“I put all my genius into my life; I put only my talent into my works.” -Oscar Wilde

OUR STORY

Jake and I met at my sister's house. She tried to get us to go on a date, but neither of us were that interested. 6 months later while babysitting her kids while her and her husband were out of town I saw him at a birthday party. We started talking and we and some others continued talking late into the night. Before he left he asked for my email address. He wanted to email about bible study stuff....or so he said ;o) There was an email waiting for me before i went to bed that night. I think I knew then that a relationship was in the works.

 5 months later my sister invited Jake and I to accompany her and her family on a trip to Disney Land. I jumped at the chance to get to spend 8 whole days with him because we dated long distance. It was in California on a beautiful beach with the sun setting when Jake asked me to be his forever. It was incredibly perfect and romantic! We were sitting on the beach watching the sun set over the ocean when he started telling me all the things he loved about me and how we fit so perfectly. he pulled me to standing and those of you who know me well know how perfectly this next part fits into this story...yes, i tripped. he caught me and gave me a hug. in my shoulder i heard a muffled, "don't move!" now, what is your fist reaction when someone says not to move?! I was trying not to freak out about the huge bug that must be climbing up me when he dropped to one knee and popped the question. I completely forgot about the "bug" and started laughing, crying, and hugging him all at once. I was a bit confused as to why he would stay on his knee after asking me. He anxiously asked, "well?". I had completely forgotten to say yes! I quickly and repeatedly said yes just in case he was still uncertain. Still he hesitated in getting up and in fact starting digging in the sand. The "bug" was actually the ring that he dropped in the sand when he was trying to non conspicuously open the ring box and get it out while hugging me. He found it, blew it off and put it on my finger.

Our wedding date was set for October 6th. What a crazy 5 months! I planned my wedding long distance while working three jobs! It was a beautiful day and a lovely wedding. My wedding!

Some wonderful friends gifted us with their vacation home in Florida for our honeymoon. Those 10 days were so fun!

Yes, it's real. Yes, we were that close. And no, we weren't at a zoo. We went to a restaurant with a river behind it. We asked the waitress if there were any alligators in it and she said "oh yeah!". She took us out back with some bread and starting calling it like you would call a pet cat when it's meal time. The thing popped out of the bushes and made it's way over to us where it ate the bread she gave it. It was awesome!

We found out we were expecting in April. We were both so excited.

The pregnancy went very well and 2 days after her due date she arrived.  Hadassah Jean joined our family on Dec 17th.

After a grueling 23 1/2 hrs all of her 9 lbs arrived healthy. She was born in our home and the little stinker made me feel every bit of my decision to go medication free. She was posterior, giving me a lot of back labor and she pretty much kicked her way out. She made up for it by being a great sleeper and she was an easy baby.

Our little family was growing and I loved every min of being a mom, so much so that at three months old I tried to talk Jake into doing it again. He thought I was crazy...silly man. After 7 months of begging we found out we were pregnant again.

Second time around went as well as the first one. We decided to wait on finding out the gender. I'm glad we did! It made the birth even that much more exciting.

Jenna Elizabeth was born July 18th, 5 days after her due date. Her birth was amazing! It was fast and I would even go so far as to say it was easy. It was incredibly short compared to Haddie's. We had her in my parents home with my mom, 3 sisters, cousin, and friend present. She was actually a week old before we named her. We thought we were probably having a boy and hadn't agreed on any girl names. Jenna means fair and soft and we couldn't have picked a better name for our little bird.

(By Teeter Photography)

Now this family of four is adjusting to the new dynamics. Haddie adores her little sister and Jake and I couldn't be happier. I wouldn't mind having another one already, but i haven't resorted to begging yet. ;-) I think we'll take a break and enjoy these two little ones...for a while anyway. :-D