2008 in a nutshell. a very large nutshell.
-January 1st, 2008:rang in the 2008 new year with my soul mate. He kissed me and said he'd never leave my side.
-Either late 2007 or Very Early 2008: Ivan starts his job as a teacher at sunset. He starts as the ESE math teacher... he absolutely hates it. At some point he changes classes and teaches regular and honors geometry.
-Valentine's day 2008: I surprised Ivan with a lunch at Flannigan's. I had a huge beer and a Mahi Mahi Sandwich. yum!
-February 15th, 2008 (the day AFTER valentine's day): I found out I was pregnant. Went to the doctors to get my birth control pills... ended up leaving with a fetus in my uterus. go figure. Wondered if i should've had that giant beer and mahi mahi sandwich. hrm. Ivan gets down on one knee by the lake in bent tree and asks me to marry him. There's no ring, but the look on his face was worth more than any diamond in the universe. Ivan goes to EVERY doctor's appointment and ultrasound with me. He didn't miss even one. i love him.
-February 17th, 2008: I told my parents that I was pregnant and that I wanted to marry Ivan. They didn't react so great at first... but my dad has since apologized for freaking out. He says he's proud of me for going against what they were suggesting and staying with my convictions. He also said that he wouldn't want his or my life any other way. He loves Ivan like he loves his sons.
-Late February '08: Ivan's grandfather dies traumatically while we were watching TV downstairs. There was so much blood that the paramedics called the cops, thinking that we shot and killed the poor man. He was suffering from an advanced stage of lung cancer and started to cough up blood when he passed out and fell. He died in Ivan's arms. We were detained by the cops from 9pm until 3 in the morning. We were all in separate cop cars being questioned individually. Only after midnight was i allowed to get out from the back of the cop car and herded back into the house. i ran to Ivan barefoot as soon as he let me out of the cop car. Both Alex and Ivan were a mess. Ivan's Dad was visibly shaken too, but tried to play it off. Silvia was angry and went temporarily insane. Jorge, Isa and the kids came over. So did miguelito and yolanda. I don't want to go through that ever again. Ivan ended up spending the rest of the night on my parents couch.
-Spring Semester '08: My last semester at UM was certainly a grueling one. Just thinking about it gets me nauseous - My first trimester was a period of consistent seasickness. yuck. I was planning a wedding, trying to pass classes, trying to finish projects, trying to graduate, dealing with my pregnancy. ugh. everything was changing - for the better, yes, but i'll always remember that time as one of the most trying times of my life. Ivan helped me out more than once on my projects. And late night panic attacks.
-March '08: Panama Canal trip. LAME. had to take it to graduate. i was NOT about to jeopardize my job with Turner because of ONE lame credit. I was nauseous the entire trip. Not to mention sick of the college thing. everyone went out every night partying and drinking. I spent most nights curled up in bed chatting online with Ivan. I vowed to myself that i'd never voluntarily be apart from him again for this long unless my job or life depended on it.
-May 9th, 2008: I graduated from college with a Bachelor's Degree in Architectural Engineering. You can't imagine the GIANT sigh of relief that came out of me when i saw my parents after the ceremony. It involved tears of joy. It was finally over. 5 years of hard work and so many trials of strength. 6 semesters of Physics. omg. never again. the irony? I married a physics teacher!
-May 11th, 2008: My first mother's day.
-May 31st, 2008: Our Wedding day. There are no words to describe my euphoria. The pictures of me walking down the aisle tell another story (i looked like a deer in headlights i was so nervous) - but i assure you that as soon as i found ivan, and focused only on him, i relaxed immensely. The reception was one of the most enjoyable times of my life. We were so tired after the reception that i passed out still in my wedding gown in our hotel room - and ivan in his tux. "oh yeah... our bag is still at the house... crap." Waiting for the tiny black scion in my big wedding dress out in front of the hotel. being stared at. trying to get into said tiny black scion with said giant dress. the laughs, the tears, the first dance with ivan, the last dance with daddy... kirsten's speech heard 'round the world (sorry kir, i had to bring it up). The photography session after the wedding and before the reception. getting HOME to our house and crawling out of my wedding dress. omg, it was so heavy. taking a five minute nap curled up in our bed. going to my parents house where the party was still pumping (the formal reception ended at 8pm - this was at 9:30pm)and saying hi. They were all so completely blasted. I stayed sober the whole time. I was 3 months pregnant! OMG, the swarovski crystal champagne flutes i splurged on. $300!!! After we got back to the hotel, we were so tired. we passed out. Woke up at 6am the next morning... ordered room service. Ivan had the best steak and eggs ever. my french toast was awesome, too. we spend the rest of the day lazing about in our hotel room - watching TV. We have yet to go on our honeymoon. This summer...
