34 Things I’ve Learned Since Becoming a Mom

As I have told you guys before, when I found out I was pregnant, I thought I was going to die.  I always liked the thought of being a mom,because kids are so damn cute, but when it hit me that I was actually going to be one, I realized I had no freaking clue what in the heck to do with a baby.  To be honest with you, the first time I changed Denver's diaper in the hospital, I had no clue how to even do that.  I will be sharing a very funny, embarrassing video on my Instagram that my son's father took as I was nearly finishing up changing his first diaper.  Pee went all over me, poop went everywhere.  He pooped 3x while I was changing the diaper y'all... plus with a boy, you gotta be careful about where that pee goes.  I actually can't even believe I am going to share the video, because I look disgusting, I'm cussing, I had literally just delivered my son about 12 hours before it was taken and may have had 2 hours of sleep in 72 hours, and at the time, was still on the prescribed pain medicine.  I am pretty sure I was also wearing those amazingly sexy mesh underwear they give you.  Lol. If you haven't seen it before you got to this point, and you want to laugh, you should go watch. ( @nativeinnashville)

Anyways moral of the story, I WAS CLUELESS on how to actually be a mom.  I have learned SOOO much these last 5 months and thought I would share a few, or 30 some of them with you guys.  I am sure some of you can relate, and some may find it a little informative.  I had to learn some of these the hard way for sure!

1. You don’t have to use 17 wipes to Change a poopy diaper.  And yes I literally used a minimum of 17 the first diaper change, then went to probably 7 the following weeks.  Now I can do it with my eyes closed.

2. I can do this! I never believed in myself before, but I am doing just fine. You can do it too, if I can, I promise you can.  You got this!

3. Babies are expensive ! Outside of formula, diapers and childcare, I buy him every toy, every cute piece of clothing, every kid related thing I see really.  I always dressed ratchet my whole life, and I want him to have better things than I did, even though he stays in little sleepers 98% of the time.

4. I used to say “I’ll never be one of those annoying moms who post pics of their kids each day, we know what they look like", now I’m the worst one of all. Not sorry! 

5. You will be proud of EVERY LITTLE THING your child does.  I repeat, everything. Something so simple, is seriously the biggest accomplishment when they are learning. Last night Denver sat up on his own for he first time, and you would have thought, by the way I was screaming and cheering, that he was winning a Gold medal in the Olympics.  

6. Have someone teach you how to use your car seat and stroller BEFORE it’s time to use it on actual child.

7. Cutting a baby’s nails is the scariest thing ever, next to childbirth, and you have to do it every 3 days.  How in the heck m son's nails grow this fast, I will never know. 

8. Everyone has an opinion about what you should do with your child, ignore them.  You will burn a lot of calories rolling your eyes. If you ask for the opinions of advice, that’s a different story.  

9. You will get sleep!  Maybe I am just lucky with my son, but I feel like I get more sleep now, than I did before I had him.  He does wake me up, but I'm obsessed with him so I don't even mind it.

10. Mom guilt is a real thing.  Anytime I go anywhere without my son, I feel terrible about it,  like he's going to be mad at me and forget who I am or something.  Sometimes you may need a little break though. 

11. Mom brain is also a VERY REAL THING.  I now seem to forget EVERYTHING. Trust me YOU WILL TOO!

12. You will never know a love like this !  It's literally indescribable how much love you can feel.  

13. Everyone will want to kiss All over your kid, NO , just no.

14. The greatest compliment you can ever receive will no longer have anything to do with your hair, makeup, or your outfit, as it might have used to when life was all about you( for me anyways ), it will be that you’re a good mom!!  Best feeling ever is someone telling you this or assuring you that you are doing a good job!

15. Nothing is cuter than seeing a baby stretch right when they wake up, ok except maybe their little laugh.

16. Put them in their cutest clothes, QUICK.  I’ve bought so many things and “wanted to save them” and it became too late! They grow & grow out of them QUICK!  

17. You won’t use half the big stuff you buy them. I've literally never used my bassinet, my rocker glider chair, and numerous other expensive things that my mom brain won't let me currently remember. 

18. Not everyone is going to like your child’s name, and that’s ok! Not everyone has good taste ;) 

19.  If people want to help you, let them !! Especially when the nurses ask if you want them to take your baby for the night while you're still in the hospital.  Just do it!

20. The epidural is not bad AT ALL! I heard countless horror stories but i didn’t even feel it! 

21. Speaking of... Get the epidural !! There is no prize or Medal of Honor for not getting it.  Trust me on this !  I am really not even trying to offend anyone by this one either, but me personally, I don't see why anyone could not get it.  Mine was mostly warn off by the time I was delivering him, but I couldn't have made it through the day feeling those contractions more than I already did.

22. Your whole world will revolve around your kid !!  Every single decision you make,

23.  If Facebook on this day and time hop didn’t remind you of your old life you would never remember what life was like before having a child. 

24.  When you go out with your friends to eat the only thing you guys all talk about is your kids and how cool you used to be.

25.  When you’re feeding your baby make sure to wipe their neck after you are done, if ANY milk drips down there!  trust me you do not want to find out their neck is dirty the hard way,  it can be the worst smell you have ever smelled in your life  !

26.  Getting yourself & your child ready can be the ultimate task! I was already late to everything before having a kid. I give myself an extra hour of time every day to get ready. I still usually look like crap, and use it doing stuff for my son, but I NEED that extra hour.

27.  Your life is no longer about you it is 150% about them. They always come first.  

28. Taking a shower can feel like a vacation! No, seriously...moms am I right? 

 29. Triple check you have your diaper bag before leaving the house !! I had to learn this the hard way.  Also make sure you always have an extra change of clothes in there.

30.  Running to Target is no longer a simple task.  Nothing really is, for me yet anyways.  Running to Target, baby free also feels like a vacation though.  Lets be honest, some of us would rather be at Target, than an ACTUAL vacation. 

31. Your kid gets cooler by the minute.  It's literally miraculous, and you will look at them with amazement, and in disbelief that you created such a magical person.  I still can't believe I created a person y'all! 

32. They say babies don’t smile until a certain age and when they are, that it's just gas... i call BS! My son has been smiling since he was a week old.  Swear on my hair.

