6 months later...

Anyone that has been a follower of my blog for awhile knows that I live in a town that was completely destroyed by the April 27, 2011 tornadoes. It's a day that I will never forget and a day no one in Alabama will ever forget. I wanna walk y'all thru my day of the storm.

I woke up at 5 am for my last day of college for that semester. I go to a college that is 45 mins away and it was already storming really bad but I had finals and knew I needed to still go. As I was driving to school the tornado sirens started going off, I called my mom and she said to pull over and lay in the floor in my backseat and to cover myself with as much stuff as I could find. I laid there for about 15 minutes until my mom called and told me it was clear but I may struggle getting to school because a tornado hit a town about 15 mins from my school but school was not cancelled or delayed yet.  Once I got there at 7 am the whole campus was already without power due to power line poles being knocked down due to the wind. About 5 mins into giving my speech final in the dark the sirens went off once again, we were sent into the hallways and then sent home. I drove yet another 45 minutes to make it home. I was caught behind a horrible wreck that killed 2 people, little did I know my day had just begun. I went to the high school to pick up my little brother and finally we were home for good that day. My mom was sent home from work and my sister, nephew and her husband came to stay with us for the day because her house isnt that stable and we were worried about the wind. We watched the news all day and kept hearing of the tornadoes all over Alabama and so far we were lucky. About 4pm, the power went out and cell phone service was completely down also. We sat in my mom's car in the garage to listen to the weather on the radio of a news station that was broadcasting. They said power was out in the whole Northern Alabama due to a tornado hitting a major power plant. About 6 pm our county received a tornado warning and the sirens went off. Me, my mom and little brother got in one bathtub and my sister, nephew and brother in law got in another and we were all covered with mattresses and blankets. We were freaking out because my dad was still not home from work. About 5 minutes into the warning my dad starts beating on the door and we open it up. Just as we did that, we saw the tornado touch down about 3 miles up the road. Even with it being that far away we could still see flying debris, and it felt like we had the wind knocked out of us. Once the warning was over we drove to my sister's house to check on it. We didn't even make it 3 minutes and we were already stopped due to power line poles laying in the road, huge 100 year old trees in the road. We saw so many houses, cars and chicken houses completely flattened. We got out and walked and noticed that my sister's road was deveasted. Luckily, the tornado stopped 3 houses down from hers and her house only suffered minor damage. This was in Fyffe. Once we saw everything was okay there we drove to Rainsville to check on some people from our church. That's where everything really sank in. Rainsville was gone, it seemed like nothing was left and all we could do was cry. We went back to my sister's house and helped people in her neighborhood clean up. Once it got dark we all went home. We still had no power and went 4 days without it. We started picking up cell phone service and I finally got to talk to Justin and he said no tornado had touched down there but he was on his way to our house in the morning to help clean up around here. We learned of over 40 deaths in my county. We are slowly but surely picking up the pieces.

blessing in hidding...

I got a phone call from work yesterday asking me if I would be willing to come in 5 hours today and train in Pharmacy! I'm suppose to be on bed rest but it is only a 5 hour shift, they get to sit down the whole time and it's so much less stressful for me. So, of course I was so pleased to say yes!!!

I've been praying to God that he would allow me an chance at a job that would still pay great but be much easier on my body and less stressful and I feel like that prayer has been answered!!

You may be wondering how is a job at Kmart stressful? Well, I work at the Service Desk therefore, I deal with returns and exchanges, Western Union, angry customers, answering the phone and answering dumb questions. I loved this job before I got pregnant but now I work anywhere from 9-12 hour shifts where I am only allowed to sit down for an hour on my lunch. It causes many dizzy spells, many hunger strikes, and many vomit attacks due to an empty stomach. Most days I get there at 6 in the morning and if I close I don't leave till 10 at night. Well, with Christmas Holiday coming up we now have to be there from 4 in the morning till midnight. (shifts vary from 4am-3pm and 1pm-12:30 am) which makes for a very tired preggo.

I love my job but the position in pharmacy would be amazing for me! They are gonna train me back there and if it is reasonable to move me from Service Desk to Pharmacy Kmart will pay for me to get my pharmacy tech license. So please please please pray it all works out for me! Thanks guys! Have a great Wednesday! :)

one of my all time favorite pictures of me and kayden when he was only 1 month old. He loved to lay on my chest and sleep. He is becoming quite the Auntie's boy again and always wants to be around me and for me to be playing with him. It makes me smile so much to have him in my life and he will be a wonderful big cousin! :)

13 weeks :)

I am going to do this survey every week from here on out.  As of right now, my official due date is April 30 - making my week "changes" every Monday. I don't have a current picture yet. It's just crazy to me how I'm already showing!!

