Thirteen

Thirteen years ago today I married my best friend, the love of my life. We were young. And crazy in love! Today we're not as young, but just as much in love.

So much has changed, but our love has only grown stronger. In 13 years we've watched as friends' marriages crumbled while we stayed strong. We've faced lots of difficult times, but somehow learned more about each other and grew closer together as a result. We gained weight together. Lots of weight--90 lbs each at one point. We've now lost weight together--over 100 lbs combined and still losing. We've created one miracle child and adopted another. We've grown up together.

Honey, I love you even more today than I did 13 years ago. We've made wonderful memories together, and I can't wait to make even more. I seem to remember someone saying (on our wedding video no less), "Ask me in a year and we'll see if they're still happy." I think it goes without saying that we proved her wrong, don't you? Thanks for always treating me like a princess, even when I don't deserve it. You're still the love of my life, and I cherish every day with you.

ONE YEAR!

I have so many thoughts spinning in my head that I can't even find the right words to get it all out. One year ago today we arrived home with our beautiful baby girl. We were thrilled to finally have her home with us and begin our life as a family of four.

The past year has been an experience in patience, love, learning, bonding, and simply enjoying our family. God has blessed us tremendously. Sometimes I forget that I didn't give birth to our little ball of fire--she fits in our family perfectly!

Miss Priss Pants, I'm so blessed to be your mommy. You keep me on my toes and have helped me learn patience that I didn't know I possessed. You bring joy to my heart. I often look at you and wonder how on earth I could be worthy of being your mom. I love you so much, and can't wait to watch you grow into a beautiful young lady. Happy one year home, baby girl . . . I hope you're as happy to be my daughter as I am to be your mama. Abrazos y besos mi amor!

Then: 5/29/08

Now: taken on our family day, 5/25/09

Happy 4th Birthday Critterboy!

Four years. Yep, he's really four years old. It was four years ago that our little miracle man arrived, 10 weeks before he was due, at a whopping 2 lbs. 11 oz. What a perfect little person! You can read the whole story HERE in last year's birthday post.

Matthew, you are truly an amazing boy. This year you've grown up so much! You were such a trooper through everything the past year has brought--becoming a big brother, travelling to Guatemala to bring your "sissy" home, having surgery to remove your tonsils and adenoids, getting glasses, etc. You are so smart and wise beyond your years. Sometimes I think we have an adult trapped in a little critterboy body! We love to watch you dance and listen to you sing. You love to drive your Jeep around in the back yard and are a better driver than mommy! You care so much about others' feelings and especially about your baby sister. We have enjoyed watching you grow and change this year. Mommy and Daddy love you so much buddy! Happy Birthday to you, and many more!

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day! Today is my 4th Mother's Day, and my first as a mom of two. When I think back over all the years that I wanted to be a mom, but wasn't or couldn't be for all of the various reasons, I'm amazed at these little blessings that God has given me.

Being a mom is harder than I ever expected it to be. Honestly, sometimes I'm not very good at it, or at least I don't think so. My kids, however, don't seem to notice my motherly shortcomings, so I just press on, loving them with all my heart and working hard to be the best mom I can be while juggling what seems like 1,000 responsibilities. I'm so proud to be their mom, and I hope when they grow up and look back at their respective childhoods, they'll be proud to be my kids.

Today just happens to be Mother's Day in Guatemala as well. I think alot about Ryenn's birth mom and foster mom every day, but especially on these significant days. Without these women, we wouldn't have this fiesty little princesa in our family. Their love and sacrifice, along with their hardships, is imprinted on my heart forever. We're so blessed to have email contact with her foster mom--she even emailed to tell me Happy Mother's Day! Feliz dia de la madre!

I think about my mom, who even though she lives very close, we really aren't together all that much. I used to think (okay, sometimes still think) that my mom didn't really know what to do with a challenging child and young (or not so young!) adult like me. Or that I got away with wayyyyy too much. Or that she expected too much of me. You know, all those things a therapist would tell you. :) But when I look back, my mom gave me everything--she sacrificed so much to give me the opportunities and "stuff" I need and wanted. For that I'm so very grateful, and I need to tell her that more often. I love you mom!

My hopes for the today are simple: spend time with my family, and be thankful for being a mom. Oh yeah, no stinky diaper duty or housework either! :) I can't imagine my life any other way.

I wish all my awesome mama friends a very happy day. Let's all enjoy this wonderful gift of motherhood!

