Thursday, July 10, 2008

It's Real Life - Momentous Occasions



Over at Farm Fresh, it's "It's Real Life" time again. This week it's Momentous Occasions. Well, since I've been blogging for a while, I have to pull out the big guns for this one. So, here's a few momentous occasions from my life.













I got to know Matt in Fall (Oct - Nov) of 2004. We were friends for a few months and then went straight to dating.
Here we are at our school's Christmas Talent Show. My hair looks wet because it was. I'd just finished performing in the "Fro-y Bunch" an afro version of the Brady Bunch. Me and a group of other curly-hair-overly-teased people. Oh my memories...

That look right there? The smirk? The "I know what you're thinking" look? Yah. I love that look. I also hate that look - because it's usually followed by some sort of prank or wise-crack. This is from Thanksgiving 2004 when he first met my family.

Matt asked me to marry him the following March (2005)
And there's us cake-fighting on July 9th, 2005. We were married between our junior and senior years in school (READ COLLEGE COLLEGE COLLEGE - sorry if that sounded like high school! No!)- which in 20/20 hindsight probably wasn't the smartest move. We were 20 and 21. I think we would have been okay, if we hadn't gotten pregnant on our honeymoon. Ha! But we did, and I wouldn't change anything, because it's the way our life turned out. And we wouldn't trade Oceana for anything.
April 11, 2006. Oh baby. Don't I look hot? Ick. I hate this picture. I hate this one more than any picture ever taken. I gained 57lbs with Oceana. Sheesh. Note the above photo is taken 9 months and 2 days before - notice my 110lb figure. Bye-bye figure. I forget what you look like most of the time. This is taken 13 days before final exams. Wish I was kidding. Ever try to take final exams, senior year, when you still are walking funny from birth and are spacey because you're so tired? Yeah, those exams were some of my worst...
Oce was born 6 days before Easter. I made myself go to church because Ballet Magnificat was at church that day. I wouldn't have missed it if it had been the DAY AFTER I had Oceana. Notice her orange shade? She was massively jaundiced...
April 29, 2006. This is one of my proudest moments. We were called together at commencement. And we had my sister or my mom hand us Oceana so we could carry her with us. I was pretty proud to graduate 18 days after I'd had her. Thank you very much, can I take a bow please? Of course I spent all the 3 hour commencement ceremony freaking out because she was in the room but I couldn't hold her! She did great though, thanks to a lot of pumped bre*stmilk.
One thing can be said for commencement gowns - they do a good job of disguising 18 day baby-body.There's a lot missing here, but this is when we were expecting Joshua. December 2007. I tried my best to enjoy my pregnancy with Joshua. The day we discovered we were having a boy was a momentous occasion, though not in a good sense. It was also the day we found out we might lose our son... August 23, 2007And one of my favourite days, January 7, 2008. Meeting Joshua Matthew - alive. What a gift. It was so awesome to see my husband hold his son. And heart-wrenching too, because he wouldn't get to play baseball with him or teach him to drive. but he did get to hold him and love on him. Two very momentous occasions - losing Joshua on March 15th, 2008 and saying our final goodbyes to Joshua on March 19th, 2008.This is from March 19th, 2008 after we left Joshua at the crematorium. I think this photo speaks well of our situation that day. We were joyful - we had received more than we'd thought we'd get. It still sucked - because Joshua was gone. But we loved the time we had. We went to the park with Oceana afterwards, and really tried to live on...

And I think that's a pretty momentous thing...

21 comments:

  1. oh Susie! I love the photo of you two where you are at the beach and you were pregnant with Joshua...wow! That is an AMAZING picture of you and Matt!!!!! That one should so be one of those pics you put in the paper for your 30th anniversary:)

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  2. you guys are doing an incredible job with everything life has "thrown" at you.... I did not realize you were married before graduating high school! Amazing!
    Thank you for sharing!

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  3. What beautiful pictures and thank you for sharing your life with us!

