Becoming A Mother

A year ago today.
A year ago today my life changed forever.
A year ago today was one of the most exciting days of my life.
A year ago today I found out that I was a mother.

I am a firm believer that I became a mother when Karis was formed in my womb by our wonderful Creator, God Almighty. But once you KNOW you're a mother, everything changes. Your mind changes, your anxiety level changes, your body starts to change, your priorities change, your eating and drinking habits change, your prayer life changes, your marriage changes, your conversations change... you get my point.

A year ago today was one of the best days of my life.

A few weeks before this, my gal pal, Becky, was over and (of course) talking to me about babies, pregnancies, and whatnot. That was the topic of conversation 99% of the time those days. She must have been newly pregnant, because she was telling me that she found out she was pregnant with both of her pregnancies four days early (pp) on a $1 Dollar General pregnancy test. I was shocked! I don't know why, but I just always (wrongly) assumed you had to pay $10+ for a test to tell you accurately if you were pregnant or not. Well, once I found out you could accurately find out for $1, it was game on!

I knew I would be getting a visit from Mother Nature soon, so I thought, "What the heck!" For months I had been thinking I may be finally pregnant and then wasn't. If you haven't experienced this, you don't know how frustrating it can be. And annoying. And does all kinds of crazy things to your mind. I thought if I wasn't pregnant, then I wasn't pregnant, and nothing was new. But if I WAS pregnant, then I could potentially find out EARLY. For just a few dollars!! Why not, right?!

So, every morning, my ritual was to get up and take a pregnancy test. And if it didn't show pregnant, I just told myself that it was too early to tell, and I didn't get upset. It wasn't even "time" yet. I started 7 days pp, and by 5 days pp, I squinted, went a little cross-eyed, and shook it off. I'd try again tomorrow.

It was one of my first days of my summer vacation. I woke up and took a pregnancy test. It was becoming a part of my morning ritual, haha. (Call me crazy.) On this day, 4 days pp, I saw something! A super faint line. I had never seen a positive pregnancy test before, so I thought it was potentially a dud. I texted my gal pal Whitney, who knew what craziness was ensuing, and Becky. I asked Becky, "So...when you said you found out early...was it obvious or a super faint line?" I didn't even think I was telling on myself, I thought I could get away with "just asking." HA! Becky's immediate response was, "Did you get a faint line?? If so, you are for sure pregnant!!" Ummmm..... what?!?! I texted Whitney, freaked out, and went out to get a "real" pregnancy test. I needed to see the word "Pregnant" spelled out for me. I had used those expensive tests before. It's clear as day, usually that I was "Not Pregnant." I had previously vowed that I wouldn't spend money on one of those expensive tests again unless I really thought I may be pregnant. Well, today was that day.

I got home, took the test, and that was the longest minute or so of my life. I didn't want to look. It was like one of those scenes out of a movie. What if I wasn't pregnant? Now I'd really be sad. But what if I was?!?!?! I hadn't really processed what I would do or how I would feel if I WAS pregnant.

When I saw the word "Pregnant" on that test, I literally just started crying and praying - thanking the Lord for this blessing and praying for protection over this child. I had heard tons of horror stories of miscarriages and health problems and I just wanted a healthy baby.

I was expecting a child! [Enter Freak Out Mode] Only two people knew, and none of them were my husband. Oops! I had a good reason for that though. I wanted to think of a super cute way to tell Alex. No better way to brainstorm than to go walk 6 miles on the rail trail with Whitney. She had been there with me through my emotional roller coasters in the past months and was great at these kinds of things! I just knew I had to include our dog, Chloe. We decided I could go get a dog shirt, or infant shirt, and Whitney could quickly embroider it. We'd put the shirt on Chloe and the shirt would somehow tell Alex I was expecting!! I also was determined to find a way to video the interaction. Fool proof, right?? Ha....

Side note: I have to give many many thanks to Whitney. She listened to me yap about baby stuff, followed by pregnancy stuff, stopped what she was doing to make me an impromptu shirt for this momentous occasion, and just has gone above & beyond in the friend department through it all. Love ya Whitney & THANK YOU !! 