33.  Don't spend time away from your child, for temporary people.  TRUST ME ON THIS! You cannot get that time you spent away from them back.  If you don't know for 100% sure they are going to be in your life for the long run, don't waste your time.  This is going to be tough for me, as a single mom, who is terrified to ever date again, but unless I KNOW, or my son is with his father, I refuse to take time away from Denver.

34. Moms are the shit! Until I became one myself, I never knew how much work they put into taking care of their kids.  When they say it's a full-time job, it most certainly is.  It's so much work, and hard sometimes, but beyond worth every single second.  Most days I legit feel like Superwoman! I am SO PROUD to be a mom!!

There are probably at least 75 more things I could add to this list right now, but I will save them for later.  I literally learn something  new every day.  I already know that this will be a learning process, daily, for the rest of my life. I can only hope and strive to wake up every day and be a better mom than the day before, and the best mom I can be!  What are some things you guys have learned since becoming mamas?  Let me know in the comments.  Thank you for reading!! 

XO- Amber

My Greatest Accomplishment and All of My Joy: Meet My Son

I  started to publish another blog post about mom life but realized I’ve never done one about my birth story and never posted any with his pictures or anything like that so decided I would post this one before I publish the next one. If you follow me on my personal page, @ambi_bambi, chances are you have seen way too many pics & already know some of this, but people ask about these things often actually. I meant to do this blog post, like 5 months ago.  Time flies when you’re having fun!  Being a mom with almost 2 full-time jobs on top of tha is hard work!  Doesn’t leave much time for writing. I’m actually currently writing this from my cell phone, while my son is asleep on one arm.  

BIRTH STORY

My son's dad and I went into the hospital on August 8th, which was my original due date, to be induced the next morning and stay the night.  YES, I chose to be induced, even though sooo many people tried to tell me not to.  My mom did it with all four of her kids, and that’s good enough for me ! They put medication inside me to start dilating my cervix because I was not near dilated enough but it was past 40 weeks when I went in. I started having contractions through the night and early as possible, the next morning, they gave me an epidural, which I HIGHLY recommend by the way. They say labor begins when you have your first contraction. I always asked people the whole way through my pregnancy what a contraction felt like no one could really explain it and now I see why.   I would explain it as the deepest cramp you could ever have, repeatedly, every hour at first, to then every few minutes. And I won’t lie to you, they hurt BAD!  I was in labor for HOURS, ended up being a total of 15 hours I think it was.  

Look at that belly !! This was taken on our way to the hospital. 

I had a whole room of visitors, the whole day waiting on me to go into labor.  I don’t remember much, because that epidural pretty much makes you feel like you are what you are, on drugs lol.  When you haven’t put much medication in your body for almost 10 months, then get that, it hits you hard !! Things are really foggy about the day, and honestly who all was there and what I even said to be honest, but thank God I have lots of pictures ! I couldn’t eat all day except for ice chips and i just remember really wanting him to enter the world in time for me to get a Milkshake from Reeves Sain before they closed at 6 . Typical me . 

GO TIME!

I knew it was go time, when I started trembling.  My entire body was shaking and would not stop. My nurse came in, cleared the room except for the people who were going to be in the room with me.  Speaking of that, there were only supposed to be like 2 people, but I had extras: my son’s dad, my mom, sister, sister-in-law, and best friend.  It’s hard to choose who you want to be present for your whole anatomy just out in the open like that. I don’t even change my shirt in front of people, so this was tough for me! Anyways I started pushing while the nurse counted with me repeatedly to 10.   This went on for over an hour, until he was almost out, then my doctor came in!  I honestly didn’t think I was going to be able to push a whole baby human out of me, but got what felt like superhero strength and made it happen!  What women's bodies ca do is miraculous to say the least.  My son’s head is apparently larger than most so it was stuck in the birth canal for apparently a really long time.  They told me I had to do this, because his head could not stay down there much longer !  I then told them i needed some pep rally music, ya know the kind you had in high school to get pumped up for a big game.  I requested “We Ready” by Archie, we played it and that gave me all the hype I needed. He came out to that.  I used every single muscle in my body to get him out of there! Freaks me out & the song part is really funny looking back on it ! Only me! That song & the support system I had in the room are what got me through it for sure !   

Denver Ford Dimick was born on August 9th, 2017 at 7:28 pm.  He weighed 7lbs, 1 oz and was 20.5 inches long.  Seeing him was the most beautiful, most real, crazy, unbelievable moment of my whole life ! I really never thought I would have a baby and be a mom.  It never really hit me that I was pregnant until two nights before I had him.  I couldn’t believe how beautiful he was.  I looked at my best friend Tamina and said “how did i do this?” I seriously think part of the reason I posted so many things about being pregnant, when I was, is to prove to myself that I was pregnant.  Ya know, the same reason couples who aren’t really that in love do lmao.  Who are y’all trying to convince yourselves or each other ? Lol, kidding, kinda.  Back to Denver, he was the most beautiful little guy I had ever laid eyes on!  

VISITORS AND BREAST FEEDING

I sincerely appreciated every person who came to visit after Denver was born, but I was honestly extremely overwhelmed by it all.  First of all I had no idea what i was doing with a baby, so I was trying to learn how to be a mom in the first place. I also had various nurses and hospital staff coming in the room what seemed like, every 47 seconds.  I was also trying to learn how to breast feed, which is the hardest thing ever by the way, and had people literally shoving my boob in my child’s mouth.  It made me feel very weird and also like a cow being milked and I was OUT on that! I tried. I really did, but the second i made the decision not to do it and switched to formula, it was like a 4 ton weight was lifted off my shoulder!! I didn’t want to feel the way i felt every time my son was hungry!  I at least then knew he was getting the proper amount of food that he needed.  I couldn’t wait to get out of the hospital and home!  

Overall Denver’s birth was very long, hard, painful and scary, but it was the most beautiful and amazing thing i have ever experienced and the absolute best day of my entire life !! I’ve never known a love like this before that’s for sure and i love him more every minute of every day !! Being a mom is my greatest accomplishment of all time and I think I’m doing just fine at it.  PS if anyone is looking for an OBGYN, i LOVED mine doctor by the way, Dr Pollock at MMC. I don’t think anyone can really prepare you for the experience of the emotions you feel when you become a mom, because everyone’s journey and birth stories are different. 

