Tagged!

I was tagged in this fun little survey by Stephanie...thanks girl!

1 - Post the rules
2 - Answer the 11 questions from the person who tagged you. 

3 - Create 11 new questions for the people you tag.
4 - Tag people and link them to your post.
5 - Let them know that you tagged them.

My answers...

1. What is your favorite thing about blogging?  There are a few things actually.  I love the support I get from my fellow bloggers...amazing community!  I love that this is my little journal and I have a place to document the life of my family.  And I love the great people I have met through blogging!  
2. What is one thing that makes you unique?  My birthday is on St. Patrick's Day.  It has always been a super fun birthday and no one forgets it ;)
3. Have you lost someone close to you?  I lost my grandmother when I was 17...we were close and it was very sad.  My uncle passed away in 2010...that was hard as well.  My husband lost his father almost 7 years ago and I can't even imagine the pain of losing a parent...it makes me tear up even thinking about it.  
4. Were you named after anyone?  My middle name is Ann and I get that from my grandmother...my mom's mom...that is her name.  Kelly is totally original :)
5. Tell us about an embarrassing moment.  On our first date I got locked in the bathroom at the bar!  We went to dinner and had such a great time that we went to a bar after to have another drink or three.  I had to pee like crazy so off I went.  It was a single bathroom...no stalls.  When I tried to leave I couldn't get the door open.  I calmly tried over and over.  After a few minutes I started to panic.  I certainly didn't want to be in the bathroom forever on our first date...what the heck would he think?  I started banging on the door so someone would open it but no one could hear because the band was so loud.  I calmed myself (because I had a mild panic attack!) after about 10 minutes and focused on how the hell to get out.  The door handle was one of those that was a lever and you push down to open it.  Well I finally just pushed it up and the door flew open!  I felt like a dumbass.  He never mentioned it...I was in there about 15 minutes!  this has given me a huge fear of public bathrooms.  
6. What did you want to be when you grew up, and did you accomplish it?  Well I actually wanted to be the person at the gas station that washes your car windows.  So, no, I didn't accomplish that dream!
7. Why did you start your blog?  I was going through my third IVF and I wanted/NEEDED a place to talk about my feelings.  I also wanted a place to document everything...I have always kept a journal but a blog is so much easier.  
8. What chore do you absolutely hate doing?  Most of them actually.  I am so not a neat freak but if anyone can bottle up that freakiness I would take it in a heartbeat!  I'd say I hate doing the dishes the most...GAG!
9. What celebrity do you think you look like?  I've been told I look like Kendra from The Girls Next Door.  I don't think that I do (have you seen her boobs?) but I think it is because she is sporty and I am too.  
10. What songs are included on the soundtrack of your life?  Oh gosh, this is a tough one...hard to narrow it down!  I'll just give you some artists!  High school-anything gangsta rap...Jay-Z, Bone Thugs in Harmony, Snoop Dogg, Tupac, Mase, Dr. Dre.  College-little bit of rap...Eminem and Ludacris...but mostly jam out stuff like Dave Matthews, Counting Crows, and Widespread Panic.  In my twenties I have stayed with the jam band music but with a little Adele, Lucinda Williams, and Jack Johnson.  I also enjoy some older stuff like Janis Joplin, CCR, Eagles. But, BY FAR, Dave Matthews Band is my all time favorite.  My husband took me to see them on like our 5th date...I knew I would marry him then :)
11. What story does your family always tell about you?  They always tell the story of how I screamed my head off all the way home from Six Flags one year (like a 6 hour drive).  

Here are my questions for you!

1. If you could go anywhere for a week, where would you go?
2. What is your favorite app on your smart phone?  If you don't have a smart phone, what the hell is wrong with you?  ;)
3. If you were going to redo one room in your house which room would it be and why?
4. What is your biggest insecurity?
5. What are the top three internet sites you visit?  (saw this on another one and thought it was a great question!)
6. Do you have a hobby?  What is it?
7. If your husband could buy you anything what would you want from him?
8. When is the last time you drastically changed your hairstyle?
9. What was the last vacation you went on? Tell us about it.  
10. When was the last time you cried and why?
11. How do you stay organized?  

Here are the blogs I am tagging...ENJOY!

1. Adam and Julia
2. sitting in a tree
3. The Chronicles of Violetta Margarita-just got her BFP...YAY!!!!
4. Calmly Chaotic
5. Crossing my fingers but not my legs
6. Gonna do it for baby
7. The Johnson's Journey
8. True Confessions of a Shopaholic
9. B & R plus 1...more

I tried not to tag anyone that had already been tagged.  If anyone else wants to answer please do...I'd love to read them and learn a little bit more about my peeps!!!

