9 years!

Wow, 9 years! It doesn't even seem possible that we have been married 9 years. We say that, and then realize that we have a kid who is going to kindergarten in the fall! I have been so blessed that God has provided me with a great husband who also happens to be a wonderful daddy to my kids.

God brought him into my life when I was 14 years old, and I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that this was going to be my husband. I actually met him at church when I was in eighth grade, and I had an instant crush on him...he was so cute! The next year when I was a freshman in high school, we both went to another school's homecoming dance with other people. We ended up sitting across from our respective dates, but next to each other, and that was the first time we officially talked. The rest is history!

He proposed to me the summer after my freshman year at college. The next summer we were married. I was 19, (almost 20) and he was 22. We were such babies! Our wedding was so great, everyone told us what a fun time they had. It was raining that day, and I remember everyone (literally everyone!) telling me that rain on your wedding day was supposed to be good luck. We honeymooned in Mexico which was great. We were both full time college students, and working, but it didn't matter because we were in love! We lived first in a tiny (seriously, I think the whole place was about as big as our master bedroom & bathroom now!) apartment, then lived in crummy married housing through his scholarship, a nice apartment, our first house, and finally the house we live in now, our house which we plan on being in indefinitely.

In 2002, we were blessed with a pregnancy, but it ended in miscarriage. This was definitely a big low in my life, but not in our marriage. He was my rock. God used this to bring us closer as a couple, and also in our relationship with Him. We were blessed soon after with another pregnancy, our son. It was a joyous time for us! During that pregnancy, we had to trust God completely. We found out that our son had some markers for genetic abnormalities. Again, he was my rock! Our son ended up being completely healthy. Then we were blessed again with our daughter. She was born 2 1/2 weeks early, tiny, but healthy. We were blessed for a third time with our sweet baby girl. Since our babies have been born I have been able to stay at home. I'm thankful that God gave me a man who supports me being home even if it means he works a little more.

I have learned that my husband is the calm one in stressful situations, and in turn keeps me calm. He frustrates me sometimes, but most of the time makes me so happy, and makes me laugh like no other! I love to watch how he grows as a man and father. He is a great dad who thoroughly enjoys his kids. I am sure anyone who knows him is not surprised that he is the "fun" parent, however the kids know that when daddy gets mad, it's serious!

I am so thankful that God brought him into my life, and that he brought us together. He is my best friend, and love. There are still sometimes I can't even believe we got married. I am blessed to have him in my life, and share my life with him!

First time for everything....

Unfortunately, I wish this was a first we could have skipped! We've had 3 kids in 5 years, so I guess it was an inevitable first. Our first trip to the E.R. Surprisingly it was not our crazy 5 year old boy, our very brave 3 year old, but our sweet mild mannered 10 month old! Yup, Caroline was the first!
It was Wednesday evening, Jason & Will were at baseball practice, Olivia was playing in the family room, I was making dinner and sweet Caroline was in her booster seat eating cheerios. I had my back turned to her because I was getting dinner out of the oven, and starting to serve plates. Next thing I know, I hear a huge crash and Caroline is screaming. I run over to find her, still strapped into her booster seat, but the chair had fallen backwards. She had put her little, no tiny feet between the table and her seat and pushed off knocking herself and the whole chair backwards. I unstrapped her and was trying to calm her down. She stopped crying pretty quickly, but then laid her head down on my shoulder and started falling asleep. This freaked me out because you always hear that if there's a head injury, it's bad news if sleep follows it. I called Jason who was turning into our subdivision. He got home a couple minutes later and took her. She was awake by now, but not her normal self. She immediately began throwing up...a lot...
I ran to the phone and called the doctor who (very calmly I might add) told me he would advise us to bring her to the E.R. He said it sounded like a concussion, but he was not as worried about that. He said that since she was throwing up, it could be signs of something more serious, like hemorrhaging in her brain! Wait, WHAT??? He was very calm still and told me he would call ahead to the E.R. so they would be expecting us. So while I'm processing all this, I'm thinking of what to do with my older kids. Thankfully we have great neighbors. I called her and told her what was going on. Without hesitation, she told me to bring my kids over, and go.
The trip to the hospital seemed like it took forever. The whole time I was trying to keep Caroline awake. She had only napped for an hour that day, so I didn't know if it was from being tired, or hitting her head, but I wasn't going to let her fall asleep. We got to the hospital, and were put in a room. The doctor came in to check her out. She was awake and even alert by now, but still not her normal self. The doctor checked her eyes, and reflexes. She actually almost took her first steps in the E.R.! He said she looked good, but wanted to keep us there a little bit longer to observe her. He wanted her to eat to see if she could keep it down. If she did, we were free to go, but if she didn't he wanted to do a CT scan. I fed her, and our Caroline was back...she was laughing, yelling, and trying to grab everything in sight! About 10:00 PM the nurse came in and said we were free to go home. After a LOOOONG and scary night, we were relieved to find out that she was completely fine.
We also found out that sleeping when kids hit their heads is fine, it's the throwing up that should be cause for concern. The nurse told us to look at their eyes to make sure their pupils are the same size and that the kid can focus on something. So there's a little bit of advice for all you parents!
Hopefully that is not a trip we have to repeat anytime soon!

A day in the life...

...Of a 3 1/2 year old princess!

I'm Olivia, and I lead a charmed life! I wake up around 7:30 or 8, and my Mommy makes my hair pretty, and puts me in a cute outfit. I'm cute, and I know it. I'm super girly, and love to play pretend, dress up, and have my nails painted. I like to color and draw, (my favorite color is pink) and I'm learning how to write. I can write my name which makes me feel like big stuff. I'm a huge chatterbox, never running out of questions. I love to perform, and make people laugh. Mom & Dad think I will be an actress when I grow up. They say I'm a bit of a drama queen. I think I will be a chef and an astronaut when I grow up. Whatever I do, I'm sure I will have fun doing it! I am super happy most of the time, but watch out if I get mad! ("Pam" tends to come out when I get upset!) Mommy says that I can be a little bit sneaky sometimes, but it's only because she doesn't let me do fun things like drink her coffee, or fill up my tea pot with water in my room.

I have a big brother who is pretty cool most days! I adore him, and want to do what he does, which sometimes gets me in trouble. I have a baby sister too, and I LOVE her! I take being a big sister very seriously. I pick her up a lot, and try to feed her. For some reason Mommy usually yells at me when I do this, but that doesn't stop me!

After playing all day, Mommy & Daddy make me go to bed around 8. If it were up to me, I would stay up late! I might miss something exciting by going to bed!