Celebrate good times! Come on!

It's still the month of May, so even though it seems like forever (FOREVER!) ago that we celebrated our anniversary and juC's birthday, I'm considering it totally legit that I'm just now posting about it.  I'm going to blame my lateness on cC.  I totally could have posted this last week, but, he has decided to not go down for naps.  The last time he took a nap was last Monday.  So that means we are 8 days in a row with no cC naps, which means no free time during the day for me, which means no time for organizing a post.  And also, very sadly, means that I haven't been able to get my normal naps.  And let me tell you folks, it's not a pretty situation.  Not pretty at all.

So now I'm just neglecting luC and cC so I can do this post.

But back to the point!


On May 5, all of Mexico celebrated the 7th anniversary of the day that juC and I were wedded.  It's always nice to know that we have so many people celebrating with us!

All I wanted to do for our anniversary was have the whole family go to the tulip festival so I could get some fabulous pictures of the kids with the fabulous colors of the flowers.  Unfortunately, cC wasn't having it, and the pictures of the kids were all some form of this:

 The good news was I got some super amazing maternity shots.  And by "super amazing" I mean this:

Oh, and it also started pouring rain while we were there.  So that was awesome, too.  My anniversary adventure was not going as I'd planned.

Then we went to Chili's for dinner.  What else would we eat on our Cinco de Mayoversary?  It was when we were dining on our anniversary with these crazy kids that it dawned on me...

..wedding anniversaries are something completely different when 3 small kids are involved.  

The good news is that a week and a half later, while juC's parents were here, we got to celebrate right.  And by "celebrate right" I mean go on an over nighter that pretty much revolved around what restaurants we'd eat at.  

For dinner we ate at a lovely Italian restaurant.  And for lunch the next day we ate at a place that was a shoot off of a chocolate candy store.  It was on our little anniversary trip that I learned that juC and I don't take pictures together anymore.

In between our family anniversary celebration, and our legit anniversary celebration, we had an awesomely legit birthday celebration for juC.

I decided to help him out and get him a real sized grill, instead of the tiny wittle travel grill he'd been using.  I know, I'm so nice.  We set it up in the backyard, and the kids were so excited to stand there and wait for juC to walk around back coming home from work and surprise him.

 Then it was time for perfectly handmade birthday cards, puuuurfectly store bought cards, and a present.  And by a "present" I mean a cover for the grill.  Because it was the only logical other thing to get him.

 And then, of course, it was cake time!

Though the highlight of juC's birthday, for me, was the following night when we dined at a Tex-Mex eating establishment.  During one of the kid bathroom trips, I made sure to tell our super-trying-to-get-a-good-tip-waiter that it was "Dad's" birthday, as the waiter so affectionately called him.

So the highlight was when the severs were all rounding the corner clapping their hands, preparing to sing "happy birthday" and juC started dancing, having no clue that they were headed to him!  When I started laughing his response was "What?...Wait...they aren't coming to me are they??  You didn't!!"

Oh, how I wish I could have captured a non-blurry picture of the events.

Lest I not write about our month of May celebrations, and not include Mother's Day.  juC knows how to celebrate me right.  I was awoken to little voices our room, and juC standing there with the kids and this fabulous breakfast.  I can't remember what he made me for dinner, but I know that was good, too.   And good food is all that really matters in my book.

I'm thankful for juC and that each May I get to celebrate our anniversary, his birthday, and Mother's Day with him...and our crazy kids.  

Lucky #7

7 happens to be my favorite number.  Ever since I was 7.  When someone asked me what my favorite number was, and I said 7 (because I was 7) but when they called me out on saying it was 7 just because I was 7, I denied it.  So then when I turned 8, I had to prove that 7 hadn't been my favorite number just due to my age, so I continued to say my number was 7.  And thus it has been every year since.

So if the number 7 has been my favorite number for the past 25ish years, I guess I have a pretty good relationship with the number 7.  7 has never let me down.  7 has always been there for me.  7 is good to me.

Which is good news because juC and I have just officially entered our 7th year of marriage.  And if my experiences with the number 7 have been any indication, our 7th year of marriage is going to be a good one!  Maybe the best yet??!!

It's kind of crazy because 7 doesn't really sound like a lot.  To those that have been married for many, many more years, we are just getting started.  But for us, 7 years has brought us a lot.

