Well, I did it

The grades are in.
The ceremony is over.
I have officially graduated from the University of Maryland.

May 21st, 2012

I honestly thought I would feel different after I graduated, but I don't. My journey throughout the last two years seemed to intense and extreme, and now it just seems like "whatever."

The ceremony was short and sweet. I was able to speak with one of my favorite professors after the ceremony was over. She shared very kind words with me and even said that she was proud of me for working so hard while raising Danny. That was a proud moment for me. 

I am very happy to be done with school, but I have a lot of work to do now that I have my little man home with me all day. We have a lot of bad habits to break and need to get back into an acceptable routine.

Now that school is over I can "get back to life" as I have been saying. I can be "just a mom" again, which is all I've ever wanted. I also need to start working on writing things more serious than a blog, that is a little intimidating, maybe I'll start that next week :).

Thanks to everyone who has supported me throughout this journey. I am lucky to have so many caring people in my life.

The big day!

Well the day has come (tomorrow). I graduate from the University of Maryland tomorrow morning. I would say that I am super flipping excited for it, but honestly, it is just a ceremony. I thought I would be more excited to walk across the stage than I am, but I'm really not.

What I am excited for is being done with school. I am excited to no longer have to spend every free moment I have in the evenings doing homework, writing papers and reading books that don't particularly interest me. I am excited to have less stress in my life and to be a better mother because of it. I am excited to be home with my children all day, every day, and to plan fun activities for them. I am excited to be a stay at home mom, for real now. I am really excited to read a book, for fun! I have been caught up in my hypnobirthing book lately that I have not had time to read any of the 5 books that are sitting on myself unread. I am excited to start living my life again.

I couldn't have made it through the last two years with out my husband, Stephen. He has not only been super supportive of my quest to finish college, but he has really picked up my slack around the house. He has cooked, cleaned, done laundry, gone the extra mile with Danny, all to make things easier for me. Even in the last eight months, when he started training for one of our local police departments, he has still helped keep our home and family running smoothly. Between career struggles, now always supportive family and raising a infant into toddler into two year old boy, he has always supported me and for lack of a better term "had-my-back."

I also have to thank my dad, he has done so much for Stephen and I throughout our relationship, none more than the last year and a half. He has also been willing to drop everything in order to help me with Danny when babysitters fell through.

My brother Joe, for inspiring me to go to college when I was a kid. I never really thought about college until he was in high school doing his college search. Ever since then I always thought "if he can do it then I should be able to do it." Maybe I am competitive, or maybe I just admire his hard work, but he is certainly one of my biggest inspirations. My sister-in-law, Haley. She has inspired me with her drive and dedication. She put herself through college all the way to a master's degree, while raising her daughter. She is a true friend who is always been encouraging to me. Thanks for lending me the cap and gown for tomorrow!

And to all the people who said that I would never finish college once I got married, or had a baby, thank you. Nothing is more encouraging to me than naysayers, I couldn't have done it without all of you as well!

Life

Well, life caught up to me! Not only was I battling dreadful morning sickness for weeks, but Danny and I both got terrible upper respiratory infections last week. We were pathetically laying around the house for days, I missed three days of school and we watched every kids movie we own. . .twice.

I somehow recovered just in time to skimp through midterms this week. I don't know how I survive my life right now, but thankfully I found a way.

BUT the good news is that I feel like a million bucks. I never thought I would feel healthy again. No one ever told me how bad morning sickness was. Ok, many people told me, but I thought after never experiencing it with Danny that I was just one of those people, you know, the people that most moms hate. Well good news ladies, no need to hate me, I was sick as a dog for eight weeks!!

I am on Spring Break for the next week, and I'd like to tell you that I'm going on a tropical vacation full of fun and relaxation, but I'm not. No, I plan to spend my days playing with Danny and going on adventures. I will spend my nights writing a final paper (two months early) in order to avoid panic in May.

When I return to school from Spring Break I will have SEVEN weeks until graduation. I cannot believe that this is really happening. I am in complete amazement at how fast the time has gone by. It is surreal.

So many things, not just graduation are happening! My sweet little baby, who was just born yesterday, is turning two in April. In May we will find out the gender of our new baby, I will graduate, we will turn into a one car family. . . and just a few short weeks later my husband will be an official police officer. We have a very busy Spring, and we are so happy to be where we are right now.

So no I will enjoy watching a movie with my husband and be on Spring Break for the night.

I leave you with an adorable picture of my son with his baby cousin, his best friend!

March 2012

And this is too cute to not post. . .

Brayden and Danny

The smartest thing I've done

Putting my husband in charge of dinner. Ok. I do not "have it like that," I don't just command things to my husband, but because he is not a douche bag, and because I have been dealing with terrible morning sickness constant sickness, all I had to do was nicely ask him to take over the dinner planning for the week. I hate to admit it, but he is doing a much better job than I usually do. He actually wrote out a shopping list, and wrote down what he planned to cook for each meal. I am impressed. I didn't even expect him to cook everything, I even told him we could eat frozen entrees every night, as long as our son was fed and I could lay on the couch wishing I were dead. He totally came through.

What a guy!

As for the morning sickness, well, I never experienced it when I was pregnant with my son, needless to say I am making up for lost time. I have never been so ill in my entire life. It is soooo yucky. I might be breaking through though, I have felt a little better the last few days, but still not great. I am hoping/praying/wishing the worst is over. I still have three months of college left and I must get through them!

Square one

What will I do?

It is a beautiful thing

Breathe

What a week. . .

Busy Mama

I can't do it all

Alone time

I got just what I needed. . .

"Cheep Cheep"