every July

Every summer July passes us by in a whirlwind of events. I find myself thinking once we get past a certain event, things will calm down...but they never do. This month we went to the coast for Independence Day, celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary, we had a handful of informal get togethers and playdates, Ben was promoted at work and had his 1st vacation in 2 years, Kai turned 4 and we had a party to celebrate, Ben's company celebrated a big anniversary so we've attended several celebratory gatherings (BBQ, formal dinner, baseball game), I chopped my hair shorter than ever, we visited a camp at Triangle Lake and Ben got to wake board after missing out last summer, we took the boys to a "Touch-a-Truck" event, Kai had his 1st dentist appointment, and we attended a rehearsal and wedding for my cousin at which Kai was the ring-bearer.

{last night at my cousin Valeena's sunset wedding}

There hasn't been much space between events to blog about what we've been up to in much detail. I'll do my best to break some of it down and post some pictures. Maybe. But the best place to keep track of our goings-on and see pictures we take is on Instagram. You can find me at ShanLeAnn, Ben at bensonpeculiar, and he also posts Malakai's quotes and things at KaiThoughts.  I rarely use the DSLR anymore, but do want to remedy that if things ever slow down enough. 

So, is it just us or is July crazy busy for the rest of you as well? I suspect it's easy to fill up with events when you're an Oregonian with only 8-12 weeks of relatively dry and warm weather. 

Happy summer, hope you're enjoying it as much as we are!

life as we know it

The title of my blog has never been more true than now. It seems that we are taking on a new endeavor and fighting a new fight on a weekly basis. I keep finding myself asking God to guide us, give us wisdom, give us peace.

 Not to say that everything is bad, but we've had a lot of challenges and I've shed quite a few tears recently. I know that I am under severe attack as I continue to strengthen my knowledge of God and my service to His kingdom. The enemy does not like it, which is a good thing but a very very hard thing.

I am so thankful for the support and wise counsel that I find in Ben, we are such a great team these days and we are finding that in these storms we are becoming more and more solid in our marriage. I could not have asked for a better man to have at my side and as the head of our little family.

Our boys are finally healthy. Desmond got over his cough quite a while ago and Malakai is just finishing up antibiotics for a cough that lasted over a month. When I bought the meds last week the generic cost us $99! That was even after Target reduced it for us (it was $165). Ben's work just switched over insurance and because it was only a week into the new year we didn't have the cards. Thankfully the guy working at the pharmacy was super helpful, gave us everything we needed to process a refund once we had the insurance information. We got over half of our money back- praise!

My broken toe is finally feeling somewhat normal. I am easing myself back into normal footwear (I've been exclusively wearing my knock-off "Uggs" for the last 5 weeks) and I'm trying to not wrap it, but I'm not sure if it's too early. I've never had a broken bone so I don't really know what I'm doing here.

Our schedule has been fairly light in comparison to the holidays and it feels so nice. My house is {mostly} clean and organized and I feel like I've got a routine to keeping on top of the mess, well, at least in the kitchen. Currently there are two baskets of clean laundry behind me, waiting to be put away. I loathe putting laundry away. And...let's not even talk about the garage.

In a little over a week we are going to try to take the boys up to the mountains to play in the snow and the weekend after that is one of my best's bachelorette party in Portland and my husband's birthday! Our schedule is about to get crazy again, but perhaps it'll be a nice return to what started to become familiar after a sweet little break.

celebrating 5 years of wedded bliss

On July 7th Ben + I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. It's a small milestone, especially compared to the decades we plan to spend together. We decided to go away for the day/night, making it our first overnighter away from the boys for fun. Our 1st nights away from Kai were spent in the hospital when Desmond made his arrival. This was our very 1st night away from Desmond.

We hadn't done anything to celebrate except a quick dinner here in town since our 1st anniversary. Back in 2008 we spent a weekend at the coast, so we decided to do that again this year. We wanted to check out the River House Inn in Florence because it's right at the end of Old Town, so we could walk everywhere except the beach.

