Devine June Papillion - 1 Year Ago Today

Remembering...11/9/11...where we welcomed our 2nd miracle into our lives.  

Devine June Papillion (named after her Grandma who passed away in January of 2011)

Born at the Naval Medical Center Portsmouth at 8:34 am.

Weighing 8 lbs and 21 1/4 inches long.  

She stole our hearts the minute she was born.  

(Above) Daddy cutting Devine's cord.

(Above) Mommy and daughter bonding after 3 hours after the C-section.  

Devine was being monitored after the C-section due to a slight murmur and rapid breathing, but once the pediatric nurse brought her in, she calmed down and the murmur went away.  Devine was just missing her Mama.  

I loved her before I even met her...and this moment here made me even love her more.  

(Above) Mommy and her daughter bonding after 3 hours after the C-section.  

Devine was a natural at breastfeeding and the nurses and doctors were impressed with Mommy as well.  =)  

(Above) Devine holding her baby sister for the first time.  She got Devine to smile for the first time.  They were destined to be sisters.  =)  

(Above) Mommy and her two girls...our first photo together, taken by Daddy.  This is by far my FAVE photo of 11/9/11.  I love being a Mom of two girls and these two complete me.  

I'm really thankful to have both of my girls and truly blessed.  

We LOVE you Devine June Papillion.

Happy Birthday, baby girl!!!  =)  

Halloween 2012 w/ Red Riding Hood and a Unicorn

We had an amazing Halloween this year with Little Red Riding Hood and her little unicorn sister. We would have had the Big Bad Wolf...but Daddy was working the night shift. We went with Alexia's best friend and her family walking around the neighborhood where all the girls got candy and afterwards went straight to sleep from walking and wreaking havoc. Yes...I said wreaking havoc because these girls definitely wreaked havoc in the neighborhood. LOL Alexia is now counting down to next Halloween. I know this Mama is going to be happy about next Halloween since Devine will be walking definitely by then and will not have to be carried in her baby sling. My back and legs were killing me, but I would do it all again for my baby girl. Devine loved watching her sister walk around in costume getting her candy for her. =) What a great big sister Alexia is. Hope everyone else had a Happy Halloween!!

Sharing some photos that I took of the girls before we left to go trick or treating.  Devine loves getting her photo taken, just like her sister does.  =)

Hello...NEW Family Member...& Bye Old Friend.

Life definitely takes twists and turns and sometimes those turns can be horrible and sometimes they can be wonderful.

My 2007 Nissan Xterra, which I bought in May of 2007, was having some mechanical issues lately.  There was a minor one that happened last year where the fuel sensor went out and I had to keep an eye on my fuel gauge since it was not reading correctly.  That was fixed 2 months ago.  I replaced all 4 tires with new ones, new brakes, and a oil change....well...something was off with it, still.
I drove it mostly...so I knew my Xterra was off.
Mind you...the Xterra had over 100,000 miles on it.  It went to New York the first two months I had it, then several trips to Florida, Maryland, and North Carolina.  Most of the mileage was put on in 2007-2008 when I was on recruiting duty. I lived in Winter Springs, FL and worked in Orlando, FL and my main command was in Jacksonville.  Needless to say, I drove my Xterra quite a bit.
It was nicknamed the "Beast" because it was mean looking and it seemed whenever we were on the road, people would move over for some reason.  (It did kind of help having a brush guard on the front).

Well...as of 10/5/12...we no longer have the Xterra.  Hubby and I had a long talk about it because we had a mechanic friend tell us, to cut our losses and get a new vehicle or fork over $1000 to $2000 to fix something that was slowly deteriorating the car.

Don't get me wrong...Nissan is a GREAT Brand of car.  The Xterra was 5 1/2 years old and had been put through hell.  (No accidents with it..just minor scratches or dings when people didn't care hitting my doors or a idiot sports car thought he could squeeze next to me...let's just say he got the most damage).
The only thing I had major with it was the small sending unit sensor on the fuel pump that went out.  That's it....and that is one thing that is an issue with certain models of Nissan..which happened to be the Xterra.

We went to the same dealership I bought the Xterra at and walked away with a 2012 Nissan Pathfinder which holds 7 people and is way more spacious.

Our 7 year old though, is not a happy camper.  She thought we were keeping the Xterra and just buying a new vehicle.  Let's just say 2 hours of 5 hours we were there, we were trying to calm our little girl.  She was in tears.

