My Two Bestfriends

These photos were taken when my Mom was here. Alexia took the last photo of me and my Mom. (with my Point and Shoot Nikon camera I have). My DSLR is really heavy for her to hold still. My hubby even complains about it. LOL Imagine holding the 70-200mm lens and the SB-800 with it too. :) I did and believe me, my arm was killing me afterwards, but it was so worth it. :)

Can't wait for 10/27/09

This is how you know I'm a book worm. LOL I'm excited for a day a book comes out. House of Night Series: Tempted October 27th, 2009 couldn't come soon of enough. I love this series. P.C. Cast is definitely one of my favorite authors. :) I can't wait to read her other books she has written.

Back to Reading to make my Goal. ;)

Okay I've been slacking a bit on reading. I had company here so I had to stop for awhile. Let's just say since June 27th, I hadn't been reading like I usually do. I finished 19 books in two months and this month alone I've only read two books. :( That's not good to me. I've been reading the Black Dagger Brotherhood Series. I'm now on the 4th book. The first 3 had me on the edge of my seat. I love J.R. Ward's style. She goes back and forth to different characters in the books telling their side and such. Sometimes she leaves me hanging on scenes for awhile and has me reading other things before I go back to the original scene I was reading. It's her way though and I love waiting to see what happens. The series of course are about Vampires, but these vampires are not normal vampires. These are the protectors of the Species. Each book has a love story to it. The first book Dark Lover was about Wrath and Beth. (so far my favorite one) The second book Lover Eternal was about Rhage and Mary. The 3rd book Lover Awakened was about Zsadist and Bella. And now the 4th book Lover Revealed I'm reading about is about Butch and Marissa. I'm trying to finish the series before I go back to work mid August. I also need to finish the series before my Vampire Academy Series 4th book comes out the end of August....Blood Promise. I read the first 3 books last month within a 5 day period. I had a friend suggest them. I'm glad she did because I couldn't put the books down. Now I'm waiting patiently for Richelle Mead to bring out the 4th one. ;) So here it is I'm back to being a Book Worm for awhile. It's great to be on Vacation though. Oh, let me not forget to blog about some exciting news about my Photography Business. I'm teaming up with a local Photographer and we're going to be doing Portrait Sessions and Weddings together. He has a Wedding in December that he wants me to help him with and shoots that will be coming up. :) I can't wait to work with him. He's a proud Nikon owner also. I'm going to be a Busy Bee the next year. I can't wait!! ;) I'll keep you all posted on the books I read. My next series I'm going to read is Lords of the Underworld.

Mommy's "Beastly" Truck. ;)

Okay let me explain my obsession with Xterras. Ever since they debuted. I've been in love with their appearance. Something about the mean, ruggedness of the Xterra had me wanting one so badly. Well my dream came true in 2007 when my Husband and I decided to trade in my 2004 Honda Civic for something bigger and better. I fell in love with the Xterra even more when I test drove it for the first time. 261 HP had me giddy as ever. :) I finally let my husband drive it after a month of having it. Yeah, it took me awhile to trust him with my baby. He drove it and was like this is too much power for you. Hahaha...he just couldn't handle it, is what boiled down to it. He was used to driving a 4 cylinder Ford Focus at that time. 6 cylinder was too much for him. :) I have to give him a hard time with it every time he mentions how powerful the Xterra can be. He even still says it even though, he owns a 6 cylinder himself. His Cadillac CTS...which may be quick at first because it's light and can take off quick...but the Xterra blows away his Caddy. ;) Not even a year of owning the Xterra, I put the brushguard on it to make it even more meaner looking. I love the BEASTLY look. ;) Once I put it on though, it seemed everytime I went on the highway, people were moving over to the right lane if they saw me in the left lane. I don't ever tailgate people. I don't like getting tailgated myself. If I feel someone is going slower than me, I slow down and go around them. I put the brushguard on to protect my front end and also make it look tough. I do get a kick out of people who see me coming and just automatically get over. Here it is two years later and I love my Xterra even more everyday. This year we were going to see what the 2009 and 2010's had to offer, but I decided against it after realizing I would probably cry if I traded my 2007 one in. I've gone through so much in that truck already. It fits me too well. Plus, I've put so much work and love into it already. I don't want someone else enjoying it. I wouldn't mind getting a Off Road Xterra. Maybe next year, we'll see about looking at the 2010's again or maybe the 2011's. Here is one thing that got me loving my Truck even more. We went to Nissan and they were sold out of Xterras. I have a Popular truck and believe me I definitely don't want to trade it in now. :) I love my "Beast". It definitely has treated me and my family very well in the last two years. It's made a trip to Virginia, New York, Maryland, and Florida. Which for a early birthday present for me and a late birthday present for my truck...I'm getting it brand new tires. ;) Yes, I'm weird...I love getting myself birthday presents for myself and especially when it comes to my vehicle. ;) Let's just say I bought a sound system for my Civic for Xmas time the first year I had it. That's the next agenda for my Truck...I want a Bose Sound System put in it. ;) But the Next thing that needs to be done is a new windshield because the windshield got cracked a week ago. I have a curse of cracked windshields, I guess...especially where I live now. Blah! I love my Truck, though, so I don't mind spoiling it. ;) So here's to the BEST Vehicle I've ever owned...My Beastly Xterra nicknamed "The Beast".

