Adios 2013!

If you haven't heard this enough lately, let me tell you one more time: Happy New Year! The last twelve months flew by in the blink of an eye which makes me feel so incredibly blessed because I was able to share it with some amazing people. I wanted to do a little review of 2013 and highlight some of the best moments we had! Goodbye 2013, you were pretty awesome.

We kicked off the year by having my baby shower! It was so much fun and I enjoyed celebrating my little girl. I can still remember the morning of- I had NO clue what to wear and thought I looked fat in everything! Those 30 extra pounds were getting to me I guess...I changed about a million times but the party ended up being amazing and I am still so very thankful for that day.

All of these women mean so much to me. Sarah, Sarah, and Aubrey all play such special roles in my life. Oh! Addie and Piper too. Addie helped David and I open the box of balloons when we had our gender reveal. 

A couple weekends later, my cousin took my maternity pictures! Shout out to Michelle Baldwin Photography ;)

You can't tell in the pictures, but it was raining pretty hard this day! I thought the pictures would be ruined but they still came out so beautiful. I cherish these pictures so very much. Michelle captured my belly perfectly and I will cherish these photos forever.

Probably two weeks later, I went in for my 37 week check up and the Dr. told me she thought I had preclampsia and suggested I be induced. (Looking back, I would NOT have agreed to the induction and would have let nature run its course but I was totally unaware of all my options at that point and fell for the scare tactics they used.) I turned out not to be preclampic and had a safe vaginal delivery two long days later the day before my dad's birthday! BY FAR, the. best. day. of. my. life.

Sweet SWOLLEN ankles.

About to push! 

This head is what 3 hours and 15 minutes of pushing will do to you! 

Holding her daddy's finger

You can tell she got my coloring and not her dad's! ;)

When she was just 3 days old, we had to go back into the hospital because her bilirubin levels were too high. She was jaundice and had to be put under the lights for 48 hours. The only time she would come out was to breast feed and then she had to go back inside. It was an awful time for a new mommy but she was not in any pain at all and slept very peacefully. I was able to exclusively breastfeed her only and the pediatrician was SO supportive of me when I said I would not be using formula.

The wrap on her arm is her IV. 

Taking a break to feed!

I remember getting a text from my dad one morning while in the hospital and it immediately sent me to tears. There is NOTHING like loving validation from your dad. I am a million times thankful for mine and consider myself and Sophia the luckiest daughters in the world. I adore my dad like words could not explain.

When we got home she was about a week old and she had her first bath! The Beals had just visited us and Sarah noticed her cord was missing! Apparently it had already fallen off (early??) so I was excited because I wanted to bathe her!

Her first bath at exactly 1 week old!

On February 14th, David and I spent Valentines day with our little love by having a nice early dinner at Olive Garden. She did amazing and slept the whole time! We also officially got our marriage license on the 19th!

At the end of February, one of David's best friends Austin came home from boot camp. He got to meet Gracelyn for the first time and it was incredibly sweet. 

In March, David and I purchased a new car! The Mazda 3 is my favorite car ever and I have wanted one since I was in high school. We had no money to put down and my 2002 Focus was breaking every two seconds so we needed something else but knew it was going to be HARD finding something. We went to about 5 Mazda dealerships and they all told me the same thing: I needed at least a couple thousand down if I wanted a monthly payment in the 200's, my focus was worthless, and a used cheaper vehicle would be my only hope. David was super frustrated and told me to settle for a higher payment or a different cheaper car but I stood my ground. I prayed harder than ever and knew that I NEEDED a car but wanted to wait for the right one. I was not comfortable with where I was so we decided to try one more Mazda dealership. 

We got there, explained the whole situation and Bob was super nice and understanding. He showed us a Dark Grey 2010 Mada 3 with 13,000 miles on it. After a long conversation and tons of calls, we came to an agreement for this car at $263 a month. Seemed perfect! I was sooo thrilled. We made an appointment for the next day to sign final paperwork. 

The next day I was at my grandma's house at about noon when David called me. (We were supposed to go to the dealership at 1) He tells me that they sold the car to someone else! I was so confused and angry. Why would they do that when they knew I was coming in to finalize the paperwork!? Apparently someone came in and offered cash for it so they sold it immediately. That's how it works in the car industry I guess. I was so discouraged because my car was at the point of randomly shutting off in the middle of driving- I kid you not. I was annoyed and just prayed. I can't say this enough but I NEEDED a new car and knew God was in control so I waited.