On Saturday morning we got ourselves and our boys ready to go to Mima's house, where we'd drop them off and our car so she could come back to our place for naps and the rest of our time away. Ben stopped for gas in the other car and met me there. I got Kai + Des all settled, chatted with my mom and joked with my dad about forgetting to leave them my car keys (and then I forgot to leave them my car keys...and they had to go to our house to get the other set, sorry guys!).

When we left Ben told me he had called the hotel to see if they do any free upgrades, as some do when they have openings. They don't...but he upgraded our room to the river view one anyway. It was such a lovely surprise!

When we got into town the first thing we did was run out onto the beach. Then we hurried to meet our dear friends, Michael and Megan, for a long overdue lunch in Old Town. We spent some time catching up and resolving to not let so much time go by before we see them again. We couldn't NOT see them while we were there, they live a block away from where we were staying!

Afterwards we checked into our room and I went straight to the balcony to take in our view.

$40 well spent. The other rooms had a view of the parking lot and the walk way. No thanks. 

We had a few hours before our dinner reservations at the Waterfront Depot (where we ate 4 years earlier), so we decided to go for a walk. 

{so blessed that this handsome man is mine}

We still had plenty of time to kill so we watched some HGtv (a channel we love but do not have) and enjoyed the quiet, uninterrupted time to ourselves. 

Once we were ready for dinner, I wanted to take a photo but didn't have the tripod. We tried a number of ways to prop the camera up and ultimately dared to put it on the balcony ledge. I love this photo so much, it's my profile picture on facebook right now, but that version is cropped. Here is the full version, 

This one makes me laugh because you can clearly tell the camera is balanced atop something, and our room is a disaster after on a few hours. We laughed about how "freeing" it was to leave our stuff lying around and not have to worry about one of our kids getting into it. We're wild ones, I tell ya, living on the edge!

We had a fantastic dinner and went for another walk afterwards. Ben suggested we walk along the river, after about 30 feet I got stuck in the mucky sand and we had to climb our way out. It wasn't pleasant at the time, but we were laughing hysterically anyway. 

The next day we slept in (SLEPT IN!!!), and took our time getting up for breakfast. We grabbed coffee and wandered Old Town again. Along the way we picked up prizes for our boys, and my parents as a thank you for enduring a sleepless night. We found some goodies at the dollar store that I was obnoxiously excited about, went to the beach again, had sushi for lunch, and grabbed ice cream at BJ's for the ride home. 

It was so much fun to spend time just the two of us and re-energize ourselves by taking some time away from the kids. Now that we've done it once, I'm looking forward to the next opportunity to do it again although it may be a while. Our boys were so excited to see us and it was such a joy to bring them a little something from our trip. Malakai still calls the magnifying glass that Ben picked out his "surprise". 

Happy Anniversary my love, each and every day as your wife is pure joy. Parenting with you is a dream come true. I love our life together and count myself blessed every moment. 

Thankful on a Thursday

This week I'm thankful for...

1061. All the hard work that went into our backyard makeover {now we just wait for the grass to grow!}

1062. The kiddos staying healthy despite both Ben + I being sick.

1063. Regaining my voice after almost a week of struggling to talk.

1064. The love and support of an amazing man.

1065. Our successful trip to Portland. So many things could have derailed the whole thing, but everything went smoothly.

1066. A fantastic boss and co- workers. I love my job!

1067. My busy boys. Des is such a speedy crawler now, he has taken to following Kai everywhere. Kai LOVES it.

1068. Getting some fun crafty supplies in the mail.

1069. Morning coffee ala French press.

1070. God's word with me wherever I go. 

{YouVersion Bible app}

Now on to a VERY busy weekend!

dating my husband

Somehow after having Desmond Ben + I have managed to have an even better social life than ever before. I never thought I would say that it's "easier" to leave my baby the second time around, but it truly is. It has nothing to do with being less attached, it's about being more comfortable. I've been around the block with Kai and learned that leaving the baby with grandparents to get a night out with my husband or some work done is a very good thing for everyone.

This past Friday night Ben + I went to a special event called The Gallery of Cupcakes, put on by our friend who runs The Sassy Cupcake (on the side of about a million other awesome things that she does). We dressed up, mingled with adults, and ate cupcakes for dinner.

