Best Moments

Hubby and I will be celebrating our 11th wedding anniversary in less than 2 weeks. Life gets hectic and crazy, and around your special days you start to think about all that you have experienced and shared together. So I thought I would share some of our very best moments in our years together.

Our wedding was a blur, as I am sure most would agree. Our honeymoon however, was like a dream! We traveled to St. Thomas and proceeded to spend several days in swim wear, lounging the beach with umbrella drinks and avoiding iguanas at all costs. I took naps in a hammock on the beach, while my sweetie snorkeled. We shopped, we ate way too much, but my most favorite memory is how much we just enjoyed each others company, completely relaxed. No decisions to be made, no jobs or families to think about. We just laid in our lounge chairs and soaked up the sun and loved being near one another. It was perfect, exactly how a honeymoon should be.

When we returned, we came back to our newly built, apartment. Both of us had only lived at home with our parents (we married at 21) and although we didn't have much to fill up our new pad, we didn't care. When I think back, we had a full sized bed, a 13 inch tv, our clothes and wedding presents. That is it. We had the best time just lying on our living room floor eating chicken because that is all I knew how to cook at the time and talking for hours. We shopped often and picked out pieces that we dreamed of filling our new place with and it was such an exciting experience to feel like a real adult. We had our own place! It was amazing!

Hubby and I both had great jobs and while our apartment was brand new and in a new trendy part of town, we knew our next move was to our first house. I searched with my Mom for fun and when I felt like I found a great deal, I set it up so Hubby could walk through it with me. It was a 3 bedroom ranch with all hardwood floors and an unfinished basement. An older couple had built the house together and shortly after, the husband passed. It was an older house at the time, but it felt barely lived in. We both saw the potential and decided to put an offer in. Next thing I know, we are moving our stuff (I say this lightly, because I think we only added a couch and a huge tv to our list to this point.) into our very own house. We had family over for a painting and pizza party and spent all of our time making it our own. I loved that house.

Something about owning your own home makes you feel like you need something. We weren't quite ready for babies, just yet, but a puppy? Yes! One day, I came home with a 8 week old Brindle Boxer puppy. He was adorable and my very first baby boy. We named him Pele'. He was a perfect fit.

This house is also where we conceived our first two boys. We never had the chance to bring Judah home, but one of my best memories, is bringing my itty bitty Izzy home. Born at 32 weeks, 8 weeks early, we were able to bring him home at the 35 week mark. I was scared to death and didn't know how to care for a preemie. I remember walking in with our little carrier sitting him in the living room and Hubby and I staring at each other like, "What do we do now?" Don't worry, it only took us a few minutes to figure it out. Soon enough the house was overflowing with baby stuff. My favorite picture of all time is when Izzy was probably 10 lbs (around 3 months) and sitting in the front yard in the grass. He looked so tiny and now when I drive by that house I just picture my little baby feeling the sunshine and grass for the first time at that house.

Remodeling... it was a tough job, but after months of hard work, Hubby and my Dad finished off the basement into an amazing area. We had a room for storage and laundry, a 4th bedroom and bathroom and a large entertainment room. It was so fun to have friends over to hang out and we really enjoyed that space.

Before you know it, we've been married 7 years and our little Izzy is now 18 months. Grammy came to visit to stay with Izzy while Hubby whisks me back to St. Thomas for a second honeymoon. It was just as glorious as the first, but we were even more in love. We visited St. John, snorkeled a underwater trail, shopped til we dropped, enjoyed boat rides, kayak trips, hiking, delicious food and each others company. It was wonderful.

A few moves and years of pre-med schooling later, we find out we are pregnant with our third little boy. I remember being hugely pregnant and potty training Izzy who was 2 at the time, sitting in a chair in the driveway watching him ride his tricycle and snuggling extra during the day since Mommy had no energy to do anything else.

Last year we took our first family of 4 vacation that wasn't to visit family. It was all about the kids and we did so many things. In St. Louis, we visited the children's museum, the arch, did some shopping and spent some time downtown. Then we finished up our road trip in Chicago where we hit everything you can imagine. It is our favorite and I could totally see us living there some day. I love those memories. Two little guys with no pressure, time line and only focused on fun. I will never forget the four of us in the giant Ferris Wheel overlooking downtown Chicago. I didn't want it to end!

We have made so many great memories since Asher was born. Family vacations, Friday family movie nights, sports outings, nights with friends, but my most favorite are the moments he doesn't know I see. Catching him go in after the kids are asleep to give them one last kiss. Reading them stories or teaching them something only a Daddy can teach.

I love picturing Hubby and Izzy holding hands as we walked him to his first day of Preschool. Then Kindergarten and now First Grade. OH it is going way too fast! What better highlight in marriage, than watching the babies you made together grow? Um...nothing.