I wish I could show you the video. But if I did, Alex would kill me. He's super private that way. But I can tell you that it went a little something like this: Chloe wore her "BIG SIS" shirt, walked right up to him and sat on his lap, it took him a few seconds to even acknowledge she was wearing a shirt, then he told me she hated her shirt (he's anti-dogs wearing clothes), and didn't even acknowledge what the shirt said. It took him a few more seconds, and he read the shirt. He asked if we were getting another dog. (Ha!!) While I continued to be sketchy and video him, he asked "Why you gotta play games?" and then asked me if I was pregnant. When I said yes his first words were "That's awesome." and I said "Good answer." He was then sketched out by the camera and I respectfully quit recording. LOL





Telling everyone was so fun and memorable. I will have to share other videos in a future blog post. I videoed as many as I could. :) I will always cherish those videos... and that's why I am always shoving a camera in my loved ones' faces, to later have memories of a lifetime!!

I just can't believe a whole year has gone by that I've been thinking of this baby, praying for her, and doing what I can to be the best mother I can. She now comes first. She's so precious and dependent and seriously the best baby that I could have dreamed of. I now can't imagine my life without her. The Good Lord surely knew what He was doing when He picked her for me, or me for her. Either way, she's an awesome baby who loves to eat, sleep, smile, and be happy. Just like her Mama. :)

A year seems like such a long time but I can remember this day like it was yesterday. It was one of the best days of my life and I will never forget it!!

Pregnancy blows my mind.

When you think about it, something this small...

...turned into this 7 lb. 14 oz. bundle of pure love. 

Praise the Lord!!

Sharing & Reviewing My Premier Lay Flat Wedding Photo Book from Snapfish

FYI: this blog post is serving 2 purposes... 1) to share with you my wedding book, and 2) to kind of give a review of Snapfish's Premier Lay Flat photo books since there are ZERO online with pictures. {I know, I looked.} So, this might be a doozy...get ready!!

Last summer, one of my items on my Summer To-Do list was to make my our wedding photo album. For various reasons {#1 being I'm a slacker} it just didn't get done. Fast forward ten more months, and summer is fortunately here again! I've been out of work for about 6 weeks and finally I can say that our beaUTIFUL wedding pictures are displayed to my crazy OCD standards in a photo book that I made my very own self!!

I have previously used Snapfish to make our wedding guestbook. I used pictures of me & Alex  from the very beginning {2002!!} to our most recent engagement pictures. Instead of having all our wedding guests sign a book with just their names, they got to sign our photo book and leave a note if they wished! It turned out wonderful and I still look at it from time to time. It makes my heart smile. It's a great little treasure of mine.

Wedding pictures were SUPER important to me. I had a great photographer, Kerri Crutchfield, and from the moment I saw her sneak peek on Facebook I just knew I was going to love my wedding pictures!

This is what I knew:

-I wanted a {nice} photo book

-I couldn't dare pick out "just" 100ish pictures for my book

-I am too particular and would be super annoying to someone if they were trying to make a book for me

-Therefore, I wanted to design the book myself

-I hands down prefer Snapfish's photobook-making software over any other company's

-I needed to make this happen for as cheap as I could... {do y'all know my husband?!?!}

So obviously the thing to do was make another Snapfish book. I knew I wanted a 12"x12" book. I wanted it bigger than my 8"x11" guestbook and thought 11"x14" would be a bit "much." Luckily for me, Snapfish just came out with their new Premier Lay-flat Photo Books, which apparently is different from making a custom book and upgrading to have the pages lay flat. This new book is described with the statement, "New seamless lay-flat binding, extra-thick premium pages, and a deluxe matte cover make these books perfect for celebrating weddings, vacations, and life's sweetest moments." Sounds good to me!! I just wanted thick pages and lay-flat binding in a 12"x12" book so this worked perfect for me!!

