Fri-Diary 02/06/15

Alright! I'm back!

Welcome to Fri-Diary everyone, I'm so glad that you have been so patient with me. I just didn't want to sit here and write about things that weren't as important as the big news I wanted to share which was that I'M PREGNANT!!!

 14 weeks tomorrow actually :)

So, I'm sure most of you know already but hey, who doesn't like saying that???
Anyways, I'm going to start back up on these and hopefully I can get back in the swing of things. Not everyday, but I'll at least try to do it every week. Maybe twice a week...I don't know, let's just go with the flow, shall we?

I know that a lot of you read my blog in the past and now that I'm pregnant there will be a section on where I talk about that. The weird cravings, my mood swings, new things that develop that I have no explanation for. You know, the funny stuff! But don't worry, it won't all change-it'll still be the same blog with a little something extra thrown in there. :)

So, let's see...a lot has happened in the time since you've seen me last. November was the month that we found out we were having a baby! I was going to do a whole big thing about it, like write posts but not post them until we told our families and stuff like that but, that fell through so now I'm just going to go back and think about what has happened since then...

On the 15th of November, we got our first positive :)

The 20th through the 22nd was the High School Musical-All Shook Up starring some pretty talented kids.

The 27th was Thanksgiving. By that time, the only people who knew were my cousin Alyson and her girlfriend Michele (who are also expecting!!!)

Then December hit. This was the month we were going to tell everyone, even though it was super early, I wanted everyone to know. If something happened, it wasn't time for us yet and I didn't want to hide it, I wanted to share it!

December 3rd, we told mom and dad. We were decorating the Christmas tree with our new ornaments. Bo's had to do with baking, Sadie's had to do with soccer, Myles had Taz on his, Chris's was the Cardinals and mine was a little snow-woman with a big belly and a scarf that said 'mommy to be' on it. Needless to say, I cried. Mom was excited, Dad was excited. It was a pretty great night. :)

December 5th, we said goodbye to one of the greatest women to ever grace this earth. Lots of tears were shed but we knew that she wasn't hurting anymore so it made it a little easier...
After the memorial, we went out to a bar but I wasn't drinking. That was the night we told Kristy and Jeanna, Kerrie's girls. It was a blessing for sure, I just wish I could have told her myself...The picture below is our oldest, Bodyn and her best friend, Madi. :)

December 18th was my first OBGYN appointment and they definitely confirmed it for us, we were having a baby! We saw and listened to the heartbeat and I fell in LOVE. I couldn't wait to tell everyone...but I had to wait one more week...and it was killing me.

December 24th was my mom's side of the family. We decided to let my uncle announce it since I had no grandparents left on this side of the family, he just didn't know he was going to! We put our onesie that we had printed in a box that said to Jeff, from Santa. When he opened it, he had sort of a confused look on his face. My cousin Britni got it right away and said aww yay! When everyone was still confused she went on to say, "Lydia's pregnant!........Right?" Once it was confirmed by Chris and I by a nod of the head, my uncle could breathe again. He thought it was his wife's way of telling him that they were having their 3rd. With a sigh of relief, he slid the box to me and said, "Congratulations!"

December 25th was Christmas Day, it was a rodeo trying to get both grandparents in the same room at the same time though. Once we finally got them in the same room to open the present, they were both so annoyed with us, I was surprised there wasn't more cursing! haha
But once the box was opened, my cousin Jennifer figured it out and looked at me with her mouth gaped open. Everyone was so excited. I couldn't have asked for better Christmases.

After that, we announced it to the church. I had dad do it because if I did it, no one would be able to understand me. :)
He held up 4 fingers and explained that each finger represented a grandchild. The 4th was just a bud and that we would be meeting that little one, in August. :) I cried...again...

