7 Years Ago, Today...

I married my best friend and the love of my life!

The 7 years have gone by soo fast!   We have done so much together.  We have shared so many 'firsts' together.  We bought our first home together.  We became first time parents.  We became 'that' couple we swore we never would ;)  You know the kind...that know everything until they have children of their own.  Turns out we don't know squat about parenting!  It's all just a crap shoot! 
 
He made my dream of motherhood, a reality.  I have the most adorable children, because of him! 

Marriage is hard.  No doubt about it.  But the payoff.....it's unbelievable!  There are moments when I sit back and am in awe of my own life.  I have everything I have ever wanted and it is all because of this man. 

We have learned so much about each other and ourselves in this journey. 

I've learned that I must trust him completely with my heart.  He deserves that from me. 

I have learned that, I too, have flaws. 

I am learning how to love and how to be loved. 

I knew from the minute I met him, that he was my soul mate.  Love at first sight does exist!  

He is my everything.  He is my best friend.

My life is complete.

The Bird Has Landed!

I don't know why I chose that title, but it seemed to fit!

Jake started Pre-K on 8/23 and we decided that we would no longer put him in pull-ups.  So we sent him into school in his big boy undies and lots and lots of extra clothes.  And guess what...he has done fantastically with it!  The last few days of last week and yesterday, he has come home in the same shorts and underwear that we sent him to school in! 

And then last night.......

He was in taking a bath and I was cleaning up the kitchen, when I heard "MOM, COME HERE!!".  Much to my surprise, he had gotten out of the bath and went poo poo in the potty!!  I called for the rest of the family to come see!  Everyone was sooo proud of him and he was soo proud of himself!!  James took a picture of it, but I am quite sure, that no one really wants to see it!

It is a tradition in our family that when you poop in the potty and are using the potty consistently, you get to go to Target and pick out whatever toy you want! 

I immediately got him out of the tub and dressed and off to Target we went!  Here is what he picked out...

Sorry for the picture quality

I love how proud Grace is of him in the background!! 

He's awesome!

School Begins!

Today is Jake & Grace's first day of Pre-K and it is Caroline's first day at preschool!  There are finally all back in the same school! 

Because of space limitations, all the kids could not start at the same time.  Grace was first to start and we couldn't have made a better decision to have her start first if we tried!  She started on August 2nd and has been learning the routine, so when it came time to show her brother and little sister around, she was in hog heaven!  She has shown them where to put your lunch box, where they lie down to take a nap, the best toys to play on the playground with...etc!!  She has been awesome with them today!  She might be a little control freak, like her mama I'm afraid ;) 

They have been separated for the past year, so it is sooo awesome to have them all in the same place so that they can see each other every day!

Here are some pics!!

They are soo awesome and I am soo proud to be their mama!

And....I'm back!

Wow, it's been awhile since I have posted.  I guess I am not very diligent about posting regularly. Oh well, it is what it is and I can't, won't, put expectations on myself.

So, life has been great lately!  I am such a lucky person to have the husband and kids that I do.  They make my life absolutely awesome!  I am in a place of euphoria these days.  Just been hanging out and doing stuff with the kids and the hubby.

Summer is going fast!  Jake starts back at his school on the 23rd of August and this is the make or break year for him.  This next school year will determine if he makes it in to Kindergarten.  Our fingers and toes are crossed that the deem him ready.  I feel in my heart that he will be ready based upon the strides he has made in the last two years.  The strides have been HUGE!  From a child, who at age 2, could not utter a word, to a little man who uses 5 word utterances and more!  He is doing just awesome and I could not be more proud of all the progress he has made. 

Also on the 23rd, Caroline will join her big sister at preschool!  I am soo nervous for her, but I know she will do great!  Recently my sis-in-law has been watching Jake & Cara and it has been beyond wonderful!  I love knowing that she is with them and that they get to spend so much time with their Auntie.  We will all miss her watching them!!

Here is a pic of Grace & Caroline watching t.v. together

Grace started at the new preschool on August 2nd, so she will be able to show Jake & Cara around.  Which I know she will love to do!  She is such an awesome big sister to Caroline.  She really likes to take care of her.  It is soo sweet to see the relationship blooming between them.  And I know with both Jake & Grace at the same school, that they will look after Caroline.  Jake has really shown his big brother ways too!  He is soo very cute with her!