Anyways, I worked on my book when I felt like it and got it all nice & finished. I had a question because I was being super particular, wanting to make sure the cover would be perfect. I used Snapfish's "Chat with us Live" online customer service option {which I always use with companies...way more efficient than calling a toll-free number!} and after chatting with the representative, they gave me a coupon code for 50% off my book!! A previous rep had told me you can only get 20% off the Premier Lay Flat books, and typically 50% off coupons I see do exclude those. I was SUPER happy to see that the new coupon code worked and I saved **$82**!!

Don't tell Snapfish, but I would have paid the full price for the book, I love it that much. ;) I was happy with the 20% off coupon. So yeah, ecstatic about the 50% off!

Anyways, I ordered my book July 28 and received it in the mail on August 2nd... that is a FAST turn-around time! My tracking showed an expected delivery date of August 8th, so my package was 6 days early! Just another reason I love Snapfish.

So far, in looking at my book, there are only two tiny issues. One Snapfish can work on in the future, and one I am currently chatting online with a customer service rep about.** My one beef is that there's nothing to keep it in. I know that's not included in the price and they never said it did. I just wish I had something to kind of wrap it up in or keep it from wearing with time. Y'all know what I'm saying?! I might have to make something. {HAHA! Just kidding!}

And my other beef is that my book preview showed that I filled all the pages up, but when I received my book there is a blank two-sided page in the back (shown below). It doesn't look too bad, just looks like I didn't put anything on 2 pages. And I would have, had I had known the page was added. Just sayin'! {SEE THE UPDATE AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST REGARDING THIS ISSUE!}

Okay, so, now for the big reveal...

Happiness Within is right!!

the front cover

the back cover

A piece of tissue paper/vellum/whatever it's called in the front

Page 1 :)

One thing I will say is that I knew I was gonna be pushing it with fitting all my pics on 100 pages. {I am not crazy. I promise.} I didn't want to smoosh all my beloved pictures onto a small amount of pages. I wanted the photos enlarged so you could see all the smiling faces, little details, and the beautiful backgrounds. Surprisingly, I actually ended up fitting almost all my wedding photos on 85ish pages, which saved me a little bit of money! 

nice & thick :)

trying to get a good pic of the thickness of the pages

And here's just a couple snapshots of some of my favorite pages...

{excuse the blurriness of my photography!}

the details

the dress

"what might have been" / our "Plan A" ... thanks, rain! 

Pawpaw got a full-page spread!! ♥

me and my beautiful bridesmaids

love the pops of yellow all throughout the book!

special moment with my Dad

the kiss

Will cherish these pictures of my Pawpaw crying happy tears forever ♥

"and they lived happily ever after..." ♥

As you can tell, I ended up not going with any single picture full-page spreads. That's probably the purpose of the lay-flat books, but I did not necessarily have any picture I wished to enlarge to 1 ft by 2 ft. Haha! I did do several pages with just one picture, and that was big enough for me and my book. I personally just wanted the lay-flat pages to keep it clean and professional looking, as well as to be able to see all of any page that had pictures right up to the edge. 

**UPDATE: I chatted with "Yeshwanth" online, telling him/her about my issue. At first, they said it was "just the cover" or something like that. I was politely adamant that no, this was an error. I did not ask for anything specific, just wanted to make them aware of the issue and see if there was anything I could do about it. Yeshwanth had me upload pictures of my issue with the book {shown above} to confirm it. After confirmation, the conversation went a little something exactly like this...

Yeshwanth: Nicole , I have just now checked the snap shots and i see that the extra page has been added to the book . Please accept our sincere apologies for the extra page.

Yeshwanth: Shall i resubmit the order for you for free of cost?

nicole mullen: Would I need to send the 1st book back
nicole mullen: ?

Yeshwanth: No need of sending the book back to us.

nicole mullen: Oh my gosh, well then Yes, that would be marvelous!

Yeshwanth: Please give me a moment.

Yeshwanth: Just now I have re submitted your order with 2 day shipping to the above address at free of cost.. You will receive a confirmation e-mail from us within few minutes.

nicole mullen: I appreciate it so much

Yeshwanth: It was a pleasure assisting you. Is there anything else I can help with today?

Now how is THAT for customer service??? 100% customer satisfaction is what I am talking about!! That right there is what keeps customers coming BACK. Can I get an Amen?! 

