Finally...

Tomorrow is my last day of high school. I can't believe it. It feels like much more than just four years. I've been through hell and back, laughed, cried, had the worst and the best times. Let's reminisce, shall we?

Freshman Year: I'm sure someday I'll look back and think I looked ridiculous, but for now I maintain that I've got swag.


Sophomore Year: The Rise of the Hipster.
I made those boots. Altered that dress. Earned my seamstress merit badge.


Junior Year: The Year of the Whale.
At my baby shower, hugely pregnant. This picture kind of reminds me of paparazzi.


Now here I am, having somehow made it through these last four years.


Nothing happened the way I planned, but I guess that's how life usually is. I've laughed, lived, loved, and grown up. Even when faced with the daily (or hourly) challenges of being a teen mum and married before I even graduated from high school (who would've guessed? not me), I wouldn't change any of it, not for the world. Through the heartache, the stress, the loves and the losses, I got this:


And it was so worth it. She's worth it.
Some people look down on me, and still others actually feel sorry for me... but I'm happy, happier than I ever could've been without her and Mack in my life. This may not be the path I thought I wanted, but it's the one I know I needed.
"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be."
Besides, if I had not become a teen parent, I probably would've spent my senior year with my BFF J.D.


Cheers.

Updates

Kenai, our Husky, is getting so big.


(Photo credit, of course, goes to amazing amateur photographer Fay Syed-Ali.)

She's gigantic now, in her "teenager" phase. It's so funny to watch Echo and Kenai playing. This one is from awhile ago, but it's a great example.



Aren't they cute?

In other news, we're really strapped financially until Mack gets paid. Luckily, that's on Friday. I really need to learn to budget my spending. Money will probably continue to be a problem for us until I finish with college.

Another topic: being a stay-at-home mom.
I go to school, obviously, but after 2 PM I stay at home with Echo. And since I've got two more days of school left, I'll be a full-time SAHM. (For the summer, anyway.) I've had tastes of it, and, well... It gets lonely. Don't get me wrong, I love playing with Echo. I'd rather spend my time with her than anybody else. Maybe it's because I live so far from fun things, or don't have enough mom friends, but I'm just not sure that staying at home is really what I'm cut out for.

When my beautiful landwhale (see below) gets fixed, I'll be able to be more active, anyway.


I really feel like NYC will be the best place for us. For my career, but also for my home life. I'll be able to take Kenai and Echo to the park, or hop on the subway with Echo and visit the library, museums, or Central Park. I'm still blown away that the zoo is right in the park... And it's free. Things are just so damn expensive here. Why does a family of 3's trip to the aquarium cost $45, plus tax, plus gas, plus parking, plus the emotional expense of feelings of rage and a lost hope for humanity thanks to Tampa drivers? Maybe I'm just cheap, but this seems ridiculous to me.

If anyone happens to read this and has some tips for getting around in NYC/raising a toddler in the big apple, please, let me know.
That's all for now. Expect many more posts.

Teen parenting.

In general, other mothers don't judge me because of my age and appearance. But sometimes...
Well, sometimes people can be ridiculously rude.
When I take Echo to the mall, older women give me dirty looks. I've actually gotten comments like "should've kept your legs closed" and "white trash". Once, a complete stranger actually called me a slut.
Now, I'm not a fan of teen pregnancy. At that age, kids are still developing and learning about the world. I know many teen mothers, and quite a few of them are immature and irresponsible; their babies are raised by the teen mom's parents while they go out and party.
But not all of them.
Although we had known each other for a few years, Mack and I had been together for a whopping 3 months when I got pregnant. But we stepped up, he found a job, and we gave ourselves over to parenthood. My daughter is happy, healthy, and isn't in her stroller with a dirty diaper and bottle of brewski in her hand, so what right does anyone else have to stereotype me?


^^NOT my daughter.

Nobody has any right. It's sad. Mack and I are great parents. I support extended rear-facing car seats, I breastfed for as long as I could, I try to cloth diaper, I make her food when I can, buy only organic food when I can't, talk to her, spend 95% of my time with her, read to her, sing to her, never raise my voice at her, believe in non-physical discipline...

After giving up my teenage years to do the right thing, after being blessed with such a wonderful little family, after beating the odds... Some (excuse my language) complete fucking asshole has to ruin my day? What exactly do these people think they're accomplishing?

Yeah, by trying to point out that I'm a stereotypical ignorant teen mom, you're proving that you're a stereotypical grumpy, judgmental, rude, stick-up-your-arse pretentious old person.


Or, if it's because of my tattoos and facial piercings...
Body Modification Does Not Determine Character.
To prove that, here's a slideshow of my stretch-lobed, tattooed, pierced friends going crazy over little Echo.





Oh, and here's a picture of us. Aren't we cute?

Here we go again.

For starters, I don't actually expect anyone to read this blog (besides me). I'm not writing this to make money, or to gain fans, or anything like that. I'm doing it so I can look back, weeks or months or years from now, and see just how far I've come.



My beautiful daughter, Echo, is nine months, three weeks, and three days old. It feels like she was a newborn yesterday. (Cliche, but true.) Here she is, almost a toddler... Too bad I didn't start blogging when I was preggo, eh? Oh well.

I'm 18. Definitely a young mom. My husband is 19. We are in love, stable, mature, intelligent, and we're doing a damn good job at parenting if you ask me (or anyone who knows us). We currently reside in sunny, not to mention hot, Florida. Buuuut...



I am now officially a student of Marymount Manhattan College. We'll be relocating sometime this summer, with a small trailer on the back of our van, Echo (who will be nearly one) and our Siberian Husky. Yep.. We're driving there.



We'll have to stop every two hours, for Echo and Kenai to get out and walk around/chase squirrels and unsuspecting tourists. And just because we like to make things difficult for ourselves, we'll only be taking two-lane highways and staying as far away as possible from the Interstate.

Honestly, the only thing I've ever been more excited about than our upcoming move would be Echo's big debut. I have the chance to intern at Scholastic or Random House (publishing agencies) next summer. Since my heart's dearest wish is to become a writer, this is an amazing opportunity for me.


In the next few weeks/days, I'll be ranting here just to vent, about a few topics: miscarriage, teen parenting, body modifications, and of course, baby-rearing.
Ciao.