Andy and Brittany....are ENGAGED!

Andy has been dating Brittany for a LONG time...It has been so fun to watch them grow together, go through life changes together and finally get engaged!  Being a part of their engagement was such a blessing.

Here is how it all went down....

A couple of weeks ago we were hanging out at the Klenke's for Midge's birthday.  Andy told us he was taking Brittany to New York to propose to her!  We were so excited for him and Steve casually said, "I could hide in the bushes and take pictures for you..."  We all laughed... and then began to think of the logistics of how that would work..and realized we could make it happen!  After about 3 hours of looking for flights and planning details, we ended up planning a trip to New York and Chicago!  All in one weekend, and Midge and Paul were going to take Abby!

So, we flew out of Detroit early Saturday morning and went to scope out the area.  Andy was planning on proposing to Brit in central park.  Steve and I got there a little early to place the notes Andy had written to her.  It was a bit tricky because everything was moist (it had rained a lot!) and everyone kept reading the notes!  Nosy New Yorkers!  So, we had to keep moving them because of people pulling them out and looking at them and vendors parking their little carts RIGHT in front of the notes.  We ended up moving the notes 3 times in the 45 minutes we had to set them up!

Placing the notes (and the people checking it out):

There they are...And, there are people looking at them, surprise, surprise!

"Oh, am I in your way?" - No, the vendor didn't ask this before setting up his cage.

Aww!

Bike tour!  Kind of killed our photo shooting view! :)

Reading the letter he wrote to her when he was 18.....Asking her to marry him!

People who talked to Steve and stayed to watch the engagement

What?!?!  It's happening, right now!

What an incredible day!

The happy couple!

She's thinking, "Man...Andy is a youth pastor, look at this rock!"

Love...

The touristy photographers (Well, Steve took the pictures, my i phone didn't cut it)

Then, we got to walk around NYC!

Get it?

I LOVE this one....

Then...we flew back home.  Brittany thought the surprises were over.  But, little did she know, there was a whole party waiting for her Sunday night!  

This is NOT Andy's car....Three Black Pontiac G6's pulled in before Andy's...They were all cheered for...I am sure that made their day.

Mrs. Klenke's! (Minus the "real" Mrs. Klenke)

No way!

Telling the story of how Andy proposed.

 The party!  (I think a few people were cut off...dang it!)

Still got the pacifier in to keep her happy, and by this time we had lost the dress too.  Yes, this is my sick baby crawling around in a onsie on a dirty floor.  Sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do.

we love you andy and brittany!  

Being a mom...No Joke

Being a mom is one of the most wonderful things in the world.  I know all you “moms” out there already know this…But I am just beginning to realize it.  It is amazing to me how God blesses us with children and I feel so honored that he entrusted us with her life. That gift is incredible…So incredible.

With being a mom comes crazy responsibility.  On our trip to Chicago Abby wasn’t acting quite right…She had a terrible night sleep on Friday night.  I figured it was a fluke and took care of her all night figuring it would pass.  We got about three hours of sleep maybe five hours total, but Abby was up about every 30-45 minutes.  I am not exaggerating on this and those of you who have been up this much during the night know how miserable it is.  Then we went to New York for the day (see blog post about Andy and Brittany engagement) and Midge and Paul had Abby. They said she was fine during the day but didn’t nap much, and then at about 8:00 pm, really didn’t sleep and wouldn’t stop crying.  They picked us up from the airport in Chicago and we were excited to see our poor, sleepy baby. 

We tried going to sleep and Abby wouldn’t lay down. So, we started night 2 of holding her, hoping for some sleep, even if it was 45 minutes.   About 90 minutes into our slumber (and we were exhausted, no sleep the night before + day walking around in NYC = tired) Abby woke up SCREAMING.  She doesn’t do this.  I looked at Steve said, “Something is wrong” and we started dialing numbers to find an urgent care.  There were none in the area, so we went to the emergency room.

Abby came out with an ear infection and 4-5 hours later we were back in our hotel room with some antibiotics.  Abby slept in our arms again, but was a little more peaceful.  We were much happier as we knew we weren’t crazy and that our baby wasn’t feeling well.

After going to the doctor we had our first 3 hour stretch of sleep in 3 nights!  Oh, that was incredible.  Then we gave Abby to grandma and grandpa for a bit and slept for another 90 minutes (without a baby this time, and let me tell you, that was heaven!)

We went to the engagement party and Abby held it together as best as she could.  She wasn’t her smiley self, but wasn’t crying the entire time either.  It was sad that others didn’t get to see our happy baby, but I am glad she wasn’t screaming.  We drove home from Chicago that night and had two 45 minute bits of crying on our 4.5 hour drive home.  Other than that, Abby slept.

She is now on the mend.  Sleeping in her own bed and giving us 5 hours of sleep at a time.  She is back to her normal nap schedule and is eating solid foods again (apples, bananas, carrots, and peas). 

All that to say….Being a mom is no joke.  You completely sacrifice yourself for this little one and don’t think twice about doing it.  Usually when I do something I have to think, “Wow, this is hard, is it really worth it?”  When it comes to Abby, that doesn’t even go through my mind, I just do it.  I stay up all night, I hold her till she falls asleep, I make the silly faces to make her smile, I bounce her up and down even though my arms are killing me…as a mom, you just do whatever you have to do to make that baby happy…and, you will do whatever you have to do to get her well…Even if it is spending 4 hours in an emergency room, driving for 30 minutes after that to a Walgreens, waiting there for 45 minutes to fill a prescription (which was ridiculous mind you, no one else was there, it should have taken about 10 minutes to fill)…You just do it, because you are a mom.  I am not “tooting my own horn on this” because I know EVERY OTHER mom who is reading this would do the exact same thing…

and we have a happy baby girl....(momma loves her new camera...No editing on these pics!)

Michigan has been good to us so far...

We get to see Grandma and Grandpa at softball games.

 We get cuddle time with Bubba and Nana

 We get to go out to special birthday meals! (Thanks Hawk-Eye!  - Yes, that is what we call him :))

 We cuddle with cousins

 We get to go on vacations here...

 We get to go get ice cream at Wares...Don't worry, she didn't get any of the milkshake!

 We play doctor with the cousins

 We cuddle with the family!

 Steve goes fishing every chance he gets!

 We build towers with Elli...Our future engineer

 We go to the petting zoo and take a hay ride!

 We are here for birthday's and get to watch the girls open their presents...This was a sprinkler we made Sam, she was a bit scared to go in it at first, but then was brave and made it all the way through.

 We go to school...You can see Steve is thrilled about me taking a first day picture.

 And, we go to Tigers games...Yes, we bought playoff tickets (a dream Steve has had for the past 8 years)

 Our Rally Caps worked!  Tigers came back in the 9th! And won with a walk off home run!  Bazinga!

 And we go to the beach where Carey grew up...

So far it has been a pretty good place to live....