A Texas Wedding!

My very best friend in the whole world got married this past weekend! What a beautiful wedding it was, and what a gorgeous bride she was!! We flew to Texas for a whirlwind weekend of fun. And that it was. What was so cool about the weekend was to have the original three of us back together...me, Hayley and Jamie. I love the rare times when we all get to be together. It's not too often that friendships last forever, but the three of us are fortunate enough to have found life-long friends in each other. True friends. I am thankful for those friendships everyday. And we got to meet Jamie's precious daughter for the first time! Brynna and Madison hit it off instantly, so much so that Madison bawled when it was time to say goodbye at the end of the weekend.

So the weekend was filled with good food, manicures, pedicures, brunches, swimming, playing in the park, etc. The wedding was a blast and Madison just loved kicking off her shoes and dancing the night away. All the little girls at the wedding wore the same dress and it was too cute for words to see them all holding hands dancing together. Nathan was quite the good sport, too. We all ran on very little sleep but somehow all managed to remain happy and have a good time.

The two cutest octupi you'll ever see!

Nathan and his friend, Lauryl decided they wanted to dress up together for Halloween. Who could resist?







We were even asked to sign a release of the pictures so the studio could use them as samples....they are THAT cute!

He's on the move!

He's been teasing us for a few weeks now, by getting up on all fours and rocking. A couple weeks ago, he began crawling backwards...but never forwards. Yesterday he suddenly decided enough was enough. He got up, started crawling, and hasn't stopped since!! Time to babyproof!

Ouch.

I guess it was bound to happen. And with my very active girl, I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner, to be honest! Madison and Sean were running around the house (how many times do I say no running in the house??), she tripped on the rug and her forhead smacked directly into the coffee table. When I got to the "scene", there was a nice gaping hole on her forhead with gushing blood, directly above her right eye. Thank goodness it missed the eye! We took her to Children's Urgent Care and she got 4 stitches and a pink popsicle. She did ok there until they needed her to lay on the table for the stitches. Poor girl was flipping out and trying to think of every excuse in the book why she needed just 'one more second' before laying down. When she tried to bolt off the table, they called in an extra person to help hold her down. But she was completely still while they stitched her up and the smile couldn't have been bigger when they gave her the "prize" of a yummy, cold pink popsicle!

Would you like some birth control with that pizza?

We went to Cici's pizza the other night for dinner. Essentially it's like the soup kitchen for large families--or for people who don't feel like spending actual money on dinner. It's a big pizza buffet...totally not my style. Buffets gross me out enough as it is. But one that is aimed at serving families? In other words, LOTS of little hands, sneezes and coughs touching the food that I will be eating. Blech. Anyways, Andy is staying with us this week, so it was myself, Madison, Nathan, Scott and Andy. We find the perfect spot to sit, spend 5 minutes getting settled, me scouring the filthy sticky high chair clean for Nathan, Scott getting drinks for everyone. Madison doesn't have her nice tall glass of red fruit punch for more than 35 seconds when she knocked the entire cup over spilling the contents all over the table, bench and floor. The non-English speaking mexican table busser comes over to clean up and makes the decision for us that we should move tables. Just before moving, Nathan manages to grab a big greasy piece of pizza off Scott's plate, getting it all over his little fingers and then slamming it on the table. The busser then picks up the high chair that Nathan is sitting in and carries him across the restaurant picking a new spot for us. He's lucky the rickety high chair didn't fall apart as he carried my baby boy amongst tables! We attempt to get re-settled at the new table when Nathan sneezes. This wasn't any sneeze. My poor baby has his first cold and without going into too much detail, half the contents of his nose end up all over his face, just as Andy is about to take his first bite of pizza. That's always good for the appetite. Finally settled -- again -- I stand up and notice the lovely aroma of fresh vomit. I look to my left and a little girl two tables over has vomitted everywhere. Herself, the table, the floor...you name it. Does this sound like a fun dining experience? It wasn't. When Andy noticed the display at the next table over he just said "Oh, man!" with a very disgusted look on his face. Then Scott, obviously oblivious to this disastrous dinner says, "What's wrong with you? You need to relax and enjoy dinner!"

Look how fast I'm growing!

Somehow, we've stepped into a time warp and Nathan is already 7 months old. Geez! Last night just before putting him to bed, I sat him in his crib to re-tie his crib bumpers which he repeatedly unties! I looked away for about 2 seconds and when I turned back around, this is what I saw!







