What does your sn mean? How is it pronounced? (I've been saying min-i in my head!)
My screename is pronounced Meena-E. When I was younger, my little cousin couldn't say my name. She pronunced it Meena. It became my nickname in high school. E was the first letter in my maiden name and 01 is the year I graduated high school. I have some good friends that still call me Mina.
Match.com! My subscription was almost done and I had met some doozies. We clicked instantly. I knew right away that this guy was marriage material. He took a little longer to realize this, but 4 years after we met, we got married.
Craziest - Having 3 kids in 3.5 years. That, or trying to ski down a mountain in Colorado with no skiing experience with altitude sickness. That was miserable.
Proudest - Having 3 kids in 3.5 years.
Most embarrasing - This is a good one. I was asked to sing the National Anthem at a charity event in college. They asked some other guy to do it with me. I had never sung it as a duet (weird), and this guy and I chose to alternate lines. We practiced once before the event. When it was our turn, he sang his line, I sang mine, and towards the middle, I got so confused that I thought I sang the wrong line. I muttered "Shit!" into the microphone (in front of a huge crowd of all ages). My line was right all along; I didn't even mess up. I had to finish the song and stand in the back as the opening ceremonies continued for another 30 minutes. I wanted to die. It's a good story now, eleven year later!
Our 5 year anniversary is actually coming up on Saturday! We had a traditional Catholic ceremony at the church my family attends in OH. We each had 7 attendants. My bridesmaids wore deep purple. I loved my ball gown! My cousin has asked to wear it for her wedding, and I'm more than happy to oblige. She's only 19, so I'm guessing she'll change her mind. Our reception wasn't super fancy, but I think everyone had a blast. Lots of dancing - no one got too drunk. I'll put up some pictures to AW it up:
I was totally going to marry my HS sweetheart, so we decided to chose a college together. We found this small school in IL (distance was a plus, as I didn't get along well with my parents). The bf and I broke up 6 months in, but I found my home in the burbs of Chicago!
My HS boyfriend broke up with me because he met a senior he was interested in. She was really hot. It crushed me at the time, but I bounced back. We remained friendly and would still be in contact if he weren't in jail for being a dirty cop.
It was just this feeling - so cliche, I know. I knew that I could fall in love with him and be happy. I very rarely had that feeling in the past. I was always trying to force myself to like guys that I knew were decent guys. He has very gentle blue eyes and a sweet smile. His personality is a great mix of humor, sensitivity, and intelligence. He's an elementary PE teacher, which is/was really endearing. I could see him as a good husband and father. I was way ahead of him and pretty intense. We broke up after 7 months because I was very vocal about wanting to get married and have kids. I came on way too strong! When we broke up, he told me he didn't know if he even wanted to get married or have kids. I joke with him about it these days We got back together 4 months later, but took it slow. I tried to be patient, but patience is NOT one of my virtues. He came around and we got engaged around the holidays and married the following August after a 7 month engagement.
I have one younger brother who is about to marry his girlfriend of 13 years. We are ridiculously excited! He was actually a semi-regular on an Animal Planet show a couple of years ago and was featured in a documentary that aired on AP last year.
I don't swear too terribly often, since I'm a teacher and I can't get in that habit. But when I drop an F bomb, you know I mean business!
Guilty pleasure is reality TV. I love Teen Mom and The Challenge. H can't stand it and refuses to watch any of those shows with me. He says (jokes?) they are the downfall of society.
A superpower that I would like is to teleport because I am always, ALWAYS late. It's always been like that but with kids, it's awful.
Proudest mom moment is a tie between getting DS1 potty trained finally and making it to 37 weeks with DD.
Biggest mom fail? Gosh, I have so many. I guess my biggest mom fail is never being able to exclusively breastfeed. I know it's not due to a lack of trying, but it still sucks.
What was you favorite vacation and where would you most like to go with kids and without?
Favorite vacation was Kauai honeymoon. We loved every second we spent on that gorgeous island. We are dying to get back - no kids. I'm not sure where we'd like to go with kids because no vacation sounds like fun with 3 little ones right now! I guess Disney would be fun in a few years.
What grade do you teach? Would you switch if you could and if so, to which grade?
I've taught 6th grade for 10 years and I love it. I'm actually taking next year off as an extended maternity LOA. I have to be guaranteed a job when I come back in 2017 but not necessarily the same position. I could be placed anywhere that I'm qualified. It's quite a risk! I really hope I go back to 6th grade. If not, anywhere but 8th grade. 8th graders are rough!
I'm good with 3. We are in over our heads already!
I am Catholic. I'm not a very good one, though. I don't go to church every Sunday and I disagree with some of the church's principles. I'd like to raise my kids with a strong faith base, but I'm not sure how that's going to happen at the moment!
I know you had early babies. Did you ever feel hesitant to have another baby because of that? How did you deal with that?
After DS1 came 7.5 weeks early, I was definitely afraid of it happening again. When we decided to TTC number two, I asked my OB if there was an increased chance of me having another preemie. She said that yes it would be higher for me than for women who have had full-term babies, but I still had a good chance of going full term. Since they didn't know why I had the baby early, I would be high risk and monitored very closely. That was enough to help me be comfortable with being pregnant again. DS2 was only 4 weeks early with no NICU time and perfectly healthy, so we decided that we could do one more.
Do you consider it a lucky escape with your HS sweetheart split? Especially now, given the path he has taken?
Or do you think things could have worked/been better if you'd stayed together?
I most certainly believe that I dodged a bullet! He's rotting away in jail for the next 10 years (approximately). It's so sad for his wife and kids. There's something special about your first love, but I got over him long ago!
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