Being a young mom means we met a little early, but I get to love them longer.


Here are some links to helpful posts I have done in the past :)

Learn about car seat safety HERE!

Need breastfeeding advice? Click HERE for lots of helpful tips!

Lilypie Fourth Birthday tickers

Lilypie Second Birthday tickers

Lilypie Breastfeeding tickers

Monday, May 31, 2010

Summer is here :)

Hopefully once it sinks in that this really is summer and not just another weekend some of my stress will disappear. Saturday we took Grace to 1890's Day. It's a little festival my town has every year to commemorate when the town was founded. There's music, kids rides, food, a parade, craft booths, raffles, and fireworks.. stuff like that. We took Grace to see her first parade, which I wasn't really sure what she would think, but she seemed to like it. We walked around for awhile and looked at all the stuff. I was hoping that I would find someone who made bows for babies, so I could get some cute ones for Grace, but I didn't.. oh well. We got some food.. it's just not a fair unless you get the food there. Grace ate applesauce and crackers though. After we ate we headed home with the intentions of going back to see the fireworks. On our way to the car we stopped and asked a woman at the information booth what time the fireworks would start and she told us 10:30. Well at 9:30 we heard something that suspiciously sounded like fireworks, so we walked out on the front porch and it was. The lady didn't know what she was talking about. We just hopped in the car and drove down the street where we could see them better. Grace was amazed at the colors, and the loud noise didn't bother her at all. It never does.

Then today Grace and I went to a cookout at Morgan's house. I'm not sure if I've talked about her son before or not, but his name is Christian and he was born about two months before Grace. They are about at the same developmental stage, except Grace can crawl and he can't, but grace still loves playing with him. They are just adorable to watch.. they babble back and forth, steal each others toys, and try to grab each other. At one point today Grace had turned with her back to Christian and he reached up and grab the back of her dress and pulled her down into his lap. He looked so proud and she looked incredibly annoyed. Grace was doing her best to show off, she would clap, smile, crawl, and she even pulled up on their little coffee table. She had so much fun there. She just adores playing with Christian.


Oh and just a side note.. I am extremely curious as to when the last study one teen pregnancy/parenting was done because at graduation there were 8 other teen moms besides me and 4 pregnant girls who graduated, and only 3 girls out of our class who were pregnant dropped out. That's way less than the 70% of teen moms who supposedly drop out of high school, even if you don't count the pregnant girls that's still only 3 out of 12 drop outs. It would have to be 6 out of 12 just to be 50%. I understand that it may be different in other areas, but our school has one of the top teen pregnancy rates in the state, and Georgia is in the top ten states with high teen pregnancy rates, so it seems that our school would be a pretty good representation. That's why I would like to see a recent study because the most recent one I could find was done in 1994.. a lot can change in a decade, let alone 16 years.

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Time to celebrate!!!

I am officially a high school graduate!! And I believe that all the stuff that happened in the last two days happened so that I was ready to leave because let me tell you, if they would have actually given us a diploma when we walked across the stage I would have walked across and just kept on going to the car. I am pretty sure that is probably why they hold them until after.
My principal told my dad and my grandmother in two separate conversations that they were not going to call out anyone's names and that everyone would be sitting in alphabetical order so that it was fair to everyone, and then what do they do? Yes they do put the honor students in alphabetical order, but not with the rest of the class.. they them just the honor students in their own alphabetical order on the front two rows and the rest of us in our own alphabetical order.. which that is not that bad they are honor students (however, Brittany I am pretty sure you are the only one I will ever be willing to speak to again), and then they begin to call out the honor students by order of rank and when they get to the tenth one the announcer says verbatim "These are the top ten students of the class of 2010." Not "the top ten HONOR students" just "THE top ten." Which is a blatant lie. I am sixth in the class and one of my friends was ninth, but she didn't have enough credits either. They intentionally left us out I guess in order to save themselves from embarrassment.. it is ridiculous, and on top of that for a person in a principals position to lie to get someones family to be quiet is just unethical and immature. My dad confronted her about it and she told him that he would have to take it up with the school board and she "was done talking with him." Which my dad and my grandmother are already planning to attend the next school board meeting. And then after graduation they couldn't find my diploma or Brittany's.. just ours.. the lady acted like I wasn't graduating because of it, then she found mine in another pile where it wasn't supposed to be. Unfortunately they didn't find Brittany's :(


And also at practice yesterday morning I was the one being blamed for everyone having to sit in alphabetical order. People were saying things like "Because she cried she got her way." No, I cried because I do not have a lot in life.. I am not the prettiest girl or the most popular, my family does not have a lot of money.. all I have is my ability to be a good mother, which no one at the school sees, and then my intelligence and what I had to show for my intelligence was ripped away from me. They were trying to act like because I wasn't an honor student I took all "easy classes." The only elective I ever took were nursing classes, which let me tell you are not easy, and early childhood education classes, which are not easy either, and everything else I took were core or honors classes. I even took an honors class on homebound. I had to teach myself with a new born baby to tend to, and I made a 97 in that class. In fact I made an A in every class I had while I was one homebound. Not many people can do that.
And then a girl who had a baby walked across the stage at practice and a girl in front of me said "didn't she have a baby." and the guy in front of her turned around and said "yea." and she goes "I can't even keep up with them anymore." and the guy turns back around and says "yea like ten of them exploded at once." and the girl laughed when he said that. To me that is very offensive and degrading.