{my new faves}

{the manly way to eat a fancy little cupcake}

Afterward we decided to stop and get some real food (although I could totally live off of those PBJ cupcakes, so good!) and sit down to chat about something other than work and kids, like an actual date. It was so good to have that time, just for a few short hours to recharge and feel like a couple again.

Special thanks to our wonderful parents and siblings for babysitting so we can do things like this on occasion!

the ups + downs of 30

Okay, I know I've only been 30 for a day, but my birthday was full of ups + downs. When Ben had asked me if I had a good birthday it was actually hard to answer him.

I'll start with the "downs" so that we can end this post on a positive note.

downs:

• still recovering from the stomach flu. I had a hard time figuring out what to eat to get my energy back because my stomach still feels so sensitive. 
• canceling our original dinner plans with friends- we did so ahead of time because of my being sick. 
• at one point I looked in the mirror and felt like I looked even older than 30...it wasn't very nice, but I'm hoping to attribute it to having been sick. 
• navigating my way through our disaster of a house all day. I still don't have enough energy to tidy up + it's starting to drive me crazy.
• not getting to eat my birthday cake. 
• feeling so awful after dinner that all I wanted to do was lay down and go to sleep. 
• Desmond being really fussy and inconsolable for about an hour before bed.
• not having enough time with my husband, the evening went by in a total blur.

ups:

• after waking up early both boys fell back to sleep and I got to snooze for an extra 40 minutes.
• a relatively tantrum free day.

• double naps! Kai went down easy (a miracle) and they napped at the same time for 2 hours. 
• sweet facebook messages + texts from countless friends + family.
• singing phone calls from my parents and then my grandparents. 
• having a living social deal for a coldstone icecream cake. (Those things are EXPENSIVE.) Due to my queasy tummy the whole thing is still in the freezer waiting for me. 
• thoughtful gifts from my boys: Ben typed out his version of Desmond's birth story for me (made me cry). Ben + Kai had picked out a necklace with Desmond's birthstone-opal (also made me cry). I already have earring in Kai's birthstone- ruby. 

• Malakai making me some "candles" and singing happy birthday (after insisting all day that it was Desmond's birthday, not mama's). 

• a free birthday dinner with my little family. both boys did great, it was Desmond's first restaurant experience and he just looked around and then slept. 
• snuggling up with Kai to help him fall asleep.
• falling asleep in a warm house, surrounded by the sweet family Ben + I have built. 

30 will be a great year!

ups and downs

As parents we all have ups and downs. Lately I've had countless of them within the same day, sometimes within the same hour. I made my first trip out of the house with both boys on my own. Malakai miraculously let me put pants on him (no really, it was actually a miracle), but I let him wear his pj shirt and didn't even attempt the jacket because I wanted to keep the morning scream-free. I waited to put his socks and shoes on til we arrived and he'd want to get out of the car. He was sweet and cooperative all the way out the door.

I fed Desmond just before we left and wore him in an Ergobaby carrier with Kai in the cart. The belts at our grocery store are not only questionable, but too small to fit around Malakai. Needless to say, I can't step away from the cart at all. He only attempted an escape a couple of times, and there was still no screaming! The trip was going so well that I stocked up on more than I was planning on getting so that I wouldn't have to go back anytime soon!

{sent this to daddy from the store for proof}

Our day started off well and I felt like a superhero for accomplishing a daunting task for the first time with such ease. Everything fell together so nicely. Of course, that meant that the rest of the day didn't go as planned. Kai took over an hour to go down for his nap. He kept taking his diaper off and a teeny part of me really wanted to just solve the problem with some packing tape! He didn't wake up til 4pm which meant he was difficult to get to sleep, even with pushing back his bedtime. 

Ben + I were chatting last night just before bed about how much we miss each other. It's odd to be in the same 900 square foot house with someone and yet miss them. Since our boys weren't cooperating for bedtime, Ben sat with Malakai while I tried to soothe Desmond. By the time they were both asleep we were exhausted in every sense of the word.

This is the season we are in and there are many joys along with the trials. I know that I'll miss this stage once our boys no longer need us at night and are gone to school all day, but sometimes it's just plain hard. In the middle of the difficult days I still find joy in my family. I'm so thankful for them and blessed that this is my life.







