5 Years!!

Five years ago today in front of all their family and friends, a boy and a girl promised to love each other forever and ever. Since that day, they have had two kids, made thousands of happy memories and shared countless laughs. That boy and that girl are still crazy about each other. They do nice things for each other. They hold hands when they walk in the mall. They love hanging out together more than anything else in the world. They have created a very happy life for each other and for their kids.

Steven, I love you more than you will ever know. Thank you for making me happy every single day of my life. Thank you for my beautiful babies. We have a good thing going here.

Blue Eyes, Baby's Got Blue Eyes

...and a little red birthmark on her nose

Back to the Old Grind...

Well, I'm officially back to work after a glorious 12-week maternity leave. I had fun playing stay-at-home-mom. I enjoyed taking mid-day naps and going to the grocery store at 10am. I enjoyed having dinner started by the time the boys got home. I enjoyed watching The View and listening to the nonsensical rants of Elisabeth Hassleback. I enjoyed every second with my baby. I'm so glad that she and I had that time. And I'm sad it's over. On the other hand, I am back at a job that I truly enjoy. People really seemed to miss me while I was out and that is really nice to hear. I have a great manager and a great team and I really believe in what we do. It feels good to use my brain again. I thrive on a challenge and there is no shortage of challenging situations at work! It's not easy to drop my kids off at daycare in the morning but I have peace of mind knowing that they are in good hands. Chase loves seeing his teacher and his friends. He is a very social kid and I hope that being in daycare will do the same for Jordyn. So upon me again is the challenge of work-life balance. I have found that I am most successful at this when I allow the scale to tip in either direction. Sometimes there are family things going on that require more of my time. There are times when work has to be a little more of a priority. I'm fortunate enough to be able to work from home which helps make the balance that much easier. Even though it would be nice to one day not have to work a full-time job, I try every day to make the best of our situation. And I'm grateful for the 12 weeks I had with my baby girl. I'm looking forward to the 12 week break I'll get when Baby #3 comes along...

Monkey See, Monkey Do

Chase is in a mimicking phase. He copies everything we say and do. We have found that we really need to watch what we say when we have a two-year-old parroting back to us. And while it can be annoying at times, it can also make for some pretty great photos like this one: *And I find it pretty darn cute that Chase is holding a magazine called "Toddler" which incidentally is not a magazine for toddlers but about toddlers which I got for free at the pediatricians office.

Wordless Wednesday!

I've Been Tagged!

I was tagged by Jessica. So here is what you gotta do if someone tags you: 1. Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog. 2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird. 3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs. 4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog . Here are my seven facts--some weird, some random. All true. 1) I have extremely small feet and can buy children's sneakers (which are much cheaper but oft pink and sparkly) 2) I eat candy bars by first eating off all the chocolate and then eating the middle 3) Both of my childbirths were completely natural and med-free despite the fact that I am normally a big wuss with a very low threshold for pain 4) I have a horrible habit of using up the toilet paper and not replacing it with a new roll 5) I have a Master's Degree in Clinical Psychology but my current job is not in that field 6) My hair is naturally very curly and hopelessly frizzy (and I HATE it) so I pay lots of money for a Japanese straightening process every 6 months. It is worth every penny. 7) Sadly, I am so new to blogging that I don't have 7 people to tag. Everyone I know who has a blog has already been tagged by Jessica, Jenni, Margaret, or Michelle. Sorry ladies. It looks like I'll be breaking the chain.