Aside from all that my party was really fun! Got to see some family that I don't get to see a lot, and had a lot of fun catching up with everyone.
Also got over $450 dollars, and my grandmother gave me a beautiful ring that was hers. It has a gold band and a bunch of diamonds in the shape of a star. I love it, and I think that is the best gift I got. I have always wanted a "family ring" but I never thought she had any left. I just love it :)

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Very Angry!

I have never been ready to get out of high school, but I am now! Today we had graduation practice, and when I got there they put me on the front row because I am sixth in the class, and then after they have everyone sat down they come and tell me and another girl that we are going to have to sit in alphabetical order because they decided just to put the graduates with highest honors on the front rows, and not even recognize the top ten at all. I worked hard to be in the top ten of my class and now I am not even going to be recognized for it. I was so proud because everyone acted like they didn't think I would even graduate when they found out I was pregnant, and I was so proud to be able to say that I did better than just graduate. The graduates with highest honors get to wear a stole and a tassel to signify that they have honors and they also are going to have their names called out at graduation so they can stand up and be recognized, and they still get to sit on the front row. I understand that they have honors, but most of them have lower GPA's than I do. It's just not right that I do not even get recognized. I think they should at least call out the names of the top ten like they are calling out the names of the graduates with honors. It made me so upset that I was crying. I tried so hard not to but I just couldn't help it. I was so excited to be able to show how well I had done. I went to talk to my principal about it, and my counselor went with me, which by the way she was on my side, and when we walked up my principal goes "why is she crying? are you going to translate for me?" and when I explained it all she basically told me that it was my fault I didn't have honors classes and that I would just have to live with it, and that if I didn't sit where I was told she was going to put everyone in alphabetical order. Which honestly that is what is fair, but I don't want other people to be punished of me. The reason I didn't have honors is because I was home schooled before high school and because of that I had no official record of my grades, so they wouldn't let me take honors classes my freshman year because they didn't think I was even smart enough for high school itself. That messed up my ability to take other honors classes. I have taken some, but you had to have six to be a graduate with highest honors, and I didn't have enough. I don't know.. I am just ready to be done now. I am so glad graduation is tomorrow!

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

If you are not a teen mom you just can't understand.

Monday was the senior awards ceremony at my school. I received an award for excellence in my Algebra 3 class, and a medal for the Early Childhood Education career strand. After the ceremony was over Grace and I were invited to go eat with 10 of my friends from school. Grace had napped on the way there, but she got woke up and she was not happy. She was acting the worst she had ever acted in public, but she was just so tired she couldn't help it. When we were leaving a girl who is supposedly my friend told me that another girl who is supposedly my friend texted a girl across the table and said "why would you bring your whinny b*itch a** baby to eat with your friends?" and I did hear the girl say "That's mean" across the table back to her, but at the time I had no clue. I was extremely offended and angry when I heard this, how could anyone talk about a baby like that, and then for it to be my baby.. I was outraged! I kept saying "I think I'm going to say something to her." and the girl who told me kept saying "well you don't have any way to prove it so I wouldn't." Later when I got home I texted her and said "I don't appreciate me or my baby being talked about." and she replied saying that she didn't say anything bad about us, just that she didn't understand why someone would bring there baby on one of the last times they were going to get to hang out with their friends. I am not really sure who to believe. Either way one of my supposed friends is lying to me. Regardless of that, this experience shows just how much people don't understand what being a teen mom is like. I brought her because I am her mother and I want to spend every moment with her that I can. I have missed enough of her life through my school, and I have four years of college ahead of me. I brought her because I would rather miss out on a few laugh with my friends instead of possibly missing out on a major milestone, or just even a beautiful little smile. I brought her with me because I created her and she is my responsibility, not my mothers, a day cares, or a babysitters. I guess these people will not understand this until they have children of their own.