 Thank you guys for reading & be on the lookout for lots more mom related things & posts under this “life” section of my website !! You can also follow me on Instagram @nativeinnashville.  Here are a few more pictures from his first week of life!  Hard to believe that this week he will be 5 months old already !!Photos: Christie Lynn Photography

Celebrating Baby Denver: A Fiesta Inspired Baby Shower

A couple weeks ago, I had one of the most beautiful parties I could have imagined to celebrate my baby boy coming soon.  I wanted to share as many details as I can remember about our special day with you guys!  Some things may be a little foggy because this pregnancy brain is a real thing and should probably draw you some type of disability check.  I can never remember anything these days and I am praying it goes away after Denver enters this world.  Anyways, I hope you guys love the shower as much as I did. I am also sharing a few fun ideas for you to use in the future.

THEME

First things first,  choosing the theme!!  I am obsessed with any and everything cactus, plus tribal and bright colors, so that is where the inspo for the shower came from.  I felt it would also save me money down the road because I also wanted to decorate for him in this theme and figured I could just use some of the items from the shower for that.  Mission accomplished for sure.  I also really love Mexican food so this all really worked out well.  There were pops of cactus, color, and Mexican vibes everywhere!! 

REGISTERING

 I want to be able to tell y'all how much fun it was registering for gifts, but you know I'm always honest with you guys.  It may have been one of the most stressful things I've ever had to do.  I chose to register at Target & BabyList.  BabyList was pretty cool because you can literally choose anything from any website and add it to your registry.  I really appreciated that concept.  Target is a given, because who doesn't need another excuse to go there?  I loved walking around scanning everything, that part was kind of fun.  The problem was that I had NO idea what in the heck I needed to register for.  I made a Facebook status asking everyone for their opinions of what I must have, because let's face it, it's faster than asking Google these days, and my people really came through for me with answers.  I clearly post way too much because when I went to look back for all the suggestions, I couldn't even find the post.  I took matters into my own hands and went and prayed that I ran into one of my mom friends, and thankfully I did!   Before I saw her I was completely clueless, and looked like a lost puppy.   She went down each aisle with me and showed me thing things I was really going to use and what I wasn't.  I'm going to be doing a completely separate blog post on the things I got and what I find I can't live without before my son gets here.  

INVITATIONS & LOCATION:

I was looking for somewhere with open space, with lots of white to have my shower.  I found THE most perfect place for it.  A brand new VRBO in East Nashville.  This was a 4 story (including the rooftop) brand new house.  If you are looking for somewhere to stay during your visit in Nashville, you will definitely want to check this out.  I have included the link here where you can see all the pictures of the house and here to book on VRBO,  I heard at least 12 people that attended tell me they wanted to just move in.  I highly recommend it. 

Margaret Rivas with Oak Street Design Studio helped me recreate these invitations!  Love.

I also made these fun little inserts, which was a really sweet way to get some great books for my son.  I also loved the fact that people wrote little messages in the front or backs of the books.

FOOD

No fiesta would be complete without a taco or nacho bar.  We had catering from Moe's which was delicious, the cutest vegetable tray made by my mom with the best ranch dip of all time, & chips, salsa & queso.  The girls had the best & cutest idea to serve the chips in a sombrero.  Everything was perfect.  

The cake and cookies were made by Nashville Sweets.  You guys have got to check out their Instagram @nashvillesweetsshop or their website here to see all of their amazing and delicious desserts.  They are located in East Nashville as well.  They even incorporated the V from my Native in Nashville logo into my son's name on the cake and cookies.  SOOOO dang cute.  Everything was almost too pretty to eat.   I highly recommend using them for your custom cakes and cookies.

GAMES... OR SHOULD I SAY ACTIVITIES

I have never been a big fan of baby shower games, but over my many years of attending showers & events, I had to have some of the things I have seen that stuck with me.

Guess the baby's arrival date, Advice for Mommy & More:

One of my favorite shower activities has always been printing off a calendar and having everyone guess what day baby will actually make his arrival.  I particularly like this one, because the last shower I went to that had this, I was the one who guessed correctly (lol).  This is something I am going to put in a frame and hang up.  We also had everyone write down words of encouragement and advice, which I am not ashamed to say that I so greatly need.  One other thing that I love and will keep forever, is the frame that people signed all around his ultrasound picture, with little notes to him.  On this little table we also had people fill out an envelope with their addresses so that it makes life a little easier on me when I send out thank you cards.  

Snapchat Geotag Filter.  One of my favorite hobbies & apps ever is Snapchat.  I couldn't go without having a filter for Denver's shower.  I found one I liked on Etsy by SnappyDaysCo and had the shop owner customize it for me.  If you need a snapchat filter for any occasion, I highly recommend using Alexandra.  You can click here to go straight to her shop.  It was a hit and I definitely reminded everyone at the shower, every time I saw them snapping to use it.  This is the one we used at the shower.  It only costs about $20 some dollars total including the fee I paid to Snapchat and the customization fee.  She was great at communicating and her directions on how to get it submitted and approved through Snapchat were very user friendly.  

We also had a photo booth type area on the rooftop of the house!! :)

PARTY FAVORS

 I might be a little biased but these party favors were awesome.  They turned out to be a bit pricey because I made 50 of them and you guys know that EOS lip balm is good stuff and a little over $3 each.  I also had to buy cardstock and a big hole punch to make them, as well as the image from Etsy.  The link for these is here.  I had her customize them a bit from the sample but she was easy to work with and they turned out exactly as I hoped. I probably spent about $200 total for these but they were so worth it.  I'm all about making people laugh and/or smile, and these were a definite hit, plus practical long after the shower !! 

I am so thankful for my amazing friends who hosted my shower, my sister-in-law, Laura, best friends Tamina and Kalahn.  My friend Kelly also helped out so much with bringing decorations, Amy helped with food and Cody of Jennifer Cody Weddings ( @jennifercodyweddings ) made the delicious punch and took lots of pictures,  which you guys have seen above and will see more below.  Kalahn's mom also helped a lot with helping set up.  I know how much time and effort went into making the shower special, even from myself.  Everyone coming to spend part of their day celebrating my sweet boy, and all the great gifts we received meant so much to me.  So thank you all!  One last detail that many people have asked me about.  My dress is from Fillyboo Maternity.  They have the most magical handmade boho style dresses. 