I have some down time...Wahoo!

I thought I post a picture from my daughter's birthday party last weekend. It seems she has a new boyfriend or new boyfriends, I should say. LOL Poor Daddy! Their just Boy "Friends". Alexia had a blast at her birthday party: BBQ, having fun with her friends, Opening Presents, Ice Cream Cake, destroying her room, water balloons, and playing in the water. More photos to come soon. I'm beat after this week and I have 3 more weeks of vacation. Have a lot of pictures to post from the time my Mom and Step Dad were here this week. I didn't want them to leave. :( Promise to post more in the upcoming days. Next adventure in my vacation is visiting family I haven't seen for two years. I can't wait to see my nephews and niece. :)

Mommy's and Daddy's Birthday Girl

I just had to share this photo. She is so gorgeous in this photo. This is one of her Ballet Photos I took. I will try to share a photo of her in her Leotard once I can. She tends to dance around when I'm trying to take photos of her when she's in her Ballet gear. :)

From Birth to Now

Now see pictures of my baby girl from birth to now in this blog. From no hair to beyond curly hair. I have people come up to me daily and ask if I use a curling iron on her hair. No...I definitely don't. Her hair naturally does ringlets in it. She's going to have a lot of people who will be jealous of her wants she gets older. :) Mommy's and Daddy's Beautiful Little Girl. We love you so much, baby girl!!! Happy 4th Birthday!!! :)

My Baby Girl just a day old. Mommy's and Daddy's Little Miracle.

My Princess who just turn 1.

Alexia when she was in her Terrible Twos...which turned out not to be terrible. She was such a Angel at 2 years old.

My little girl at 3 years old. Turned out 3 was the Sassy 3's. She was asking so many questions, getting into everything and pushing Mommy and Daddy. LOL I rather deal with the terrible twos. LOL

My Princess at almost 4 years old. This was taken a month before she turned 4. I'll post a picture of her at 4 once I can. :) This is Mommy's and Daddy's Future Little Model.

