Damon Riley

I have always wanted to be a mother. The day that came true for me was one of the best days of my life. I was to the point in my beliefs that I wasn't going to be able to give my husband a child. We were going to adopt and were in talks of it. Then the day after Thanksgiving in 2011 I took two tests , both positive. We could not believe it! Come to find out , I was almost 8 weeks along! I turned my whole world around. I quit any and all caffeine , quit eating bad foods and stuck to the stuff that was good for me and that Damon would tolerate in my belly. I went through four months of morning sickness and lost 14 pounds. But my baby was still growing and still healthy. My husband was deployed for almost 6 months of my pregnancy so I would send him emails and pictures of Damon's progress. It was a difficult process without him but I had the support of my friends here at the base. I gave birth to a 10 pound 1.2 oz baby on July 23 2012 and he was 23 1/2 inches long. The miracle of our lives. he was sick though , a meconium baby and he was in the NICU for almost 2 weeks. That first night was heart wrenching. During labor and his delivery , I had never felt so close to God and never felt his presence so strong as I did then. I have never prayed so hard for anything in my life. Today , Damon is close to a year and a half old and growing like a weed. Noone else on earth except for his dad has seen the best and worst of me. Recently , Damon got diagnosed with fragile x. I knew he had it , I gave it to him. Fragile X is caused by a defect in a single gene. This gene, called FMR1, shuts down and fails to produce a protein vital for brain development. My x chromosome had over 200 repeats of this gene and that is the one he got from me. My husband is deployed again so I found out alone. I thought I was ok until they asked me if I was ok and I just lost it. But it did not change my love for that little boy. It showed me a new kind of love and understanding of him. I could not ask for a better little human to be a mommy to. He is incredible and happy and fun. He loves to learn and figure things out. My husband and I are very blessed to have such a wonderful little boy. 

My cats

My cats , Gracie and Rosie are my two tortiseshell breeds. They are well trained to know all of my commands I have taught them. They are 4 1/2 years old now and my first actual housecats. I love cats of all breeds and sizes. They are beautiful and elegant and very stubborn! athe breed that mine are have been known to be hard to live with and Rosie has definitely owned up to that above and beyond her means. I love her though and try to be patient with her. Gracie on the other hand is timid and quiet. She's actually graceful which is quite a coincidence. They love to play and they love their catnip. They are part of my family. My two daughters.

My take on fashion

My thoughts on fashion would be that i like to be and feel comfortable and look good. The biggest thing for me is comfort. I love blues ,corals,pinks , purples,reds and oranges on myself. Not alot of things contrast with redhair but i make it work. I'm not always big into fashion and trying to keep up with the latest trends. They change too often. I like what i like whether it's in style or not. I love a lot of vintage stuff like old rock tshirts or old soda tshirts. I do like purses though. The bigger the better. If i don't find one i like , i make my own.

Love to cook!

I wanted to write about how much i love cooking and experimenting with new things and ideas. Sometimes i get ideas from online , restaurants or from family and friends. My two favorite ways to cook are using my crockpot and using my oven to bake or steam food. It's a healthier option for me and my family. I try not to fry alot of stuff because of the fat content in it. But i am guilty of fried potatoes. An absolute weakness of mine. In the past few months, i've been trying to eat even more healthier and excercise more often. Healthier foods are making me feel so much better and i love sharing what i find out with others to help them.

NYC HD Color Trio eyeshadow

I recieved the NYC HD Color Trio eyeshadow from influenster for testing purposes. With my eyes i started with the darkest color on the pallet and applied it first pretty dark. Then i used the next darkest as my second color and finally, the third lightest at the top to make my eyes 'pop' and to enhance the toher colors. I really like the results.

I recently recieved a jollyvoxbox from inluenster for testing purposes. The voxbox included puffs tissues , skinny cow candy , NYC lip lacquer and NYC hd trio eyeshadow. This box was definitely for me. I love skinny cow products. The candy was great. I don't normslly wear makeup but the lip lacquer was really comfortable and smooth. The eye shadow was also really comfortable and smooth. Easy to apply. The puffs were great for being on the go and easy to grab. Thanks influenster!!