Just dropping in...

to let you know who we root for in this house :)  

Well two thirds of this house anyway....Lonnie could not care any less about NFL football!  But don't worry...I'll be sure to raise my girl right ;)

Happy Super Bowl Sunday y'all!  Hope you have a great one.  I know we will.  We are going to chill with some good friends, enjoy a few adult beverages, and cheer Mr. Brady to the win!  Go Patriots!  

Happy Hour

So this is what you were thinking right??

Well that is not the happy hour I am talking about.  Although, I do thoroughly enjoy that one as well!  Some days it even comes way before 5...depends on the level of fussy ;)

This "happy hour" is completely different and it comes at a totally different time.  I call the first hour that Blakely is awake in the morning happy hour because that girl is so smiley and giggly that first hour.  I feed her first thing and then we talk, play, laugh, and kiss for a whole hour before we come upstairs and it is always my favorite part of the day.  I let her play in her crib for a little bit before I go in but then when she finally sees me she just lights up. It makes me feel so good!  

I have never been a morning person in my life but knowing I get to play with this sweet girl makes me look forward to 730 each morning.  Don't get me wrong, it is still hard to roll out of bed BUT once I see that pretty smile I forget how tired I am.    

This happy hour makes me feel like I am doing a good job as a mother.  I'm not sure why.  I guess because it is our special time together.  Even though we spend lots of time together during the day, this morning time is different.  It is just me and her, in our jammies, hanging out.  It's our little thing.  I like to think that she looks forward to happy hour as well :)

Sometimes we just snuggle...

Sometimes we giggle...

Sometimes we laugh...

Sometimes we smile at mommy's funny faces...

Sometimes we chew on our hands... (most of the time!)

Sometimes we just concentrate really hard on figuring it all out...

And on super awesome days we fall back to sleep!

Every night when I go to bed I can't wait to wake up and enjoy our happy hour together.  I love this sweet girl more than words can even express.....

It's everywhere....

Can you see what is wrong with this picture????

How about if you look a little closer...

Yes, my friends, that is shit.  And a whole lot of it.  

Blakely decided that going to Hobby Lobby with me and Aunt Sarah was the perfect time to release the load that she had been holding on to for days.  I could not agree with her any less....

The super fun part about this was that I didn't even know that it had happened.  We had been there over an hour when I noticed.  She was starting to get fussy so I picked up her giraffe and saw that.  Might have been why she was getting fussy?  I don't know...just a guess.  Poop turns to glue after an hour in case you were wondering.

So I took her to the car to change her and that is really when the shit hit the fan...errr the roof....

I had to change her with us both inside the car because it was FREEZING outside.  Normally I would have laid her down on the seat while I stood up outside but that was a no go.  So I was trying to squeeze her in between me and the car seat to do this.  Horrible idea I tell you...horrible.  

This pictures doesn't even really do it justice.  It was all the way up to her neck in the back.  When I took her shirt off she then had it in her hair.  There is only so much you can do with a travel case of wipes.  In the end she was still covered in shit, my back seat was covered in shit, and I was covered in shit as well.

But have no fear!  We continued our shopping trip!  We had to get some stuff done for the shower we are hosting next weekend.  Blakely was ok with that because she is starting to enjoy going places in her car seat.  She loves to look around.  Mommy was ok with that too because, ya know, being a mommy changes you.  I have no idea if Aunt Sarah was ok with it, it really didn't matter at that point ;)

Needless to say we all got a long hot soapy bath when we got home.   
I'm lying....Blakely got that and mommy got a quick and very cold wash cloth "bath"   :)

One Year Ago

One year ago today my sweet and precious Blakely Ann was created.  What a miracle!  I can't believe that was a year ago.  I wrote this post that day and this post the next day.  When I think back to how I was feeling that day I get very emotional.  I was so nervous because I wanted the egg retrieval to go well.  Everything up to that point had gone better than before so I was so hopeful yet so very scared.  If IVF #3 didn't work, I wasn't sure what we were going to do.  I tried not to think about that but it is hard not to think about your backup plan...your plan B.  We had been through so much in 2010....4 failed IUI's, 2 failed IVF's, and more heartbreak than I care to even think about.  I didn't know if we could keep going.....