For the full gallery from the shower click here.  Just as an update my due date is 4.5 weeks from today!!  I can't believe he is almost here.  Thank you guys for reading and following along with me through my pregnancy journey. 

XO,

Amber

Pregnant in Nashville: 33 Week Update

Well, well, well.  Where do I even begin?  It's been crazy since I last gave you guys an update and a super busy time preparing for my son, Denver, to enter the world.  I cannot believe how fast this pregnancy has flown by.  It seriously seems like yesterday that I was ghostly white and told my roommate "I'm pregnant." I never knew so much fear would turn into so much happiness, joy & love!  I'm 33 weeks pregnant now, so only have 7 weeks to go.  

Since I last posted I've been through some seriously heavy life changes.   Two for example,  my parents getting divorced after 31 years and moving.  Neither of those two have been very much fun.  Life is crazy.  Just when you think things can't get any crazier or worse, bad things hit you like a ton of bricks, usually at the same time.  There are a lot of other things I could discuss here, but I'm gonna leave them alone.  I thank God every day for making me a strong person, because there's really no other way I would have stayed sane.  As for the moving part, moving with no help from anyone but a moving company, at 28 weeks, also heavily SUCKS.  Anyways, this is not a pity party post, I will be ok.  I always am.  :)

As of our 32 week ultrasound, Baby Denver weighed 3 pounds, 14 ounces & I got to see his face at 30 weeks, which looks like he might just be cute as a button (picture below).  I am also currently -7 lbs from what I was pre-pregnancy, but that's only because I was very sick for most of the first trimester, and from what I hear, the pounds are about to start packing on.  It probably doesn't help that I'm currently eating a bag of chips & drinking a Coke.  He is perfectly healthy and growing right on schedule so no need to be worried.  I find myself laying in bed every night watching him move around and sometimes play him my fave Rockabye Baby tunes and it's almost like he's dancing.  We are currently preparing for my baby shower which is just two days away & I absolutely cannot wait! There are already so many people who love this little boy and there is no better feeling than that to me.  I will share the details from the shower with y'all next week.  

3D Ultrasound, taken at 30 weeks at Focused Imaging in Green Hills, Nashville.  I highly recommend these people!!

32 week ultrasound

 Other than a few emotional and physical bumps in the road, this pregnancy has been pretty easy.  Aside from my constant need to take Tums & my ribs and back feeling like they're both breaking,  I kind of like being pregnant.  It's really not so bad, I feel great!  I will admit that I am terrified about the actual giving birth part.  Any words of encouragement or tips are welcome but PLEASE spare me the horror stories, because I'm going to be honest, I've already heard one too many of those. 

Now it's time for my favorite part ....Maternity Photos 

Ok, so before I got pregnant I never, ever wanted to do any maternity photos, but to tell you the truth it has become one of my favorite hobbies.  I had the pleasure of working with not just one magical photographer, but two.  Marissa French of Rylan's Riches Photography & Alex Berger Photograpy.  I've even had a couple friends who are not photographers snap a few pictures of me at the beach & at the amazing Urban Cowboy BnB in Nashville.  I know that people are probably so sick of seeing this baby bump of mine, but I can't help but to love all of these pictures.  Creating a life is truly a beautiful thing.  I figure this may be the only time I ever get to flaunt having a big stomach, and I'm going to take full advantage.  Before this, I've spent 90 percent of my life trying to hide my belly.   I'm going to share some of my favorites below. 

Iphone photo, obviously.  Taken by my non-photographer best friend Tamina.

Another iPhone photo taken by my friend Jackie at the Urban Cowboy B&B in East Nashville

One more iPhone photo at the Urban Cowboy, thanks Jackie!! :)

Now it's time for the real ones :)  You have seen a few of these if you follow me on my blog Instagram @NativeinNashville or my personal one @ambi_bambi .

PC: Alex Berger Photography Hair: Chelsea Ireland at Totally Polished Salon MUA: Kalahn Segrest

PC: Alex Berger Photography Hair: Chelsea Ireland at Totally Polished Salon MUA: Kalahn Segrest

PC: Alex Berger Photography Hair: Chelsea Ireland at Totally Polished Salon MUA: Kalahn Segrest

PC: Alex Berger Photography Hair: Chelsea Ireland at Totally Polished Salon MUA: Kalahn Segrest

PC: Marissa French / Rylan's Riches Photography  Hair: Chelsea Ireland at Totally Polished Salon

PC: Marissa French / Rylan's Riches Photography  Hair: Chelsea Ireland at Totally Polished Salon

PC: Marissa French / Rylan's Riches Photography  Hair: Chelsea Ireland at Totally Polished Salon

PC: Marissa French / Rylan's Riches Photography  Hair: Chelsea Ireland at Totally Polished Salon

PC: Marissa French / Rylan's Riches Photography  Hair: Chelsea Ireland at Totally Polished Salon

PC: Marissa French / Rylan's Riches Photography  Hair: Chelsea Ireland at Totally Polished Salon

PC: Marissa French / Rylan's Riches Photography  Hair: Chelsea Ireland at Totally Polished Salon

PC: Marissa French / Rylan's Riches Photography  Hair: Chelsea Ireland at Totally Polished Salon

PC: Marissa French / Rylan's Riches Photography  Hair: Chelsea Ireland at Totally Polished Salon

PC: Marissa French / Rylan's Riches Photography  Hair: Chelsea Ireland at Totally Polished Salon

PC: Marissa French / Rylan's Riches Photography  Hair: Chelsea Ireland at Totally Polished Salon

PC: Marissa French / Rylan's Riches Photography  Hair: Chelsea Ireland at Totally Polished Salon

PC: Marissa French / Rylan's Riches Photography  Hair: Chelsea Ireland at Totally Polished Salon

So thankful to work with all of these people who made the photos possible.  Please be sure to check out their Instagram pages & websites.  Marissa French specializes in maternity, birth, newborn & family photography.  Her website is www.rylandrichesphotography.com and her Instagram is @rylansriches.  Alex Berger specializes in music, editorial and fashion photography.  His website is www.alexbergerphotography.com and his Instagram is @alexbergerphotography .  Maternity photography is not something Alex normally does, but I met him while he was photographing several musicians, while at the Urban Cowboy BnB, and he wanted to try something new.  He did an amazing job.  Marissa was also a pleasure to work with.  I encourage you all to check out both of their websites.  I would highly recommend both of them!! 