How Far Along: 13 weeks

Total Weight Gain: 3 pounds, which is amazing seeing as at the beginning I was struggling with weight gain due to horrible all day sickness.

Maternity Clothes: Some. I just went up a shirt size and I had some old jeans stored up that I pulled out. I put a hairbow around the button to make them stretch more lol. I feel within a week or so I wont be able to do that anymore.

Stretch Marks: None so far.

Best Moment this Week: Turning 13 weeks and having Justin kiss my belly everytime he sees me. He is so excited :)

Movement: None that I can feel

Food Cravings: Chewy Candy and Turkey and Dressing. Yum Yum!

Labor Signs: No - and I hope to keep it that way for a while

Belly Button Innie or Outtie: Still an Innie.

What are You Looking Forward to this Week: Nothing special is happening this week. But I'm always so excited to be able to read about what new things my blessing is doing inside mommy's belly :)

Side Note: I have been placed out of work for a week. I can return Friday. Nothing too serious, but due to extreme vomiting I became dehydrated and also have a pulled ligament. The doctor just thinks it is safe to relax and allow my body to heal back since I work 11 hour shifts now that it's so close to Black Friday.

forever trusting him...

I have been praying to God for so much strength and guidance and I know God has given it to me. I am a strong believer in prayer will solve all things. Any problem you have, bring it to God because he is so strong and mighty that no thing is to small for him.

When I was reading my bible the other day, I came across this verse.
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go, I will counsel you and watch over you.
Psalm 32:8

I truly believe this is my "pregnancy and motherhood verse" therefore, I am making it something I will say to myself daily. To me, it is saying, I will show you the healthy way to have a safe pregnancy, I will show you the right way to have a Christian pregnancy. I will show you the right way to raise your baby so they will follow in his footsteps also. That he is always watching over me and making sure I am safe.

It is wonderful to me to have this to go by. Did anyone else have a pregnancy verse???

One of my all time favorite pictures of Kayden. This is when he was one day old. He has showed me that a God does exist and there is not a day that goes by that he does put a smile on my face with all his sweet things.

God Bless! :)

struggling...

i hate writing this. it's hard for me to admit but i know it's the first step to asking God for any forgiveness. i have been struggling with my faith alot here lately.
i know what you're thinking... how can anyone who is blessed enough to be pregnant with God's blessing be struggling with their faith but that's just it. I'm afraid that because I got pregnant out off wedlock then I'm forever a sinner in his eyes. I understand that what I done to get pregnant was the sin and that God would have not blessed me with a baby if that was the case of being "forever a sinner". I realize that now. I realize now after much praying and crying over this that God is a forgiving God. God is so wonderful that he still loves a sinner like me. I want nothing but the best for my child and I want them to grow up in a strong Christian family just like I have. That's why I'm glad, my struggle is over.

I know what I done was wrong but I sincerely meant it when I asked God for forgiveness and he always answers. I know he answered when I got on blogger that day and read two really powerful post on forgiveness. How amazing is my God for allowing those blogs to be posted when I needed it the most?
Why did I post this? To ask for prayers to keep strengthening my faith. To show that every Christian struggles at some point. We are not perfect, just forgiven. I know how wonderful my God is and I will forever praise him. I am so thankful for this baby he has blessed me and Justin with. This is how I know a God exist. Over the past few days, I honestly believe my faith has strengthened majorly because of the struggle I let the devil put me thru and that is no more. All I ask is that you please pray for me and the baby. Pray for strength for me and a healthily journey for the baby. Thank you for sticking thru this jumbled up mess if you made it this far. God Bless You :)

One Year of Bliss...

Saturday, me and Justin celebrated one year together :) we did not take any pictures because Ive been pretty sick here lately and just wasnt up for any. We went to olive garden then to a bonfire with our friends while we watching Alabama kick some booty! ROLL TIDE! :)

It's been one of the best years of my life and I wouldn't change it for anything. He knows exactly how to make me smile and he is so wonderful with Kayden which makes him so much better :)

but I decided since we didnt take any pictures I'd upload the ones we have had made over the year.

but first, thought i'd tell everyone... I'm 11 weeks pregnant today! :)

catching up {picture style}



our sweet baby :)

our baby at 10 weeks :)

heartbeat was 176 :)