Sugar 'n Spice and All Things Noland: April 2014

I have officially entered a new decade...YIKES!!! I can only hope the best is yet to come, but my 20's are going to be hard to beat. I don't think there will be as much life changes in my 30's, but I might have the best memories as I watch my girls grow into young ladies. Crazy to think that I will have a 10 and 12 year old to start the next decade!

In my 20's I...
-Had transferred to UND from Dickinson State, one of the best decisions I had made!
-Graduated from UND with a BS in Athletic training
-Accepted a GA position at Bemidji State
-Graduated from BSU with a MS in Education
-Got my first job at Breckenridge High School through then MeritCare, now Sanford
-Met a few Mr. Wrongs that lead me to MR RIGHT!!
-Got married on a gorgeous spring day in May
-Spent a lot of money on booze...but had a lot of fun doing it
-Went from being able to go out every night and stay out late to going to bed at 9:30/10:00
-Went from hangovers that last a day to hangovers that last a week
-Moved to Dickinson
-Moved to Grand Forks
-Moved to Bemidji
-Moved to West Fargo
-Moved to Fergus Falls
-Bought my first car and house in one day
-Sold our first house
-Built our dream house
-Gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Jade
-Gave birth to another adorable baby girl, Megan
-Hosted our first Thanksgiving
-Hosted our first Christmas (right after Jade was born so I really didn't do much)
-Got my first dog
-Learned how to hunt and fish
-Bought our first boat (Just a couple days before my 30th bday)
-Went to Mexico (first time out of the country besides Canada)
-Went to Jamaica
-Went to a Duke basketball game at Cameron Indoor in Durham
-Learned what it's like to love someone else more than words could ever say...3 times!
-"Retired" after almost 5 years of working to stay at home with 2 kids
-Was the Matron of Honor in my best friends wedding
-Was a bridesmaid, an usherette, and a reader in three other of my good friends weddings
-Had to say goodbye to some people I will never forget

I'm sure there are more big milestones I'm missing, but it's 5:30 in the morning and I can't think of any. I think I got the major ones. So here's to leaving the 20's behind and hoping my 30's can come close to comparing. Cheers!

The oldest picture I had on the computer. This is probably from Christmas break one year after I transferred to UND.

My 22nd birthday, when Nate and I started dating.

Bought a dog...Duke!

My first and only deer so far. 1 for 4 is not a good statistic! However, I have only pulled the trigger once too so that's a great statistic!

Mexico for our honeymoon.

Duke basketball game

Pre-kiddo family

Started fishing, but won't bait my own hook yet.

Bought our first house together.

Happy couple inside our fist home.

Went to Jamaica

Became a family of 3!

Built and moved into our second home. I can't believe I didn't have a picture of the outside, but I don't so this inside picture is the next best thing. We still have a lot of work to do but it's home.

Gave birth to our second baby girl.

Became a Mommy of 2 of the cutest girls!

My cuties!

Big Sister = Big Helper

Our first family of 4 picture!

I am finally finding time to get a blog done! Life as we knew it is over and we have opened a new chapter. A chapter I wouldn't say we were ready for, but one that we embraced with open arms. On March 13, we welcomed Megan Grace into our family.

I began having contractions at about 4:30AM on the 12th, her due date! I thought we were going to deliver on her actual due date! As my luck would have it though, I would have to wait. This labor and delivery was so much easier than Jade was. Although I started having contractions 24 hours before delivery, They weren't real painful until about 8 o'clock or so the night before. I also didn't have consistent contractions all day. They were consistant until about 9:30AM and then I would have 1-2 each hour until about 6:00PM when they started coming back more consistently again. I attempted to sleep a little at home, but then decided to just go to the couch and read until our little one was ready to meet us. I went into our bedroom to wake up Nate around 11:30. We left the house around midnight and was admitted around 12:30. I had called my Mom around 8AM and asked her to come down. I told her it was no hurry as the contractions weren't strong, but they were there. She got here early afternoon. I had thought about sending her home with my contractions going away, but was glad she was here once I started having them again! We had no idea what we were going to do with Jade if my Mom wasn't here as we don't know many people in Fergus yet. I delivered just 4 hours after being admitted into the hospital. I was dilated around 5cm when I got there. I got an epidural that worked this time and would have another in a heart beat if I ever deliver again! My water broke on it's own about an hour after I got my epidural. The nurse called the MD after my water broke. By the time he got there, I felt ready to push and he agreed. He had the nurse prep me and get started. I only pushed through one contraction before she went to get the MD. I told them all I was going to be fast. I don't like messing around. From the time of my first push to calling in the doctor and getting him ready to delivery itself was 10 minutes! I think I pushed through 4 contractions is all. The epidural was amazing. I could tell when I was getting a contraction, but had to have Nate or the nurse tell me when it was over. Megan was born at 4:16AM.

Nate brought Jade up the next morning to meet her little sister. That is one memory I hope never fades! I was actually changing rooms when they got there because the birthing center was so full. I got to pick Jade up and show her Megan before we pushed the bassinet down the hall. Once we got in my new room, I asked if she wanted to sit with me and hold Megan. She said yes, so the three of us got to sit together. Jade gave a bunch of hugs and kisses and kept saying "baby," She continues to give Megan lots of love. There have been a few jealous moments for her, espcially when other people are around, which is to be expected. When it's just the 4 of us though, she does good. She loves wearing her big sister shirt too. She picks it out herself often.

Week 1-2 - adjustment weeks! I was lucky to get a shower in this week and was happy with one every other day. Nate just took Thursday/Friday off from work. Megan and I came home Friday. I had my Mom stay until Saturday. Mike and Jean came down to see us on Sunday and then my parents and grandparents came down on Monday. My Dad also visited while we were in the hospital. Megan ate every 2 hours all day and night, which means by the time I was done feeding and got back to bed, I only got to sleep for an hour. She slept fine on her own in the bassinet, which is different than Jade. I slept with Jade on the couch often the first couple weeks (I know you're not supposed to do that, but I needed the sleep!) Tuesday was our first day at home alone. I did fine, life is just much busier with two. I have to time when we go somewhere with when Megan is going to need to eat. I have to make sure Jade is occupied with something while I nurse Megan or she wants up on my lap too. I had to explain to Jade that I feed Jade and when I pump I'm putting milk away. She used to try to hook the pump up to herself and now she thinks she needs my nursing pillow to feed Minnie (or whoever) from her tummy. She is too interested in breast feeding!! I have to admit, it's weird having my 2-year old staring at me while I start nursing. Oh well, she won't remember that right?

Weeks 3-5- we are getting the hang of things! Jade is getting to be better and better with Megan. She thinks it's funny when I talk to Megan and has started to talk to her too. It's absolutely amazing to me to see how much Megan loves Jade already. She watches her when she can find her, she quits crying when you lay her next to Jade in bed... I think Megan knows Jade's voice just as well as mine. Truly amazing!

We are running out of things to do inside and can't wait to get outside more! I wish I would have found time to blog before this as I'm sure I had some funny stories to share, but hopefully I can start those now that I've figured out a time to blog in peace and quite!