4 years ago Today...I met my Princess for the First time

I'm going to pick up from the 13th now, the day my daughter was born. She would've been born on her exact due date which was the 12th, but I was having complications at the time. I wasn't dilating anymore and my daughter's heart beat kept dropping. The doctors had me lay on both of my sides and when that didn't work after the 2nd time. They gave me a choice. Continue to see if I would dilate and if her heart beat kept dropping, I would probably end having a emergency c-section or I could have a C-section now. I chose to have the C-section now. I didn't want anything happening to my baby girl. After 9 months, what do you think would be my choice. I carried her for 9 months. I didn't want to have anything happen to her and I wanted to meet her. I wanted to hold her in my arms and keep her safe. Both my Mom and husband (boyfriend) were upset with me making that choice...but once they knew why I did it...they understood. I had a choice on who was going to be in the room with me while they were performing the C-section and I chose my Mom. It was a choice my husband already knew about from the beginning. I wanted her to be there to see her granddaughter be born. Once they wheeled me into the Operating room. They made sure I couldn't feel anything at the bottom when they did the C-section. My Mom got to see Alexia come out...but not all the way, since I had a blue sheet protecting me from what I wasn't supposed to see and what my Mom couldn't see. I could feel the doctors pull Alexia out of me and when I heard her cry for the first time, I started crying myself. It was tears of joy. I could hear my baby girl. My precious little girl who was now in this world. At 0400 in the morning on the 13th of July she was born. It was the most amazing and memorable moment of my life. This was the day that changed my life even more. It was also the BEST day of my LIFE. My Mom got to help cut Alexia's cord and she carried her to me so I could see her. She was absolutely gorgeous. Of course more tears ran down my cheeks. There was my little girl...the one who kept me company for the past 9 months at work. The one who helped me out so much in ways she would never know about it until she was old enough to understand. The best little miracle that happened in my life. When I got back to my room, my husband (boyfriend) was there and so was my Mom and there next to my bed waiting for me was my baby girl...my princess...my mini-me: Alexia Renee. I was so exhausted from the labor and the epidural had me drowsy too. I hadn't also slept for the past couple of days because of having contractions. When I got into my original bed, the nurse put her in my arms and of course I cried again, happy tears. It was like looking at a angel. I held her so close to me and I never wanted to let her go. She just stared up at me and once she heard my voice, she recognized me. I was her Mommy and she was my daughter. I was a Mommy. I couldn't believe it. I was 21 years old and a Mommy. The best gift God gave me was for me to become a Mommy to my Alexia Renee. The 13th of July will always be my favorite time of the year...it was the day that God gave me Alexia Renee. Here is now 4 years later and my beautiful little girl is 4 years old. She has grown up so fast in the last 4 years. In the next blog I will show a progression of photos of her from birth to 4 years and you'll see how she has grown. My little girl who will always be my baby girl. Even when she's 35 years old and has her own children. She will forever be my baby. Like my Mom and Dad tell me and I'm about to be 26 years old in September. Now I understand what my Mom and Dad went through with me. I will forever remember and cherish the day my baby girl came into my life. It will forever me the BEST day of my life, like I stated before. Everything my little girl does, I photograph...I never want to miss a memorable moment of her. I want her to have so many pictures of her when she grows up, that way she'll never forget how she was growing up and her kids will have something to cherish to when they look at the photos of their Mommy when she was their ages. Happy 4th Birthday, Alexia Renee!! Mommy and Daddy love you very much! You will forever be our Baby girl! Mommy loves her exact mini-me!!! :) We can't wait to see your reaction to your birthday party on the 18th. :) Love you baby Girl!!!! XOXOXO Today is your Day...Alexia Renee!!

Some of the Labor Story....4 years ago. :)

Here it was 4 years ago today, I was in labor with my beautiful little girl. The 12th was her original due date. I was in early signs of labor the night before on the 11th. I couldn't really sleep on the night before because I was having some major contractions. I was going to see the doctor that morning on the 12th to see what my progress was. The doctor proceeded to tell me the sharp pains were early signs of labor, but maybe I wouldn't go into full blown labor just yet. Yeah, tell that to the pain I was having. She proceeded to scrap me...which let me tell you, is the worst thing ever. I about ripped that Doctor's head off. She wanted the scrapping to maybe help boost the labor into effect. Well it did later on that day. I went back to work and was having a hard time driving. Never drive when your having contractions. Everytime I had a contraction, my foot would hit the gas pedal harder and then when the contraction subsided, I released the gas pedal. It was the worst feeling ever. The doctor, thank goodness had put me on bedrest, so I let my work know about it. My Mom who was living with me at the time was home when I got there. I wasn't feeling too good, so I laid down on the sofa. After just an hour of being home, I told my Mom that I wasn't feeling to well, and ended up throwing up in the bathroom. I didn't even realize I hadn't eaten anything at all today and my Mom of course was saying today is the day. I called my hubby who at the time was my boyfriend. He came home from work and he drove me and my Mom to the hospital. My Mom was timing my contractions. They were 3-4 minutes apart. Yeah, I was in early signs of labor my butt. I was in MAJOR labor. We got to Labor and Delivery and had to sit around for awhile. I was still in a lot of pain. By the time I got back to see the doctor and they had me dress in that ridiculous gown, my water broke. Don't believe Hollywood when it comes to a Pregnant woman water breaking. It's not a big gush. It felt like I had just peed myself. My Mom ran and got a nurse and the nurse had to check to make sure. When she came back with the results, she said I wasn't going anywhere. I was going to have my baby girl. Here it is the 12th...my daughter's exact birthdate. Yeah, she wanted to come on time I guess. LOL By that evening around 7...I was checked in and hooked up to monitors and such. My Mom and my hubby (boyfriend at the time) was there with me. My Mom was telling me every time I had a contraction I did so well. She even said I did better than her. By the time I hit 4 cm dialated, I got the epidural and believe me I don't care what women out there that didn't wanted it and did the birth naturally. I don't care what they think about me getting the epidural. Believe me I needed it. I was in so much pain and having people tell me I was doing so well...ha...if only they knew. I was so excited and nervous. I was so excited because I was going to meet my baby girl finally. After 9 months of carrying my princess...having her stretch out my right side, kick at my ribs and make me pee constantly...I was going to finally meet her. I was nervous because I didn't know how I was going to handle the birth of her. Was I going to have her naturally or have to have a C-section since I was told from the beginning that I have a small pelvic area. First off, I was told I couldn't have children...well...wherever that doctor is now that told me I couldn't have kids...I have a miracle to show him and her name is Alexia Renee...my exact mini-me. I will continue with my story of how my daughter was born in another blog. It's only appropriate to continue the story on the 13th when she was actually born. :) I will also share the story of why God blessed me with her. I definitely believe in miracles today more than ever.