P.S. Don't forget to enter the Nourish Organics giveaway, it ends tomorrow night!

Thankful on a Thursday

I wanted to post a few new pictures with this update, but time is escaping me. T-minus 3 days until Ben returns to work. I thought the last 2 years flew by since we've had Malakai but I'm thinking that two kids is going to make the days go by even faster. If you've discovered a way to slow down the clock, please share your secret.


This week I'm thankful for...

861. Desmond gaining weight. The kid is a marvel among the docs + nurses.

862. Relaxing and bonding time with my boys.

863. long stretches of sleep (and by long I mean 2-4 consecutive hours)

864. continually borrowing my in-laws DSLR camera to capture the daily goings on of my growing family.

865. a day at home with no events or expectations (I have some sort of stomach bug, so I needed the rest)

866. a free newborn + family session with a great photographer. I can't wait to see how the photos turned out.

867. once again, home-cooked meals from friends + family and a well stocked fridge, pantry, and freezer. I am so glad to not have to go to the grocery store anytime soon!

868. Ben's encouragement as we count down the days to his return to work and my new adventure as a mama to two. He makes me feel like I can do anything.

869. watching Malakai get to know and love his baby brother. He has been so sweet and a big help around the house already.

870. food on the table, gas in the car, clothes on my back, blankets on my bed and a roof over my head. Our God provides.


I'll be posting my birth story tomorrow.

Goodnight,

Thankful on a Thursday: Malakai + Mama

I'm doing my best, as welcoming little brother into our home gets closer, to shower Kai with some extra love + attention. He's a pretty independent kid so sometimes I have to remind myself to sit down and watch him or interact with him while he's playing. Often he won't let me play with him so I'll "play" beside him or just observe. We've been giving him lots of extra love through praise, hugs, kisses, and the like as well. It's obvious that he senses the change that's coming, and while he's not old enough to understand exactly what's coming, we do our best to explain it to him. I'm soaking in these days when it's just Malakai + Mama, knowing that pretty soon life will be VERY differnt.

This week I'm thankful for...

781. the joy our son brings us and others.


{currently obsessed with numbers + letters}

782. the blueberry cobbler sitting on my counter, awaiting the vanilla ice cream Ben will be bringing home tonight.

783. being able to stay home with Malakai- it's tough, money is tight, but I wouldn't have it any other way.


{teaching Kai how to take a self-portrait}

784. feeling little brother wiggle and squirm all day long.

785. snack food. I've been constantly hungry these days.

786. daydreaming with my husband about what our new son will be like, and look like.

787. lunch with Ben in the middle of the day after an appointment yesterday.

788. our glider rocker being fixed by my uncle. The frame broke at a weld almost a year ago. I'm so glad to not have to purchase a new one, especially because I'm quite attached to the thought of rocking all my babies in the same chair.

789. the patience + peace that God provides amidst particularly frustrating parenting moments.

790. a husband who loves our family with all of himself and takes care of us in every way possible.

growing my first garden

Most of my growing up was on a large ranch just outside the city limits from where I live now. We almost always had a garden. We at least had pumpkins if only from tossing the previous ones out into a patch of dirt somewhere.

The last 4 years we've lived in homes with plenty of yard space for gardening, but I didn't take the time to try my hand at growing something on my own. Most of my hesitation came from having little to no success at keeping house plants or easy plants alive. I'd often forget about watering them or keep them in the wrong type of environment.

A good friend of mine has a very impressive vegetable garden and I finally decided to take a try at growing my own. We already had the raised beds, one full of strawberries that I decided to pay closer attention to this season. Of course the weather here didn't cooperate very well for strawberries and then I ran into a few pests: strawberry snails + sugar ants. I used google and surveyed my facebook friends who advised eggshells, coffee grounds, and human hair! Coincidentally I had just cut Kai's hair so I used all three and was able to save a lot of the strawberries. They turned out okay, but I've learned that ever-bearing strawberries should be moved to new spots and who knows how long those berries have been in the raised bed since they were here before we were.

