Seven Years

It's hard to imagine that we got married seven years ago - it really hasn't felt like seven years has gone by and this last year flew by super quick!  Lots of newness in our latest year in marriage and we're enjoying the blessings and challenges that those newities bring to our lives.

We were able to celebrate out anniversary with dinner out BY OURSELVES! Our neighbors graciously offered to watch both of the kids last Friday.   We had already resigned ourselves that we'd be having an anniversary with our two little ones, but we ran into the neighbors on Friday and told them of our weekend plans and they offered!   What a blessing!   

We spent most of our Sunday relaxing and spending time with the family.  The boys went shopping and brought me home a rose and a card.    Nap times went according to plan and we had plenty of time to get ready!  I straightened my hair for the first time since moving to Mississippi (nearly 4 months ago.) 

Loving Husband had spend the previous evening talking Ace up and getting him understanding of the concept of babysitting and how he gets to go play with his friend (the neighbors have a two year old boy) and so he was eager to get over there to play with his friend.   We dropped them off around 4:20, handed Mae off with zero issue and we were off! The first time alone since dropping Ace off at Gran and Pop Pop's the night before my induction!

It was nice to be able to go out just the two of us.  Talk about politics, economy, anything that didn't involve children or interruption BY them.    Dinner was at Ruth Chris Steak House and was delicious.  The cheesecake for dessert was AMAZING.   We promised we'd be home by 6:30 and so our time was limited but still appreciated and nice.  

We headed home after dessert and brought the neighbors a cheesecake as a thank you.   We received great reports that the kids did great!  Mae was a happy girl and simply wanted to be walked around a lot, but otherwise everyone was as happy as can be.  

It was a great anniversary and so thankful for our neighbors and allowing us an evening alone for the first time in nearly 7+ months!    Happy Anniversary, my love!

Happy Anniversary



Our wedding day... seven years ago!

 Happy Anniversary, my love.  Two kids, a cross country move, and to many adventures to come, I enjoy traveling this road with you.   All my love!

2010 in Pictures

Flashback Friday

2003... SEVEN years ago (next weekend) we went on a cruise and Loving Husband proposed. :)

Friday Flashback

Five years ago with my husband. :)

Leaves!

I love this time of year! What a beautiful backdrop fallen leaves provide for pictures! On Sunday we went out and enjoyed some of the festive excitement for ourselves and had us a good ol' fashion 'photoshoot' :)

Lost and Found

Back in November I lost my camera. Could not find it to save my life. I thought either the men that came to clean the ducts had swiped it or I had left it on the plane. I could not recall any other place it might have been. Then on Sunday of this week, I went to the garage to get a bag that had been living in there for quite some time... November, apparently. I finally needed something that was in it. As I was pulling that something out - there lo and behold was my camera!!! Aaaaah!!! YIPPEE! Just in time for the arrival of MAE.

Now, I have a far nicer camera (thanks to the FIL!) that I use to take most of my pictures (and all of time, since November.) But prior to that, I enjoyed being able to take the small Elph camera with me in the purse/diaper bag. My nice camera is much larger and space consuming, and expensive! so I'm less inclined to tote it with me just for a trip to the mall in the off chance I will need to capture something adorable Ace has been doing. So instead the camera phone has been that substitute, a sub par option, but one that I lived with for 10 months. :)

But then it was found! YAY! Which means the pictures on it from last November were also not gone forever... so on that thought... enjoy the sampling of what was once thought to be gone forever. ;-) which includes Loving Husband and I on Thunder Mountain Railroad, and Ace at 14 months old; on a plane, eating out, at Grammie's, shopping for our remodel, and playing with a bat at Auntie Becky's house.

Sixth Anniversary

It's crazy to think that six years have past since our wedding. Lots of adventures and changes have happened in our lives. Last year for our fifth anniversary we had a little one that wasn't really travel ready, and wasn't really over-night ready, but we were able to go to dinner last year. This year though our little guy was old enough to travel and have a good time out and about - and while we were treating this more as a 'babymoon' than an 'anniversary' trip - it worked out great to be able to celebrate our anniversary in paradise. Thanks again to my mom to coming with us to watch Ace off and on during our vacation adventure, but especially on the night of our anniversary.