Speaking of milestones.. Grace got her first two teeth. The right, front, bottom tooth came in first on May 14th, 2010, and her left, front, bottom tooth came in second on May 22nd, 2010. And then just today she started clapping for the first time. She just did it by herself, and now every time she gets excited or I say "clap Grace!" she does it. It is adorable! And then just a few minutes ago she took off crawling across the kitchen! It is still a little uncoordinated, but she did it, and she hasn't stopped since. She is learning so fast!!

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Uncertainty...

So on Saturday Chris and I got into a huge fight that resulted in him leaving. He took his stuff and moved to his moms. At first I was sad, but then I started thinking about what was best for Grace and began to cope with it. We have remained friends and talked civilly. Once he called to talk to Grace and I put him on speaker phone.. as soon as she heard his voice the biggest smile appeared on her face, and she smiled and reached for the phone the whole time he was talking. It broke my heart to see her so happy to hear him, but not be able to see him. There was also several times where I caught myself watching TV and thinking "Chris and I can watch that together." and then remembering that we couldn't which made me sad as well. I just miss having my best friend to talk to and laugh with, but then I remember how easily the fun times turned into fights.
Once he texted me and asked if I still wanted him to come to my graduation. I told him it was up to him and he replied "Well it's important to you so it's important to me and I will be there." This meant a lot to me because he really never showed much interest so I didn't think he really cared. Then after he talked with Grace he texted me and said "I have an idea.. I think we should date again and see what happens." I told him I would talk to him about it in person, and today he came and picked us up for Grace's doctor's appointment. Which, she weighs 20lbs and 10oz, and is 28 and three fourths inches long, however at her nine month check up we will be determining if she needs a swallow study done or not because she may have dysphagia.
Anyway.. we talked a lot about anything and everything. On his own he told me that he is looking into taking some GED classes and that by the end of the summer he will have a place that we can afford that has two bedrooms and even has a community pool, and it is in GA! So I wouldn't have to lie about where I live for my financial aid for college (like his mom wanted me to). Speaking of his mom.. she started trying to tell me that I was only thinking of myself and that we needed to get back together and he got mad at his mom and stood up for me.. which NEVER happens. He also said that he will stop blowing our money, and talk to me before he does anything impulsive like he has been doing. He says that he wants to be back for his family and now that he has been thinking about it he sees how many sacrifices I have made for our family and that he will have to make some too. He also kept telling me how beautiful I looked and how he still loved me and Grace, and it was so adorable seeing Grace's face when she saw him... like a kid on Christmas Eve. All of this stuff shows me that I do want to be with him, but he has to stick to his promises.. which he hasn't been so great at. That is exactly why I am not completely getting back together with him. I do not want him thinking that every time we get in a fight he can just run out on us. We have agreed to just go on some dates and spend time together with Grace and see what happens. He will be staying at his moms. He said he would give us money if we needed it, but I really don't care about that. I just want him to take the steps to get on the right track so we can get our family back together. On the plus side we didn't fight at all today :)

Graduating in 3 days!!!

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Class Night.

So Thursday was my official last day of high school. It was kind of a sad time, but kind of a happy time as well. Yesterday was class night, and like I said before I knew I was getting one scholarship, but to my surprise I got another one as well.It was the Johnny O'Keefe Memorial Scholarship. Honestly it was one of the first ones I turned in, and I don't remember what the essay was about, but it is for $1000! So I got $1500 all together. I thought that was pretty awesome until they announced that our Valedictorian got a $219,000 scholarship to Harvard! Holy Cow!!!!!!! She is amazingly smart, but I never realized just how smart she was.
However, I am still happy with the amount I received. It will help me out very much, and anything is better than nothing! I'm excited about the rest of the week. The only thing I'm not excited about is Grace's six month check up.. she has to get more immunizations :(
The rest of the week will be amazing though!

Monday, May 17, 2010

School is ending..

I have two half days left.. tomorrow and Thursday (I don't have to go Wednesday), and I'm not really sure what to think. I am excited about being off for the summer, but then I start college, which I am a little apprehensive about. Aside from that I have two very busy weeks ahead of me. My best friend at school, Megan's, birthday party is tomorrow, and I am taking Grace. It is just going to a restaurant, not a real party or anything. Then on Wednesday I have to go get shoes for graduation, and the parent meeting is on Wednesday too, which I'm pretty sure only a few people are coming to, but it will still be fun. Then Thursday is a my last official day of school. As now I have nothing else Thursday, but then Friday is practice for class night at 9:00 am and then that night is class night, which stinks because I have to miss work, but I am going to find out if I am getting anymore scholarships, so that will be good. Then on Sunday I have the baccalaureate service. Then Monday is the senior breakfast and award ceremony. Tuesday I have a free day, but then Wednesday all the seniors are going to the movies. Then Thursday I have practice for graduation, and after that I am going to go get my nails done as my graduation present to myself. Then, again Friday we have practice for graduation, and then graduation is Friday night!! And my family is throwing me a graduation party after graduation, which I am really excited for,.but I am also helping to plan it, which is even more to do. I love that kind of party! But I am really just waiting for all of this business to be over. It seems like I don't even have time to breathe.. let alone spend time with Grace. I am definitely looking forward to summer.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

I received a scholarship!!