I still remember the day I picked her up in the Xterra when she was close to 2 years old.  She did not want to get out of it.  She was holding on to her car seat for dear life.  The Xterra had become her FAVE vehicle and her exact words, her best friend who protected her on the road.

She's starting to like the Pathfinder though.  The 3rd row of seats is where she mostly sits because she can be alone without her little sister trying to grab on her or bug her.  She also likes the fact, there is more room...but like she continuously keeps telling us...the Pathfinder cannot replace what the Xterra did for her.  She lost a great SUV that she loved and hopefully, she can forgive Mommy and Daddy soon and fall in love with the Pathfinder just as much as Mommy & Daddy love it.  =)

Here is to a very HAPPY, SAFE trip to IL in 8 days with our new vehicle.  =)

We will miss you, "The Beast".  You kept our family safe on the road, and kept our oldest daughter happy.  (Ask her if she would rather ride in Daddy's, Pop Pop's, or anyone else's car...and she would say...I'm going in the Xterra, my Mom's car.)  =)

(P.S....this Mama is getting a brush guard put on the Pathfinder as well.  Oh yes....and the Pathfinder has been nicknamed "Mama Beast")  =)

September = Florida Trip

It's time for another update since September is coming to end and October is about to be here any minute.  

September, we made our first road trip in a long time to Florida.  We went to my father-in-law's 70th surprise birthday party down near Tampa, FL.  He had never had a birthday party, so his wife Doris, definitely surprised him with an amazing birthday party.  Issac's 3 sons and one daughter drove down for his birthday party and boy was he surprised...especially since my hubby, Issac's oldest drove the longest to get there with of course, our beautiful girls, and his youngest son, Gareth.  Three of Issac's other daughters could not make it though.  =(  

We got to spend some quality time for a just or two with family in Tampa and then we drove back to Virginia.  The whole entire time though, myself and my oldest daughter, Alexia complained about leaving Florida. It is our home and we are trying everything to get back down there permanently.  Hubby is now applying for jobs like crazy and we are talking to a real estate agent to have our house rented out.  

We have several opportunities now to move down there...it's just waiting for the hubby to make up his mind.  

Alexia and I are ready for the warm weather year around where we can wear sundresses, flip flops, and go swimming year around.  =)  

And of course be closer to our family and friends.  

Don't get us wrong, we love Virginia...but we want something different and it's time to make that change.  

Oh...and before I forget...when we went down to Florida, we rented a truck instead of taking our vehicles since we wanted a more roomy vehicle.

We got to rent a 2013 Chevy Silverado.  Oh...boy what a ride it was.  =)  

I told hubby the next vehicle I'm getting is a Dodge Ram or Ford F150 (4 doors) or Nissan Titan.  

I learned how to drive with a Dodge Dakota growing up and I've been a truck girl ever since.  

Look at the view below from the back seat of the Silverado that I took in Florida.  =)

Now here it is almost October and I'm preparing myself for a longer trip this time, alone with my two girls.  Hubby will be staying home with our Cane Corso, Rambo.

I'm driving 15 hours to see my Mom in IL for a week and I'm looking forward to every minute of it.  She couldn't come out this past summer...so we are making the trip to see her.  

I'm looking forward to just spending quality time with my Mom and my StepDad for the week.  =)  No internet...which means no blogging.  I'll be out in the country...so it will be hard for me to get on.

I promise to take a lot of photos though.  The last time I was in IL, was back in 2003 when I went there for my 20th birthday.  

Hope everyone has a GREAT October!  I know I will.  Just two more weeks of school then a week break...then it's off to Illinois with my two beautiful two girls.  It's new territory to travel...but we are ready for it.  =)  

It has been awhile...

Sorry...I haven't been on this blog to update.  It has been one crazy year so far.  I still can't believe it is August already.  Wasn't it January? Time sure is flying by.
What have I been up to since the last time I was on this blog...Well...let's see.
My oldest daughter, Alexia is 7 years old now and my youngest, Devine is now 9 months old.
Alexia is going into 2nd grade next month and she is really excited to go back to school (just like her Mama).
Devine is crawling, standing up, and getting into everything.  She also got her first teeth last month (found out while nursing...LOL)
Yes...I'm still proudly breastfeeding.  =)  Knock on wood...the best part about breast feeding is the fact how strong my immune system is right now and how my youngest has not gotten sick.  She is one healthy baby.
Hubby has had a rough year...but everything is finally working out for him and later this year, he should have some good news with his company.  (I'll keep you updated on that one)
I'm taking online classes with UMUC.  I decided to change my major to Computers & Network Security (since I worked in the field for 10 years and I'm able to fix a computer without anyone's help). My minor of course is English.  (I still want to write my own romance novels one day)