Out of 19 eggs retrieved we got 6 embryos.  Four of those embryos made it to day three.  Two of those four were transferred in to me and the other two were frozen.  Out of the two that were transferred we got our Blakely!  WOW!  She was such a little fighter.  I remember from the day that I found out that I was pregnant until the day I gave birth to her I would tell her every night how proud of her that I was.  Proud that she kept growing, proud that she made it, proud that she was hanging on, proud to be her mommy.  I am still crazy proud of her.  I hope that one day she will be proud of me.  


So tonight I will snuggle my miracle a little tighter, hold her a little longer, kiss her until she falls asleep, and tell her over and over how happy she makes me...with blissful tears streaming down my face...

date night, bottles, and a milestone...

My honey took me on a date last night.  I can't even tell you how great it was!  I have decided we need to do this at least every other week.  We went out after we put Blakely to bed so I didn't have to worry about anyone giving her a bottle.  It was so nice to just hang out with Lonnie and talk and drink wine!  It had been so long and it made me feel so good.  Must do it again soon for mommy's sanity :)

Blakely did good while we were gone.  My aunt came over to watch her and to hang out with my mom.  She did wake up and cry about 45 minutes after I put her down.  Jenni rocked her and she eventually went back to sleep.  

She has been doing that lately...waking up screaming...what is the deal with that?  I don't think she is hungry although if I give her the boob she will eat, of course.  Also, the past two nights she woke up at 330 to eat.  I guess it is a growth spurt...

Last night when she woke up at 330 I was afraid to feed her.  I only had one cocktail and a glass of wine but still....I worry.  So I had Lonnie try to give her the bottle.  She took it like a champ and drank 4 ounces!!!!

She has been doing better with the bottle lately.  I can get her to take it with minimal screaming and Lonnie has given it to her the past three days with no screaming at all.  So now I just need other people to do it!  I think I am going to start having my mom give her one tomorrow.  She likes the tommee tippee the best so I am sticking with that.  That is good news because it has the least amount of parts to wash!  Yea!  I think it is just a matter of me being consistent with it.  I have to give her one every day.  

At first the only way she wouldn't scream at it was for me to speed walk in circles around my kitchen while bouncing her.  She would at least keep it in her mouth then, playing with it and chewing on it.  After about 30 minutes of this she would latch on.  I can't even tell you how sore my arm was after this.  I did this for about 5 days.  Then she started latching on sooner.  Then I would only have to speed walk until she latched on and then I could sit down.  Then after a few days of that I could get her to take it while she was in the bouncer.  I think the key is to keep her happy.  If she gets upset then there is no way she will take it.  You have to get/keep her calm to even have a chance.  We have made loads of progress and it is getting so much easier.  Thank goodness....

On another note, my girl is growing up so much!  She ROLLED OVER yesterday!!  I put her on her tummy for some tummy time and she just ducked her head and over she went.  Lonnie and I both saw it and we started clapping and yelling.  She was quite surprised but I'm not sure if it was from rolling over or from our reaction.  She did it two more times after that and we got it on video.  I can't believe she is growing up so much....I love it and it makes me sad all at the same time....

Totally random post but that's all I've got for a Sunday :)  Go Patriots!!!

Happy Birthday to my BLOG!

One year ago today, I started this blog.  What a fantastic idea that was!  I had been reading some infertility blogs for about a year before that and I thought starting my own would help me through my third IVF.  It was a place where I could vent, get support, and learn from others.  I had no idea how awesome starting this blog would be.  I have met so many great people that have helped me through the most life changing year of my life.


Over this one year my blog has changed a lot.  When I started it I was right in the middle of IVF number three so I blogged about that.  Once I got pregnant my blog changed into a pregnancy blog and I am so happy that I have all of my pregnancy stuff written down here.  Then I became a new mommy!  My blog is now about my little family.  I could have never imagined such a great year and I am so happy to have shared it with you guys!  


I really appreciate all of you who read and follow Candid Confessions of a Southern Princess.  You guys never cease to amaze me!  Y'all cheer me up when I'm down and encourage me when I'm doubting myself.  I really don't know what I would do without the support I have gotten through this blog.  I love being able to document my life here.  I wanted to be honest on this blog when I started it and not make my life always look like rainbows and butterflies because that would just be a huge lie!  I promise to keep on keepin' it real with you guys and I hope ya keep reading :)


By the way, I put a couple of tabs up at the top of my blog.  One is all about our journey to our sweet Blakely...what a long one it was!!  The other one is a list of all of my weekly Kelly Belly pregnancy updates.  I am working on a few more so be on the lookout for those.  


Love you all and Happy Friday!!!!!