I received a scholarship from the Catoosa Retired Educators Fund. As I have talked about before I want to be a teacher, and for this scholarship you had to write about what impact you would make as a teacher. There are three high schools in my area, and only one person from each school received their scholarship. I was the only person at my school! It feels amazing to know that I have the ability to write an essay that awards me with a scholarship. I went to a luncheon where I was awarded a certificate, and above is a picture of me with the two ladies who chose me :)

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Mother's Day :)

My first Mother's Day was this past Sunday. Chris gave me a really nice pair of sunglasses and the movie "The Blind Side" and "Grace" gave me a necklace that has a woman holding a child's hands inside of a heart, and matching heart earrings. They were beautiful! I also received a First Mother's Day card and a dancing exercise DVD from my mom, as well as a card and a gift card to Kohl's from Chris' mom.
Grace, my sister, and I gave my mom her present, which she loved. Then, Chris and Grace and I went out to eat and then we went to Chris' mom's house. We spent some time over there and then Chris' mom offered to watch Grace while we went to look for my graduation dress. Chris doesn't usually like to go shopping with me, but he went without a word this time, and we found the perfect dress! We were only gone for about an hour and then we went back to his mom's house and ate dinner. She even cooked something I would actually eat this time! After we ate dinner we went home and spent time as our own little family. It was a great first Mother's Day! Now I am just looking forward to the handmade gifts I will get from Grace as she gets older :)

Saturday, May 8, 2010

My next baby..

I have determined when I want to have another baby. Chris and I took Grace and my sister, Cheyenne, to the store to pick out a present for our mother for mother's day. Cheyenne is four years old, and I figured it would be hard to handle two kids.. especially my sister because she can be rather bratty sometimes. We went to the store and she stayed right with me while I pushed Grace in her stroller. We picked out what we wanted for our mom and left with no problem. Then Chris took us to eat. I figured that would be chaotic, but Cheyenne fed herself while we tended to Grace.. she got up a couple of times, but we just told her to sit down and eat and all was fine. Then we dropped Chris off at his friends house and I took Grace and Cheyenne to the park.On the way to the park Grace started crying and Cheyenne held her bottle in her mouth for her so she would be happy. When we got to the park Cheyenne ran and played with whoever she could find while Grace and I sat on the side and watched. Also Cheyenne can go to the potty on her own, which my philosophy has always been that I will not have another child until the first one was out of diapers. And also if I wait until Grace is four to have another one I will be out of college, which works out perfectly!
I just loved how Cheyenne could do things for herself, and I could tend to Grace. And Cheyenne is at the age where she can help out with Grace. I wanted to wait to have another one until I was out of college, but I was afraid that would be too much of an age difference.. now I see that if I have another one right around the time I get out of college it will be perfect timing.
Chris and I both want a boy, but we will be happy with whatever God gives us :)

My fiance :)

Our relationship is growing so much. We had a rough patch after his grandfather died because his grief came out as anger. That is just the way he has always handled things like this. As a matter of fact I knew it would be tough on us after he died because I knew how he would react, but we are finally back to normal.. better than normal actually! We had a long talk a couple of weeks ago, and things have been getting better ever since! He has been so sweet lately. He tells me he loves me and kisses me every night before we go to bed. He asks me how my day went or how I'm feeling. He is being such an amazing, loving father. It is awesome to see! But the best thing happened Thursday.. Chris has never been a spontaneous when it comes to our relationship, but on Thursday he had been at his moms house all day, and he called me and he told me to get Grace and me ready to go, and he wouldn't tell me where we were going. We drove to his mom's house and he had already arranged for her to watch Grace. After we dropped her off he took me to the movies. It was so nice of him. Of course we both missed Grace though, so after the movie was over we went and picked her up, and he took us to dinner at Olive Garden, which is my favorite restaurant. We usually go to fast food restaurants, so it was really nice of him to take us there! It was just a nice day all around. I had a great time!

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Next parent meeting!

It's going to be on the 19th of this month! I can't wait! We're going to the mall play place again. Hopefully some more people will come this time. I've had at least one tell me she will, so yay!

Next month we are going to do it at the pool. I think that will be so much better for all of us. Even the little babies like Grace can enjoy it, plus the moms can have some fun too. It would be there this month, but they aren't open yet :(
I am definitely looking forward to that meeting. I think a lot of girls will come to that one because it is close to where most of us live and inexpensive :)
That meeting will be so fun!