What is my baby doing getting up on his knees all by himself!??? Yes, it's time to lower the crib mattress. My baby is growing up! For the last couple weeks, he's been getting up on all fours and rocking. I'm soooo not ready for crawling. I've enjoyed living life without every single thing being babyproofed. But alas, all good things come to an end.

Madison joining in on the fun!

Preschool!

Madison started her first day of preschool yesterday! We've been talking about what it means to go to school for months now, so she was fully prepared. I woke up yesterday morning with a pit in my stomach. Did I really have to drop off my little girl at school and *gulp* leave her there?? On the way to school, she was SO excited. She was talking to Nathan saying, "Nathan, I'm going to school today!!" Meanwhile, mommy is tearing up in the front seat. I didn't let Madison see that! It was so cute to arrive and see all the kids excited for their first day of preschool. When the teacher opened the door, Madison was ready to head on in without even kissing me goodbye! So after the obligatory pictures, hugs and kisses, she said bye and walked right in. I walked back to the car and...you guessed it, I cried. I called Scott, he laughed at me, then I felt better. ;) It's amazing to me that just a year ago she was still very much a mommy's girl, never wanting to leave my side. Now she goes off to preschool alone without a second glance back. I'm so proud of her.

It's been awhile!

Has more than a month really already gone by? It's September, really? Time needs to slow down....NOW.

I've kind of been in a funk lately. Well, sporadically. It comes and goes. I think just daily stressors, lack of sleep, too much to do, too little time...it's all catching up with me and affecting me in a negative way. I wish I had something to blame for the way I'm feeling, but I don't. It's me, it's my lifestyle. I desperately need to find a better way to cope. It's been like this way too long. The saying "life is too short"....it's true. I feel like I have been taking my life for granted and that needs to stop. Life IS too short. You can work hard, plan like crazy, do everything right and then in a split second, life can flip upside down and be nothing what you expected or wanted. No, nothing bad has happened to me/us, but I have this looming fear that something bad is going to happen. How negative is that?? But I do. I'm terrified something bad is going to happen and it sometimes consumes me. I mean, overall, I've had a fabulous life. Awesome childhood, loving parents, a husband that loves me, the most amazing children. Nothing traumatic has ever really happened to me or my family (well, besides the whole sister-disappearing-abandoning-her-son thing). But really, how long can that luck go on? It scares me to even write this out. I like to keep the thoughts inside hoping if I don't talk about my fears, they won't happen. We know that's not true.

On to happier things. Madison starts preschool next week. Wow. My baby is going off to school! Scott and I went to the parent orientation the other night. I had to fight back the tears as the teachers told us that more parents cry on the first day than do the preschoolers. She's right! Madison is excited. And she should be...it is going to be so good for her! And this year instead of ballet, she's decided to try out gymnastics, which she loves. On top of all that, she is also taking a beginning sports class with daddy once a week. The girl is busy!

And Nathan....well besides growing, eating and sleeping, he is busy flirting, smiling, laughing and hanging out. He is such a calm, happy baby. I am taking a mommy and me swim class this fall with him. I did it with Madison as a baby and it was a lot of fun, so how can I let Nathan miss out on that fun? No way!

It's late, I need to go to bed (speaking of sleep deprivation). I WILL be more consistent with blogging!

It's all over, thank goodness!!

It's done. And what a relief that is! We pre-closed on our "old" house last Tuesday, and then closed on the new house Friday at noon. We went straight over to the new house and cleaned carpets and scrubbed the kitchen and bathrooms until it sparkled. Just 24 hours later, the whole thing was done. Our new house was total chaos but it was done! Madison was soooo excited to come home to her new house. Of course the first thing she did was run to the backyard and play on the swingset! We've been busy unpacking and settling down since. For Madison it's as if we've lived here for years. She's made friends, she's outside playing almost constantly. We're going on walks, we're playing at the school playground. It's great! We love the neighborhood, we love the area. We couldn't ask for better neighbors, everyone is so friendly and welcoming!

Sunday night we went back to the old house to say goodbye and Madison brought me to tears when she walked in the house, looked at the empty kitchen/family room and broke down crying. When I asked what was wrong, she said "where is all our stuff!" Poor girl. We went from room to room, checking it out one last time, and that was it! But as busy as she's been here, I swear she doesn't even remember the old house! It really has been great.