We've owned 2 homes.  We've had 4 different cars.  juC changed careers.  I've had 3 different jobs.  And we've had 3.5 kids.  We most definitely haven't spent our 7 years in wedded bliss stagnantly!

I also recently realized how sentimental I am when it comes to some of the things that mark the beginning of our marriage.

The morning of our wedding day, there was a little bit of rain.  juC bought a nice big, umbrella that morning for the rain.  For nearly 7 years, that umbrella has been by my side.  Each time I used it, a reminder of the day it was bought, bringing back lovely memories.  And a few months ago, I went to use it and...nothing.  The umbrella would no longer extend out.  Most people would toss a broken umbrella in the trash, but I just can't seem to bring myself to do it.  Every time it rains, I attempt to use it again...in the hopes that it's magically healed itself and works now.  No such luck.

We also got a spatula when we got married.  The sort of spatula you use to scrape the sides of a bowl.  It was a very basic one from Target.  Metal handle, red spatula.  Nothing fancy.  But it was with us since the beginning.  The number of cookies and cakes that that spatula has aided the production of over almost 7 years is innumerable. I couldn't help but think of us first acquiring that spatula at the beginning of our eternity together each time I used it.  And a couple of months ago, while Jud was using it to mix something that was getting too thick, the tip of the spatula broke.  I nearly shed a tear when it got tossed in the trash.  (Maybe I'll blame pregnancy hormones for that.)

Over the past 7 years of marriage we have laughed more times than I could ever count.  No one makes me happier than juC and no one makes me madder than juC.  We've learned how to be married.  We've learned how to be adults.  We've learned how to be parents.  We've learned how to sacrifice and how to work together.  We've accepted (for the most part) each others faults.  And we've done our best to be strong where the other may have weaknesses.

I often think that of all the people in all of the world that I could have married, no one was made more perfectly for me than juC was.  He loves me, imperfections and all.  He is more patient with me than I think any other human being could be.  He puts up with more from me than anyone else is capable of.  And he is just...the perfect person to be at my side.

It's only been 7 years, but if the rest of eternity looks anything like the past 7 years have, we're good to go!

**Photo credit, Thomas Photographers

Your husband loves you more than my husband loves me

It's been a while since my last blog post.  That's because I have been trying to get over my broken heart.  Time and time again something like this happens.  I always try to convince people that my husband loves me more than any other husband loves their wife.  But the truth of the matter is, it's just not true.  I guess I've just been trying to convince myself of it to make myself feel better.

Let me start from the beginning.

I started realizing that perhaps my husband didn't love me as much as other husbands love their wives several years ago.  It happened one night when I was out late with friends.  Everyone's husbands were checking on them.  Everyone but my husband.  I arrived home at an unreasonably late hour only to find my husband fast asleep.  When I questioned him about not being worried about me he said "I knew you'd call if something was wrong."  My response?  "But your phone was downstairs in the kitchen!!"  Even if something was wrong, and I or someone else tried to call him to alert him, he'd have been peacefully sleeping upstairs, none the wiser that disaster had struck his poor wife!!

But people, it get's worse!  I know what your thinking...how could it possibly get worse?  I assure you, it can.  And this, my friends, is the proof that your husband loves you more than my husband loves me.

On the night of November 6, 2013, I went out with some friends and dined at a fine eating establishment.  We talked, we ate, we talked, we ate some more.  Then we talked more, and more, and more.  Next thing we knew, it was late.  I checked my phone regularly to make sure all was well at home.  Not one single call or text from my husband came asking about my current state of safety.  Not one single ounce of concern was being shown.  Meanwhile, as we've decided the hour was late and we should be getting home, a husband called to check on his wife to make sure all was well.  That husband was not mine!

I arrived home at 11 p.m.  I proceeded to obtain entrance into my home through the garage after being dropped off by a friend.  I keyed in the code to the garage, at which time my friend left because it would only be safe to assume that I'd be fine continuing my entrance into the house at this point.  I arrived at the door from the garage leading into the kitchen only to find it locked!  Was it possible that my husband locked me out of the house THEN went to bed?

I knocked.
No one came.
I called his cell phone.
Then listened to it ringing inside the home while no one answered.

