Ten years ago, last night, I went to bed for the last time as a single girl. Four years ago, tonight, I went to bed very pregnant and woke up not too much later in labor.

This week has changed the trajectory of my life in so many ways!!

We have plans to do a big celebration at some point, but our actual anniversary fell on an Awana night this year. So, we dropped off the Little Miss with Uncle Bryant and Aunt Nicole, took the boys to Awana and Jon and I went to Chili’s. 😉 Fancy, I know. Fun stories though – we got Chili’s takeout on the night after our wedding and took it back to our apartment for dinner, since we were busy packing up to leave for our honeymoon the next morning. And we went to Chili’s for our anniversary the night before Parker was born because I had this intuition that it was going to be one of our last nights as family of three, so we took Nathan along with us and went somewhere kid friendly.

So, it was kind of fitting to go there for the night of our tenth. 🙂 We had the best time and Jon totally shocked me and gave me the anniversary band that matches my wedding ring.

Love him. So so much. Here’s to ten more and ten more after that and ten more that and even more after that.

On our way to our honeymoon in 2008.

And today. I am so blessed! Thank you, Lord, for my wonderful husband. I love you, Jon!

In Albuquerque, spring means wind. So, basically, it’s warm but nasty, so you still can’t play outside. And everyone in the city’s allergies start going ballistic.

I told her she couldn’t stand on something and I looked over and this was her silent fit she was throwing. Ha! I’m going to start laying on the ground like that when I’m mad.

Because nothing says “it’s baseball season” than freezing cold days and more wind. 😉 Parker is SO excited for his first year of t-ball!! Nathan decided basketball was his thing, so we’ve just got one playing this year. It’s kind of nice scheduling-wise.

Jon and I were cracking up one night after the kids went to bed because Maila was seriously just copying everything that Kody did, including laying the way he was. She’s busy growing like a weed. All in all, she’s been a good dog. It’s VERY different puppy training with kids around. I’m a little scared that she’s going to turn into a crazy dog with how many different commands she’s given in a thirty second timeframe.

Well, we went in to get Nathan’s cast off and we were all so excited and so pumped and then the doctor did more x-rays and said he would feel more comfortable with him in another cast for two more weeks. SO lame. Two more weeks, here we go.

She’s my little sunshine girl. Always has been, always will be.

Well, we’re finishing out the month of February the way we started it – with a visit to the doctor.

I took this one in for a rash she had developed, thinking she was having an allergic reaction to something and we left with a positive strep test and antibiotics. Poor baby. The doctor said the words “scarlet fever” and I may have freaked out a little bit because we’re reading through the Little House books and I vaguely remember someone going blind from that. 😉 The “pink medicine” was a big hit. So was snuggling up with blankets and a movie with Mama.

Every so often, we are reminded of how tender this little boy’s heart is. We watched the movie Bolt for pizza movie night and there’s a scene where Bolt feels rejected. There are so many other scenes in the move where he’s hurt or scared and those didn’t bother Parker at all, but the scene where Bolt’s heart was hurting made Parker start crying. We looked over and he was just quietly wiping away tears. My sweet boy.

Little Miss will rarely sit still for an entire movie but she could watch “Kate movies” (our favorite beauty blogger’s how-to videos) all day. 😉

These two are pretty much inseparable. Now that Nathan’s arm is in a half-cast, he’s been outside with Parker every single day. It’s still freezing outside so I always make them put on jackets before they go outside. Notice them all piled on the bench behind them. Boys.

We’ve been praying so hard for Gammy and for Zander’s sweet family.

I wrote this on Instagram right after Zander’s beautiful service and figured it would be good to write it here: Little Zander’s service was yesterday. There is much but two things especially – his parents are the bravest, most selfless people I know (which I already knew but was just reminded of yesterday). Zander was adopted one year ago and they knew as they said yes that his broken heart would likely lead to theirs. But they still said yes and he was LOVED. At one point, I looked around at the standing-room-only service and thought about how not long ago, this little kid in China didn’t have anyone. And now, he is leaving behind a huge family who adored him, a church family who treasured him and so many, many friends who delighted in him and the stories of him. What a legacy and at only 3 years old. At the service, they told about how right after he died, his dad led the family in worship just like Zander was doing in heaven at that moment too. God is good, friends. Even in the horrific. He is good.

Lots to pray about these days.

Eisley is headlong into the “help you” phase that all our kids have gone through and it’s so sweet. She went out and helped Jon fix Nathan’s bike the other day.

Finally got his real cast on! He was so cute. He debated what color he wanted up until the night before his appointment. That morning, he came downstairs and declared he wanted a Viking cast. So we did our best to make that happen, with a little magic from Gammy’s Cricut machine.

At dinner: “Look, Mom! I learned how to cross my eyes!” It’s a good skill to learn, I guess! Love the weird, half-rubbed-off tattoo on his arm too. Ha!

These two. They are constantly fighting and bickering and yelling at each other but then they have these moments of just being so, so sweet. It gives me hope for the future! We went bowling and after every turn Parker had, Eisley would run over yelling, “YAY PARK-BEAR!” and give him a huge hug. I have a feeling they’ll be just fine.

It’s exhausting to be this cute. 😉

So many prayers and worries and concerns this month. It has put so much into perspective for me. The things that would have been a GIANT deal are not so giant, when you think about it. Trying my best to soak in my kids and retreat into the Word and not get distracted by the little annoyances of life.

Eisley and I escaped from the chaos to Target. She has constantly complained about everything being “too bwight” and so I found these little glasses and she was SO happy. “I wike Mommy!”

My little sunshine girl.

The day before Valentine’s Day, our sweet friends sent their son, Zander, back for a surgery to put in a pacemaker and he coded on the table. He turned three on Valentine’s Day in a coma. My heart is just aching so much for them.

