Hello everyone! I want to catch everyone up to date on my family since Steve and I got married back in May of 2007.

Well, after the excitement of the wedding, life went pretty much back to normal. I was working at Clearfield-Jefferson Mental Health Center in DuBois, PA and loving/hating it. I loved my job, but hated what was going on around me. Then in August I started not feeling well in the morning. I just chalked it up to being overly stressed with work because we were so short handed I always worked overtime, and was getting to the point where I didn't want to go. I thought that psychologically I was making myself nauseous so I wouldn't have to go to work. Steve thought otherwise. He was right of course! I wasn't psyching myself out, I was pregnant!

We learned on Kyle's 7th birthday of my due date of April 25, 2008. Remember this date because it comes in to play later. I was having a rough go with this pregnancy. Never before had I been flattened like this with morning sickness and aversions. My blood pressure was of concern because it was always elevated while I was at work and since I spent 10 to 12 hours a day there it was of great concern to my doctor. So in December I resigned from my position and concentrated on the kids and the house. I was loving every minute of it.

December 12, 2007 we went for the sonogram to determine how the baby was developing and to see if we could find out what we were having. Steve wouldn't tell me though. I asked not to know right then, I still wanted to decided whether or not I really wanted to know or not. On Christmas morning, Steve told me in the sweetest way possible. I got a present from the baby. I opened it and I had a little picture frame saying, "It's A Boy!" That was how I found out what we were having.

In March of 2008 Steve got an idea in his head that he needed to look for another job, something different that was going to provide better for the family. So he applied with Auto Zone online, but he applied for the Cartersville, GA area. He left me that same day to come down to GA and stay with Jonathan and Lyda for a few days so he would be available for interviews. Mind you, he just applied, he didn't have any calls yet. He told me that he had to go. He knew that this was what was right. Sure enough, when he called to let me know that he crossed into GA, he told me that he had 2 job interviews scheduled for Tues. and Wed. He told me that this was the door that God was opening for us and he just knew that we would be moving here.

Sure enough...2 weeks from the time of the interview to the date that we moved into our apartment was all that had passed. The path to move was cleared before us. Everything that we needed to make arrangements for and were worried wasn't going to be available due to the shortness of notice, was not a problem. It seemed that the people who were going to rent the size truck we needed called 10 minutes before hand to cancel the reservation. We had the money and the means, and thankfully half of our things were all ready packed.

I went to the doctor the day before we were set to leave just to make sure everything was all well and good. The doctor told me to just make sure that I stopped to rest every couple of hours and we would be just fine. So at 35 weeks along we moved from PA to GA.

It was good to be around friends, and I was much closer to my mother, but I missed all the family that I have in PA. I tried to do as much of the unpacking as I could. I just mainly said where I wanted things to go and watched. It was a little frustrating on my part because I wanted to just jump right in and help out. I couldn't of course, but I wanted to. I got the biggest kick the first week after we were here. I cleaned my apartment and just loved it.

March sped blissfully into April and now the fun begins. One April morning I was having fun decorating things, putting out knick knacks and hanging pictures, or rather having Steve hang them and me tell him where I wanted them to go. I was turning to exit the living room and go into the bedroom when I was stopped dead because of a contraction. It was only one and lasted maybe 30 seconds. Steve, being the excitable type immediately thought that it was time. He ran downstairs and not receiving an answer to his pounding on the door, he went to the window of Jonathan and Lyda's apartment. She was vacuuming so didn't hear the door, and when he banged on the window it scared her half out of her mind. She let him in the house and tried to calm him down as she knew as well as I, it was only one contraction.

After I convinced Steve that I was fine and didn't need to go to the hospital and promising I would take it easy the rest of the day, I was able to stay put and enjoy the rest of my day. April 16th was an important day because my mom came into town. She would be staying with us for a few weeks. We had a big dinner party for her when she got in. I was on cloud nine. I had my mother and Lyda, my best friend under one roof, and I was expecting! It was awesome.

April 19th dawned bright and early for me. I was up at 5 am that morning because I couldn't sleep. I was restless with tons of energy. So I made a big breakfast and made sure that Lyda's present was wrapped and the card was written. We would be going to her birthday party that afternoon. I thought of my little brother as the 19th is his birthday as well. My mom asked me if I was having contractions and I told her not that I could feel. I felt wonderful. I did my hair up nice and pretty and put make-up on which was something that I hadn't worn for about 6 months. I told my mother that I felt like I needed to enjoy the day to its fullest because I would be going to the hospital that night... She thought I was joking. We had a great time at Lyda's party, a few of the guests even joked about watching enough ER to be able to deliver a baby if needed. The boys blew bubbles and played outside. We had hot dogs and hamburgers and cake and ice cream. It was a great day. Around 5:45 after helping clean up as much as possible downstairs. I took my boys and my mom and hubby back upstairs to our apartment. I was going to run the boys a bath and double check the baby's room to make sure everything was set there. Around 6:30pm I was calling my mid-wife to let her know that the contractions were 10 minutes apart and lasting for 2 minutes. My mom cried when I told her I was in labor and Lyda laughed and Steve just looked at me and asked me, "How did you know?"

I got to talk to Jerry on the phone a few minutes after that and he was thrilled. He was hoping that Freddy would have his birthday as well. It didn't happen that way though. I had a tough time with the labor itself. I stalled out at 6 cm for like 5 hours. So Frederick Bryce Anthony wasn't born until 12:36pm on April 20. At the beginning of my pregnancy, I told Jerry and Lyda that Freddy's due date was the 25th of April. So they immediately started betting on whose birthday he would be born on. I guess Lyda won!

Now, Freddy is 4 months old and is just a cute as can be. I am so blessed to have 3 gorgeous boys. Kyle is going to be 8 on the 19th of this month. He is growing up so fast. He is doing really well in school and has been recommended for the gifted program at school. We had him tested to see if he qualified, we should know soon. Stevie is showing his own personality now, and that can be a little dangerous because you never know if it is the angle or the devil you will be dealing with that day. There are days he is so good and then there are those days that he just picks fights. I guess that is something that he will have to get over soon.

Steve is a Parts Service Sales Manager for Auto Zone. He loves his job and it pays well. We are able to have a lovely life here. It is simple for us, but hey we came from a place where the best thing to do was go outside for target practice. We are not used to having so much around here to do. We will eventually do it all, but it will take years.

So to all my family and friends, that is what has been going on in my life for the past year. I will be putting pictures on here and posting videos as soon as we get them..... Take care!