Our Story: And Baby Makes Three

So, we were married in October. We knew it may not be long until a baby joined us because we weren't using any form of birth control. I know it's crazy, but I've said here before, we made a decision before we were married to allow God to plan our family, and that's just what we did. I was still a little shocked when only THREE months later, on January 25th I had a positive pregnancy test.

The few months BEFORE we found out we were going to be parents. Our first Thanksgiving and New Years as a married couple.

 

Exactly one month before we found out Lulu was on the way. Like my monogrammed shirt? Ha!

 

Our first snowfall, and a pic of our cottage. That's actually how long it was. This photo isn't cut off. We were so proud of it though!

 

Manly had just left to go to school, and I had been feeling strange, so as soon as he left I jumped out of bed and went and took a test. It was immediately positive. I was interning at a crisis pregnancy center at the time, so I headed over there to take an additional test. To my surprise I saw another PINK test result. I was pregnant!

Our first Easter as a married couple. I was a few months pregnant here.

I wasted no time in telling...Ashley! I called her and told her the news and she was even more SHOCKED! She helped me come up with a plan to tell Manly the news. I made a yummy dinner and set an additional plate at the table(actually we didn't have room for a table in the cottage, so I set the plate on HIS tray table.). I taped baby booties to my tummy and wrote the message, "Hi Daddy!" I also put the pregnancy tests in a gift bag just in case he needed a little proof. When he came home from work I was waiting for him to notice but he never did. FINALLY I said, "Did you notice we have an additional plate at the table?" After a minute of looking around confused he asked what was up. I raised my shirt up to reveal the message. To say he was shocked was an understatement, but he was also very excited! After that we sent cards to all of our family telling them the news.

My beautiful girl proving that she was wonderfully made.

 



Once we went to the doctor and our little pea sized flickering baby we were in full get-ready-for-baby-mode. The baby was due October 6. I remember before we were married Manly saying he wanted seven girls. I know, he's probably a few fries short of a happy meal. When we found out we were having a baby I just knew it was going to be a girl. I can't explain it. When the ultrasound tech finally said she was a girl we were thrilled! We decided on the name Olivia Nichole(even though Manly said that Olivia was a "fat girl" name).
Before she came I had to graduate, and we had to find a new place to live. The cottage was just too tiny. In fact, the biggest reason we had to go was because my growing belly could no longer fit into the tiny shower and we literally had NO place to put another person. We found a little 2-bedroom apartment, and moved when I was about 6 months pregnant.

Manly's friends from high school threw us a great baby shower.

 

I continued with school, and we stayed on the acting team we were on. It was a little difficult to travel being married and pregnant. Most times we were separated for the night due to the logistics of hotel rooms and our tiny budget. We made such sweet memories that year of school with our friends who were on the team with us. I think they were just about as excited about us having a baby as we were!

This was actually right after we got engaged, but I forgot to load it on the other post. We look so tan. And young.

 

Our good friends "Skeeter" and Sarah.

 

On a trip we took with the team to OKC.

 

Most of our team in OKC. Such sweet friends and fun memories.

 

On of the scariest hotels we have EVER stayed in was in some tiny town in armpit Missouri. This was outside of our room. Manly posed with it, and this has always been one of my favorite memories of our year on the Impact Team.

 

The roughest trip we took. I don't remember where this was, but I was SO sick!

 



There were mornings when I was so sick that I'd be sitting in class and barely make it to the bathroom. I'd just wash my face and head back to class like nothing had happened. I FINALLY graduated in May 2004 after 6 years! I was about 5 months pregnant. That was a really big accomplishment for me, as I was the first in my family to ever graduate from college.

My graduation day.

After being huge pregnant all through the summer our sweet, kind-hearted, humble, smart Olivia Nichole was born two weeks early on September 24, 2004. She had some minor breathing problems and spent 24 hours under an oxygen tent, but she was the most beautiful baby we'd ever seen, and we were so glad she had made us parents.

The progression of becoming a parent.

 

Our little family.

 

I'll always remember Manly bringing her into our little apartment in her car seat. He sat her down in her room, then turned and looked at me and said, "Now what?!!" He turned out to be the perfect father. He'd hold her while he studied. He'd stay up with her in the night while she screamed. He'd hold her just right to help her gassy little tummy. He'd talk to her in a calming voice and get her so peaceful. He amazed me at his ability to jump right in and do a great job.

Lulu resting while Daddy studies.

 

Checking out the classifieds with Dad.

 

Manly stayed in college, and I worked full-time as a church administrator. When he was in class, his sister would come over and watch Olivia. I still think that is why Olivia and Stephanie have such a close bond. Stephanie loves that girl, and she poured into her those few hours a week that she was there. We were so thankful to have her help us out that year.

Me and my sweet(grumpy) Santa Baby.

 

Some of my favorite moments with Lulu in her first year.

 

First trip to the pumpkin patch

 

Family Day at CBC.

 

Christmas studio photo. We look like a big black blob!

 

Lulu's first Thanksgiving.

 

It finally got to be time for Manly to start thinking about what he wanted to do after graduation. After much thought and prayer he decided to pursue a dual master's degree in counseling(LPC/LMFT) from John Brown University. That meant a move that I wasn't quite prepared to make...