So, as you can see, the photo books are definitely worth their price, especially to commemorate such a special occasion. I think the cost right now is $79.99 for the Premier Lay Flat photo books. However, that's just for their standard 20 pages! I think it's $2.79ish for a set of two extra pages {so 4 pages including front & back} after that. My book ended up being like $164 in the end, but remember, there's usually a 50% off coupon you can find/use! {Try retailmenot.com or chat online with a customer service rep ahead of time to get a code!}

Hopefully this post will give future photo book makers a better idea of what they're doing and investing in. If you have any questions, leave a comment! :) 

At the end of the day, I just loved the thing & wanted to share my great experience doing this! Now, onto the next thing on my summer to-do... only 2 weeks left of summer! {OMG!}

♥,

Nicole

Oh, and in no way did Snapfish ask me to do this or pay me to say these things. But I'd so advertise their stuff {obviously} ;)

A rant about picture taking from a pathological picture-taker

Get ready to read... 

If you know me, you know I love to take pictures. I call myself a pathological picture taker and I am not ashamed to say that. Ever since I got my first digital camera that didn't even have a zoom button, I've been blowin' it up, taking as many pictures of me with my friends and loved ones. So bad to the point that one year for Valentine's Day, as part of my present, Alex gave me a HUGE pack of AA batteries. I later wised up & bought a fancier digital camera that doesn't take AA batteries. 

Anyways, we're playing a slideshow at our rehearsal dinner... don't worry, we're not going to stop you from eating to have you watch a montage of our entire lives while a song play that'll make ya wanna cry. But don't think I didn't think about it!! Yeah, so, we're playing a slideshow. And I knew this moment would come. The moment when I would "have to" {I really really wanted to} go through ALL my past digital pictures. All 39,482,384 of them. And MAN did I enjoy that!! It took me back. I love to reminisce & remember good times. It's crazy and awesome to see how much things have changed while looking to see what hasn't changed at all. I took pictures in those moments just for that purpose. And some precious memories I will never get back, and those pictures are all I have left. 

I just wish I had pictures from before 10th grade. I love my Mom but she is the worst picture taker. And while she loves pictures of us, she wasn't as picture crazy as I am. Therefore, 94% of the pictures of me and my friends growing up are either non-existent or completely chopping off a vital body part or something of the sort. Love you Mom! 

I'm not just a crazy picture taker. I do have good intentions and a purpose for my picture taking. Get annoyed all you want, but you'll be sad when you look back and don't have any pictures of your happy memories. And by gosh, my kids {God bless their souls} are not going to regret not having any pictures of them growing up. 

Once I got my iPhone I completely ditched my digital camera. I somewhat regret this. Taking pictures with your smartphone is so convenient, but it really doesn't take the same quality pictures as my somewhat fancy digital camera. And when it comes time you actually want to print your pictures and enlarge them, you're screwed. Don't even get me started on this stupid Samsung Galaxy S3 I have. The thing's camera is a joke and it takes an act of Congress just to get it to take a non-blurry picture. And FORGET about asking someone else who hasn't got it's stupid ways down to a science to take a picture for you, because they will. all. be. blurry. 

I see myself getting super anal about picture taking. I am not in denial. But seriously, if the last picture you took with someone was a super messed up blurry attempt at a picture, wouldn't that break your heart?? It'd break mine! 

I say all that to say... I am back!! I am carrying my beloved digital camera around with me again and you better believe I am gonna be taking some pictures!! I had an awesome bachelorette party this weekend, and *I* got hardly ANY good pictures and it seriously makes me wanna cry. We looked so darn good!! WHYY did we not take more pictures?! And now I have to bother people to get their copies...'cuz y'all know saving them from Facebook is not the same. {Please tell me you know this.} Facebook completely destroys any quality you had in your picture if you want to reprint it. 

Am I the only crazy person thinking like this?? I am sure I'm not.

But I bet no one's willing to admit they're equally as picture psycho!! 

Oh well, I will say it loud & proud...