Just flyin' a kite . . .

Clear blue sky, light winds, kite actually flying, chicken on the grill, happy family times--what could possibly be better than this?

Mischief and deceit

Almost 4 year olds are imaginative little boogers. With imaginination, I suppose, comes lies. Bold faced lies. I know, I know, you can't believe that an angel as precious as my critterboy could ever tell a lie. You're wrong!

A few weeks ago he reached up and touched a hot pan on the stove (after warning him about 6 million times in his life not to do that) while I had my back turned (lesson learned, for both of us!). When I turned around I heard him gasp and pull his hand back. I said "Buddy, did you touch the pan?" He said, "No." I saw evidence of 3 nasty burns across his fingers and he was starting to cry. Every day it's something new. A few days ago I found him in our shed. Daddy-o was "watching" him, but he had snuck out of sight. He was standing by gas cans *gasp* and when I called out to him, he spun around and said "I didn't do anything to the gas." Wow, really, because that sounded really guilty. (Don't worry, I explained to him that he could look at things in the shed, but he could never ever touch, or smell, or taste anything in there. I also explained to Daddy-0 that the shed needs to be closed so curious critterboys don't kill themselves with all of the dangerous things stored in there, even if we're "watching" him.)

Yesterday he said the floor was coming apart, "Do you wanna come see?" Ummm, no, not really, because no matter what it is, I'm sure I'm not going to like it. I followed him anyway, and sure enough, he had been pulling the carpet up in the far corner of the living room. I asked him how that happened and he blamed it on two classmates from daycare. Two classmates who have never been to our home. He has told me numerous times that "Sissy hit me!" or "Sissy took my _______" when she is in a different room or not even with us. He makes up wild stories, too. I should be writing them down--some are really great! I love his imagination, but I'm not too fond of the lying. I'm working on an effective discipline for it, but everyone says he'll grow out of it soon enough. I guess I'll just enjoy the innocence of it all, and enjoy watching my little man's brain become more and more creative.

Miss Priss Pants isn't talking much, but if she were, I'm sure she'd be telling tall tales too. Instead, she has begun climbing anything and everything she can get her little monkey paws onto. We've found that we can't leave a chair back from the table more than about a millimeter without her climbing up. I've found her sitting and standing on the chairs, and most recently, on top of the table. Those darn salt and pepper shakers are mysterious, aren't they? Little monkey girls LOVE to pour them out, or hold them over the side of the table, threatening to drop them to glassy death.

Disclaimer: We really do watch our kids. We do the "divide and conquer" technique most of the time, but it really only takes about 1.46 seconds of someone not watching before all *&^L breaks loose. If you can't relate, well, then, you're obviously still in the running for mommy of the year. I gave up on that dream years ago! :)

They love to wrestle with each other--and with us, the bean bag, any large pillow or blanket, etc. I get so much joy from watching them together. This is what it's all about!

Catching up--is that even possible?

I'm back . . . with pics! I know that's why people read blogs, right? It's all about the pics! Pull up a chair, grab a snack, and get ready to catch up with the crew!

The last few weeks have been so busy and have flown by, as they all seem to be lately. We died our Easter eggs, which always sounds like more fun than it actually is. It's so hard to keep little hands out of the dye! One egg was cracked before it ever even took a dip in the cup! Matthew was so funny and so proud of his eggs. (yes, we do wash our kids faces every few weeks, but the best photo ops seem to have the messiest faces . . . )

We went to an Easter egg hunt the Saturday before Easter at the home of one of the couples in our Sunday school class. The kids had alot of fun--well, we ALL had fun!

Three awesome mamas!

Ryenn getting a hug/head butt from Jagger

Three Guatemalan beauties all in a row after a long afternoon of hunting eggs

The Easter bunny came on Sunday morning, but he didn't hide any eggs since it was so cold outside. He just left the baskets of loot on the coffee table and skidaddled on to the next house. My kids, of course, never even missed the egg hunting since they were in a sugar induced oblivian within a few minutes. We decided to hurry and go to the early church service so we could come home and prepare Easter lunch. My parents and sister/brother-in-law came over to enjoy tasty ham and all the fixins.

My mom made Ry this dress for Easter, complete with pinafore and bonnet, which she wouldn't keep on her head--cute, in a Little Bo Peep sort of way!