Loving Husband and I went to dinner at the Four Seasons Resort at a ocean front restaurant. The weather was perfect. The extreme winds that had been happening earlier in the afternoon had up and disappeared making the weather perfect to sit outside and enjoy the sunset. The food was delicious and then company was perfect. We had a great evening relaxing and enjoy our dinner as the sunset. It was beautiful.

Happy 6th Anniversary!

To my beloved, Loving Husband. It doesn't seem long enough that six years has past since we got married - but I guess with travel, 1.5 kids, a house, and lots of loan debt, we've accomplished a lot in those six years. :) I love you and am so blessed to be with you! - Love, Ladyface

Where to?

I know no one will read this for at least another month - and by then we likely will have decided... but I'll capture our my thoughts here and now.

You see Loving Husband thought we should go away - a 'babymoon' of sorts. Under no circumstances did he phrase it as such, but that's the popular term these days and that's essentially what it is. So we began talking about Italy again - then we looked at ticket prices... ouch - we really need to want to go (and we do!) for those prices. So after he headed off to sleep my mind continued to reel and so I continued to comb the internet and my brain for insight and ideas. How will I feel after a 13 hour flight? Can I walk around as much as I would like? Do I want to sit on a beach or will I just feel like a beached whale? Do I want to do some east coast touring? Bed and Breakfast? Epcot Center? My knee jerk answers of 'no' to several things started to sound more appealing --- but are they? The debate continues.

Florence, Italy
I really want to go back to Italy and Florence is next on our list of places to visit. But like any touring around an ancient city that involves a lot of walking - plus being in Tuscany without being able to drink?? Not sure that's smart! The ticket cost to get there is pretty pricey, not a deal breaker but certainly an investment. When we first started talking about it this was my favorite option - but the more I weigh the pros and cons and what-ifs the less ideal Italy is sounding at this time. Sad!

Hawaii
My knee jerk reaction was NO WAY. Why would I want to be in a bathing suit when I'm fat pregnant?? But then the idea of lounging on a beach, or wandering around looking at water falls and beautiful sunsets seemed more the speed that a 20(ish) week pregnant woman would enjoy. If my feet were swollen I could lounge on the beach. I won't be hideously pregnant so a tasteful maternity swimsuit would be pretty cute. Plus I've never been to Hawaii - my husband has been several times and loves it - so he'd know just where to go.

East Coast
A much shorter flight and perhaps some fun scenery, perhaps a nice Bed and Breakfast to relax in and take in some quaint town. Or maybe another trip to New York and catch a Broadway show or two (can't do THAT with a baby!)

Last night when I went to sleep I was sold on an East Coast adventure... but today I'm leaning more toward Hawaii and I think almost entirely ruled out Italy, which makes me sad - but I really want to enjoy Italy and take in as much as I possibly can - and I won't be able to do that if I'm swollen, sore, achey, or any other of the 'lovely' things that come with pregnancy.

Just Us

Sometimes it is hard to remember life before Ace. I certainly remember more disposable income... we both worked and weren't paying $45 a pop for boxes of diapers. I remember getting more restful sleep. Note I didn't say more sleep. I've never been much of a sleeper. I also faintly recall going away with my husband and getting some time away from the office and everyday life... and Thursday night that is just what we did. Yes, we packed ourselves and Ace up, dropped Ace at his grandparents for his first overnight adventure and we headed to our favorite Northwest spot.

The view from our balcony of the falls

We had the most bizarre April weather that day. Prior to even leaving to head to the lodge we were pelted with slushy hail/snow mix off and on - cycling between black skies with the icy mixture pelting down on us, to bright blue clear skies with the sun shining brightly albeit not warmly. In fact we had to take the back way to the lodge because the DOT had closed the freeway. So as we set out - it was a bit of an adventure for ourselves. Although there wasn't anything too exciting - our drive was uneventful although still weatherful and we made good time. We had a bit of time before we checked in so we went in to town and sat down and did a wine tasting.


After we enjoyed our wine and a delicious late afternoon pre-dinner mouse pie dessert, we headed to check in. The rooms had recently been remodeled and so it was nice to take some time to look around and see what was different from the last time we had been there. The rooms were beautiful as usual. After relaxing for a while we headed out to see the falls. With all the weather it was just beautiful. The sun was shining and it was so nice to just spend some time just Loving Husband and I. We headed from there onto dinner at a local Italian place. Which was delicious.