-June 2nd, 2008: 2 days after our wedding - I start working for Turner Construction. As i predicted, i absolutely love my job.
-June'08: They tell ivan that there's no position for him next year. As of that time, he was out of a job come august. He works at the CAP office for the rest of the summer.
-June 15th, 2008: Ivan's first father's day. My HAPPY FATHER'S DAY! cake. like he can do it better. pfft.
-Summer sometime: Ivan's Meatloaf. I will never let him live that one down. EVER. "...sweetie, what are you doing?" "The recipe says to mix all the ingredients together..." "...yes, sweetie. IN A BOWL! Not on the counter!" The eggs spilling all over the counter... The Meatloaf Parmesean Eclair. He's mastered the recipe now. And how to use a bowl correctly. Carry the 2.
-4th of July: We have a barbeque at our house. "Eso hipo no es de borracho!" It was a fun time had by all.
-July 18th, 2008: I turn 23 years old.
-August, September 2008: regular months that churn on by. I get used to married life and my career. getting ready for the baby. painting annie's room. the ultrasounds. Ivan starts as the AP and honors Physics teacher at Sunset. He loves his job.
-September 28th, 2008: Isa throws a magnificent baby shower for me.
-October 2008: The most anxious month of my LIFE. At one point i sneezed too hard and peed my pants. only i thought my water broke. HAHA. we went to the hospital and were sent home. Safinski tells me in my 39th week of pregnancy that he wants to induce me in 4 days. the day before im to be induced, he pushes it back one more day. i was furious. but okay with it.
-October 21st, 2008: I don't sleep. at all. having contractions too!
-October 22nd, 2008: We get to the hospital at 7am and wait until 8:30 to get into the labor and delivery room. at 9am my doctor breaks my bag of water and almost immediately i start having contractions. think of the worst period cramps of your life. multiply that by 1,000. 15 minutes after he breaks my water, he starts me on pitocin. the cramps get even worse. there's no time between them so i ask the nurse for some sort of pain killer. she gives me stadol. a narcotic. i hallucinate - but somehow, it makes me focus more and forget about the pain. it helps me breathe. the stadol wears off and an hour and a half of excrutiating pain with no medication, im at 8cm and 100% effaced. still high. i cave - i take the epidural. OMG. what a relief. i can't feel or control my lower half, but the pain is gone. completely. an hour later, annie is born at 2:17pm. 8 pushes. All in all, it took almost exactly 5 hours. i reacted TOO well to the pitocin. next time, no pitocin. jesus. i remember the first time i held her... when doctor safinski said to look down and say hello... he puts her on my chest, covered in slime and blood, but beautiful. she was red in the face screaming... but i remember how warm she was... and how surreal it was to hold the baby i dreamt about in my arms. feeling her face against mine... omg. what a beautiful moment. i'll never forget that.
-October 31st, 2008: Annie goes trick or treating for the first time dressed up as a cow. she slept the entire time wrapped up and in my arms.
-November 7th, 2008: A year that i've been with Ivan.
-November 27th, 2008: Annie's first Thanksgiving. It was spent at my parents house with the whole family. one of the nicest thanksgivings ever. She slept through most of it.
-November, December: Annie's starting to develop into a tiny person. She's starting to sleep through the night and smiles and laughs. Ivan and I are ridiculously addicted to Peppermint White Chocolate Mochas. So much so that we know the barista by name. He asks how the baby's doing. jesus christ, we have a problem.