Over the years he has given me so many things I didn't deserve, trips and hugely expensive presents that he had saved for months for. Fancy steak dinners at Mortons or surprise overnights at our wedding night hotel, and of course the 2nd trip to St. Thomas. I don't think there has been a single anniversary that he didn't completely blow me away. Oh I forgot to mention the one with a tiny blue box and white ribbon with TIFFANY DIAMOND EARRINGS! Oh yeah...he is that amazing. Even more than all of that, the best gift he has ever given to me is his faithfulness and love. We have been through a lot. A. L. O. T. over our 11 year marriage. I love that I still get love notes left for me in the bathroom randomly and thoughtful gifts of things he heard me mention months before (he does listen!) One of my most treasured gifts, a love note he wrote to me and framed. Or maybe it is the photo book he made for me with all three of my boys inside and sweet sayings fill the page. Or maybe it is the large photo canvas he gave to me of my pregnant belly with my Asher. Then there was the NYC trip, (a trip we have discussed for years) that he planned as a surprise with our amazing friends and handmade a card with clues as our Mothers Day gift.

Hubs is an excellent at fulfilling my love of surprises, gifts and affirmation. God truly knew the kind of man I would need to get through this life and I am ever so grateful that he created him just for me.

Eleven years, it's been a flash in one sense and in another I feel like we have been joined for a lifetime. Hubby, I love you with all of my heart and I am thankful for each and every day I have spent with you by my side. Happy Anniversary!

Time to Freeze.

Life is insane right now. I am officially a soccer mom. Now both boys are playing on teams and that consumes 3 nights a week. Add in school, events, friends, church, piano lessons my weeks are becoming so hectic, I am finding dinner to be a difficult task. Izzy doesn't get home from school until 4 and 4 days of the week we are going straight from one thing to another no time for me to prep dinner. The last two weeks we have just kind of "winged" it, with a few crock pot meals in between which were a complete life saver. Other nights it was a free for all. Boys ate "packed lunches" in the car and Hubby and I grabbed a sandwich after they were bathed and in bed. While it works, it leaves me feeling overwhelmed and unorganized. I. Can't. Like. That.

Izzy ready for a full night of Piano & Soccer, dinner in hand.

Mondays for me always bring me a fresh wave of creativity and organization. I like the feeling of a fresh week with a new plan. Today I sat down and wrote out my
To Do list for the week, updated the family calendar, updated Izzy's calendar, and made a list of 6 freezer meals that if I can carve out a few hours this week I plan on making to help - future me out.

Here are my ideas:
*Breakfast Casserole- Breakfast Burritos
*BBQ Pork Tenderloin- Pulled Pork Sandwiches
*Chili
*Spaghetti
*Beef Pepperocini Sandwiches
*Honey Garlic Chicken

After spending just a short amount of time making all of those PB&J's and prepping Izzy's lunch, I have found out how WONDERFUL it is! So dinner, that has to be even better, right?

The only downfall....this forces me to clean out the freezer (ugh) and organize it (double ugh). While I love organizing anything, it is cold in the freezer. I hate being cold. I am just going to suck it up and get it done so I don't have to rush our nights anymore than they already are.

My question to you... Do you freeze? Hit me with your best freezer meal ideas. Go!

Happy Freezing to me and hopefully a much happier family at dinner-time!

Shhhhh!

Izzy loves school. He loves his friends, his teacher, and doesn't even mind the work. In fact, he read me his very first story today. I almost cried. (It doesn't take much...)

There is one problem, he loves it so much he can't seem to keep quiet. My once super shy and timid little guy is now talking like he is Regis and his job depends on it. Now I understand, he is probably not just sitting at a table talking to himself...there are other kids talking with him, it does bother me that he isn't using self control. I wasn't really expecting this from Izzy, so I am kind of unsure of the best way to handle it. We have a chart system that he can earn rewards from and if he has a great day at school or shows kindness and something extraordinary he gets to move it. Yesterday he wasn't able to move his chart because he got in trouble for talking too much and then not understanding the directions the teacher had given. WELCOME TO MY LIFE.

I have never had so much understanding on an issue as this. My sweet husband is so many many wonderful things, but one horrible, terrible bad habit he has is his 1/2 listening. Oh. My. Word....it is ridiculous. I know he isn't doing it intentionally, and he knows it's a problem and hates when he does it, but it is just that, a bad habit. In fact all of the guys in his family have a problem. Seems it's genetic.