My name is Nicole

and I am a pathological picture taker!!!

30 Blogs in 30 Days: Day 4: 10 Things I Would Say to my 16-Year-Old Self

This is a pretty interesting one!

Hmm... let's see... what was I doing when I was 16???

In September of 2003, I was starting my junior year of high school, so "16" was basically my junior year & the summer after.

Alex and I were on and off {of course} and I had some pretty great times with some pretty great friends.

Here's some random pics from my 16-year-old days...

Golfing with Alex for his 18th birthday

"Fab 4" night of trouble... 

There's a funny story that goes with the picture above.

I will sum it up with a Facebook photo comment from Summer (2nd from the right):

"hahahahahahahaha...i still can see you flipping out of the back of the truck..hahaha...and the car coming and you almost getting ran over...i thought you were dead...but of course im glad you're ok and everything but you know that was the funniest thing ever when you look back on it...lol" 

Good times, y'all, good times...

My 16th Birthday... at Hooters after the football game, lol

Oh you know, riding around ;) Taking pictures...
With that old Nokia phone- everyone who was cool had one ;) 

Junior Girls Christmas Party at my house

Christmas dance
I was in a "bold" phase

Homecoming Pep Rally with Alex
Look how young & skinny we were!

Softball girlies :) 

When you want a specific tan line, you wear 2 bathing suits.
You can do that when you're skinny.

My future college roomie!! Who knew?! :)

My twinsie, Meredith ♥

I definitely just scrounged through my old Webshots account and whatever is left of my Facebook pictures from this "era" and reminisced for about an hour. {Way to be productive, Nicole!} 

Oh, yeah....10 things I would tell my 16-year-old self.... 

1. You've got it, so flaunt it! You will start taking Depo-Provera next year, and your body will never like you again. 
2. I know you think you're overweight, but YOU. ARE. NOT. You can't compare your body to your peers' bodies. You wanna compare it to something? Compare it to your OWN body, 8 years later. You'll think twice and want to wear bikinis everywhere you go! 
3. Your hair was cute short. But at some point, please let it grow long.
4. You look beautiful without a ton of makeup! 
5. You're going to have fun. Things are going to get crazy. Live it up. You'll grow more cautious later. 
6. When Alex gets super controlling and psycho on you, don't call him. "It's meant to be," so don't call him. He'll act like he won't miss you, because he's young and big and bad, but do your own things. He'll miss you a lot. And he'll be a much better man eight years later, so, do what you've gotta do. 
7. Realize how lucky you are. You're surrounded by so many awesome things, memories, and people! Not everyone's so lucky.
8. Hoes before bros. 
9. Learn how to study, PLEASE. And get better grades. You're too smart to get lower grades just because you're lazy. 
10. Family is important too. 

*****

Stay tuned for Day 5: Five Things That Make You Most Happiest Right Now

Click to see my other blogs from 30 Blogs in 30 Days.

Happy September!!

Well, it's here! The beginning of my two favorite months of the year, September & October! They both tie for first place in my eyes. :) They begin the month of FALL, which is my absolute FAVORITE, and I look forward to September & October all. year. long! Unfortunately, football season has started...but I won't let that get me down!! ;) September brings back sooo many fond memories for me. September is a romantic month, didn't you know?! It's also a fun month AND it includes *M*Y*  *B*I*R*T*H*D*A*Y*!* Yep, that's right! This girl will be the BIG 2-4 this year & I am looking forward to it!

I'm gonna take a stroll down memory lane for a second if you don't mind. ;) September 2010 was good to me.

My best friend got MARRIED! Wasn't she GORGEOUS?!

Jodi & I spent long nights in class, surviving off Cheetos & Mountain Dew

The boyfriend took me to Gaffney for some $hopping & Outback for my birthday

My sweet residents decorated my door for my birthday

Maria, Tori, Me & Jonathan {The LR Resident Directors} celebrating!