I then exited the garage and made my way to the rear door of the house.  I found the rear door in the same locked state.
I knocked loudly, hoping that my husband, presumably sound asleep right above me would hear his poor, dear wife and come to her rescue.
My loud knocking was done in vain.

Thankfully, I had previously witnessed my husband breaking into our home several months prior when he inadvertently locked us out of the house.  With crossed fingers, I hoped that my felony skills were as good as his.  Luckily they were (I should look into a career change) and I was able to gain entrance into our home...finally...without any help from him.

Upon further inspection of the home, I found my husbands cell phone, sitting all by itself on the kitchen counter.  I then found my husband, sound asleep in our bed, completely oblivious to where I was and the potential trouble I was in.

It was in that moment, right then and there, that I realized that your husband loves you more than my husband loves me.  And it was in that moment, that my poor little heart broke into a million tiny pieces.

I mean sure, my husband loves me enough to do the dishes multiple times a week.  And sure my husband loves me enough to work hard for our family so that we can enjoy all the comforts of life. And OK, he loves me enough to support me in a lot of my crazy ideas that other people judge me for. And it's true, he loves me enough to make me hot chocolate when I'm craving it but all he wants to do is sit on the couch and rest.  And it's true, he does love me enough to take our child to the bus stop on cold mornings so that I can stay in our warm house with the other kids.   And yes, my husband loves me enough to buy me things that I probably don't need, but really want.  And yes, my husband loves me enough to watch the kids while I have girls nights.

But still!!

It was in that moment that I knew that the only way my heart could be put back together and become whole again would be if my husband would bring me a slice of Hershey's Sundae Pie everyday for the next 5 years.

Allow Me To Reintroduce Ourselves

You may have noticed the effort I have made the last few weeks to actually blog.

I thought this would be a good time to reintroduce ourselves.

First, there is my husband, juC.  He is half way through his 30s (poor thing) and works at a job as an employee doing work.  In his free time, he enjoys reading really long books about secret spies in the government, stalking people on facebook (I'm going to get in trouble for that one, but how can you be mad at someone for telling the truth??), and driving me crazy.  He is really good at making breakfast for dinner, grocery shopping, and taking the kids off my hands so I can take naps.

 Then comes our first dear child, little jC.  He will be 5 in September and starting kindergarten.  It makes me want to cry.  He is all about cars, blocks, and numbers.  He loves little cC with all his heart and loves to torture liitle luC with all his heart. He loves going on adventures, which means he hates when it's time to leave adventures.  He also loves to dance.  And when I say loves, I mean LOVES.  jC is proof that the last 5 years of my life have gone by insanely fast.

 Next up is our little luC.  And when I say little, I mean little.  (She is 2.5 years old and is in the 5th percentile for her weight, so that gives you an idea of just how little I mean.)  But don't let her littleness fool you.  She has a massive personality.  She is sweet, compassionate, and full of love.  She is also ornery, sassy, and impatient.  She cannot be convinced to do anything she doesn't want to do.  Unless you cry, thenn you can sucker her in.  (Something jC learned all too well!)  She gives the best hugs.  In-the-entire-world!!  She loves to play with dolls and read books.  And knock cC over.

Which brings us to our newest addition.  Little cC.  And by little, I mean the youngest in the family, not little like luC little.  In fact, he's only a couple pounds lighter than her!  cC is a big old ball of happiness.  Except when he's teething, then he's a big old ball of crankiness.  He really has the best smile that quickly turns my frowns upside down.  His favorite thing to do (aside from sleeping when I want him to be awake, or being awake when I want him to be asleep) is to crawl around the house looking for things to stick in his mouth.  Which means I often find him chewing on someones shoes.  He's a sweet boy!

And last of all, it's me, aniC.  A nearly 31 year old stay at home mom, that feels like a 14 year old that got stuck playing a game of house 5 years ago that won't stop.  Seriously, my life does not feel like my life, but like I'm just going along pretending.  I keep waiting for someone to say "Ok, you can stop now." but apparently this is the real deal.  I also feel like I'm stuck between wanting a million and one babies and feeling like I'm going to lose what's left of my sanity at any minute.  So I'm just plugging along.  Doing my best to be a mediocre wife and a competent mother.  (I've found it's easier to succeed if you set your standards low.)

So, that's us.