Example: (Feel free to laugh at our ridiculousness)

Hubby's birthday was this weekend and we had a blast and he was spoiled by family and our wonderful friends. As we were cleaning up after this weekends festivities, I say, "Wow, you sure got spoiled this year!"
Hubby: *washing dishes* "Huh?"
Me: *repeats*
Hubby: "I'm not understanding what you are saying?"
Me: "You don't understand English?"
Hubby: "It doesn't make sense....what you said....I'm confused."
Me: "No, it makes sense, it is English. You would understand if you listened."
This convo goes back and forth for at least 10 ridiculous minutes and ends in us both laughing at his atrocious listening skills.

This is my entire married life and now my entire parenting life. "Huh?" "What?" "When did you tell me that?" "What did you need me to do?"

I'm quite certain I am not the only wife who has a half listening Hubby, and lucky for him he is so great in everything else it helps to make up for it. My issue, is that it is a bad habit that is spreading like wildfire to our children.

My solution after Izzy's rough Monday? He is to repeat any direction we give him out loud and then complete the direction. Of course he can't do this at school, because he would get in trouble for talking again. :) So I explained, that he needs to listen, repeat the direction in his head and then complete it. He tends to want to double check everything before doing it, and I am sure with a classroom of students she doesn't have the time or patience to repeat that many times. He lost some privileges at home until his teacher lets me know he is making better efforts at self control during his day. This is a tough lesson, but it will really pay off for the rest of his life if he can learn it now. His future wife will thank me. Listening is such a vital instrument in all relationships and I hope I can teach him to have good listening habits from now on.

I am taking any and all suggestions on how to combat a little talker and his no good, very bad listening skills.

Side Note:
**I can write about these things because I have a blog. My Hubby doesn't, so you can go ahead thinking I'm perfect.

First Day Success!

The Big Day is Finally Here!!!

Izzy was up and waiting...

We got dressed then enjoyed our special pancakes!

Asher wanted a pic with Izzy before school.

Someone was super excited!

In front of school... (side note: Is Ash a hot mess or what? :)

Asher hijacked Izzy's friend Ella..

Izzy found his seat and was excited to start!

Sweet Ella, Asher and Izzy

Then it was time to say goodbye. Asher started to get sad and said, "I gonna miss you Bobo...you my best friend." Then Mommy shed some tears. They hugged, kissed and hugged again. So sweet.

Asher and I spent the day catching up on stuff and spending some quality time together. Every 5 minutes I heard, "Bobo be right back, Mommy? He be right back. I miss him. He be right back? Yeah, he be right back." He would ask and answer his own questions over and over again and then sulk. It was the saddest thing ever.

I was able to put a smile back on his face when it was finally time to pick Izzy up. I was greeted with a GIANT hug and kiss. His teacher said he had a wonderful day and he said, "It was Perfect!" He loves his teacher, his friends and school. In fact, when he got home he said," I don't want to think about home school anymore because I love school. I don't want to stay home with you anymore...I want to go to school every single day....even weekends!" Okay, lets not go overboard, Mister!

Genius Friends and their Genius Tips

If you read my last post, you probably noted the frenzied Mommy coming out in me. Today was CRAZY, but thanks to a to-do list and genius friends, I am feeling a lot better.

My super friend, Karli, gave me a genius idea to make PB&J's ahead of time and freeze them. *duh, why didn't I do this last year?* After crossing every item of my list and taking Izzy to his Back to School night and a special dinner, I headed to my local Super Target to stock up on lunch items.

2 loaves worth of PB&J's and snack bags of grapes are all packaged and ready for the freezer. Organic snack mixes and carrots are divided up as well for easy lunch making and everything is going onto the "Izzy's lunch" shelf in the pantry. Easy Peasy. In total, it probably took about 40 minutes to prep, which really is no time at all, in comparison to how many lunches I just made. *Thanks KW!*

Here's to quick and happy mornings!
*cheers!*

Back to School Week!

Tonight, I am mentally preparing for the upcoming week. Izzy starts school on Wednesday. First Grade!!!!! Normally, I am much more on top of schedule items, but I find myself procrastinating all things "responsible" and using every last ounce of our Summer together for fun. While thinking of our last two days and planning fun activities, I realized, we have had all of the fun we can have. I have GOT to be responsible. We have Back to School night, Izzy's first soccer practice, piano lessons, First day of school baking, First day of school, Women's event at church, Hubby's birthday and dinner with friends and all of the little things that are involved in each of those events that only I can do...all have to be done in the next 5 days. Oh. My!

In this same week, my sweet Lovey FINALLY decided he was a big boy and has potty trained himself. Friday morning he went in the potty for the first time on his own and by Saturday was wearing underwear without accidents. Today, he went to church, out for lunch and then shopping for soccer gear, all without accidents!!!! This is a huge and wonderful breakthrough, which I have been praying for-for months. 3 years and 2 months and he is potty trained. Wahoo! No accidents, and he doesn't want/need my help. While it took months longer than Izzy (potty trained at 2 1/2), this is by far a million times easier to wait until they are ready.