After dinner we headed back to our room. Loving Husband lit a fire and then we looked at the room service wine menu... HA! No way. So LH left me to enjoy the fire and he went back out to the wine bar we had been at to buy a more reasonably priced wine that we had sampled during our wine tasting. Upon his return we watched a movie - uninterrupted!! - and then around 1am fell asleep... but not before putting out the room service tag for breakfast.

We awoke at 9:30am to room service arriving. Both of us had chosen that time assuming that there's no way we wouldn't be awake yet! Ha! Guess we were both wrong. It was blissful to sleep in so long. After we enjoyed breakfast in bed, we ran a bath in the gianormous tub. We got in... and not 2 seconds after being in the tub - water started leaking from the ceiling... ummm not good. So sadly we got out of the really nice tub and packed up our stuff, called maintenance, and headed to check out. We explained our bath tub experience and our $50 room service bill was comped for our trouble.

It was a wonderful overnight time with my husband. I look forward to being able to do more of these now that Ace is a little older and able to handle being away from us.

Overnight

At the age of nineteen months and a half months (exactly) Ace for the first time stayed overnight away from his parents. There have been many occasions where Ace has stayed away from one of his parents, but never away from both of us. He's had a handful of babysitting adventures, but on Thursday afternoon we dropped Ace off and for nearly 20 hours he stayed in the care of his Gran (Gammie) and Pop Pop (Papa). We all were expecting a rough night and plenty of upsetness - but Ace knows his grandparents now and he loves them. He was excited when we pulled up to their house and began running all around and as far as upsetness went his total was about five minutes worth. Total. Yipee!!!

Ace played in 'his' room, with Bailey, and a great time playing with the grandparents. They went for several walks where Ace picked up a few "poncos" - it's one of his cutest words to date and stands for pine cones. He loves to pick them up and throw them. He also had a blast splashing in puddles. Pop Pop sent the parents a video while we were out - and it was super great to see him having such a great time. Neither Loving Husband and I had much anxiety leaving and weren't really that sad to let him have this overnight - we ourselves were looking forward to our first overnight-alone time in 20 months. We were very thrilled to hear how wonderful he did.

Pop Pop also was given the opportunity, thanks to Ace, to change his first #2 diaper in 23+ years! He's now fully indoctrinated into the world of grandparenting. :) Yes Gammie had to go do the doctor and so Pop Pop and Ace were on their own for a bit. So we appreciate him breaking his impressive record for our son. We really know how much he loves him now. ;-)

Sleep, I'm told was pretty similar to our experience. Drifting off and sleeping for nearly 4ish hours before waking and then the oscillating awake and sleep cycle for another 4 before they brought him to their bed. Apparently the only real sadness for Ace with us being gone was when he woke up in the morning and realized we weren't there - but after five minutes he was back to his happy self and eating his breakfast.

When Loving Husband and I walked in the door, greeted by Pop Pop and Ace - Ace didn't immediately lunge for either of us. LH took him and gave him a hug and Ace continued to hug on him, but not for long - LH set him back down and Ace went back to running all around. In fact I personally did not get a hug until we were leaving about 20 minutes later. And he even threw a small protest when we started to put him in his car seat. He loves his grandparents and didn't want to leave!

We stopped back by yesterday because we had forgotten his shoes and as we pulled up he was squealing with glee. It was great to see that he remembers them so well, loves them so much, and is excited to see them... and once again he had himself a large protest when it was time to say bye-bye. He really does love them - and we are really grateful for their willingness to keep him overnight and risk sleep deprivation so that we could have a great night away! Thank you, Gran and Pop Pop! I think they might even be willing to do it again ;-) after a little bit of sleep!

Flashback Friday

Six years ago, the spring before we were getting married we visited the NW and one of our favorite spots and captured this picture. The falls were beautiful as usual. We try to go back at least once a year to visit. We went there for part of our honeymoon, we've spent two anniversaries there, and several other get-away nights and day trips to visit the falls, including last night on a memorable occassion of leaving Ace overnight with the grandparents for the first time (stay tuned for that post.) It is a wonderful place filled with God's natural beauty and a place that holds many memories for us.