--And if any of my loyal readers that always looked forward to "kitty Thursday" are wondering about sweet little, izC, I have bad news for you, good news for her.  izC has a new home.  One with no kids to torture her.  I miss her tremendously, but I don't miss constantly harassing my kids for constantly harassing her.

The Important Questions

It's funny how when you are dating someone, you ask questions that you THINK are important to know if you are compatible with the person and if marriage would work out.  Too bad all of the answers to those questions end up changing through time and experience.
How many kids do you want?
Where do you want to live?
What baby names do you like?
All questions I learned had very changeable answers, depending on the year.  And they really just aren't all that important.

Now that I have kids, I realize what questions I should have asked.  The ones that are actually important. And some other questions that have nothing to do with kids, but I really wish I would have known.
(Please note that it doesn't necessarily mean that it would have changed my mind about marrying my dear, sweet, amazing, loving juC. It just would have been nice to prepare myself mentally. Nor does it mean that these questions would have had negative answers.  But let's just say with most of them, I wouldn't be thinking I should have asked them if it hadn't manifested itself somehow in our dear, sweet, amazing, loving children.)

-How bad is your eyesight?  At what age did you need glasses?
-Did you often get in trouble at school?
-Do you set your alarm unreasonably early and not get up when it goes off, and use the snooze button often? (I knocked out his snooze button usage right away!!)
-Were you a bed wetter as a child?
-Were you a good sleeper as a baby and child?
-Did it take hours for your mom to get you to sleep?
-Were you a picky eater?
-Are you or any of your blood relatives psycho?  (Just to clarify, none of his are, but I should have thought to ask.  He should have thought to ask, too.  Because just because none of his are doesn't mean none of mine are.)(If you are part of my family and reading this, I'm totally not referring to you.)
-How is your snoring?
-Were you a big baby at birth?  (Thankfully, he wasn't.  He was actually quite small.  But it's not something I thought to ask until I was pregnant, and came to terms with the fact that the baby had to come out.)
-How long does it take you to get ready in the morning?
-Is your family known for making cute babies?  (I actually didn't need to ask that question.  His nieces and nephews were the perfect evidence.)

Just a few questions I'd never thought about.  So perhaps if you have any single friends or family that are looking for "the one" you should share this list with them so they know what they should really be asking.
But, it really doesn't matter, I suppose.   I chose unbelievably well, even if I wasn't presented with all of the facts.

Woah!

The day of loooOOOOOoooove is almst upon us. Which means I still have a little time to share some of the things I love about juC.

juC isn't the best at planning romantic dates and such. It's ok. I just plan them and then give him a hard time for not planning them himself. But the thing that I love is that he's a good sport about the things I plan. I mean, he's surely not super excited about going on a house tour of an old mansion at night, but he does it happily anyways.

We've been able to go on a lot of dates lately. The house tour date was particularly romantic. It's like "Woah, this is romantic." Thus becoming "woahmantic". We went to the house tour, then went and ate at Red Hot and Blue, then did some Christmas shopping. See? Can't get more woahmantic than that.

So as this Valentines Day approaches, I encourage all of you to plan something woahmantic for your loved one. (juC)

I've also been thinking a lot about our love story, since my sister LoW posted hers.

So here is a condensed version of ours:

I first eyed juC in 2003, and I didn't know if he was just off a mission or pre-mission. He was driving a grandpa car that I was sure he must be borrowing from his dad to get around. And he looked young, so it was hard to know.

My assumptions were wrong. He'd just graduated college, and it was in fact, his car. I had my eye on him, but I was dating someone else.

Then I got engaged. Then that ended.

I dated around a little bit, until I finally got the opportunity to talk to juC, the guy I'd been eyeing for a while. I'd wanted to talk to him many times, but chickened out. So when I had the chance to do it online (in the year 2005, about 2 years after first eyeing him), I took the (lame) opportunity. Following the online introduction, I saw him at church and spoke to him. Then he finally responded to my online introduction.

We emailed back and forth for a couple weeks. Then we spent some time together at a Halloween dance, where we had our first dance together.

The next night we had our first date. We made cookies then went to a movie.

I invited him one time to go to a place called Great Falls Park, but he couldn't. Then the next week, he invited me to go. It really was woahmantic. We ended up spending the entire day together. First the park, then dinner, then going to a church activity, then watching a movie at his apartment. It was at that point that I knew he must like me. He even held my hand for about 5 mintues during the movie.