January 3rd we celebrated the life of Kerrie Sims with the songs we knew thanks to her and the songs she begged to hear us sing again and again and again. I consider myself blessed to have been able to smile, laugh, and just be with her. She was an angel sent straight from heaven, she just caught a little sass along the way. :)

January 13th was Dad's surgery. He had a stroke last year, he was diagnosed with cancer a few months ago and just 2 months ago, they tell him, the mass is gone! He still had to go through chemo and the surgery but we all feel better at the end of the day because he's beating it. :)

January 15th was my second OBGYN appointment. I was going down by myself. I was a little bit scared but the way that the scheduling was that day, it just wasn't going to work to have both of us there. I was texting my mom on the way down telling her I was a little nervous and I had wished that she was coming with me. As I was sitting in the waiting room, someone walked up next to me and asked if the seat next to me was taken. I turned around to say no to see my mom smiling back at me. :)
I was shocked, I didn't know what to say! She had taken off work to come be with me at the appointment. I told her she didn't have to but she did and I was overly thankful. Once we got into the room, they were having some trouble hearing the heartbeat with a Doppler and I think the doctor could tell I was nervous so she went to see if the ultrasound technician was busy, she wasn't. Mom got to see the baby move, hear it's heartbeat and be excited right next to me. It was a great appointment.

January 23rd was the official start of the Show Choir season. We were headed to Crete-Monee for the first competition of the year. For the first one they didn't do that bad! Our middle school got 1st Runner Up and People's Choice Award. Our prep group got Grand Champion in their division and Our Varsity group got 3rd Runner Up over all. We are all very proud and we're going on our next competition tomorrow! Ofallon Illinois, here we come!

February 1st was the Super Bowl and even though the team that I was rooting for didn't win, Katy Perry killed it. And don't even get me started on Missy Elliot. Get it girl.

So, now it's the 6th of February and we're doing what we always do before a competition...procrastinating. :)

That's the kind of catch-up version of Fri-Diary! I'll do another one next week but it'll be a lot shorter! Promise!


I hope you guys had a great day and I'll see you soon! :)



PS: These are the links to the videos to each thing I talked about here...and some extras :)

I'M GONNA BE A MOM!- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6mpJxBHRqw
Telling Christopher- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pc3pxQ-S7NM
Telling the kids- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odrVD0prMDU
Telling my mom and dad- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=py1mn_iiZFI
Telling Diane- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZG3_5KPqro
6 Week Ultrasound!- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0IUhT_XLYI
Telling my mom's side- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXr7HGCQ68I
Telling my dad's side- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FfRF-Wa1Uc
10 Week Ultrasound!- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xajw1RxnhLM

And more to come! :)

Wally World.

I don't know about you guys, but I could never go to WalMart again, and die a happy woman.

I have a list of pros and cons of going to WalMart.

Pros:
-Lots of lanes (not open, but they're there!)
-You can get certain things there that you can't get at Kroger, unfortunately.
-I can't think of anything else...

Cons:
-Some of the people that shop there act like they were raised by wolves.
-It's not Kroger.
-The parking lot is so ridiculously dangerous, I don't take the kids with me anymore.
-I've bought expired food from there, more than once.
-Like I said in the pros, there are 30 lanes and only 3 are open at all times.
-When I can't find something and I ask someone who works there, they look in the exact same spot that I was in. For 20 minutes before saying "hmm...I dunno."
-They already have Christmas music playing in the store -_-
-They say they have the lowest prices, I know as soon as I walk in Kroger that THAT is a lie.
-Their workers are never happy, never smiling. As soon as I walk in Kroger, I get a smile and a welcome.
-Maybe it's just me, but I wish I never had to go to WalMart ever again.

Please share your horrible WalMart experiences in the comments below or on Facebook, I would love to hear them! :)

I hope you guys have a wonderful day, and I'll see you soon :)

One Take Sunday! Second Installment!

Today's the dayyyyy!!!

Yay! We get the kids today!
We have both missed them like crazy. When they're not with us, it feels like something's missing.

Every Sunday that we give them to their mom, it usually only takes about an hour before I hear Christopher mumble, "I miss my babies..."

My best friend, Michael, came over last night. Christopher decided that he just wanted to grill chicken, so I didn't get to try any of your recipies yet, but I do have them saved!

It doesn't really matter where we are or what we're doing, we always have fun. I've missed him so much and I'm really glad we got together.

Well, that's about it for one take Sunday! Let me know what you guys think I should talk about this week. Leave me a message in the comments or on Facebook.