Between everything going on with Mom and Zander, my heart wasn’t really in a good place for Valentine’s Day. But we still did a little thing with the kids that night during dinner. In the chaos of it all, I’m so thankful for these loud, silly people who call me Mom. I hope I never take one day with them for granted.

Sweet little Zander went home to be with Jesus two days after his third birthday. Please keep our friends in your prayers.

Well, February has taken a turn we weren’t expecting.

We had a little bit of time to kill before Awana one afternoon and the kids and I were so tired of being cooped up in the house, so I called my neighbor and we took the kids on a walk. We were almost there and Nathan went down a hill on his scooter and totally ate it. At first, I thought he was just screaming about the road rash, but we shuffled everyone back home and I pulled up his sleeve and was like, yeah, let’s go to the ER. My neighbor, bless her heart, is a nurse and pretty much knew right away that he’d broken it, but had the kindness to not mention it until we had gotten back home. She stayed with the other two and I took Nathan in. A loooong night later, we were back home with a new temporary cast to get us through the weekend.

The Beechem girls came over and helped us not feel so bad about just sitting there. 😉 They are so sweet.

A week or so before this, Gammy called me and told me she’d found a lump in her breast. They did biopsies and x-rays and the morning after Nathan broke his arm, we got the news that she had breast cancer. This is just not a good week. We’re researching all of Mom’s options now. Thankfully, it appears to be contained to the lump. But, oh, how I hate this for her.

In happy news, this little mister had his surgery for his cleft lip and recovered beautifully!! My sweet little Sammy is just the best!!

February came and with it, the kids’ new favorite holiday to hate, Groundhog Day. 😉 We watched the video of Phil being yanked out of his little hiding hole and declaring six more weeks of winter and the kids all lost it.

I was laughing so hard because it’s not like it’s really been a winter over here. We’ve barely dropped into freezing more than a handful of times and we had absolutely zero snow. Phil’s name was basically a bad word on this day, though. “Thanks for nothing, PHIL.” “Of course, PHIL would see his shadow.”

Sick again. These two have basically been sick since September, it feels like. We’ve had a constant runny nose between the two of them for MONTHS. On Super Bowl Sunday, they were both sick, so I stayed home and played games with them while Jon and Nathan went to our neighbor’s super bowl party.

I trip on her constantly because this is where Maila likes to be. About six inches from my leg at all times. It’s cute until I’m trying to do something quickly. And great news – she’s finally sleeping!! Morale is definitely improving. 😉

I can’t believe how quickly the year is already flying by.

I have completely, one hundred percent gotten used to sleeping through the night again. There was a VERY definite time in my life when I wondered if I ever would sleep through the night (even just ONE night) and then I was and now I’m not. Ha!

On the plus side, Maila is quite the little trooper. She just pretty much goes along with whatever the kids want her to do. I have this hope that she’s going to end up being a good dog.

As they are running outside to play that afternoon, Parker yells, “Nathan! I have an idea! Let’s pretend that we are two kids who just got a puppy!” Ha! Also, we have pants and shoes that are specifically ONLY to be worn when they are in the backyard and never in public. Behold those pants and shoes. 😉

Eisley is very loud about her love for Maila.

I came in the playroom and saw this and immediately was like, “WHAT are you guys doing?” And Nathan says, “It’s like bumper cars, Mom.” But why. 😉

Lazy post-nap Sunday afternoons in front of the fireplace are the best things ever.

It’s been SO mild out during the days and so freezing cold at night. I’m ready for warmer weather!! Though, with the warmer weather will come work outside, so maybe we’ll just hold on to the cold for a little bit longer. 😉

Right after we took Nonnie, Papa O and Uncle Allen to the airport, we kept on driving south because it was the Big Day. Right around Christmas, we decided that we were ready for another puppy. We kept hearing that if you get a puppy before your older dog is too old, it can bring some new life into the old dog and then he can help “train” the new addition.

We found a breeder since the people we got Kody from were retired, picked out our pup and she was ready to go the day that everyone left.

So, here is Maila! Three kids were absolutely ECSTATIC.

Particularly this one. Parker is SO sweet with Maila. He adores her. We all kind of know that she’s basically going to be his dog.

After a HORRENDOUS first night and day (which was also my birthday – ugh), we are slowly adjusting to each other. Oy. Friends, I have completely forgotten what kind of crazy a puppy brings into a house!! Last time we did this, we had zero children and I was just working from home, so I was able to focus as much time as I needed to on Kody. Plus, his breeder was amazing and he basically came to us crate-trained. This time around is VERY different. I do not deal well with insanity and it has been total chaos in here. My poor family. After the first night, I immediately put Maila on a VERY strict schedule and she’s already doing a lot better. Someone asked me where I got the schedule and I was like, “Um, Babywise?” Ha! I think she had basically spent zero time in a crate by herself, so we started doing “crate time” every couple of hours and by the third night, it’s already WAY better. I couldn’t handle doing Babywise with my actual babies but I have no problem putting a dog on a rigid schedule. 😉

Time for another cup of coffee.

Since they weren’t able to come on Thanksgiving, Nonnie, Papa O and Uncle Allen rescheduled for President’s Day weekend! We were all SO excited to see them!

Papa O is a HUGE Vikings fan, so they came with all kinds of jerseys for the kids, decorations for the house and Lucky Charms to eat for good luck before the big playoff game. All the cereal must have worked because they pulled off a last second win and the volume was through the roof in my house. 😉

They took the big kids bowling after a fun lunch and I stayed home with a little miss who desperately needed a nap. So much fun! The boys had a blast.

Love this. Nathan was reading to Uncle Allen and they all crammed on the tiny bed with him.

Their visits always go too fast. Can’t wait for the next one!!