    Laurie in Minnesota

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  4. Wow beautiful pictures and beautiful post. That's amazing you got married and had a baby all while you were still in high school. I can't believe that, and you're still going strong... now that's love! Very inspiring.

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  5. LOVE all the pictures!

    Thanks for sharing!

    Brittany

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  6. Great pictures. All of your posts amaze me. I can't get over how you get through your days with such a great attitude. I'm not normally an emotional person, but I almost started crying about your picture of march 19th. You are a truly amazing family, be proud.

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  7. OOPS! Sorry! I should have paid attention to the "age" thing and how old you are now! Argh! OOOPS.. I am so tired lately I cant even THINK! Time for a thyroid level check.... grrr...

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  8. OOPS! Sorry! I should have paid attention to the "age" thing and how old you are now! Argh! OOOPS.. I am so tired lately I cant even THINK! Time for a thyroid level check.... grrr...

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  9. OOPS! Sorry! I should have paid attention to the "age" thing and how old you are now! Argh! OOOPS.. I am so tired lately I cant even THINK! Time for a thyroid level check.... grrr...

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  10. Such beautiful and many moments in such a short time together, so far. I love the pictures, especially the one on the beach pregnant with Joshua, and the one of you in the park on leaving him. Oh yeah, and that "look" on Matts face, I have one of those guys here that I have been married to for almost 40 years. The look just keeps getting better with time too!!
    And Oceana is just perfect and too cute. You did good here!! Great post.

    Laurie in Ca.

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  11. Beautiful pictures! You're wedding picture is so nice...you were beautiful! I, also, love the one of you pregnant on the beach with Joshua...you were glowing!

    Kim

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  12. Love the summary of your big moments. The photo of you two when you're pregnant is beautiful. Oceana's birthday is the due date of my first pregnancy that I lost. <3

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  13. What a nice trip down memory lane. Beautiful pictures too. I can't believe so much has happened in three years. You look the same all throughout and Matt was always changing his looks with hair, no hair, facial hair...oh that beard in the picture when Oceana was born..ha ha. He looks like an Amish guy.

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  14. That last picture said so much and I'm so sorry you lost your baby boy.

    On a diff. note, hubby and I got married when we were 18 and 19. It was very hard! But you guys seem really mature and look awesome!

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  15. Love your pictures Susie! Thanks for sharing!

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  16. my husband and I married at ages 20 & 21.

    You are a true testament to love handling all that and staying together. Now adays if there is a slight bump in the road, marriages tend to lay to the wayside. Blessings to you both for keeping it together even through the rough. God will bless you for your perseverance!!

    Thanks for the insight. Great pics!

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  17. Life has certainly been momentous for you and Matt!! Your life together would never be characterized as boring, that's for sure :)

    I love the cake swipe... that's my favorite because it's so you guys.

    Here is to life never being boring...!

    -Andrea

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  18. Beautiful photos - you will cherish them forever!!

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  19. I love time lines...gives me good visuals.....keeping things in order. My husband and I were also 20 & 21 when we married....I just happen to be a bit older, as we've just celebrated 13 yrs of marriage. You have experienced much in a short amount of time...you are brave beyond measure, I admire you.

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  20. You have such an inspiring story! My gosh yo guys have been through so much! Thanks so much for sharing with us :)

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  21. Hi Susie--I've been a dedicated follower of your blog since just after Joshua was born...and I honestly can't recall how I connected with it...I'm still kind of new to blogland, but I'm guessing another blog I read or something must have linked up to yours. Anyway--you guys are truly an inspiration to what Grace and Faith look like when lived out in all circumstances. Thanks for sharing your Momentous Moments with us! God Bless, Tamara in MN
    P.S. My bro-in-law did 2 summer internships with Campus Crusade for Christ in New Zealand...so it's fun to read about your family's ministry there, knowing that you guys are sharing Christ's love in a place that is dear to my brother-in-law's heart!

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