I hope you guys have a wonderful day and I'll see you guys tomorrow :)

Unique Situation

"You're friends with her?"

Yes, I consider my husband's ex-wife a friend.

I am so blessed, I couldn't ask for a better situation. We're all pretty good friends. I know I can text Brianna any time and ask a question or if we want to talk to one of the kids the weeks we don't have them, all we have to do is call her.
Christopher is an amazing father and Brianna is an amazing mother, just in different houses. That's why I'm thankful we have such good communication. Rules are rules, in both houses. We all get to have opinions when it comes to the kids and we all have a say.

I was once in a situation where the ex was my enemy and that was not a good time, I can tell you right now. It was so easy to have a genuine relationship the first time I met the kids because Brianna was very nice and trusted me completely with the kids.

We think it's very important to the way the kids view life to have two strong, unified (and pretty awesome if you ask me) families to look to if they ever need anything. I think in the situation that they are in, (two sets of parents) we're setting a pretty good example.

I wish there were more stories like ours. The fact that I can text Brianna at any time during the day or that I can joke with Drew on Facebook makes me happy. I'm glad that I can call them friends and I never want that to change.

They have made our lives so much easier, just by being them.

Thanks guys! Thank you for sharing your amazing family with me :)

>>>>>>>>>>>

If you guys have any questions for me or any topics you would like me to talk about, please let me know in the comments below. Today, my brain was fried. A business trip to Illinois just to end up staying there for the night kind of takes it out of you!

I hope you guys had an amazing day, I'll see you tomorrow :)

"I RUINED EVERYTHING!"

Ok, so I asked on Facebook what you guys would like to hear about today. It was between 20 questions about me (boring) or our Engagement story :) and guess which one won!

So, it was getting to the middle of December and we had talked about getting married in passing and I had hinted about some rings to him but he always said, we'll know when it's time. I thought that meant another couple months or even a year! I was so wrong...

I was at work a little late on December 19th and I was in sweat pants and a hoodie. I didn't have any makeup on and I just wanted to go home. It had been a long day and I was just ready to relax with my boyfriend and his kids. But, he called me to the church to work on a worship set for Sunday. usually we would work on it throughout the week but it had been such a busy week that we were doing it a little last minute. I walked into the basement of the church and right then I should have suspected something. No kids. They were always downstairs waiting for me to get there but I wasn't thinking. I just wanted to get to some place warm so I could cuddle up and forget about the day.

I start walking upstairs then I started running. Someone was crying and it sounded like Myles. I burst through the doors and found him in the fetal position in a back pew. Not even looking up, I crouched next to him and said, "buddy, what's wrong?" (I later found out that he was crying because his sister had sat on his head -_-) He looked me right in the face and started crying harder then said, "I RUINED EVERYTHING!" What is he talking about I thought as I looked up and saw the other two holding signs that said "YOU" and "MARRY." I looked up at Chris who was standing at the communion table and I finally figured out what was going on.

"DANGIT!" Christopher said. I was still in shock when I turned to Myles and said, "Hey, you didn't ruin anything. But I need you to do me a favor." He nodded his head and wiped the tears off his face.
"I need you to get up, stand in your spot and tell me when to come upstairs so I don't come up to early again, okay?" He smiled, nodded and ran to his spot with his sign that said "WILL."

I walked half-way down the stairs. My heart was pounding. I thought I was going to faint when I heard Myles yell, "OKAY LYDIA, WE'RE READY!"

I pushed open the door to see four of the happiest faces I've ever seen. Myles' little tear stained smile, Sadie's giggle and Bodyn's beautiful grin were nothing compared to the giant smile I saw on my soon to be fiance's face.

Unfortunately, I can't remember if he said anything after that. All I remember was shaking my head yes and nothing has been the same since.

Whenever I would tell that story to people, they would laugh and say, "Well, that didn't turn out as planned." And I'd say, nope, but it wouldn't have been like our family to get it right the first time. :)

It was perfect and I couldn't have asked for a better proposal. So, for all of you out there hoping for the perfect proposal, remember, if it's the right person and the right time, then it'll be perfect no matter what.

I hope you guys have a wonderful day and I'll see you tomorrow :)

Cooking with Step Monster

If any of you actually know me, you know that I'm no chef.