I have about a million more but this is enough for now.  Thank you all for following along with my journey to motherhood.  It has definitely been a life-changing ride & something I never really thought would happen for me.  The amount of support I've had from friends and family, not to mention people I barely know has been heartwarming to say the least.  THANK YOU ALL. 

XO,

Amber  

Pregnant in Nashville

Well hello again.  I almost can't believe I am writing this.  Can't believe I am writing again at all.  Can't believe I even remember how.  It has been A WHILE.  I am sorry I kind of went missing on you guys but my life, since the last time I did a blog post, has turned upside down, inside out, and back again.  I was in no place mentally to even write a thing, nor have I had the time.

I am not sure if you guys know or not but I work a full-time job at a clinical research company, come home every night and work on Native in Nashville shirts and packaging up orders and in the mean time I was going through a break up, which was VERY hard on me emotionally.  I wasn't really ok for awhile.  All of that mixed with handling normal responsibilities of being an adult, hardly left any time for me to gather my own thoughts for myself, let alone figure out a way to type them up, or put together any type of anything worth reading.  

In other news, fast forward to now, about 15 weeks ago I got the most shocking, terrifying, and what I would come to realize BEST news of my entire life....I found out I was pregnant.  If you follow me on Instagram on my @nativeinnashville page, you probably already know this news, but I wanted to give you guys kind of a life update.  I try not to post a WHOLE LOT of really personal things on that page and do so a lot more on my personal page @ambi_bambi, but my plan is to start blogging more and tying more pregnancy and mom posts into Native in Nashville.  Let me know if and what kinds of things you guys would be interested in seeing.  I definitely want to update y'all more than every 20 weeks. ;)  I am going to get pretty personal with you guys here, so if you aren't interested please exit now.

These are the most popular questions I have been asked so far.

"How did you find out?"

Well... my boobs started hurting VERY BADLY and I was about 5 days late.  My roommate drove me to the store to buy a test because she was convinced that I was pregnant.  I went in my bathroom, took the test, and came out after it changed to "positive" within 15 seconds with a ghostly look on my face and shaking.  I immediately texted one of my best friends with the words "I'm f'ing pregnant".  I could not believe my eyes.  I think I was shaking for about an hour straight. I have always wanted to be a mom, but I was not ready for this news at this particular time. I took off work the next day so I could go break the news to dad and because I needed to take an emotional day off.  I have taken pregnancy tests before, but when it actually says you are pregnant, its a whole new world.

"Who is the dad?"

This has got to be the single, most annoying, question that I've ever been asked/that people have ever been worried about of my entire life.  You guys have no idea what all I have been through with this before people knew who the dad was.  I had to learn the hard way about posting really personal relationship things on social media several years ago.  I haven't posted pictures of the last three guys I have dated, because it's honestly not everyone's business.   I can see why everyone was so curious, but the lengths some of these people were going to to find out who the father of my child is, were extreme and dramatic.  I had people accuse me of "not knowing who the father is", I had people using apps where they could text me from a fake phone number, acting like they were friends with me saying things like "whose the lucky dad". I had people calling me from blocked numbers almost every day.  I had people calling their friends who they knew had a mutual acquaintance with me asking if they could "please find out who Amber's baby's daddy is".  I can't make any of this up you guys.  I wish I could.  It was a lot to handle, and I am gonna be honest, when you are pregnant and your hormones are running wild, everything and everyone drives you crazy and your fuse gets extra short.  That is how it happened for me anyways.   

I don't and didn't mind sharing that information, but I wanted to do it when I was ready to, also didn't want his own mother or family to find out from social media.  Dad's name is Damon and he is someone that I have seen on and off for literally 10 years.  Here are a couple pictures of us from the night we met over 10 years ago when I was just 20.  We met at a Predators game and I used a fake ID to get in Tootsie's lol.  Cool unicorn shirt I'm wearing, I know. HA.  That's enough about that.   

"When is your due date?"

August 8th, 2017 !!  I absolutely cannot wait even though I am TERRIFIED.  I am so lucky that I have so many mama friends that can help me with the 767 questions I need to ask every day.

"Have you been sick?"

OMG YES!  Up until about 4 weeks ago I was nauseas almost every day.  I wouldn't actually get sick every single day, but I felt like I was going to.  The only thing I could think about eating for at least two months was carbs, and wayyyy too many french fries.  For some reason french fries and soup were the only things that sounded appealing.  On a positive note, I no longer wanted sweets.  Coming from a girl who used to embarrassingly eat 2 candy bars almost every single day at work, and felt like I had to have dessert after every meal, this was a VERY good thing.  I started out weighing 155 before I got pregnant (yes those candy bars did it to me) which is the heaviest I've ever been, but because of lack of being able to eat much at my 16 week checkup I had lost 12 lbs,  at my 20 week appointment this past week I have gained 2 lbs, so i am at 145.  Don't worry my baby is growing healthy and fine :)  I figured when I went this past time, since I am able to eat again, they would tell me I gained 10, luckily I am eating healthier choices and not near, or even 1/10th as many sweets as I was before.  

The past 3-4 weeks have been much better but this week, on Monday, I was having terrible cramps in my stomach to the point where I couldn't even walk, without being hunched all the way over.  My first instinct was that something was wrong with my baby, so I ended up having to go to the ER, and be seen in the Labor and Delivery department at almost midnight.  They checked every single thing there was to check and hooked me up to an IV of fluids, which helped tremendously, and said some of the pain was caused from round ligament pain.  When my nurse was checking for the baby's heartbeat, it took a really long time to find, so naturally I freaked out even further.  Once I heard the heartbeat, that alone, made me feel a million times better.  The following day was our 20 week ultrasound, the actual appointment where you are supposed to find out the gender of the baby, so seeing all of that made me even better.  I can tell you from my experience so far, that from the moment you find out you are pregnant, you never really stop worrying about your child.  I am a worrier, anyways, but I have never worried so much as I have about my baby.  Aside from that situation, this has been the roughest week of my life and I have been in the bed since Tuesday night with the flu.  I am praying for a better tomorrow and better weeks to come. 

