Anniversary Number NINE?!?

A day that will always be fresh in my mind, no matter how many years pass, is the day that I married Matt. I could recall nearly every detail of the day I married my best friend. I love that because I have a terrible memory. I can't remember what I did last week, so to remember NINE years ago is pretty darn good!

Our marriage is a long story, although some how nine years has passed by more quickly than I ever thought possible. The things we have done, the fears we have conquered, the obstacles we have over come, the places we have lived, have made us incredible together. I am thankful for our marriage. I am thankful for the struggles. I am thankful for the temporary separations. I am even more thankful for the reunions. I am thankful for a man who really loves me, and loves me the way I need to be loved. I am thankful for a man who knows me. I am thankful for a man who forgives me. I am thankful for the disagreements because it makes me understand him better. I am thankful for a man who fights for me, our country and our community. I am thankful.

I am NOT thankful that our scanner is not hooked up because I really want to share some wedding photos. Yes, if you were married nine years ago your photos are NOT digital...weird huh? Almost like being married in the dark ages. Feels like our wedding photos might as well have been etched into stone like Mr. and Mrs. Flinstone. I will work on that.

I not only want remember how thankful I am for Matt and our marriage, but I also want to thank those of you reading this who have helped defend our marriage. We have faced things that should have broken our marriage apart, between personal struggles, deployment, and lengthy separations, there were opportunities for failure. There are so many people to thank for defending, protecting and supporting our marriage, you have helped us grow and continue on this awesome journey together.

I recently found one of our wedding invitations and I read it and I'm so impressed by the wording because it was all so perfect. I remember feeling so much pressure to "get it right" and say exactly the right thing and I look back now and can positively say, "I got it right!"

God has led two lives

to take one path

(formal stuff)

....

invite you to witness their vows

as they begin their joyful journey

God really did lead us together, I know this for sure...and it really, really has been a joyful journey. I am so proud and thankful that we have made it to this day in July, one more year.

Addie's Joke

Eight days before Addie's second birthday, she tells her first joke.

"Knock, knock"

-who's there?

"Turtle"

-turtle who?

"Turtle Tim"

It doesn't make any sense at all. I'm not sure which cartoon episode I missed that featured Turtle Tim, but it doesn't really matter. I laughed like I was being tickled because it was more funny that she told a joke than the actual joke. I can't believe the rate she is developing and growing. Every day she does something that proves she will do anything to keep up with Tucker.

Blogger MIA

Ok, so I've been MIA. That's not a newsflash. But in my blogger absence, we have painted, moved, unpacked (kinda), got a sinus infection after catching whatever the kids had and now I'm on the mend. That's a pretty good summary of my last month!

So we closed on the house and immediately started painting. I need to hang some pictures on the wall to get the finishing touches done and then I'll do some before and after photos. I still have lots of painting to do. My current project is finishing the kitchen and also finishing the bathroom. Both are started, and unfinished due to previously mentioned sinus infection.

It's been an incredibly rainy spring and it's kind of a drag. It's been so cold and rainy that the trees in front of our house think it's Fall. The trees are losing their leaves and we have a wet leaf heap in front of our driveway. NICE. Nothing like composting in the street.

Tucker finished his first year of preschool at the end of May and he will go back in the Fall for his final year of preschool. Due to Tucker's December birthday, he will be nearly 6 when he starts Kindergarten. I have one more year to go before I have to face that reality. Preschool was tough, Kindergarten might be nearly impossible.

Addie's second birthday is right around the corner and she is growing up so fast. I don't think there is anything that she can't communicate with words. We can't understand every word she says, but most things are very clear. In fact, today we went to a bagel shop and Addie ordered her own toast and the lady knew exactly what she wanted. WEIRD. What's even more strange is that my belief that I'm done having kids is a real and honest truth. My womb does not ache with the desire to procreate like it did when Tucker was her age. Now, unfortunately, we have not done anything "permanent" about that situation, so hopefully we will stay in the clear. Only a miracle by the hand of God would make me have another baby. I would accept, but whoa momma, I would be stretched thin. But hey, my Mom did it and she hasn't run away yet...and you think she would have by now! I think if I were her, I would have gone running and screaming into the night!

Matt is doing well at his job and enjoying it very much. Since we have moved, he has come home for dinner almost every night. He wasn't able to do that before because we lived too far away. I like it because most nights he comes home after the kids go to bed so we are able to just be alone, although it's only for about 20-30 minutes. He will be changing shifts again in July and we aren't sure when he will be working, so we are preparing for another schedule change. We are just thankful and feeling blessed that he has work and that we are able to get a new start in the new house.

Before I sign off to face the mountain of boxes that still prevent me from just sitting down and relaxing with a freshly brewed homemade latte, I have an incredibly funny story that happened at Tucker's preschool.

**Say this story out loud to yourself because I'm not sure if you will hear the accent the same in your head.

One morning while driving Tucker to school, it started to hail. Now when it hails, Tucker says "It's raining hail". That's just the words that he uses to say it's hailing. So when we get to his classroom he walks up to his teacher and says, "Mrs. Broome! It's raining hail outside!" Mrs. Broome looks at me, looks back and Tucker and looks at me again. Suddenly, it dawns on me. I slowly say to Mrs. Broome, and all the other onlooking parents, "Mrs. Broome, it's raining hail, not raining LIKE hail." The smile on Mrs. Broome's face was priceless. She said, "Well, I know ya'll lived in the South and I just didn't know if Tucker heard something on the way to school today!" It was a good laugh for Mrs. Broome, all the parents and especially me. I don't ever want to forget that story.