"Panther's Game" in the rain with Alex...we never even made it in but we got this cute pic! :)

Now I look forward to this September SO much!! I start my new job & will get my first real paycheck!! I will celebrate my 24th birthday. I will feel the weather cool down and I will break out my cardigans! I will spend my Friday nights at hometown football games cheering on my baby cousin! I will keep exercising, drinking my Vi Shakes & losing weight! And I will see friends get married & others prepare for their upcoming big day! I am excited already! {Can't you tell?!}

OH! And I will definitely be thanking God for the day He made whoever invented the DVR. ALL MY SHOWS RETURN this month!!! The week of my birthday {September 21st by the way} is a big TV week. All the good shows return that week!!
Modern Family
Grey's Anatomy
The Office
Two & a Half Men - gonna check my man Ashton out on there...
How I Met Your Mother
The Big Bang Theory
...and others I am sure!! Makes it look like I watch a lot of TV, doesn't it? :/ Unfortunately most of my shows come on on Thursday nights, so I am again thanking God for creating whoever invented the DVR!

I am about to break out my FALL decorations! I have more Fall decorations than I have Christmas decorations...maybe, well, I don't know after last year's Christmas clearance sales. :)

Let the fabulous September begin!!!

Reflecting on the Year 2010

I had to take a moment to go back and look at my blog from last year, reflecting on the year 2009. It brought a smile to my face seeing the positivity I brought into the year 2010. I {mostly} love the year's end, ringing in a new year, reflecting on the past year and what all it brought. This year is no exception. The difference in this year & the last is, as sad as it is, is that I will need to make a solid effort to bring that much positivity into 2011. But no worries there...I'm already making an effort to make sure that happens! :)

If you know me personally, you know this has been a trying year for me. I won't begin to list the reasons why- but if you know me, you know this has been one of the hardest years, if not the hardest, for me and my family. I have learned so much about myself, life, love, and family.

I see the quotes on the cute signs at Ross. I hear the sayings. I've heard it time and time again: Family this, and family that. If you don't have family, you have nothing. Family is all you've got. Families are forever. Maybe it's because my family and I have had a very trying year, or maybe it's just a big 2010 fad, but I have not quit hearing about *family* this year. I'm not saying it's a bad thing- but it definitely got me thinking.

Family is your blood. Family is your siblings, your parents, your grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Family is who you spend the holidays with. But what about who you spend every other day with? My family has definitely grown this year, and so has my definition of family. The Lord has blessed me with some fabulous friendships this year, with friends I now consider family. I am amazed at how a friend can brighten your day, be there for you, and share in your moments of joy. The support I've been shown from my family this year has meant the world to me. I have not once taken it for granted because I know how friends change with the seasons at times. I am simply thankful for the family God has placed in my life this year, and hope that they continue to stay family for years to come. If not, that's life; that's understandable. I will look back on the times I have spent with these friends and smile because I sure enjoyed every minute! :)

That's another thing I've learned this year: Friends are here for either a reason, a season, or a lifetime. I am no longer bitter or sad about the friendships that I no longer have. I miss some of my old friends but realize that "life happens" and sometimes people simply go separate ways, for no reason at all. On the other hand, I am so so so thankful for those "lifetime friends" that I have. It means the world to me to have friends who are still your friends no matter how far away they live, or how busy their life gets. These are definitely part of the "family" mentioned above. :) God did not give me a sister {probably with good reason} but God has provided me with friends who I can definitely say "love ya like a sister" to and mean it!

What else have I learned in 2010?

Take advantage of a good sale. It won't always be there tomorrow! ;)
But don't buy something just because it's on sale.

I shouldn't always say what's on my mind.
But also, people can't read my mind- so I need to be informative at times.

Don't judge someone by what you've heard about them. Get to know someone personally. Making a new friend is always better than thinking not only negatively, but incorrectly, about a person.

And lastly....I learned to quit anxiously awaiting things because it is is based around God's time, and His perfect plan. It doesn't matter when I think I want or need something, but only when God believes I am ready to receive my blessing. There is nothing I can do to fast forward life to an instant blessing. Sometimes it takes time, and lots of it- but with that time comes learning experiences and life lessons for the future. And for that I am thankful.

I am also *very* thankful for these sweet moments I will not forget....2010, you weren't such a bad year.