Last Saturday we went to the American Heart Association Heart Walk, but had to leave before the walk actually began to make to the zoo for the rest of our day of fun. I have been passed down the task of coordinating the blood drives for my employer, so the OBI treated the thousands of coordinators and their family members to a picnic at the zoo. The day was chilly and it began to sprinkle on us, but really it was the best trip to the zoo that we've had so far. No melt downs, (adults included!), lots of animals out and about to see, and free lunch--can't beat that!

On Tuesday of last week, I acheived the status of lifetime member with Weight Watchers, meaning I have met my weight goal (exceeded, actually) and have maintained it (lost some more, then was forced to gain some back) for 6 weeks. This means I will officially give myself a harder time if I gain my weight back. I am smaller than I was when I got married almost 13 years ago, but I'm muchhhhhh softer now. Hey, I like it this way. My kids need soft places to lay their sweet little heads, don't they? It would be just wrong to have a rock solid body and deny them this comfort! :) I join the ranks of other awesome lifetime members like my friend Claudia --you've just got to click on her name to understand just how awesome she is at giving advice. Seriously--she's got it all figured out! Anyway, I'm pretty proud of myself. I really didn't want to even join WW, and when I did, I really thought I'd lose 10 pounds and quit. Nope. Almost 35 pounds gone. If only I could get a tan . . .

As if we haven't had enough going on, we also redecorated our hall bathroom this month. We went from a beige and purple floral"ish" theme to a super bright granny smith apple green with bright color accents and orange towels. It's hard to get a good photo of the finished product, but this one gives you an idea. Very much more kid friendly than our pre-kid decor. We're going to work on a family art project to hang on the one wall big enough to hang something soon. Stay tuned, because if it turns out anything like I picture in my head, it's gonna be awesome!

In other news, I'm exploring the possiblity of going to Guatemala in December to help with Project Santa. Click HERE for the scoop on this awesome opportunity to give back to the people of Guatemala. While I don't know Vanessa personally, I know someone who does, and she is 110% amazing for what she does for these families. If you can help this project with donations of shoes, toys, or funds to ship the donations to Guatemala, let me know. I'm praying that I can join her--the "price" (virtually nothing compared to other missions) is right, it's just the small detail of leaving my family behind for the trip. I'll keep you posted as I make these decisions in the coming weeks. I feel the tug in my heart to do something. Maybe this is it . . .

Ryenn is growing and changing so fast! She has 9 teeth now, and a few more coming soon by the looks of all the drool. Her hair is so fun to play with--we're up to over 90 hair bows, but don't worry, there is room for more! I had a blast shopping and volunteering at the kids consignment sale. I spent $150 and made over $100--not a bad deal! I found some awesome deals on hardly worn Gymboree and Gap outfits, and some total steals on squeaky shoes (so fun!) and Stride Rite's. I am weird about used shoes, so I only buy them if they are nearly new or brand new, and I found 8 pairs! She doesn't sit still for long, so it's been hard to do the fashion shows that I did with her last summer when she was too young to protest! :)

We've got pictures scheduled in a couple of weeks for Matthew's 4th birthday (what? how can that be??!) and our first family day (so hard to believe Ryenn's been home almost a year!). I've pretty much decided what we will wear, which probably comes as no surprise to any of you who know me well. I can't wait!

Matthew said for many weeks that he wanted a "Scooby Doob" party. Strange, since he's never seen Scooby Doo at home--must be a daycare thing. Well, I'm smart enough to know that he's a fickle pickle just like me, so I've held off buying the decorations. I asked him last night if he wanted a Scooby Doo(b) party and he said he wanted Lion King. Ummm, no. Too hard to find these days. Then he said Spiderman. The black Spiderman. Sigh. I shouldn't have asked. I think I'll just take him to the party store and let him choose something. Then the little toot can't have a fit if I buy the wrong stuff. So picky, this boy! He's doing great with his glasses, although this pair is pretty much trashed. I gave it 3 weeks, and they've lasted 3 months, so all in all it's a success! He's wise beyond his years with this thinking, but still struggles with recognizing letters and numbers. Two well educated child educators have implied (one point blank told us) that he's gifted. I was (or still am, the jury is still out!), so why shouldn't he be too? hee hee His behavior issues, while less and less dramatic, could be because he's bored. Not an excuse, but just another thing for us to consider when disciplining him, I suppose.

All in all, things are wonderfully nutso all the time. After almost a year as a family of four, I've finally accepted that this craziness is only going to get crazier as the kids grow up. Am I ready? Sure, why not?! :)