I can't explain what a relief it is to have all of this over. One year ago TODAY, we put our house on the market...and here we are, finally moved in and settling down!

4 more days

We will only own this house for four more days....oh my goodness, I'm approaching the point where I just may freak out for a minute! We close on this house Friday morning at 9:30...that means technically it will no longer be ours after that point. Why does something I've been so excited for have to be so sad? I tucked Madison into bed tonight and explained to her that we will only be sleeping in the house just a few more nights. She just looked at me with a sad face and said she loves her house and doesn't want to leave. Heartwrenching. But no sooner did I mention her new swingset at the new house, did she burst into laughter and scream with excitement. I wish satisfaction came that easily to me.

My sweethearts

When Madison was an only child, I used to think there was nothing sweeter in this world than watching her be happy. Her smile, her laugh, her sweetness....it just melted my heart. I could actually feel my heart swell. Unless you are a parent, you can't possibly know what I am talking about. When I was pregnant with Nathan, I had the same thoughts that most second time mommies have. How in the world can I love another child as much as this one? I would look at Madison and think to myself that I could never love another being as much as her. Then Nathan arrived. Not only did I, of course, love my new baby, but the love I felt between Madison and her new baby brother was unreal. Whenever I think of that moment in the hospital when Madison first met Nathan, tears come to my eyes. She walked in the room, climbed up on my bed, asked to hold him, and the second he was in her arms, she began singing 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" to him, just staring at him smiling. And now, 5 months later, Madison is still just as sweet to Nathan as she was when she first layed eyes on him. She takes care of him, protects him, makes him smile, makes him laugh. She wants to be a part of everything we do for him. I'm sure some of that stems from her not wanting to feel left out, but mostly she genuinely just loves being a big sister.

Now, when watching them play together, my heart swells in much the same way it did with Madison "pre-Nathan". I love seeing the way they make each other happy. I want to remember the tremendous amount of pride I feel, because I'll need that memory to get me through the times ahead when Madison is claiming he's looking at her the wrong way and when Nathan uses her favorite doll as a soldier on a suicide mission.

Packing, packing and more packing

We're moving! I feel like I've been waiting for this day forever, and now that it's finally here, it's bittersweet. Why? Because this was our first house. We built this house right after getting married and we were sooooo excited. Owning a home is such a great feeling, talk about a sense of accomplishment, right? We have worked so hard on this house to make it what it is. It's been hard and there have been lots of arguments and lost time together because of it, but it was worth it because this is our home. But more importantly, this is where we started our family and brought BOTH of our babies home from the hospital to. Every room has amazing memories that I will miss terribly.

But I know we are making the right decision for our family. Being in a neigborhood has been a craving of mine since I became pregnant with Madison. How sad is it that it was just months after moving in here that I began feeling this way? Because I stay home with the kids, I need more than being out in the country, away from neighbors and just people in general. It's too much work to pack up the kids and drive somewhere for what potentially could be a short walk. In our new neighborhood we can go for a 5 minute walk or a 30 minute walk. It doesn't matter because we'll be close to home! Madison can ride her bike anytime she wants instead of waiting for me to load it up, pack us up, and drive somewhere for her to be able to ride it. Instead of spending our evenings inside, there will be neighborhood kids to laugh and play with. I'm so excited! And have I mentioned my plans for our family bike rides? Something that we have never done before because it's just too much work!

I have to give some major kudos to Scott for finally opening up and seeing how important this is to me and how much it will benefit the kids. He loves it out here. He is giving up acerage and tons of garage space to move into Westerville. But as much as he was originally opposed to the idea, he is excited. I especially LOVE to hear him talking about us doing things as a family, such as bike rides, walks to the park, etc. This is going to be good.

Two weeks and counting.....

How do I get sucked in to these things?

So blogging is apparently the new thing on the net...of course it's a number of years into its' popularity, which is typically how long it takes me to catch on to new things. So here I am. Better late than never, right? A number of friends have blogs now, and I love reading them. Of course they are much more eloquent writers than me, so mine won't be as fun to read, I don't think. Regardless, I think this is a great way to get the thoughts swirling around in my head, out in writing. I tend to bottle up a lot, so maybe this can be my new release!