On Memorial Day weekend I decided to plan veggies in our two other raised beds. A couple weeks before Ben was sweet enough to clear the beds of weeds and debris, then we worked together to add more nutrient rich soil. I planted Jack-o-lantern pumpkins, sweet dumpling squash, "slicer" tomatoes from starts, carrots, and sugar snap pole peas. I built a lattice out of bamboo arches and gardeners twine for the peas to climb. It only cost me $5 which was much cheaper than buying lattice or something premade for them to climb.

About 10 days after planting, the first sprouts started to come through. I was so excited that my garden was actually starting to grow!

Malakai and I would go out every morning and check on the veggies. He loves helping...



I was surprised by how fast things were growing, especially the pumpkin leaves, which were visibly bigger every day!

{I made markers out of a cut up milk jug}

Another week went by and everything continued to grow as I kept the weeds and pests at bay. I didn't use any chemicals, just suggestions I found through google and  knowledgable friends.

I did my best to keep up with the watering, but as our summer schedules got busier it got more difficult. Thankfully we've had pretty cool weather so nothing scorched. Ben then set up some sprinklers on a timer thanks to some timers that his dad let us have. Now we're able to water the garden automatically at 5:30am every day. On particularly hot days I turn on the sprinklers for a bit in the afternoon or evening too.

About 6 weeks after planting our garden had filled the raised beds!

{towering tomatoes + climbing sugar snaps in the background. spreading pumpkin + squash up front}

A little over a week ago it became evident that my garden was trying to take over the world...

{those tomatoes have cages in there somewhere + the pumpkin is creeping into the yard}

I had my friend Jamie come over to look at my garden and give me some advice. She was so sweet to help me out. She advised me on how to contain my tomatoes and how to tell when things were ready to pick. 

{peas + maters}

The next day I went to work on tying up my tomatoes with the gardener's twine I had from the structure I made for the sugar snaps to climb. I weaved some of the smaller branches back in to the cages and tied the heavier ones to the cages. Then I tied them up around both plants a couple times for added support. I also trimmed some of the limbs that would have just snapped from the weight of the fruit anyway. I also harvested 50+ sugar snaps. It took me about 45 minutes which ended up being a rather large and lengthy pain in the back. Gardening while pregnant isn't easy!

Earlier this week I picked another 50 or so peas and spotted a pumpkin forming! I'll be picking all the carrots this weekend + planting more in their place.

I shared the sugar snaps with our extended family and will probably have enough to pick new ones at least once, if not twice more. Now I'm just waiting on the tomatoes to get big and red while I pray that bugs + birds don't get to them first! Any tips are greatly appreciated.

I wish I could say that growing our own food has inspired Malakai to eat more veggies...but it's just not true for us yet. He at least tastes them before spitting them out, we'll keep trying!

What's growing in your garden?

Happy Weekend everyone!

Thankful on a Thursday: marriage

We're just settling in after our movie + dinner date in celebration of our 4th year of marriage. Now we start into year 5! I can't think of anyone else I'd rather spend my days, weeks, months + years with than Ben.

This week I'm thankful for...

711. 4 happy years of marriage with many more to look forward to.
712. the most patient + loyal husband a woman could ask for.
713. a best friend to share each day with.
714. someone who "gets" me.
715. a playful and loving father for my sons.
716. a partner to learn the ins + outs of home-ownership and parenting with.
717. my soft place to land.
718. a sounding board for all life's dilemma's, big or small.
719. the talented musician filling our home with music.
720. the love of my life, the man I will grow old with.

what/who are you thankful for this week?

wedded bliss

1 trip to Hawaii

3 homes

hundreds of boxes

1 church

dozens of new friends gained

a handful of old ones lost

5 jobs

2 cats + a few fish

1 guest room turned nursery

1 guest room turned play room

4 tvs

6 coats of paint

dozens of DIY's

3 deaths

hundreds of neighborhood walks

2 pregnancies

2 sons

1 birth, 1 pending

dozens of burger joints

a handful of fancy restaurant dates

not nearly enough movies at the theater

9 seasons of Survivor

121 episodes of Lost

9 birthdays 

4 camping trips

6 hospital visits

1 surgery

0 broken bones

hundreds of arguments

tons of patience + forgiveness

millions of kisses

unending grace

4 years of abounding joy

Ben + I are celebrating our 4th year of wedded bliss today. We feel that this past year has gone by the fastest out of all of them. We actually had to look back at my blog archives to remember what we did for our anniversary last year!

