2011: Got Pregnant, Bought a House, Had a Baby, Graduated College.. GOOD YEAR!

Looking back on 2011 and how much has changed I just smile. At the beginning of 2011, to be exact January 17th, 2011 was the day I found out I was pregnant. And I knew at that instant our life would never be the same. I look back and I remember exactly how I told Derek that I was pregnant and his face I will never forget; and that one face he has only made once in the 5 years we've been together, the face was actually a "oh crap" face. classic! With the start of a new year and a new pregnancy we tired as much as we could to plan everything out right for 2011. And we did.

Jumping ahead to May, We are now 5 months pregnant. And Derek had his 24th birthday on May 26th, and two days later we finally got the keys to our brand new house. Derek and I bought a brand new home, well new to us. it was built in 2008, and we purchased the house for pennies on the dollar, literally. Some will probably think that its junky because of the price we paid but the house is absolutely beautiful. Everything from the sinks to the light fixtures to the cabinets to the tile, to the elevation everything was UPGRADED. :) We really got blessed with this house, we started looking at houses with our realtor in the beginning of March and it took us two months and probably about 16 bids of different houses for us to finally find the right one. And to be honest when we looked at this house, I had this feeling that it was going to be ours. And it was. To thank God more, we were under budget with what we wanted to spend on a house, actually about $40K under budget. God has been so good to us. :) And it was absolutely EVERYTHING we wanted in a home. Derek got his garage, and I got my two living rooms. This was just the beginning of how God worked in our lives in 2011.

Jumping up to August, now 8 months pregnant and ready for our baby shower. Let me just say, (even though it was my shower) I have NEVER seen more gifts at any baby shower than mine. we got EVERYTHING that we asked for on our registry + MORE. My parents bought us the ENTIRE nursery furniture (crib, changing station and dresser). Derek's father bought us the stroller and car seat, Derek's mom bought the swing and rock and play (the SWING is the best thing EVER INVENTED!) My sister Vanessa bought us the pack and play, Derek's aunts bought us the mattress and other stuff. so much stuff I can't even remember all of it.. but again, We were blessed. And God again provided our every need. We were set and FINALLY ready for baby girl. :)

My mom and Derek began painting the baby's nursery. We ended up doing a lady bug theme and I wanted candy apple red on the walls, and Derek refused to allow me to have candy apple red because he wanted yellow. and we finally came to an agreement and did yellow and a softer shade of red, the baby's room is Sun Devil colors! ha ha.

Finally, we are in September, and September 9th was the last day of work for me and my maternity leave finally kicked in. My estimated due date was September 23rd and I wanted to work until mid September, Derek didn't allow it. :)



FINALLY the event that marked it all was on September 25th 2011. We finally welcomed our little angel:

Zyana-Lee Grace Gonzalez, her name means, "Blessing from Heaven"

At 10:02 AM

19 Inches in length

7 Pounds, 3.2 ounces

You can read my BIRTH STORY HERE



It is so crazy how life happens. She sure is a blessing to our lives and I thank God daily that he granted her to us for this time.



So as we were in the hospital waiting for Zyana's arrival plus post baby I was doing homework the whole time. Now we are November, on November 3rd I had my 25th birthday. Yikes. I am halfway to 50 years old. That makes me a little sad thinking about that. LOL. Well, another major event took place on November 12th, 2011. I FINALLY finished my Bachelors degree. Through the midst of it all I never lost focus of what I have always desired to be in my life. And I wont stop here. Just because there's a new baby in my life don't mean that I have to stop with my education. I will continue and wherever I end up, Hey I did it. :) The day of my graduation I wanted to make my mom and dad proud, and I did. To some, a bachelors degree isn't such a big deal, but to us.. its a huge thing. lol



Now here we are December. December was the month that I got knocked up in 2010. December 17th 2010 is the day the deed was done, (If that bothers you that I'm this open, stop reading my blog :)) LOL. Anyway, we had our very first Christmas with our first child here and it will never be the same again. And we are happy about that.

So this year has been by far, hands down AWESOME.

I got pregnant, bought a house, had a baby and graduated college. I'm very excited to see what 2012 brings. Maybe, just maybe Zyana will be a big sister :)