The same night, Bob from Mazda called David and explained that he was at lunch when the car sold and he felt awful that another car seller (what do you call them?) gave the car to someone else. I guess, he and his boss got into a huge argument and Bob actually QUIT because he felt they treated us so wrongly knowing we were suppose to buy that car. Obviously, the next day he came back to work but he had somehow convinced his boss to sell us another Mazda but not just any Mazda...A BRAND NEW 2013 Mazda 3 TWO miles on it at the same price of $263 a month. I was ecstatic and so thankful because I KNOW that was all God. 

In April, we took a day trip up north with David's parents for his birthday.

 The guys did some fishing then we ate lunch. It was pretty cold so Gracelyn stayed wrapped up!



After lunch we took a drive near Mund's Park and somehow got lost. The roads were still muddy so we were definitely stuck when we came to this huge deep mud puddle. We had to get out of the car and the guys basically gunned it through the puddle and made it out.

This is them celebrating from the other side!

Once we got out, we decided to head home but first we stopped at Sonic for some much needed Vanilla Coke and burgers.

In May, we took another trip up north for Memorial Day, this time with David's parents, brother and his girlfriend.

Gracelyn's 1st time fishing!

For Mother's Day, my siblings and I took pictures for my mom. and I got to have my 1st Mother's Day! We celebrated with a family dinner and cake! Again, props to Michelle Baldwin Photography!

So June rolled around and we decided to pierce Gracelyn's ears! She cried for a second and then they never bothered her after that. She is so pretty.

David had his first Father's Day at Longhorn Steakhouse. His parents treated us to an amazing dinner!

In July, I started volunteering in the Cafe at church! I absolutely love it and enjoy talking to and getting to know my church. I want to start working in the starbucks area and make coffee for everyone. It has been an amazing privilege being able to serve!

Another exciting event was my cousin Veronica having her third baby- a girl named London! New babies are the best.

In July, we also took another camping trip with my parents, this time to White Horse Lake! It was a blast and long over due!

July was also fun because Gracelyn went to her 1st baseball game! It was so much fun and she ended up staying up waaaay past her bedtime but did awesome with no crying the entire night! 

In August, we celebrated Lindsey's 20th birthday at Texas Roadhouse. 

At the end of August, when Gracelyn was almost 7 months old, we started slowing introducing solids to her! We have had such fun with Baby Led Weaning and to this day she is an amazing eater. 

On August 24th, my uncle Abel Dominguez suddenly died of a heart attack. His legacy lives on through his wife, daughter and grandchildren. He was such a fun loving man and always had a story to tell of his past, his time in the army and life in general. He is loved and missed.

September kicked off with the beautiful dedication of our little girl and Lindsey being her god-mother! David and I vowed to always raise her up in the Lord and practice this example in our everyday lives. Godly parenting is a huge challenge but it has helped me grow and continues to do so in my everyday walk. My prayer for Gracelyn is that she would surrender her whole life to Christ and just experience the love God has for her. There is nothing I have wanted more than for my daughter to know Jesus and the TRUE love He wants so badly for her to accept.

We spent lots of time in the pool and enjoyed the heat while it lasted.

By the time October came around it was time for turkey hunting! Yup! We were back up north once again. This trip was so fun and relaxing. David didn't get anything but it was probably one of my favorite trips that year!

For my birthday, in November we took our family pictures which was a lot of fun. 

We enjoyed Thanksgiving with both sides of the family and found out that we will have another nephew in the summer as David's sister is pregnant.

I'm embarrassed that this is the only picture we took on Thanksgiving.

And finally, December! Oh my favorite. All the holiday parties and Christmas celebrations were just magical. Unfortunately, David's papa passed away and we had to have Christmas without him but what's better than a Christmas with Jesus??? I can't think of anything.

I am so thankful for such an amazing year. 

Opening her first present!

Glendale Glitters!

We finally ended the year in Flagstaff for the Pine cone drop in downtown Flag. It was so fun and my first time in snow!! I was not prepared for how cold it was but it was still a blast!

I feel honored, blessed, and happy that this year was A TON of growth for me. I have learned so much and am excited to put everything God has been teaching me into play.