So, that's it for now.  I hope to not be away for soo long again as many other topics are swirling in my head that I would love to post about.

Bye for now ;)

Daddy's Boy

This morning I was cleaning out Jake's dresser drawer when I came upon a shirt I had forgotten all about!

It was his Steelers shirt!!

So, I was soo excited and ran into the family room to show Jake!  He was in there with Daddy watching t.v.

Mama to Jake "Jake, look at what I found!!"

Jake to Mama "WOW, MY FAVORITE STEELERS SHIRT!!"

Right then and there, I swear my husband was going to cry! 

He immediately put it on and insisted on wearing it all day, even though it was like 90 degrees here today!

The Steelers are his all-time favorite team and while, of course, we watch every game and always root for them, I truly had no idea that Jake knew who they were.

It was really, really awesome to hear him say that!!

Here are some pics:

My son, he's a stud!

Two Years Ago

You, my Sweet Caroline came into my life.  When I think about our time together in the hospital, tears come to my eyes.  Not sad tears. happy tears.  Oh how I loved having that one-on-one time with you and getting to really bond with you.  Something I definitely missed out with your brother & sister.

It was 11:30am when Dr. R proudly announced "IT'S A GIRL"!  We had kept your gender a secret for the whole pregnancy, which I might add, was the hardest thing ever and I don't even know why we did it!  Although, I knew in my hearts-of-hearts that you were my Sweet Caroline.  I think we all did :)  In fact, we hadn't decided on a boy's name!

You were absolutely beautiful!  I remember our first 'meeting' so vividly.  You instantly tried nursing off my nose!  You smelled so yummy and I couldn't get enough of you!  Your eyes, your lips, your long fingernails.  All of it, was beautiful.  I felt like the luckiest mommy in the whole world.

The time we spent together in the hospital was amazing.  Daddy had to take care of Grace & Jake, so that meant that you and I had lots of bonding time.  I am forever grateful for that time with you.  You were amazing from the first night with us.  Grammy stayed overnight with me while Daddy went home to take care of G&J and I remember when Grammy & I decided to go to sleep and catch the couple of hours sleep we could....we blinked and FIVE hours had passed!  On your first night, you slept FIVE hours straight!  Grammy & I panicked at first but then realized that you were just sleeping like a baby :) 

After that, you discovered how to nurse and you were a champ from day 1!  You nursed like it was going out of style!  The nurse would tell me to write down everytime you nursed.  So I did.  And before you knew it, I was writing every 20 mins!  No kidding!  Grammy & I use to laugh at that!  There wasn't much sleep to be had until we got out of the hospital, but I didn't care.  I loved being with you, awake or asleep!  In fact, I am POSITIVE that your first smile happened on your 4th day in the hospital.  I tried to get a picture of it, but wasn't 100% sucessful.  But these are pretty close.

You are soo very precious!

While in the hospital, your brother & sister did come and visit you but Grace was very unhappy that day and refused to have her picture taken.  But here is one with Jake.

Then before we knew it, you turned 1!  We of course threw you a birthday party and you were unbelievable cute that day.  You decided not to nap that day and rallied! 

And here we are.  You are now 2 years old and I honestly do not know where the time goes.  You are such a happy, joyous baby!  I constantly feel like I hit the lottery with you!  You are sooo smart.  You can count to 11; you have a fantastic vocabulary and speak in 3 word utterances!  You are amazing and I am honored to be your mommy.

I love you to the moon and back, my Sweet Caroline.

Kids say the darndest things!

So I thought I would start an ongoing post full of, as we call them, Grace-ism's!  She truly says the darndest things!  So, here's a couple to start and I will update this as new ones come out!

Dad to Caroline "You're so pretty, just like your sister Grace".  Grace looks over to Dad and says "She's not THAT pretty Dad".
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As I am scolding Grace for not listening, she puts her hand over her heart and says "This is my heart. God loves my heart.  Jesus loves me"
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Grace and her friend are having a picnic outside.  Her friend says "I want to have a picnic at your house.  Do you have a dog and a cat?".  Grace says "Yes, we have a dog and a cat".  Friend says "I don't like cats".  Grace says "Well I guess you're not coming to my house then".
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* Grace out of the blue comes over and says to me "I'm tired of being so pretty".
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She cracks me up!