He asked...I said, "Yes"

Well, it finally happened!! On August 19, 2010 Darin decided to pop the question!! I have known for a while that he was looking at rings, but I had no idea it was going to happen when it did. It's a BEAUTIFUL ring, but even more importantly, he's a wonderful man and an even better father; and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with him!! **I love you with all my heart, Darin; and can't wait to call myself your "wife"!! XOXOXO...**

Blessings Upon Blessings

Wow!! It's been a while since I last posted and a lot of things have happened since then!! My last post was informing everyone that Darin and I were expecting!! In November we moved out of our little 2 bedroom apartment and purchased a home that is a little bigger and would better accomodate our growing family. We now have 3 bedrooms, 2 full baths, a kitchen, living room, laundry room, and a fenced in backyard. Ethan is absolutely LOVING all the room (both inside and out!!). In December we found out that we would be welcoming another baby BOY into our home. We were all very excited and began planning for our new little addition. On January 21st, my "baby boy" turned 2 years old. We had him a little party here at the house with a few of our family members. He had become very interested in "Thomas The Train", therefore his party was done in "Thomas". After Ethan's birthday/party, things pretty much settled down for a while until the end of March which is when the baby shower had been planned for. Darin's sisters, Tonya and Shawna, put the shower together and everything turned out really nice. It was a fun time of fellowship with family and yummy food!! After the shower, the countdown began...I had several false alarms through April and every time I went to the ER, I was hooked up to monitors and sent home to wait a little longer. Finally around week 38, my doctor decided that if I made it to 39 weeks with no progress, he would induce me; so on May 4, 2010 at 4:57 p.m. Darin, Ethan and I welcomed little Devan Wayne into our arms, hearts, and home!! He made his debut weighing in at 8 pounds 11 ounces and was 20 1/4 inches long. Four days after his birth, we went back to the pediatrician for his 4 day checkup and found out that his jaundice levels had hit almost 20 and his weight had dropped significantly. We were sent back to the hospital where they hooked him up to an IV, and gave him his own little tanning bed (complete with sunglasses) to lay in for the next 24-48 hours. His levels began to drop and we were sent home on the Monday after Mother's Day. Since then, we've hit a couple of speed bumps concerning his weight, but with a little dedication and patience, we have been able to overcome those speed bumps and keep moving at full speed ahead. About 3 weeks after Devan's birth, Darin and I celebrated being together for a year!! We've been through many obstacles over that year, but we've overcome it all!! There is no one that I would have rather went through any of it with. I love him more with each passing day and can't wait to see where the future will take us!! 7 weeks after giving birth to Devan, while doing my nightly run/walk, I began to have a pain on the left side of my belly. As the night went on, I became very nauseous and eventually the pain moved from the left to the right. By the next morning, I could stand it no longer and had Darin run me to the Thomasville Medical Center ER. By 10 a.m. they confirmed that I indeed had the early stages of appendicitis and would need to go into surgery to have it removed. By 2 p.m. I was wheeled into surgery and was told in recovery that had I waited any longer, I would have been "one sick little girl". The enflamed appendix had already began to leak and was gangreen. I stayed 24 hours on powerful antibiotics and then was sent home with antibiotics to continue at home. I'm just thankful that things weren't worse!! God has been so good to me and my little family!! Some things ove the past year have been difficult to overcome, others have been extrememly joyous!! Nevertheless, it's all been blessing upon blessing!!

Our 2nd Blessing

Yes, it's true!! Our family of 3 will soon be a family of 4!! Darin and I found out about 2 weeks ago that we are pregnant. At this point, we aren't exactly sure how far along we are. When I went for my pregnancy test and they were asking about my last period, they decided that I am probably further along than I thought I was. When I took the pregnancy test, I had just missed my first period so I was assuming that I would have been 5 weeks the following Sunday. But when I told them that my last period was not even a full day long (where it is usually 3-4 days long), they decided that the last one was just a spotting and I was about a month further along than I originally thought; so that put me at 9 weeks instead of 5. I said, "I'll take it!!" It makes for such a llooooonng pregnancy when you find out at 4 weeks!! I have an appointment for the 28th of September. I know I will get my physical that day and I am hoping for an ultrasound to find out EXACTLY how far along I am. As of now, my due date is April 10, 2010. Darin and I both are VERY excited about this new addition. We both know that people are going to look down on us and talk about us because of our living situation and the fact that this child has been concieved out of wedlock. It's not going to bring us down though!! In less than 7 months, we are going to have another baby and Ethan is going to have a little brother or sister!! A baby that we are already falling deeply in love with!!! :-)

"Happy Birthday, Daddy!!!"