"How did you pick the name?"

We chose to name HIM, yes it's a him, Denver and his last name will be Dimick.   For the first name I wanted something very different and it was my choice for a girl or a boy.  I was really set on using it for a girl but I loved it so much and I think it can go either way.  We took a little trip to Denver, Colorado to celebrate choosing the name (dad's idea).  His name is definitely different, some may say weird, and I can tell that some people don't like it when I tell them, but I really don't care, because I do and luckily for them, they will be able to name their children whatever name they choose ;).

Here are a few more pictures from along our journey.

The Announcement :)  

Blanket: Modern Burlap

Lightbox : Heidi Swapp 

PC: Jennifer Cody Weddings

Ultrasound taken at 15 weeks.  We went to Focused Imaging in Green Hills to find out the gender of our baby early.  Apparently Rick who does them, hasn't been wrong in over 13 years.  I literally couldn't wait any longer. 

Gender Reveal Day :) Valentine's Day 2017

Dress: Rent the Runway

Hair: Dry House Nashville

MUA: Dani Carpenter

Reveal Balloon: Made it myself, please ask if you would like instructions.  

PC: Jennifer Cody Weddings

I made a pink and a blue filled balloon, and had the man who did our ultrasound hand us which balloon we needed to pop.  NO ONE knew until the minute we popped it.  It was the most fun and exciting day ever.   I have secretly always wanted to have a baby BOY.

My first baby bump picture taken at 16 weeks.  I don't know how you girls get such cute pictures of your baby bumps, but I need to take lessons.

Ultrasound taken at 20 weeks exactly.  I feel like he is saying "You can do it mom". I love him so much already!!  We are HALF WAY THERE!!

Thank you all for following along with my journey!!  I appreciate you reading!!  I look forward to sharing more.  Now back to online shopping for Denver & having heartburn.  Oh the joys of motherhood. 

XO, 

Amber

20 Things I Wish I Would Have Known Before Turning 30

Well, I literally never thought I would see the day that I turned THIRTY YEARS OLD.  That dreadful monumental moment has arrived in my life, and up until this point I've been very uncomfortable with the idea of being this old.  I have decided now, that I am going to embrace it!  Turning 30 is like a really, seriously big deal.  I believe if you can make it to thirty, you can make it through anything!  Let's face it, by thirty you made it through that awkward losing teeth phase, learning Algebra, high school in general, your teen years, and probably several heartbreaks.  Not to mention having to pay bills for your first time, living on your own, doing your own laundry, and cooking yourself dinner.  I feel like I am officially a WOMAN!  There are so many things I wish I would have known along the way throughout the course of my life so far, so I want to share a few or twenty of them with you.  

1. When people tell you eating bad will catch up to you, it absolutely will.  I swear, in the past month I have gained about 10 lbs.  Nothing has changed in my diet, no, I'm not pregnant, it's just life, I guess.

2. When boys are mean to you IT DOES NOT mean they like you.  It means RUN, and RUN as FAST AS YOU CAN!

3. Tattoos are permanent...no, but seriously, think more than twice before you go getting something crazy permanently placed on your body.

4.  You can't change people.  People have got to want to change themselves.

5.  Building your credit is more important than building your Instagram follower count.  

6.  Enjoy the little things in life because one day you will look back and realize they were the big things.

7.  If you don't like where you are, move.  YOU ARE NOT A TREE.

8.  Believe in yourself.  You must become unshakable in the belief that you are worthy of a big life.  You got this!

9.  Money does NOT buy you happiness.  

10.  You teach people how to treat you by what you allow, what you stop, and what you reinforce.

11.  You will end up disappointed if you grow up thinking everyone has the same heart as you do. 

12.  Listen to your mom.  Turns out mothers really do know best!

13.  Watch what you say.  Words are free.  It's how you use them that may cost you.

14.  Life doesn't always turn out how you expect it to.  Never, in a million years, would I have ever imagined to be thirty years old, with no husband or children.  

15.  Everyone's true colors will eventually show.  Trust me on this.

16.  Stop saying "yes" to sh*t you hate.  If you don't want to do something don't.  

17.  Never chase love, affection or attention.  If it isn't given freely by another person, it isn't worth having.

18.  In 30 years, I have never gotten Salmonella by eating raw cookie dough.  EAT THE RAW COOKIE DOUGH. (ha)

19.  What doesn't kill you, really does make you stronger.

20.  The best is yet to come.  I always wonder how one year could be better than the last, but it seems these days, that almost every single day is better than the last.  

I'm ready to see what these next thirty years have in store!  I have had a great life so far.  Has it been perfect? No.  Has it been ideal and what life is "supposed" to be? No.  Has it been challenging? Heck Yeah.  Would I trade it if I could?  NOPE.  I plan to make my next thirty years even better than the last.  Life is short, do the things you have always wanted to do, and make it amazing!  Tomorrow is not promised. WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

HELLO 30!!

PC: Brasspenny Photography

PC: Brasspenny Photography

Thank you, as always for reading!!

DEAR MAMA: Mother's Day Ain't So Happy For Everyone

If y'all didn't think I was going to start this off with the name of a Tupac song, y'all are crazy. No, but on a serious note, I'm here to talk about one thing.   Mama's and Mother's Day.  With Mother's Day being tomorrow, I can't think of a better topic.  I'm going to be completely honest, Mother's Day gives me mixed emotions, and I'm going to explain to you why, after I put out rave reviews about mine.