Valentine's Weekend

We had an eventful and fun family weekend. On Saturday we spent the majority of the day at the Children's Museum to celebrate one of Ace's cousin's second birthday. Ace had an exciting time exploring all the different things that the museum had to offer. He enjoyed running around, building with tinker toys, driving a fire truck, and running through and hiding in things - and after all was said and done he enjoyed a two hour nap! Whew!

Sunday was Valentine's Day. We awoke and Loving Husband headed off to get breakfast and brought me some flowers too! We enjoyed some Jamba Juice and some delicious donuts. Then we got ready for church and posed for a few pictures before heading out the door.

After church we grabbed some lunch and Ace snoozed in the car for about an hour while we sat in front of Pop Pop and Gran's house :) After his slumber we went inside and spent about 30 minutes hanging out there and then Loving Husband and I left to go out for afternoon alone! It's a rare delight that we enjoy. We went to see Sherlock Holmes - which we found to be a great movie! The last movie we went and saw together was last July when we went and saw Harry Potter. We had an extra hour left of our baby-free time - and so we headed over to the restaurant where we were planning to meet Pop Pop and Gran, and we sat at the bar and had a drink. Pop Pop and Gran arrived around 7 for their dinner reservation with the boy in tow and we said Happy Valentine's Day to them and headed home ourselves.

It was a very nice weekend filled with family time, just-us time, and a few outings.

Flashback Friday

Loving Husband and I on a very cold ferry to Bainbridge Island two years (and 3 days) ago. Ace was growing away in my tummy, and to that date we didn't know that he was Ace. We went with friends that were all planning to move to the NW that we had been friends with in California, but not all of them were living here just yet... I don't think. It's hard to recall specifically. :) But it was a fun adventure - albeit not a very warm or thrilling one - but we all had a good time ending our jaunt on the ferry in a tiny pizza shop and then back on the ferry to get home. Good times.

Babysat

Yes, ladies and gents! Ace has for the first time, just a week shy of being eleven months old been babysat! I know for many parents this does not constitute such a grand announcement, only a mere blip on the baby advancing radar (often times a lot sooner than eleven months!) However, for us it was a big deal. Between the boy that won't take a bottle to the boy that only semi-often will entertain a jar of baby food, having Ace watched by a third party truly has not been an event I've been willing to subject on someone. Ace often doesn't get watched solely by his dad either for the same fooding reasons. I am the food - therefore... ipso facto... I cannot wander far.

However, Ace is growing up. He's a big boy AND he has started to entertain a bottle (a little) and we recently started him on goat's milk. Not much. No more than 4oz a day at this point, but he seems to be taking it pretty well. And Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince came out at 12:01am on Wednesday morning and it was Saturday and I had yet to see it. Issue or no Issue, I was going to see that movie before it was out on dvd. ;-) (Please see legal definition of "issue")

Pop Pop and Gran eagerly volunteered to be the first to babysit! They were excited and happy to do so. So we set out this morning to ensure Ace got a decent nap in, was fed and happy when we set out for our three hour adventure! We are told that he did excellently! No massive crying at all! Woohoo! Perhaps we'll try this again in the near future.

Do you know, this was the first time since having Ace that I've been in my husband's car? Yep, it's true - a two door sports car is not ideal for a carseat, so we are 100% of the time in my vehicle when we have our little man. This is a picture of us backing out of our driveway, on our way to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince! Yippee!

This is Ace on a fairly warm day (hence the (non)wardrobe choice) toddling in the backyard, while Grandpa captures their adventures in pictures with his fancy iPhone.

Gran smiling at her boy, Ace sharing something with his Pop Pop. Thank you so much for watching Ace and taking such great care of him for the 3+ hours that mom and dad were gone!

Home

I graduated from law school, packed, moved and left my husband behind. I studied for several weeks, for endless hours at a time and didn't see my husband for 2.5 months. I took the biggest test of my life, and now I am finally home with my husband in So Cal.

It's so strange to be done. I've been working towards the goal of becoming a lawyer for so many years and I have accomplished all that I can to this point in completing that goal. It just feels good to be done.

I've unpacked all my stuff, even did a little cleaning out of stuff that I don't really need (since I didn't use it for 2.5 months)... Enjoyed spending time with Loving Husband... just the two of us. I'm just glad to be home.

I have about a week to relax and enjoy my freedom and then I start my teacher orientation at That College. It is strange to think that I will be teaching starting in 2.5 weeks! But for now... I'm just enjoying being done.