So I finally jumped on the bandwagon and started a blog. Let's see if I can actually keep it up to date with two little rugrats at home. Hmmm.... where to start. I guess I will start at the beginning, that is 9 years ago when John Paul and I became John Paul and I. I know for the most of the people reading this, it will all be review but since I feel like there needs to be a beginning, I am going to post it anyway. So sit back relax and read...
I guess I actually need to back up even further. When I was four... don't panic... I will try to make it snappy...my family visited a church for the first time. Who would've ever thought the man I was to marry was sitting in the front row. He was the Pastor's son and six years my senior, so for a loooooong time he was interested in my beautiful older sisters and not the little girl with the gruff voice. And of course I was too busy being four to notice him either. But when John Paul was 18 (that makes me 12) he started working on my parents' seven acre property as the property manager. This was not the typical "property manager" job. One of his many odd-end duties was taking me and picking me up from school. Lucky me. =) So we ended up spending a lot of time together and becoming really great friends! At some point during the next few years, I fell head over heals in love with him and knew I was going to marry him. I just needed him to wait for me to grow up. He was a bit leery to feel anything towards me because of the age gap, but I started to pursue him and those who know me know that I have a way of getting what I want when I want it. ;) So we did end up waiting but not for long!
Nine years ago on April 5th John Paul and I started dating. I was 15. He was 21. As you can imagine, it was a bit taboo and we faced some major disapproval by anyone and everyone. Well almost everyone. Thankfully, our parents and close friends had our backs. So a 2 year whirlwind romance led to a beautiful wedding on May 11, 2002. Yes, I was 17 when we got hitched! I can't find my cd of all my wedding photos so we had to go grab one from a website and all they have is a thumbnail. So sorry it is small!
As you can see, I tend to do things fast. I would have been thrilled to get pregnant soon after our wedding but my wise husband insisted we wait. And boy am I glad we did. We both were able to finish our undergraduate degrees, and John Paul started a great job working for my parent's charitable foundation, which is still his employer. Not to mention, we got to be footloose and fancy free for a little while. Here is a picture of us on a date during that carefree time in our lives!
So we ended up waiting 3 years before we started trying to conceive. Got pregnant right away but unfortunately lost our first little baby at 13 weeks gestation. Thank God though, we were able to get pregnant about 8 months later, and we welcomed our precious baby boy, Joshua Preston, into the world on December 26, 2006. He is so much fun and such a sweet kid! He just turned two a month ago tomorrow. Wow has time flown. Here he is eating chocolate covered raisins and sneaking licks of the cupcakes at his birthday party-- by the way that tired look is an illusion-- the child WOULD NOT nap that day after such a fun party (the sugar high didn't help)!
Almost exactly twenty months later, our little surprise, Ashtyn Mae, was born on August 25, 2008. She is so beautiful and good-natured. We love having her in our family. She turned 5 months old today. I really can't believe how fast she is growing up! Here she is today in her sassy new bow and headband! She just woke up from her nap so she is a little dazed.
And here is one of the two of them on Christmas Eve last year. So sweet. Josh is such a good brother and you can already tell that sister thinks the world of him!
I just noticed while searching my iPhoto that almost a whole month went by with NO pictures of them!! Bad mommy! Hopefully this blog will help me remember to take pictures of my sweet kiddos. I don't want to be left with only my memories of this precious time in their lives. Okay, I think that is enough for now.
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