit from Huntsville, TX (01/2011-07/2011) to College Station, TX (07/2011-07/2012) then down to Cypress, TX (07/2012-09/2013) until we landed back in Katy, TX (09/2013-current) where it all began. While living in College Station, TX we found a photographer we could actually afford (keep in mind we were only 18 and 19 and didn't have a whole lot of money for a fancy photographer).

On May 12, 2012, E and I said our vows and became husband and wife. We were married at Huntsville State Park at 2pm. It was a beautiful day. Not too hot and not too cold, it was perfect! A few months before our wedding, we decided to start trying to have a family. I got off birth control in the hopes that we would be able to get pregnant after our wedding. After a full year of trying to conceive, with no luck, we headed to the Dr's to find out next steps.

While in Cypress, TX we celebrated 1 year of marriage and I started my first round of Clomid, just one month later, in June 2013 at 50mg. After one month, I was adjusted to 100mg for July 2013.

On September 26, 2013, after our first round of 100mg in July, E and I found out we were pregnant after 2 years of trying to conceive. I was about 8 and 1/2 weeks pregnant. On October 3, 2013 we had our first Dr's appointment. It was at that appointment, almost 10 weeks pregnant, that we found out we had lost the baby just the week before.

We decided to take a break from trying to conceive for 2014 and focused on traveling. We moved to Katy, TX and celebrated our 2nd year of marriage. We traveled to Las Vegas, Florida, and took a cruise to Mexico! We also focused on losing weight.

As 2015 rolled around, we decided to start trying to conceive again. To our surprise, we got pregnant on our first cycle January 2015. I found out at 9DPO with a very faint positive on February 10, 2015. Unfortunately, just a few days later, I miscarried.

But after all the bumps, joys, tears, laughter, and crazy times we've spent together, we have made it through and are stronger than ever. Today, we celebrate 3 years of marriage! I look back and even through the loses of multiple family members, our two babies, moving from city to city trying to build ourselves with jobs, and finding who we are together, I am so proud of us. I look forward to whatever the future holds and know that as long as I am with E, life is complete and I am blessed.

Here's to many more years together with you my Husband!

Happy 3 Year Marriage Anniversary!

Monday, April 20, 2015

PRAISE GOD {04.20.2015}

Quick re-cap of our weekend:

I wanted to talk about my weekend because it has been such a glorious weekend. Friday night was amazing! The hubs and I rented quite a few movies from RedBox and enjoyed a delicious "cheat meal" from a new place called BullChicks. It was actually very good although, if you want wings, I suggest going to WingStop instead. Saturday, we were able to sleep in until about 11am! That was absolutely incredible! After we finally got out of bed, we headed to the gym. I was able to do a full 30 minutes on the stair master! I was shocked and excited that I managed to make it. When we finished our workouts, we decided to run to H.E.B. and Costco to complete our "meal prep" shopping a day early to eliminate the stress on Sunday. Only problem, I had an appointment at the Apple store at 5:20pm and we were really pushing the time limit. To be honest, I don't how we made it on time, but we did! I've been having some issued with my phone and Apple, being as incredible and absolutely amazing as they are, completely gave a me a free/new iPhone. Sunday started with a beautiful service at our church, followed by a hardcore workout. We then had to come home and do our "meal prepping", house cleaning, laundry, and even had some time to watch a few TV shows and read our nightly Bible assignment. Reading this over, I feel like it really doesn't even begin to show the true hype of our weekend, but it was crazy busy!

Looking forward to this week:

This is E's last week of school! He is almost done with year 2 of his program and will be moving on to Year 3 for the Fall. I'm so proud of him because Lord knows that it puts a lot of stress and added exhaustion for him, twice a week! I'm also looking forward to my cycle starting. I think I've only said this once before, but I really am looking forward to my cycle. I want to enjoy this because I really don't know when we will have another "TTC" cycle.

Anything else:

Our 3 year anniversary is coming up in about 20 days! Seems unreal that 3 years of marriage have passed, and 5 years of relationship bliss. I'm also looking forward to getting the dogs to the groomers, summer is coming and it is the worst time for them because it's so hot and they get stinky fast! Fur-baby moms will understand this.

Best news of the week:

All my tests including my ultrasounds and blood work have come back perfect! The doctor said that my ovaries look great, tubes are perfect, and uterus is just as it should be even for having a miscarriage last month. My blood work which including Thyroid testing, Lupus panel, and some other weird panel, all came back wonderful! So it really seems like this cycle may be fairly easy. I'm just thankful to the Lord that everything between E and I looks great and now that I am going to be considered "High Risk," this will require constant testing, blood work, and ultrasounds to make sure that baby is ok. It's so refreshing to have my doctor be on the same page as me with how important it is to me that our baby grow healthy and strong.

I leave you with this...

"Be grateful in the good times, and faithful in the bad times - God is in total control!"

God Bless and Baby Dust

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

1/2 a Year Gone Like That!! {06.03.2013}

Wow! 6 months into the year and only 6 more to go! Can you believe it? I know I can’t!!!

So this weekend was fun and full. Friday I had to work late or “normal hours.” Usually we have the option of getting off early at 3 p.m. but we have a running schedule for certain people to stay late on Fridays and this was my Friday. After work I went home and relaxed. It was so nice to get to just be. Saturday we woke up and ran some errands, Taco Cabana to eat, Bank of America, and Shopping. When we got home, we unloaded groceries and started laundry. Our best friends called us at about 4 p.m. to go over and swim and we did!! Not for long though, some of their family showed up with little kids and we got dressed and left. We then went to grab a bite at Clay’s and came up with this idea to go on a road trip before summers end. So we started brainstorming some places and decided that on June 22 we are taking a trip up to the Frio River. Not sure if we are staying the night or just going for the day, but either way it’s going to be so fun! We left Clay’s and headed to our Amanda and Will’s house with them so Amanda and I could finish our “road trip” plans while the boys bought a game for us to play. The game they choose was Battle of the Sexes and we won – just kidding the boys won {unfair!!} We then decided to use the game in our own way and make a charades type game. It was fun! After all the fun ended, we headed home at about midnight and called it a night at 4 a.m. The next day (Sunday) we spent at home, cleaning and doing laundry. While sitting around over the weekend, I decided I wanted to go back to college to get my AAS in Graphic Design Specialization. I have to take four semesters of classwork and then I will be a graduate in May 2015! And just as an added goal {as if getting a degree to get more money it’s a “push” enough…) Erik and I have plans to save our money and take nice “graduation vacation” in June 2015! Want to know where we are going…..MAUI HAWAII!!!! I am beyond excited but the only way we are going is if I get my degree! So happy learning! We even decided that {since we are waiting to have a baby} we are turning our second bedroom at the new place into an office/study area with a “his and hers” side so that he can have his own personal desk area and I can have mine. In the center of the room, we are going to put a table with two chairs so that we can hook up the computer to the TV mounted on the wall. It’s going to be amazing! And I think that will really help motivate us. Oh, I can’t wait. Also, I snapped some pictures of the fur-babies for you to enjoy!

Here are the three desk styles we have to choose from...