I used to burn toast, if that gives you any idea of how bad I actually was at cooking. Or my husband's favorite example...I boiled over tomato soup...all over the stove. Smelled like a hot mess for the rest of dinner.

So now, I've been basically teaching myself how to cook, with the help of Youtube of course. :)
Each time I make something new, the kids add it to the list of things that I've made.

So far, I have:
Spaghetti (which I'm surprisingly good at. I got that from my Grandma and Mother)
Stroganoff, it's from a box but still...good. :)
Eggs, only scrambled so far. But I'm getting there
Smoothies. You can ask them, I am the smoothie queen.

Hobo Meals. Can't go wrong with Hobo Meals. I'll have my favorite recipe at the end for these :)
Pies (apple and pumpkin)
Cakes. Rainbow cakes. :)

I'm pretty proud of that list to be honest. I know some people who can go out and whip up whatever they like (my mom) but unfortunately, I did not get that gene. I wish I had, then the kids and I would be set. But as for now, their dad is the master chef...I'm catching up with him though!

For any of you out there who have a husband that does all the work in the kitchen simply because you don't know how-tell him about this new idea that you came up with. Hobo Meals. As long as you (or he) can work a grill, you'll be set because shopping for this is gonna be a walk in the park.

Literally, put anything you want in it.
My favorite consists of:
Hamburger
Mushrooms
Hashbrowns
Peppers
Salt
Pepper
Garlic/Garlic Salt
Onion Salt
Cheese (LOTS OF CHEESE)
Worcestershire sauce
Spray Butter
Tin Foil (to wrap it in, not to eat)

Basically, all you have to do is spray the foil with butter, break up the hamburger, season the hamburger,and then put it all together. Wrap it up and throw it on the grill! That's it, but honestly, the possibilities are ENDLESS!

Hopefully, this gives you guys a new recipe to add to your cook-book!

If you have a recipe that you would like to share with me, please put it in the comments or send me a message on Facebook! I'd love to have some recipe's to add to MY cookbook :)

I hope you guys have a wonderful day and I'll see you tomorrow :)

Dadurday: The Husband Responds!

I like this idea.

Not only the part where my wife tells everyone the story of our relationship as we go through it, or the part where she goes on and on about how awesome our kids (she went over the our thing, right?) are.

I get the opportunity to make a post which leads with a Dad Joke.

Dadurday was my idea.  When Lydia shared with me that she was writing a blog, I was like, 'Hey!  I should do a post on there like once a week where I give my point of view!'

I have a big mouth.

I am so incredibly proud of my wife.  She has taken on this task, and is not only doing it, but is doing it well.  You guys have responded really well, and people are reading!  Which is amazing.

Because she is amazing. This week, on Wednesday, we all traveled over to my mom and dad's place for Taco Night.  When we arrived, I found my mother is a state of severe confusion and agitation.  She's been having these spells for some time, and doctors are still struggling to discover why it is happening.  I sent Lydia and the kids on to her mom's, called 911, and proceeded to deal with the situation at hand.

I was able to deal with the immediate emergency because I had a partner to help.  I had someone who was not only there and ready, but happy and willing.

She took over all of the parenting duties for the next 48 hours, as I had to be with my mom in the hospital.  My dad would have loved to help, I'm sure, but he was being discharged from the same ER we arrived at on Wednesday, being that he'd just flipped his concrete truck earlier that day!  It was the perfect storm of just absolute chaos.  Through it all, Lydia was firm, strong, and able.  It was a beautiful thing.

She took on a lot when she took us on as a family.  She's younger than me, she was getting three kids, and she was getting a husband that, statistically, wasn't doing so hot on the whole marriage front.  Indeed, I spent the entire first date telling her she was making a mistake.

I hope she keeps making it.  Because this has been a beautiful, crazy, wonderful run, and its only two months in!

I'm sure these posts will get less sappy as time goes on, and I'll respond to the actual things my wife is writing during the week, but come on--how could I not take my first opportunity to post to brag on my beautiful amazing wife?

I mean, think of the brownie points alone!