My boys are growing so fast. Praying I can keep it together during this "Big" week!

Tough Questions. Sweet Answers.

Today was a day I always knew would come and I always prayed for wisdom for when it did. During breakfast, Izzy asked (out of nowhere might I add) "Momma, tell me about the day Judah died. I know he died, but you never told me what happened that day. I want to know everything."

That is one heavy way to start the day. I took a deep breath and asked for the right words and then it just flowed out. Much different, than I had always imagined, but in a way that he understood. I didn't cover up the hard facts, I told him the truth. I told him how I birthed Judah and how the nurses gave him to us right away. We held, loved and kissed him for hours. I changed his clothes and prayed over him. After a while, Daddy was holding him and he slowed his breathing and we knew it was time. Shortly after, he took his last breath and he went to heaven. I was about to go on and tell him a few more details, when I looked up to see his eyes begin to fill with tears. I stopped, and took another deep breath before asking if something was wrong? He wiped his face and then said softly, "I'm okay, but it is just that I am so glad I have pictures of him. I would be so sad if I didn't have pictures. *long pause for thinking* Momma, it just makes me so sad. Like, so sad. It just isn't fair I only get to have my one brother. I am 'posed to have more."

Yep, that is how my morning started. Rip my heart out! It was really difficult for me to keep it together, especially since I am in the midst of reading "I Will Carry You" and all of those feelings are just at the tip of my throat ready to explode out. When I looked at his sweet little face and teary eyes, I knew he just needed some time to grieve on his own, without me taking any attention away with my own feelings. Hard, but necessary.

When Izzy was a baby, I used to think about these days and how I would have the strength to relay Judah's story. What I didn't imagine, is just how often Izzy asks about the brother that he was never able to meet. Easily, he talks about him 4 or 5 times a week. To some, this might bother them, but to me, it is a sweet relief that my precious one is not forgotten and my boys hold him in their heart just as I do.

Never one to shy away about hearing about his self, he asked for his birth story. That is another emotional story for me to tell, and as I looked in his eyes it was nearly impossible to not sob my way through it. I have told him since he was a baby just how special he is and how God sent him as a very special early gift for me and Daddy. He knows the story, but he wanted the details. What did the nurses do? Why did they keep me so long at the hospital? Why didn't he get to go home right away? Then when I was able to tell him, how I visited him in the NICU, three times a day, every single day for three weeks and I would rock him and talk to him and feed him, he burst into a bright beam of light. He absolutely loved the thought of just him and I, rocking away with no distractions. Then he told me, "Momma, I didn't ever want to tell you this before, but that hospital was scary. I didn't like waiting on you. There was lots of beeping and noises and the other babies were too loud. They cried all of the time and I just wanted you to come back and get me. The nurses made it dark and I didn't like being there even though they were very nice to me." I didn't know quite what to say! I don't believe I have ever talked about all the machines and the beeping and the other babies....who knows. Either way, the look on his face when hearing his story was priceless. I think I will have to write a little book for him so he can read it over and over.

Of course, he couldn't leave out our little Lovey. I told him how Asher's was the easiest of all because he was absolutely healthy. There was only one scary thing, and that was that he had a large bump on his head and we had to wait to take him to a specialist. Turns out, it was just his position and everything was fine. You can still feel the bump (although it is much smaller), but he has so much hair you can't see it. :) He laughed at first, and then he got teary again!! When I asked what these tears were about he said, "It's just that Ashey was just so cute. He had the littlest hands and his face was so soft. I just miss him like that." Me too, buddy!

Every once and a while, it is wonderful to retell your kids their story. It made Izzy beam to hear all about how much he was wanted and loved and it made me think back to those moments where I was living literally second to second and so appreciative of it all. Today when I was out with my boys and their friends, I watched as they played like big boys and I silently thanked God for answered prayers. Today started out a little emotional, but I am so grateful for Izzy's questions. It helped to refocus me and remind me just how much I have to be thankful for and that is always a great mindset to start your day.

Izzy's Quote of the Day: After telling him his story, (crying) he says, "Momma, I just want you to know you are just the best. You are always making me the best snacks, you are a good cooker and you always make us have fun every day. I am just so glad I got you. And thanks for taking good care of me in the hospital when I was too early. You are just...*dramatic pause* too good for me because you love me even when I am naughty. You just love me no matter what."

Asher's Quote of the Day: While tapping my watch he says, "Momma, you know time is? It's time for kisses!!!" (Followed by tons of hugs and kisses)

If you couldn't tell, I've had a pretty terrific day. :) Love my boys!