 To begin, I want to say that I am lucky.  I have the absolute best mom in this entire world.  It's funny how we all seem to think that, so I guess I will say she's definitely the best and most perfect mama for me.  As far as I can remember back, she has always done any and everything in her power to support me or help me out.  I think my siblings and I can all agree on this and there were four of us.  This day and age, with a group that size, everyone agreeing is pretty rare.  (Insert eye rolling emoji here) We didn't agree on much, but no one can argue that.  We didn't have a lot of money growing up, but there was never a time she didn't make us breakfast...ok it was usually cereal, make our lunch, and cook dinner for us every single night.  I am talking a sit down, full plate, of home-cookin', EVERY SINGLE NIGHT.  Although, I have to say I'm still upset with her for making me drink a glass of milk with it, it was AWESOME.  Nowadays I go out to eat about 85% of my meals and it's just not the same ....I don't cook at all, she definitely spoiled me in that area.  We always had THE BIGGEST Christmas, our entire living room would be filled with presents from her, and then Santa.  Now, when I think back, the fact that all of those gifts I thought were from "Santa" were actually from my parents amazes me!  How the heck did we afford that?  Back in the day, when I was supposed to get married (I'll get into this another day) we went wedding dress shopping together.  I found, what I thought then was the perfect dress, she spent every penny she had saved up to buy it for me.  There is nothing she wouldn't do for me, or any of us four kids.  She is THE most supportive person I know.  She shares EVERY single blog post I do, even if it's nothing she is interested in.  She's my number one fan.  Mother's Day is great getting to celebrate her and the other women in my life who I'm lucky enough to call family. 

Why do I have mixed emotions about Mother's Day, you ask?  I did just say it's great for me, but I probably should have said mostly great.   The main reason is that I have this heart, which I got from my mama, and it's a great big & sensitive one.   One that cries almost daily watching heartwarming viral videos and commercials.   I feel so deeply for things ,and for people, and it seems to either be a blessing or a curse, never in between.  I am mostly happy on Mother's Day because I have my mom here to celebrate.  I have all of my grandmas and even a great grandmother still here to celebrate.  For that I thank God.  This big heart of mine doesn't let me just think about myself though, I think about the people who have lost their mother, who as if they don't think about the loss of someone so precious enough, they have to be reminded of it every day for a month or two, with commercials, walking down card aisles, and advertisements about what you should get your mom for Mother's Day.  I can't even imagine going through that.  To whoever you are, my heart goes out.  Then there is that woman who may have had a miscarriage or lost their baby who has to be reminded about such a devastating time in their life.  Next the woman like myself, who would die to have a baby and be a mother.  I'm not going to go too much in detail about this, I will save that for a rainy day, but being almost thirty years old and being the minority in the having kids category is rather depressing.  Most of my friends are on their second or third child, and I'm still sitting here praying for my first one and an excuse to gain a few pounds.  I'm already reminded every day that I'm not a mom, I don't need another.   Then, there is the woman who may not have the best relationship with their mothers.  Maybe their mom wasn't around much, maybe their mom was abusive, or an alcoholic, or an addict who wasn't the best mother.  Whatever the case may be, I think we all need to take into consideration that Mother's Day isn't so happy for everyone.  

Anyone whose hearts hurt on and around Mother's Day, my heart goes out to you!  I encourage you all to reach out to someone who may have a hard time on Mother's Day this year.  It could mean more than you know. 

This one is obviously non Nashvile related, it's just me venting, but I appreciate you all reading!  

Brutally Honest: Most Annoying Things Ever

If you personally know me, you know that I am one of the most blunt and honest people there are.  Some people love that and some people hate it.  There is not much in between.  But, I will say honesty really is the best policy.  I have always been that "go-to person because I know you will tell me the truth" type.  This, again like my last post, has nothing to do with Nashville at all, but there are some things I just need to get off my chest.  That's why I have added this to my "LIFE" category.  I am going to be brutally honest with y'all on this one.  I have compiled a list of the top things that just really annoy me in life.  I think several of you can probably  relate to most things on this list!  If any of these offend you, WHOOPS.

• Announcing you are cleaning up your Facebook friends list..... why do you feel the need to do that or that you are deleting your Facebook? 

• PLEASE, for the love of God, don't ask me 3x if I want to buy the product(s) you're selling.  Trust me, if I want to buy it, or sell it, I will let you know!
• Couples who talk to each other through Facebook wall posts.  Once in a while, like say an anniversary or something, it's cool, but who are you really trying to prove your love to?
• Unfollowers on Instagram....I can tell y'all I roll my eyes about 60 percent of the time I am scrolling through the 'gram, but you have to just be awful for me to go outta my way to unfollow you. 
• People who HAVE to back into parking spots.... WHY do you feel the need to do that?  
• People who wait for 5 minutes for an up close parking spot... Gah I would hate for you to have to take 20 extra steps to get to your destination.  If you are handicap, this doesn't apply to you, so nobody needs to start popping off. 
• People who chew with their mouth open or smacking their gum. I do NOT want to hear that.  It literally makes me cringe. ​

• Your child is not 24 months old, your child is 2 years old!!  I will never understand people who talk about their kid's ages like this past 18 months.  Stop that, just NO.
• When people reply with the letter "k", and the letter k only, I CANNOT DEAL WITH Y'ALL.  There is nothing that gets my blood boiling more than when I spend time and energy texting someone and all they text back is one letter.  When this happens I normally text them back "LMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ" and finish that alphabet right on up for them.

• Having to press "1" for English and being transferred to someone who STILL doesn't speak English.  
• Going out to eat with someone and they spend more time looking at their phone than talking to you.  
• When people don't adjust the toilet paper roll properly.  There is a correct way and this is it.

• Passive agressiveness.   If you have something to say, SAY IT.
• Liars.  I don't think I need to go into any detail on this one.
• Parents who don't do everything in their power to spend time with their kids.  There are a lot of people out there, myself included, who would love to have a child.  It makes me absolutely SICK to see and know deadbeat parents. I know how I feel about my nieces, and I make it a point to see them EVERY single time I get the chance.  They aren't even my kids.
• Unsupportive "friends" or family.  We always assume friends and family are going to support us no matter what, but what happens when they don't?  It can surely suck the happy and excited feeling right out of you.  Support your friends people so you don't ever have to go from a friend to a "friend"

There you guys go!  My brutally honest list of things that genuinely annoy me.  I know I'm missing a few things, here because rolling my eyes is definitely my cardio. Haha.  What kinds of things annoy y'all, be sure to comment below.  Speaking of the last item on my list, thank you guys for supporting me!!  If these things annoy you too, please share. 