Oh...and let me not forget about the amazing Book Blog that my partner in crime, Anna and I created back in February.  Let's just say we are well known in the romance book atmosphere.  =)  We have the job of reading advance reading copies of books and reviewing them on our blog.  We also are apart of 30+ Street Teams, where we help promote authors and their books.  It's AH-MAZING!!!
I feel like I'm in a dream.  I'm doing something I really LOVE.

Just FYI...my photography business is on hold at the moment until I graduate college.  It took me awhile to decide on it...because photography is still a passion of mine...but I couldn't handle college, being a stay at home mom (who by the way is a soccer/ballet mommy), all at the same time.
I just couldn't devote the time to edit photos like I wanted because of my college courses taking most of my time.
I still plan going back to the business when I'm able to...but as of right now...my main website is shutdown (to save money) and my Facebook business page is unpublished.

For right now though...my time is family, college, reading books, and keeping up with the book blog (which I'm on daily)

So that's it in a nutshell...

I promise to update more often...at least when I can.

XOXO,
FranJessca

P.S.  I'm heading to 3 book conventions next year to meet some of the Authors I read for and promote.  (I can't wait!!!)  Let me not forget...publishers, designers, etc.

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Bye 2011...Hello 2012

It's been awhile since I blogged on this Blog...so it's time to play catchup. It's 2012 now which means a New Year and New Resolutions.

But first...let me go over a Re-cap of what happened in 2011:

~It was a rough year at first, we lost a beautiful woman to Heaven who we ALL miss dearly.  June Devine Papillion...my Amazing Mother-in-law who was the most caring and loving person you would've ever met.  I thank God everyday for the time I had with her.  


~In March we found out a BIG surprise.  March 12th to be exact, I took a pregnancy test...and found out I was pregnant with OUR 2nd miracle.  We couldn't wait to share with ALL of our family and friends...which didnt' happen until Easter though.  We wanted it to be a BIG surprise.  

~In June we found out the sex of our baby...and another beautiful girl it was.  Devine June...named after my Mother-in-law.  =)  


~In July...I went on Terminal Leave from the U.S. Navy and when August 16th rolled around I was no longer E-5...I was Mrs. Papillion, Fran, FranJessca, etc.  

~In September...Alexia started first grade and is proved to her Kindergarten teachers...she is doing well in first grade...not only well...but exceeding in her grade level.  =)  


~In November, we welcomed our 2nd daughter, Devine June.  Alexia was the most excited and happy BIG sister ever.  


~In December...hubby got news about his JOB...which made us change our minds about moving to other state.  We decided just a couple more years in VA...wouldn't be so bad...especially we didn't want to leave our friends/family just yet, up here.  

Now it's 2012...which means it's a whole different year.  It seems 2011 was mine for the taking.  So many good things happened towards the middle of the year for me.  So this year is for my husband...he deserves a TERRIFIC year, which I know he will.  His job is taking off and he's even decided to open up his Hypnosis Business.
This Mama of course is going to start taking courses online with UMUC.  I'm majoring in English since it's my dream to write my own novels later on in life.
I'm going to also take some Photography courses online.  The Art Institute was just not feasible in my life at the time due to enjoying every minute of taking care of my two girls.  I'm really enjoying being a STAY at HOME MOM.  I love every minute of making sure my oldest is on the bus to school, volunteer at her school, make sure she gets off the bus in the afternoon, take care of things around the house, while also taking care of the youngest.
I've achieved so much for my baby girl, Devine.  It's been almost 2 months...and I'm still proudly breastfeeding my Devine June.
I've lost 21 lbs...most of it lost the first week after I had my 2nd baby girl.  My goal is to lose the last 8 lbs in the next 2 months and also get back to my exercise regime.  I'm ready to start taking up running at a slow pace of course.

Now you know one of my New Year's Resolutions...so what are my others...
~Spend quality time with my family since the Navy prevented me for so long
~Read 100 books
~Continue my College Education

What is everyone else's Resolutions and what are you looking forward to this year?  =)  
~