I am just as happy (if not happier) now being Mrs. Pottorf as I was the day it became official just 4 years ago on the most popular of wedding days.

{7.7.07}

Happy Anniversary to my beloved husband, Ben, the most sincere and patient man I have ever known and the one that will forever have my heart.

my 2nd mother's day

Mother's day was quite a blur this year. Since I had to work from 8am- 1pm that morning Ben made me breakfast on Saturday morning instead. Waffles and hot decaf coffee, just want I wanted. The rest of the day went by quickly as I had to prepare for a team meeting of all my incredible volunteers that was happening that night. Had I known how busy the weekend where most Mother's get to relax would be, I would have rethought choosing to meet then, but it was the only day in all of May that wasn't crossed out when I took into account everyone's availability. The meeting went well and we ate a lot of great food!

Sunday I went off to church/work while the boys stayed home and concocted my Mother's Day surprises. I went about my morning during 1st service as usual. Just before logging off of my computer to oversee transitions in the classrooms I decided to change my desktop photo. I came here to my blog thinking I'd save a photo of Malakai as my background photo, but there was an unfamiliar post staring back at me. Ben had written some very beautiful and meaningful words and I'm so glad that I was alone when I read it because of course I cried. I also thought I had perhaps stumbled upon something that was meant for later.

Once Ben + Malakai arrived at church (with a special Mother's Day starbucks drink for me) I told him I'd seen his post and loved it. He assured me it was okay that I had discovered it already as he had meant for me to find it by surprise whenever I had happened to check in around here. What a thoughtful and surprising way to express his love and appreciation for me!

We checked Malakai into the nursery and he was having a really hard time transitioning. His whole life he has had no problem with us dropping him off. He barely notices we're gone, but lately he's been very attached. At first it was to me, but now it's both of us. It's sweet, but so very sad. I don't want him to get too upset for fear of him aggravating his hernia and I also feel like I've entered unfamiliar territory because he's not done this til now. I think his mood swings and attachment are due to a combination of teething and him sensing the changes happening around us (my pregnancy and his upcoming surgery).

Ben and I rarely argue and if we do, it's quite subdued. We never raise our voices or use harsh tones that would indicate to Malakai that something were wrong, but I think he can just feel it. I'm hoping that after his surgery everything settles down a bit and we can all breathe a little easier.

Anyway, after church Malakai napped and Ben told me I could request whatever I wanted for lunch. I chose Cafe Yumm! and we ate while watching the SNL Mother's Day episode. Once Kai woke up he and Ben presented me with a gift.

{It says "Happy Mother's Day" and "+1" with an arrow toward the mama's belly}

Malakai was hesitant to hand it over, but once I got it he watched me open it. Then he reluctantly posed for a photo. I love handmade gifts and that Malakai is old enough to do some art projects. He and daddy collaborated on this one and it will take a very special place in my frame, which was last year's gift!

Later that afternoon we headed over to celebrate my mom and have dinner with my immediate family. The last part of my gift, which is also our gift to my mom is a date for us girls to go to Sweet Life for dessert.

Overall it was a wonderful day and turned out to be more relaxing than I had anticipated. Now I am working tirelessly to get our house in order before Malakai's surgery so we can focus all our time and energy on him and his recovery (more on that later).

How was your Mother's Day? I hope it was special!

Thankful on a Thursday: 500

Despite only working 1 part-time job now, instead of 2, things are busy as ever. With Ben's birthday yesterday, I was busy preparing his gifts and our night out. We went to a local theater that serves food and beverages in an intimate setting while you enjoy the movie. Ben loves movies, so I knew this would be the perfect spot to take him for his birthday date. We had a great time!

Now it's time to prepare for his party that's coming up this weekend. I've never actually thrown Ben a birthday party before. All five years that we've been together, we've just done something small with immediate family. I talked him into something different this year. I know birthday parties for adults are a little different, but it's a great reason to celebrate and have a bunch of friends and family over all at once, so why not?!