Til next week,

Christopher

Don't Panic

I've always been a bit of a worrier, so when I hear "don't panic"...I do the exact opposite.
I wish I didn't worry so much because I honestly think it takes days off my life.

But yesterday, as I sitting in the waiting room of a hospital, I did nothing but worry.
Yep, we had a code red emergency yesterday. Two of my in-laws were taken to the hospital.

Luckily my mom saved the day. As I was running around like a chicken with it's head cut off, my mother graciously took the kids so Christopher and I could go to the hospital.

Everyone's fine and we're running tests but we would still appreciate thoughts and prayers. :)

Step Monster's

HOW TO SURVIVE AN EMERGENCY SITUATION 101:

1- Have a loved one with a level head. (My mom in this case)

2- Remind yourself to breathe (In...and out)

3- Always remember to eat (An empty stomach makes any situation worse, especially an emergency)

4- Have super amazing kids that just go with the flow (Usually they don't like the flow, but today, they were so good.)

5- Never ever EVER suffer through an emergency by yourself. (Life is hard enough in itself, throw an emergency in the mix...you're guaranteed to lose your mind.)

------------

So with the craziness of the events last night and Christopher and I getting home at the butt crack of dawn, I'm kickin' it at home with these crazy kiddos. We knew with their nana in the hospital, they weren't getting any sleep and they wouldn't want to be at school not knowing anything.

So cuddling and movies are on the agenda today. :)

I hope you guys have a wonderful day and I'll see you guys tomorrow :)

Ready Made Family

Hey guys,

Today I'm going to talk about something I've been asked about a lot since I started dating Christopher. I've gotten questions like "how did you feel about him already having kids?" or "what happens if you want your own kids?" or "how do you like your ready-made family?"

Well, to answer the first question, I was ecstatic. I love kids to begin with (especially well behaved ones like ours.) Yes, I said ours. I know that sounds weird and I get weird looks from people all the time for saying things like "oh no, our kids are with their mom."
Yep, I'm a step mom. So I'm going to love them, discipline them and talk about them the same way I would treat the kids that we'll have.

Yes, I said it. The kids that we will make. We plan on having kids. Together. How many? I don't know. I definitely don't think I'm ready for a Noah's Ark Situation. I mean heck, I have a Kia Soul. You can only fit so many people in that clown car and they're squished as it is. And if you had any doubts that the kids would even want another sibling, just ask their mom. They never stop talking about their new baby sister. I mean, I don't blame them. She's a sweet heart and an absolute doll. So, I think I'll be okay if we have just one. I know he or she will have some amazing siblings to look up to. :)

As for my little "ready-made" family, I love it. It gives me a chance to try out the teens before we get to the terrible two's. And I could not ask for three better kids to give my love and support to. I have found myself more than a few times holding a crying child that I never thought would come to me for anything. I drop them off every morning for school and I get a kiss from each one of them as the jump out of the car. (Don't worry, I'm stopped...most of the time) :)

I'm cutting this one short this morning because there are two little goofballs that are going to make us late for school unless they get their butts in gear.

I hope you have a wonderful day and I'll see you guys tomorrow :)

A Little About Me

Alright guys,
I noticed my about me was a little scarce in that last post, so I'll tell you some more about me and then we can get back to important things like Family, Friends and stuff I've found on Pinterest that I don't think is going to work. :)

Let's start at the beginning. I was born in June of 1991 to Norma and Patrick Guyot, the most amazing parents anyone could ever ask for. I have one sibling, a brother, Nick. I know I couldn't live without him because I can't and don't want to imagine my life without him being there for me. I was born and raised in a small town about 45 minutes outside of Saint Louis, MO and I'm still here.
Everyone thinks, I'm gonna grow up and get the heck out of here...I'm just not ready to do either of those things yet. :)

I wasn't the most popular kid in school but I was one of those kids that had friends in every kind of group. I had lots of friends and that mattered much more to me than being a "popular" kid.
I liked a lot of my teachers too. I can't really think of a teacher I didn't like. They all were extremely helpful in making me who I am today.