...does 2008 have to end?? on to bigger and better times! i love my life.
-Either late 2007 or Very Early 2008: Ivan starts his job as a teacher at sunset. He starts as the ESE math teacher... he absolutely hates it. At some point he changes classes and teaches regular and honors geometry.
-Valentine's day 2008: I surprised Ivan with a lunch at Flannigan's. I had a huge beer and a Mahi Mahi Sandwich. yum!
-February 15th, 2008 (the day AFTER valentine's day): I found out I was pregnant. Went to the doctors to get my birth control pills... ended up leaving with a fetus in my uterus. go figure. Wondered if i should've had that giant beer and mahi mahi sandwich. hrm. Ivan gets down on one knee by the lake in bent tree and asks me to marry him. There's no ring, but the look on his face was worth more than any diamond in the universe. Ivan goes to EVERY doctor's appointment and ultrasound with me. He didn't miss even one. i love him.
-February 17th, 2008: I told my parents that I was pregnant and that I wanted to marry Ivan. They didn't react so great at first... but my dad has since apologized for freaking out. He says he's proud of me for going against what they were suggesting and staying with my convictions. He also said that he wouldn't want his or my life any other way. He loves Ivan like he loves his sons.
-Late February '08: Ivan's grandfather dies traumatically while we were watching TV downstairs. There was so much blood that the paramedics called the cops, thinking that we shot and killed the poor man. He was suffering from an advanced stage of lung cancer and started to cough up blood when he passed out and fell. He died in Ivan's arms. We were detained by the cops from 9pm until 3 in the morning. We were all in separate cop cars being questioned individually. Only after midnight was i allowed to get out from the back of the cop car and herded back into the house. i ran to Ivan barefoot as soon as he let me out of the cop car. Both Alex and Ivan were a mess. Ivan's Dad was visibly shaken too, but tried to play it off. Silvia was angry and went temporarily insane. Jorge, Isa and the kids came over. So did miguelito and yolanda. I don't want to go through that ever again. Ivan ended up spending the rest of the night on my parents couch.
-Spring Semester '08: My last semester at UM was certainly a grueling one. Just thinking about it gets me nauseous - My first trimester was a period of consistent seasickness. yuck. I was planning a wedding, trying to pass classes, trying to finish projects, trying to graduate, dealing with my pregnancy. ugh. everything was changing - for the better, yes, but i'll always remember that time as one of the most trying times of my life. Ivan helped me out more than once on my projects. And late night panic attacks.
-March '08: Panama Canal trip. LAME. had to take it to graduate. i was NOT about to jeopardize my job with Turner because of ONE lame credit. I was nauseous the entire trip. Not to mention sick of the college thing. everyone went out every night partying and drinking. I spent most nights curled up in bed chatting online with Ivan. I vowed to myself that i'd never voluntarily be apart from him again for this long unless my job or life depended on it.
-May 9th, 2008: I graduated from college with a Bachelor's Degree in Architectural Engineering. You can't imagine the GIANT sigh of relief that came out of me when i saw my parents after the ceremony. It involved tears of joy. It was finally over. 5 years of hard work and so many trials of strength. 6 semesters of Physics. omg. never again. the irony? I married a physics teacher!
-May 11th, 2008: My first mother's day.
-May 31st, 2008: Our Wedding day. There are no words to describe my euphoria. The pictures of me walking down the aisle tell another story (i looked like a deer in headlights i was so nervous) - but i assure you that as soon as i found ivan, and focused only on him, i relaxed immensely. The reception was one of the most enjoyable times of my life. We were so tired after the reception that i passed out still in my wedding gown in our hotel room - and ivan in his tux. "oh yeah... our bag is still at the house... crap." Waiting for the tiny black scion in my big wedding dress out in front of the hotel. being stared at. trying to get into said tiny black scion with said giant dress. the laughs, the tears, the first dance with ivan, the last dance with daddy... kirsten's speech heard 'round the world (sorry kir, i had to bring it up). The photography session after the wedding and before the reception. getting HOME to our house and crawling out of my wedding dress. omg, it was so heavy. taking a five minute nap curled up in our bed. going to my parents house where the party was still pumping (the formal reception ended at 8pm - this was at 9:30pm)and saying hi. They were all so completely blasted. I stayed sober the whole time. I was 3 months pregnant! OMG, the swarovski crystal champagne flutes i splurged on. $300!!! After we got back to the hotel, we were so tired. we passed out. Woke up at 6am the next morning... ordered room service. Ivan had the best steak and eggs ever. my french toast was awesome, too. we spend the rest of the day lazing about in our hotel room - watching TV. We have yet to go on our honeymoon. This summer...