A month and a half later we had our first kiss. As little as it was I thought it was sweet that he was so nervous about it.

We broke up 4 months after our first date. And continued to break up and get back together for the next year. We were super mature.

Then in January of 2007 we decided to get married. He proposed in February, and we got married in May.

And now we are currently living happily ever after.

Thus concludes the super condensed woahmantic version of our love story.

every which way

i'm a lucky woman all around.

firstly, i'm lucky because i have the greatest father. he's always been a great example to me and has always been there for me when i need help. and even now that i'm grown and gone i know that if i ever need any help or advice i can call him and he'll be there for me.

i'm also pretty sure that he's where my love of adventures comes from. i couldn't possibly even count the many times he would ask me if i wanted to go for a ride with him, and he'd take me some place fun. he's also the reason i know anything about sports, fishing, and why i drive the way i do. and most importantly, he's where i got my sense of humor from. if he did nothing else for me, i'd have to be forever grateful for that one thing alone.

secondly, i'm a lucky woman because i have a great husband who is a great father to our son.

i honestly couldn't ask for better. i can't imagine that there is anyone better suited to be the father of our babies.

he's so patient and loving with little jC, and willing to help when i need it. he's also the bath giver, which i could never express how grateful i am for that! he's also kind enough to get up with little jC on the weekends so i can sleep in a little longer.

he also works so hard to provide for our family which i'm so thankful for. i know not every woman gets to stay home with their children and i'm so glad that my husband is willing to work hard so that i can be a stay at home mom. i know that i'm the mother that i am because he is the great father that he is.

and of course there is juC's dad. i know that he was a great example to him. and he continues to be. and in the short time that he's been my father-in-law he's been a great example to me as well. i'm grateful to have such a great father-in-law.

see, i really have it good in all directions. happy fathers day fellas!

cha' cha' changin'

since the dawn of our marriage, juC and i have had a headboard-less bed.

but today we made like adults and finally got one. one that i love. the amazing thing is i NEVER make the bed. but with this new headboard, it makes it look like i do.

busy bee

there are a few things that have begun to occupy my time these days.

there is of course the obvious, that occupies a good majority of my time. whoever thinks that being a stay at home mom is easy has obviously never been a stay at home mom.

the next thing that's been occupying a lot of my time is my new hobby.my friend megan taught me how to crochet. a craft i never expected to take up. it's addicting. and my plan is to make a throw to spice up our living room with some color. unfortunately i did a couple of rows before realizing i was making a mistake. luckily i dont plan on entering it into any crocheting competitions, nor do i plan on having a master crochet-er inspect it, so it's going to stay as is.

and the other time occupier as of today is a book. yes, after a very long book sabbatical, i'm reading "a girl named zippy". only because someone actually thought i was cool enough to invite me to join their newly formed book club.

i'm only on page 20 and i'm hooked! truth be told i was hooked by page 7.


something that's been occupying my time that i still can't believe is the gym.

never did i want to join a gym. never. in fact when people talked about joining a gym, or their gym membership, i'd say never. but then i had a baby. and i needed the gym. not just for my body, but for my sanity. and i'm not going to lie to you, i'm glad i did. and once again i've learned to "never say never."


and the last but most definitely not least occupier of my time (aside from the obvious laundry, cleaning*, beautifying of self) is of course my dear sweet husband.

(too lazy to flip picture)

when i think back to all of the guys i dated, i think about how lucky i am that he's the one that i married! he makes things fun. he makes things entertaining. (except when he treats me like he's my older brother) he treats me so well and when he occupies my time he does his best to make it fun for the both of us.

the end-ish.