I'm so excited!!!!

I've decided after so many years of not being able to do it. I'm going to pursue Horseback Riding again. Ever since I was a little girl and rode my first horse, I always wanted to pursue in Horseback Riding more often. Actually, it's always been a dream of mine to own my very own horse and I could go horseback riding whenever I wanted and take care of such a beautiful horse everyday. They are some beautiful and amazing animals. I plan on one day having that dream come true because my hubby wants to own a lot of land one day and have horses on it. I think I've brought the country out in him. :) Can you believe back in 2003, I got him on a horse in Malta and we went horseback riding up the mountains of the island? It was one of our first dates. I can't wait to start back up on Horseback Riding. It's been so long. I'm even going to get lessons for Alexia so she can learn. It's going to be a Mommy and Daughter memorable event. :)

My Princess

I just wanted to post a picture I took last month of my little Princess. Can't believe this Monday coming she'll be 4. Feels like yesterday, the doctor was putting her in my arms. She will always be my baby girl even when she's 35 years old though. Her personality has changed in the last year. She has become even more girlie. Pink is her favorite color, she loves wearing dresses, getting her nails painted and her hair done at the salon. She loves taking ballet and just dancing period around the house to Michael Jackson songs, Black Eyed Peas, Flo Rida and much more. She even loves singing to the songs she hears. She can sing the verse that Fergie sings in "Boom Boom Pow" perfectly. Her favorite song right now is "Trust Me" by 3Oh!3. She makes me turn up the volume in the truck everytime the song comes on. She loves getting her photo taken nowadays, even poses like a professional model. Guess watching America's Next Top Model gives her ideas or maybe it's because this Mommy has been snapping photos of her since the day she was born. She also loves snapping photos with her camera. (Mommy's little prodigy) I'm going to be posting even more photos of her from her Photo Sessions last month to my Photography Blog in the upcoming days, hopefully. I'll also post some recent photos I took of her, here on this blog. She is growing up so fast. I love my beautiful little girl, my mini me, my bestfriend, my miracle.

Let me explain...

I've been beyond busy. I thought life was hectic already from attending school since April 24th. This past weekend...well, actually the whole last week was hectic. Family was in town and we were running around like crazy. The previous weekend, I took two of my nieces and one of my nephew's to see Transformers 2 Revenge of the Fallen. It was a AWESOME movie!!! It was long, but it was WELL worth it! This past 4th of July weekend we spent time at the Water Park, the Beach and went Bowling. We took up to 4 lanes at the bowling alley so that should say how many people were there. Then on 4th of July we had a huge BBQ at our house (our first gathering...so it was considered a house warming party) and then we went and saw fireworks. It took 4 vehicles to take everyone to see the Fireworks. On Sunday night, the adults and some of the teenagers went to Joe's Crab Shack to have a dinner all together before the family left yesterday. Now we're trying to wind down from this past week. We still have leftovers, but not much since family came over again on Sunday afternoon to eat some more of the BBQ. Let's just say the teenagers devoured most of it. LOL So what's up next for this Papillion family. This weekend is a relaxation weekend, hopefully. I have to paint the master bedroom while hubby is working, but we'll see though. Alexia has her ballet class in the morning of Saturday, which I bought her tap shoes and a pink dance bag to put her shoes in so she can switch from ballet shoes to tap shoes in class. Our daughter's birthday is next Monday, but her birthday party is on the 18th. Family is flying in on the 17th for a week. I can't wait to see my Mom and StepDad. It's been two years since I saw them last. I graduate school on the 16th of July and the 17th of July is my 8 year anniversary in the Navy. Wow...8 years already. Only 2 more years left of this enlistment and I'm done. ;) The 17th is also the official day I'm back on Vacation. Wahoo!! I definitely need a vacation after this 3 month long school. So that's whats in store for us. July seems to be the most busiest month for us every year next to November and December. Here's counting down to Vacation time though. Hopefully, maybe I'll be able to have some relaxing moments in there. Highly doubt it though. Hope everyone had a GREAT 4th of July weekend and has a GREAT week!