I got through school with average grades. I thought I was going to be a forensic scientist. If I would have pushed myself a little harder, I could have done a lot better. You can ask my mom, I was a very laid back kid. I didn't really ever stress about anything. I can't think of one time in school that I stressed out about anything other than getting to my extra curricular activities on time.
I was in choir, show choir, I had solos and ensembles and I was in color guard. I wasn't really a sports person. I liked playing volleyball but only once and a while at the Sand Lot. After school was busy most of the year for me.

After I graduated in 2009, I went to a community college near by and took my basic classes and I also took photography. If you know anything about me, it's that I take pictures of just about anything. I love photography because if you have a good eye, you can change the way people see the world.
So in college, I thought I was going to be a photographer. I took pictures of babies and flowers and weddings and people and...well, anything.


During college, I was running low on funds so I started applying for jobs. January, 20th 2010, I got my first job at a Sprint store in town. It wasn't anything special but I learned a lot, did a good job and found my best friends in the world while working there. Four and a half years later, I'm getting married and moving on to a different job but I won't ever forget what I learned from my first job. I do not enjoy working with the public.

Now, I work with my husband, for a company that sells books to libraries. Gumdrop Books. It's the job that allows me to work in my pajamas basically. :) I call librarians and set up appointments for Chris to go to and sell that library the books they need for that year.

Speaking of my husband, we started dating in April of 2012. We got engaged in December of 2013 and got married July 19th, 2014. Now I have 3 busy step kids, a new car and a new house that I should clean every day. Emphasis on should.



Life is good, life is great. And I thank God for mine every day, no matter how crazy it gets.

If anyone has a suggestion about what I should write about tomorrow, or if you have any questions for me, let me know in the comments below. :)

Have a great day and I'll see you tomorrow.

Introduction to the insanity that is my life.

Hello world. It's Monday, October 6th, 2014.

My name is Lydia. Better known as "Step-Monster" to my step kids. It's a term of endearment, I swear.

This is my husband. His name is Christopher and he is the man of my dreams. He has an amazing heart for God and our family.

Do you want to know how we met?

Well, I'm going to tell you anyway.

I was on a show choir trip watching my brother perform and in between shows, I was talking to a couple of people from my brother's school. We were talking about dating. All of the sudden, this giant of a man with amazing facial hair and drumsticks joins the conversation. He was the drummer for the show choir my brother was in. He immediately caught my eye, but then...he said it..."I would never date a 20 year old."
"Darn," I thought. I was 20 years old at the time and crushing hard, but alas, he was 9 years older than me and clearly not interested.

So, we went on with our lives until 2 weeks later, I get a message on the dating site I was currently using.
"Hey, you look really familiar. Do I know you?" IT WAS HIM!!! I was speechless, I didn't know what to say. "Yeah, we talked a couple weeks ago at the show choir competition." I stared at the screen and waited for his reply. "Oh, cool. :)" A smiley face?! He was totally in to me.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the computer, he wasn't expecting a reply...but guess what he got.
A full blown 3 day conversation. We talked, we joked, we laughed.

After a couple days, I get a message that says, "Hey, I'll be back in town on Thursday. Would you want to go to dinner?" I was floored. "Of course! :)"
That first date was the last first date I ever went on. It was also the strangest, most amazing, and fun first date I've ever been on, but I'll save that story for another day.

On our dates, he was always talking about his kids. 2 girls and 1 boy. He was so proud to be a father. I couldn't wait to meet them because if they were anything like him, I was going to love them. And love them I did. :)

How can you not love those faces??? But guess what, their faces weren't even the best part! Their hearts and personalities are amazing. Sadie is in the red, Bodyn is in the yellow and the little guy is Myles. They completely melted my heart and now they hold it in their hands.

Bodyn, the oldest, is a girly girl. She loves to dance, sing, draw...anything a girl loves.

Sadie, the middle child, is a tomboy through and through. She loves sports and cuddling with her daddy.

Myles, the youngest, is the definition of a boy. Loud, messy and as sweet and kind-hearted as can be.

Like I said, they're amazing. You'll definitely get to know them as time goes on.

As for me, I'm a laundry doing, lunch packing, book selling, smoothie making, forehead kissing, shoe tying, loving step-monster. And I don't claim to be much else. :)

Have a great day guys. I know I will.

Lydia