*even though my house isn't technically "clean" i do clean on occasion.

my everything

as i mentioned in my cincoversary post, things have been crazy busy for a week now. last wednesday my friend megan and i packed up our babies in her car and headed down to n.c. to visit her grandma. we had a fabulous time shopping for pottery, visiting an old covered bridge, antiquing. and not to mention megan teaching me how to crochet. that's right people, i'm trying to learn how to be crafty. and guess who we ran into while we were down there....

my mom!! so we picked her up and brought her up here to va. and on our way bringing her up to va, we had a happy accident and ran into a sonic. actually, we ran into two, but megan and my mom would only let me stop at the one.

my mom and i have been running around doing all sorts of things! on monday we went to gettysburg.

yesterday, for my cincoversary we went to harpers ferry. nothing says romance like sending your husband off to work then going to a historic site with your mom and baby.

when juC got home from work, it was really awkward because we found out we got eachother the same thing to celebrate.

flowers.

he got me these:

and i got him these:

so awkward. except not. because i got him a flower on this:


isn't that the coolest bonsai ever?! juC has been saying he wants a bonsai tree for a really long time now. so i figured our 2 year anniversary was the perfect time to get him a looooove bonsai!

look at those cute itty bitty flowers. i took a picture of it by my finger to show you just how small they are.

i love our love bonsai...probably more than juC does. cause i'm more girly than he is.

after we exchanged our flowers, and he told me that he hadn't got an anniversary gift for me yet, we posed for a picture...

then we went to the japanese steak house for dinner. ohhhhhhhhh! ahhhhhhhh! and oh so delicious! at dinner, juC informed me of what he'd be getting me for our anniversary. a gps system. how sweet! no really, it is. because in the last several weeks i've had to call him a lot for him to give me directions! i was reminded again of how thoughtful he is. (except....you'll have to wait and see what happens)

after dinner we came home and got little jC ready for bed, then we went out for dessert. it started out well. but it ended like this.but i'm not allowed to tell you why it ended like this, because juC made me promise not to post about it on my blog. seriously, right there in friendly's after we had a conversation about something i'm not allowed to tell you, he then said "and you aren't allowed to blog about this." and i was all "oh, i'm gonna!" and he was all "no, you always post mean things about me." and i was all "nuh uh, i just post the truth. and i haven't signed a contract with you saying i wouldn't post about you." and he was all "well maybe you should right now." and i was all "whatev's!" but, i'll refrain from repeating what he had the nerve to accuse me of! i won't shed any negative light on him. no way, i won't do that!

at any rate, it ended up being a GREAT anniversary. partly because of today. ohhhhh today. ohhhh what a day.

my mom and i headed up to the ribbon outlet i'd been telling her about. while we were there we stopped at an antique shop in a place called funkstown. i kid you not.

and as we were perusing the store, my eyes came across a dresser. a dresser that is just like one my mom owns that i've been begging her for. it was beautiful. they'd refinished it. if only this store wasn't so expensive. so i walked up to it, looked at the price tag, and i couldn't believe my eyes! it was a lot less than i'd expected. i immediately grabbed my cell phone, called juC and told him that i needed a dresser for our anniversary, not a gps system.

isn't it great?!?! i love it! and love my husband for letting me get it! and i love that it cost way less than the $290 that the lady said it started out costing!

the end...of the past week of my life.

wasn't it fabulous?!

life happens

the last several days have been busy, busy, busy.

i've been out of town and now i'm back home with a visitor. all of this busy-ness reminds me of exactly 2 years ago. it was such a busy day!

i started off the day by going and getting my hair done. it desperately needed some help.

then i went to the temple with family and friends.

after that, we took lots of family pictures and such.

when we were done with that, we went and had an amazing lunch at a place called duke's---best bbq on earth.

after lunch we had time for a short little break, only to rush to church to prep for a dance party of sorts.

and then we devoured lots of goodies and treats that my sister made.

i'm telling you people, it was a BUSY BUSY DAY.

oh, and on top of all of that busy-ness, i also got married!

ohhhhhhh...the memories! what a great day it was! what a great 2 years it has been!

it hasn't been perfect but it's been great. it hasn't been easy but it's been great. i dont always get my way, but i guess it's still been great. and the best part is that for the rest of my life, cinco de mayo will be the greatest holiday ever!!

i'm just coun'try

when my husband, juC, said that he didn't like our kitchen painted this color of blue because it reminded him of a "country kitchen".......i did what any other good wife would do.

i spent time ensuring that it was, in fact, a country kitchen.

first i bought these shabby country stars.

but i didnt put them up until i found this shabby country sign.

but that just wasn't enough. i needed more. and i gave myself one more opportunity to go big. i had to find some true country decor.

and so i did.

nothing says country like authentic "chick feed", "dairy milk", and "country grill" signs.

i'm such a good wife.