 

Life Lately: Riches to Rags

You guys don't understand how excited I am to be writing this blog post right now from an actual computer!!  Every blog post I have done up until this point has been from my phone, which has been a serious struggle to say the least.  There have been many long hours spent and many cuss words said over these past two months since I started "Native in Nashville", but I am excited to bring y'all some new and improved posts.  You wouldn't imagine the world of difference this makes to me and how much more I can do.  Who knew?

Isn't she pretty?  I'm seriously so excited and IN LOVE.  I decided to go with a MacBook Air.  I really wanted a MacBook, but only because it's the only one that comes with pretty color options  Luckily for me, the Apple store sells a case that made computer look rose gold, just like my phone.  WIN-WIN!  

Some of you won't care a thing about this post, because it honestly has nothing to do with Nashville at all.  No cool waterfalls, restaurants, food, or clothes...just me, myself and I and my life lately.  More like a "Dear Diary" post to be exact.  If I were you, I would probably x out of this right now.  For those of you who do want to read about my boring life, I salute you.

Riches to Rags....

I know you're probably looking at that line like, "hey, she wrote that the wrong way".  Nope.  I wish I could say that was the case.  As most of you know, if you read my previous blog about change http://www.nativeinnashville.com/blog/2016/3/1/a-change-would-do-you-good (copied here if anyone is interested)  I made a HUGE life change about a month or so ago.  One day I realized that I didn't care how much money I made working where I was, some things are just not worth it.  I did something really crazy and went on my lunch break one day and didn't return.  Enough was enough.

I had always told myself I would never be a waitress again in my life.  I am NOT knocking waitressing at all, I just want to say that up front.  I always said that because it's literally the hardest job a person can ever do in their life.  I think everyone in this world should be required to wait tables for at least 6 months, before they are even allowed to go out to eat.  Some of you may not even know that waitresses only make $2.15 an hour.  Plus tips.  Let me name a few or ten reasons why being a waitress is hard, and then I will continue this story.

• Constantly on your feet
• No breaks (if you have to pee, sometimes you can't even do that...)
• If you are facing a problem at home, you might as well not even go into work =NO MONEY.  You HAVE to have a smile on your face, always.  No matter what. 
• SIDEWORK.  After a shift, you are required to do like a billion other things before you can leave.(making $2.15 an hour, no more tips, might I add)
• If the customer doesn't like the food, or the kitchen messes up the order, there goes your tip.
• Have you guys seen the black chunky "no-slip" shoes? EW
• The uniform in general....and having to buy most of it yourself, before you even make a dollar.
• Most all restaurants have a "tip out" meaning part of the money you make off each table as a tip, goes to someone else (food runner,busers, the bar)  It's based off of sales, so basically if a table doesn't leave a tip at all, the server has to pay out of pocket.
• 10% tips.  This brings me back to the fact that some people do not realize servers only make $2.15 an hour.  I say if your service is good, you should tip no less than 20%, no questions asked. 
• Smelling like french fries at the end of the day.  Ain't nobody got time for that. 
• Running food and side work.  Do you realize that even when servers are not with a table, they are constantly carrying heavy plates out to tables that aren't even theirs, if you suck at carrying them, like me, getting food all over their clothes.  Something always needs to be done, ice needs to be refilled, plates and glasses need to be restocked, silverware needs to be polished and rolled.  It's always something, you literally can't catch a break.
• You have to have the best memory of all time.  I have ADD and a bad memory + anxiety.  Not a great combination.  Imagine the feeling I got forgetting what someone asked for, and how easy it would be.

This list goes on and on.  I'm telling you guys, its hard.  We need a training class on how to treat someone who is a server.  I hope you ALL read this and take notes.  Anyways, I started working at a restaurant.  At first, I was very excited about it.  Unfortunately, that feeling faded very quickly.  I think ultimately, the excitement factor resulted from me never having to go back to my other job again and the satisfaction of just doing something new.  I also enrolled in school, and I knew having a flexible work schedule would make it really easy on me.  VERY long story short, I had to do two weeks of training before I even began making tips.  When I did begin making tips I made very good ones, at least 20% on each table.  That wasn't the issue.  The problem was the fact that I may only get 4 or 5 tables today during a shift.  I was the new girl, in the worst sections, with the lowest amount of tables.  That just doesn't add up to much.

I went from making what I was making an hour, to making that much in a shift.  It would have taken me about 35 shifts to even make enough to pay my half of the rent and utilities.  It was bad you guys.  I would leave crying.  I was working so hard for what felt like nothing.  I was used to buying almost anything I wanted, whenever I wanted, and not thinking a thing in the world about it.  Being a waitress for about about 5 weeks, was a huge wake up call.  I started thinking about things in how many days it would take of work to pay for whatever it was that I thought I wanted.  There were times when I felt guilty, just for buying myself lunch.  I literally saved every penny, which between that and taxes, I am thankful for now.  My back and feet were constantly sore and I always smelled like french fries. I was constantly looking for ways to make extra money, I even became "Molly Maid" for my brother once. I realized quickly that I am not cut out for that kind of hard work and labor.  The cleaning I could definitely handle, it was the waitressing that got me.  I seriously salute anyone who does this.

Present Day....

I started vigorously looking for something else, anything else, that would not take a physical and emotional toll on my life.  I started reaching out to every person I knew, with any kind of connections to good companies.  I had several interviews and I am pleased to say I accepted a position with a Clinical Research company, in Nashville, a couple weeks ago.  My first day ended up being yesterday and I already love it, the people I work with, and the fact that it is something that makes a difference in this world.  I am happy I had the humbling experience of being a waitress again.  It was a real eye opener for me.  My life currently feels good for the first time in quite awhile, and for that I am thankful.  All of this happened because I decided to make a bold move and make a change.  Yes, I had to make some sacrifices along the way, but in the end, it was so worth it.  I think the key to life is having someone in it, who supports you.  It could be a friend, family member, lover, whoever.  All it takes it that one person to let you know it's all going to be ok.  It will all work out, exactly as God plans for it to.  I appreciate you all reading and supporting my little blogging journey.