Yesterday was Daddy's birthday and to celebrate we all went out to Casa Grande. While we were there, one of the boys filled one the waiters in on why we were there. The video at the end of this post is of all the waiters singing "Happy Birthday" to him. It was too funny not to share. After Casa Grande we all ran down to Sam's Club to pick up a few things and then all headed back home for some cake. Daddy loves the ice cream cakes so Darin and I picked one up while we were doing our birthday shopping earlier. He had no clue that we got him a cake and I think it was a pleasant surprise for him! Of course, we couldn't go easy on him...we loaded that cake down with 44 candles and made him blow out every one of them!!! LOL.

Hope you had a GREAT birthday, Daddy!! You deserved it!! You're the best and I love you with all my heart!! Love, Shan

"Yue Yights"

I just had to share this with everyone!! Because of Darin working for the Rowan County Sherriff's Dept and being Chief of the East Spencer Fire Dept, Ethan has become FASCINATED with "Cop Cars" and "Fire Trucks". He loves to explore the "cop car" and if Darin is going to the Fire Dept you can bet Ethan won't be far behind him. LoL. Every day that Darin has to work, Ethan is right on his tail, following him around the house while he gets ready. (He can't get over the fact that "Ewin" wears the same clothes to "Wurk" as Pee-Paw.) We've kinda started a little tradition and I've been wanting to take a little video clip of it to share with everyone. I didn't get as good of a clip as I would have liked, but I think you'll get the idea. Ethan walks Darin to his car every day that he works night shift & before Darin leaves, he will always turn the "Yue Yights" on for him. Ethan gets so excited that he can hardly contain himself. Usually, he gets really bouncy and those little arms get to swingin'!! He turns to me and hollars "Yue Yights!! Yue Yights!!". He walks up the grill of the car everytime and tries to stick his little fingers through to touch the lights, then he'll go to the corners and stick his little nose up to the flashing light. Today, he got so excited, he climbed on his little park bench in the flower bed. I had to cut the clip short cause he got so excited about the lights that he took off around the car to inform Darin that the "yue yights" were on and he fell down. Needless to say, it didn't stop him for long. He jumped right back up and took off to Darin..."Yue Yights, Yue Yights!!" I managed to get a couple of pics of the two of them after he climbed in on Darin's lap. Ethan has fallen in love with Darin and quite honestly, I think he's getting to where he prefers Darin over mommy the majority of the time!! I have so enjoyed watching the two of them bond and I hope that the bond that is forming will last many many years!!

(For some reason, my pictures and the video were downloaded backwards. I worked on this for about an hour and couldn't figure out how to reverse it. I'm sure you get the idea though. LoL)

"Splish-Splash"

Within the last week or so, Ethan has figured out how to turn the water in the tub on and off. I have really had to keep my "ears" open for that little "boom" (which would be Ethan falling headfirst into the tub). This morning, I was folding laundry and heard the boom and then the water started running. When I walked around the corner, the bathroom was completely dark and this is what I found. Of course, I had to grab my camera!! He had so much fun!! He was "swimming" all around that tub!! By the time he decided to get out, his diaper was, needless to say, OVERLOADED!! When I went to take his onesie off to get him dried off, the absorbant gel was oozing out of the top of his diaper!! I had a good laugh watching him "swim" around the tub and couldn't resist sharing some of the pics!!

"As Long As I Have You..."

Wow!! Alot has happened since my last post....Father's Day, Birthdays, Ethan's 1st haircut, July Fourth!! But one thing most of you may not know is that I am dating again!! As of May 23rd, I have the best boyfriend a girl could ask for!! Darin and I have known each other since I was about 5 years old, but life lead us both in different directions. We reconnected on Facebook and it's been downhill from there!! And not only did I fall head over heels in love with him, but Ethan has fallen in love with him as well. I couldn't ask for a better relationship between the two of them at this point!! Today he had to run to the Fire Deptartment and to get his haircut; and when he got home he had a dozen roses and one of the sweetest cards I've ever seen!! It's been so long since I've been with someone that cared enough to do something like that for me and I just couldn't resist sharing a few pictures of my beautiful roses!!! ;-)

Darin, Thank you so much for the beautiful roses and for changing mine and Ethan's lives so much over the past 2 months!! I love you more than words can express and as the card said, "As long as I have you" I truly feel like we will be able to get through anything!! I can't wait to see where this path will lead us!! I love you!! XOXO!!!