-June 2nd, 2008: 2 days after our wedding - I start working for Turner Construction. As i predicted, i absolutely love my job.
-June'08: They tell ivan that there's no position for him next year. As of that time, he was out of a job come august. He works at the CAP office for the rest of the summer.
-June 15th, 2008: Ivan's first father's day. My HAPPY FATHER'S DAY! cake. like he can do it better. pfft.
-Summer sometime: Ivan's Meatloaf. I will never let him live that one down. EVER. "...sweetie, what are you doing?" "The recipe says to mix all the ingredients together..." "...yes, sweetie. IN A BOWL! Not on the counter!" The eggs spilling all over the counter... The Meatloaf Parmesean Eclair. He's mastered the recipe now. And how to use a bowl correctly. Carry the 2.
-4th of July: We have a barbeque at our house. "Eso hipo no es de borracho!" It was a fun time had by all.
-July 18th, 2008: I turn 23 years old.
-August, September 2008: regular months that churn on by. I get used to married life and my career. getting ready for the baby. painting annie's room. the ultrasounds. Ivan starts as the AP and honors Physics teacher at Sunset. He loves his job.
-September 28th, 2008: Isa throws a magnificent baby shower for me.
-October 2008: The most anxious month of my LIFE. At one point i sneezed too hard and peed my pants. only i thought my water broke. HAHA. we went to the hospital and were sent home. Safinski tells me in my 39th week of pregnancy that he wants to induce me in 4 days. the day before im to be induced, he pushes it back one more day. i was furious. but okay with it.
-October 21st, 2008: I don't sleep. at all. having contractions too!
-October 22nd, 2008: We get to the hospital at 7am and wait until 8:30 to get into the labor and delivery room. at 9am my doctor breaks my bag of water and almost immediately i start having contractions. think of the worst period cramps of your life. multiply that by 1,000. 15 minutes after he breaks my water, he starts me on pitocin. the cramps get even worse. there's no time between them so i ask the nurse for some sort of pain killer. she gives me stadol. a narcotic. i hallucinate - but somehow, it makes me focus more and forget about the pain. it helps me breathe. the stadol wears off and an hour and a half of excrutiating pain with no medication, im at 8cm and 100% effaced. still high. i cave - i take the epidural. OMG. what a relief. i can't feel or control my lower half, but the pain is gone. completely. an hour later, annie is born at 2:17pm. 8 pushes. All in all, it took almost exactly 5 hours. i reacted TOO well to the pitocin. next time, no pitocin. jesus. i remember the first time i held her... when doctor safinski said to look down and say hello... he puts her on my chest, covered in slime and blood, but beautiful. she was red in the face screaming... but i remember how warm she was... and how surreal it was to hold the baby i dreamt about in my arms. feeling her face against mine... omg. what a beautiful moment. i'll never forget that.
-October 31st, 2008: Annie goes trick or treating for the first time dressed up as a cow. she slept the entire time wrapped up and in my arms.
-November 7th, 2008: A year that i've been with Ivan.
-November 27th, 2008: Annie's first Thanksgiving. It was spent at my parents house with the whole family. one of the nicest thanksgivings ever. She slept through most of it.
-November, December: Annie's starting to develop into a tiny person. She's starting to sleep through the night and smiles and laughs. Ivan and I are ridiculously addicted to Peppermint White Chocolate Mochas. So much so that we know the barista by name. He asks how the baby's doing. jesus christ, we have a problem.
...does 2008 have to end?? on to bigger and better times! i love my life.