We're eagerly anticipating the arrival of 2 babies any day now. As I've mentioned, both my cousin Angela and one of my best friends, Jamie are due with their firsts on February 7th. I can't wait to snuggle their teensie little newborns!

I'm starting to think that life isn't going to slow down until I'm retirement age. I wish I was exaggerating! Still, we have many blessed reasons for being so busy and active and I'm thankful for that.

This week I'm also thankful for:

491. watching Malakai learn and be creative.

{miraculously no crayon was eaten in the creation of the above gift}

492. Giving gifts that make my husband smile like that. My goodness, he is handsome!

493. Being done with my taxes and looking forward to a nice refund!

494. God's provision in all things that we need, not just finances and human necessities but provision for needs at my job/church and in our family.

495. Having a job that is such a joy and an honor to do and that allows me to continue to stay home with my son, which has always been my ultimate dream job.

496. A boldness that I no doubt inherited from my parents. I have no problem making conversation with new people (thanks to my dad) and am not afraid of confrontation when I've been cheated at the check out line, on a medical bill, or what have you (thanks to my mom).

497. An amazing group of girl friends, most of whom need to live closer than the two hour drive that separates us.

498. a healthy household. None of us has been sick for quite some time now and I'm praying it stays that way.

499. photos and the camera that I wish was mine with which to take them.

500. the ability to express my gratitude in this public forum consistently for the last 50 weeks!

What about you? If you had to pick one thing from your week to give thanks for, what would it be?

{{Happy Birthday Ben}}

Today is Groundhog's Day Ben's birthday!

He is the most kind, patient, and loving father + husband. He makes Malakai and I laugh on a daily basis. He takes the best care of us when we're healthy and when we're sick. He makes up stories and plays games. He teaches Kai how to explore outside, and mama how to use the remote.

We have fun plans in store for daddy this evening and this weekend in celebration of his 26th year and hope that he feels as loved and special as he makes us feel every.single.day.

Christmas/Birthday/Birthday

Christmas came a bit early for Ben + I this year.

A few months ago I proposed the (dangerous) idea of he and I forgoing all other Christmas, Birthday (mine is in two weeks), Birthday (his is in Feb.) gifts from each other and replace our old television. If you know anything about Ben, you know he is really into electronics. So suggesting this to him instantly made me wife of the year.

We of course talked about the financial implications, when and how to get the best deal, and if it would be doable. A few times we figured it just wasn't going to work and we'd get each other something fairly cheap in celebration of the upcoming events. This would have been just fine, but I know Ben would have been sorely disappointed.

Forgoing all our financial details we were able to work it out. We got a great deal on a 42" LCD by LG. Ben had done much research on getting just the right components to mount it to the wall and hide the cables (also for great prices at monoprice.com).

The pieces came little by little through the mail and Ben scheduled a time for both of our dads to come help with set up this past Saturday.

Of course a 2 hour event took 6 hours when all was said + done, but it's up and it's fantastic.

{keeping Kai preoccupied was...interesting}

{wah-laaa!}

Oddly enough, my favorite part is that Malakai can't reach the power button. He was always turning the tv on. Ironically, this morning he pointed to the remote and said "Elmo?" and I gave in anyway. This kid has me wrapped around his little finger for sure!

date-a-versary

Five years ago today Ben + I became a couple. We had met about 7 months prior through mutual friends, then that fall we started hanging out more. I don't remember the exact day we first kissed, but it came before the relationship talk. Which, wasn't much of a talk at all really. We had just finished watching something at my apartment (I think Survivor) and were talking about how we had enjoyed stealing glances at one another around campus. It was fun to have a little bit of a secret that no one else knew about. But then Ben said, "what if we didn't keep it a secret?" Playing dumb I asked what he meant and that's when he asked me to be his girlfriend.

Neither one of us was expecting a relationship when we first started hanging out. In fact, I had once playfully told him to make sure he didn't fall in love with me or anything. I think you usually find just what you need when you aren't searching for it.

We haven't celebrated our dating anniversary since we got married in 2007. We didn't really "celebrate" today other than recognizing the time that had passed. Five years feels like a long time, in a (very) good way.

{the very first photo we took together}

Happy Five Year Date-a-versary mi amor!

yours,