I hope to check in soon with some FINISHED painting projects and some spectacular "after" pictures.

Ode To Mommy- By Tucker

On the back of this beautiful picture is a fill-in-the-blank letter that the teachers helped Tucker write. This is one of those things that brings tears to your eyes as a mother. Not only because it was so incredibly sweet, but also laughter brought some tears to my eyes as well. It's always interesting to see how your child perceives you, some of this is truth and the rest is ...well, you know.

My Mommy is the best mommy in the world!! She is as pretty as a beautiful shirt and smells as good as marshmallows. She is fifteen years old and she makes the best lasagna! Her favorite color is purple and her favorite food to eat is pancake and waffles and salad and salami. She likes to shop at Costco and when she has free time she likes to help me get up when I fall down. If she got a ticket to go anywhere in the world she would go to Portland or maybe Mars. Her favorite book is Christmas stories and her favorite TV show or movie is Disney Pixar's UP. I wish I could go to a park with my mommy every day. She is so special to me; I would not trade her for my Wii and if I could give her a present it would be a pink truck to drive. Happy Mother's Day!

Bed Head

My Daughter has some freaky hair. Sometimes it's straight, sometimes it's curly. And every once in a while, she will wake up from a nap and have this unfortunate event happen. YIKES. I hope this thing works out before she hates her hair every day of her life!

W.A.

W.A. Knowing is half the battle, isn't that what they say? Well we are helping Tucker seek the truth. He is addicted to Wii. He needs W.A., Wii Anonymous.

This is Super Mario Brothers. This is how many guys he has racked up. He keeps playing the same 3 levels over and over again because he his getting good at those levels and he knows where are the "1 up" mushrooms are hidden. He plays every day. He loves it. He is addicted. He is FOUR YEARS OLD.

Mother of the Year...yes, again!

I am becoming very confident that I will secure the Mother of the Year Award based on all of my stellar nominations.

So about 2 weeks back, Addie started grabbing at her diaper and yelling and crying. I would take her in the room, change her, wipe her really well and check for any signs of diaper rash. All clear. Drive on, Addie. We would go through this routine about once a day. Skip ahead to Tuesday night. She wakes up at 1 am (actually Wednesday morning) and her fever is 103 and she barfs, the reason I missed the house inspection. If you missed that story, check out the Interior Revealed post. So Wednesday I get her fever under control with Tylenol and Motrin, but after her nap she is back to having a fever of 102.3. So I call our beloved Doctor, who is thankfully the doctor on-call. He gives me some suggestions and says that he would be happy to see her on Friday if the fever isn't under control (he is closed on Thursdays). So we work on his suggestions and on Thursday afternoon she wakes up from her nap at 103.7. Ok, that's it. She's going to the doctor on Friday. So I wake up in the morning, call the Doc as soon as the office is open and get an afternoon appointment. Her physical exam shows nothing. No ear infection, no throat infections, lungs clear, lymph nodes not enlarged, and belly is feeling good. So he says there must be some infection inside that he can't physically see. So the game plan is, write a prescription for the antibiotics but not fill it unless she spikes a high fever again. He didn't want to just pass out drugs, but he didn't want to leave my high and dry for the weekend either. I thought that was fair. So then he starts talking about how it's difficult to diagnose small children with bladder infections because of the lack of urine sample. I start nodding in agreement understanding how that would be hard, and then it occurs to me... Addie is not potty trained, but she most certainly does go potty on the toilet very consistently when asked to go. So I told the Doctor that I was pretty sure I could get a urine sample, providing that there was even anything in her bladder. So they set up the toilet with one of those bowl like catchers in it, because our Doc likes me enough to not ask me to catch my almost-two-year-old-daughter's urine in a cup. AND SHE PERFORMED LIKE A CHAMP! Tucker was in the bathroom with us and he was cheering her on. "Alright Addie! Look at all that potty! Good job, Big Girl! Look Addie, you did all the way up to two. Wow Addie! Big Girl! I'm so proud of you!" ...on and on. When we returned to the exam room and the Doctor walked in, Tucker proudly announced that Addie did potty to number two (he was looking at the measurements on the catcher). It was so sweet and loving that he was genuinely proud of Addie's potty performance. But I was really, seriously, genuinely, honestly proud too. Such a big girl, just like Tucker said. She is in pain, and has been for who knows how long, and she does potty in a strange place, with a weird thing on the toilet, with me and Tucker staring at her! It was one of those weird, proud, Mommy Moments that just make you say, Damn Right That's My Girl! She's not even two years old and she just gave the doctor a urine sample!

So that was my proud moment. The Mommy of the Year Award comes in when I tell you that because of her stellar performance and urine sample, that my dear daughter has a full blown bladder infection. Who knows how long she has had it. I am now certain that her yelling at me while holding on to her diaper a few weeks ago was a sign that I missed. And really, why not let your daughter run around with a bladder infection for 2 weeks? Why not.

Once again, I give you permission to post your Mother of the Year nominations....come on...make me feel better!