7 Years!

We’re all a little weird. And life is a little weird. And when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall into mutually satisfying weirdness–and call it love–true love.

Happy Anniversary to us! Yesterday Gil & I celebrated 7 years of marriage. In the morning we went to the zoo with Mason and then ate outside at MBrew. It was sooooo hot at the zoo, so it was a good thing we got there in the morning.

Water Break!

In 7 years, Gil and I have learned a lot about marriage. It's funny thinking back to our wedding day. We were so young and naive and really had very few expectations. I think it's hard to understand what marriage is until you're in it. 

The image of marriage that I usually see is the glossed over, perfect couples on tv or in movies. That's definitely not real life. Gil and I are not perfect and our marriage is not perfect. Sometimes it's really easy and sometimes it's really hard. But I love that we keep choosing to work on it together. 

I think the most important thing I have learned so far is that communication can make or break a couple. For a long time, I thought I was perfect at this. Surprise, surprise, I am not and often I have to humble myself to my imperfections, which isn't easy.

I've also learned that it's so important to make room for each other to grow and change in the relationship. The person you start out with is not the person you will find yourself with 7 years down the road. Keep falling in love with that person, whoever it may be. 

Through all our ups and downs, I'm really proud of our marriage and where we are today. Can't wait to see where the future will bring us...

Summer Break Has Commenced!

The end of the school year was a doozy! It felt busy, hectic, and my kids were bursting with excitement for summer break (so was I)!

The first week of break was fabulous and calm. It's been so nice being home and being with Mason everyday. He seems like he's growing and learning so fast. He's babbling so much and picking up a lot of language lately. I love how big he is right now! He can climb up on the couch and now has "free reign" over the house for the most part. Two cute things he is doing right now that I don't want to forget:
#1 When he wants something, he sits down on his butt, nods his head, and says "more".
#2 He also points at an object and then points back at himself when he wants something.
Both of these things I find adorable!!! I also love the sound of his little voice and his little feet running around.

As usual, with good weather and more time comes the desire to be active. I've been walking and/or working out most days since school has gotten out and it feels really good. Gil and I have both been tracking our steps with our Fitbits and that's been motivating.

On Sunday, we celebrated Father's day with a present and cinnamon rolls in the morning and then we went to the park in the afternoon. Mason loved the splash pad, even though it was pretty busy. A lot of kids had buckets there and Mason kept following them around trying to play with them. After that, we walked the trails and checked out the little nature center at the park for the first time.

Happy Summer!!!

Little By Little- House Progress

I'm closing in on the end of the school year and I couldn't be more excited! We spent this weekend in Grand Haven, one of my favorite places on the planet, and then out on a friend's boat yesterday. It's been a lovely weekend!

I'm looking forward to being home this summer to hang out with my favorite little munchkin and also to getting our house organized and decorated!

We haven't done tons lately and to be honest, I don't know that we will do any huge projects in this home since it probably will not be our "forever home".

But just painting and doing little things here and there has made a world of difference. We've put a little work into the dining room and I think it's the first room in the house that we can call finished.

We had the wallpaper taken down, painted, put up curtains and a little art and called it a day. Gil also took down the terrible light fixture and switched it out with one I love!

Here are some photos from when the previous owner was still occupying the house:

Here are photos of the dining room in its current state:

The pictures are a bit dark, but the wall color is navy and I love it with the touches of red. There are also splashes of navy in the adjoining rooms. Can't wait to work on some more projects in the coming months!

Midwinter Break!!!

I have officially  made it to an important point in the year...Midwinter Break!! It has been so nice to have this week off of school. I especially feel grateful because many districts around us only got Friday and Monday off, but we have the full week. Yippee!!

It's been a busy week, which is nice on one hand, but on the other hand it makes things go too fast! Monday Mason went to daycare and I got a bunch of random errands done, like bringing Laila to the vet.

Tuesday we went to my old coworker's house for a playdate with other teachers from my school and their kids. It was so fun and cute to see the babies together. We were all pregnant together at school and now the boys are big enough to play {kinda} with each other!

Wednesday I had a lonnnnng overdue hair appointment and Laila went to the groomers. I like getting my hair done so I don't look crazy, but it takes soooo long. When I get a cut and color it takes 3+ hours. I don't know if that's normal or if my hair stylist just talks too much. I'm embarrassed to admit that I hadn't gotten a haircut since JULY! My hair was down to my shoulders and I got it chopped at about chin length. It's going to take 2 second to blow dry my hair now! My hair salon is right by our old house, so I always drive by to see what's going on on our old street. The house looks the same but one of our neighbor's houses looks like it was recently flipped.

Today Erin and Ada are coming over for a visit. Laila went to daycare, which she was super excited about. I'm going to stay inside as much as possible today because the temperature is -4 and feels like -19. Yuck!

Tomorrow Mason and I are going to go have lunch with Gil at work. That'll be fun for Mason to get to see his work but also so we can spend some time with him. He's been so so so busy at work that we haven't seen him much lately. Can't wait for busy season to be over!

Mason is getting to be so fun. He's starting to say words like "hi", "uh oh", "daddy" and I can see him studying my mouth when I talk to him. When I get time off like this, it's so so nice to spend it with him but it also makes me sad seeing how much I miss during the week when he is at daycare. I try not to focus on that, but it stinks that I'm missing out on so much! I love watching him learn new skills every week. Right now he loves opening and closing doors, turning on and off the light switches, opening and closing drawers...you get the picture. He's also starting to voice his opinion. He will fuss and throw a mini tantrum when I take something he wants or if I make him stop playing to get his diaper change. Even when he's being a little cranky pants, I love it all! What a little cutie patootie!

Life is Busy, Busy...

but I am trying to soak in the lovely moments everyday. From the time my alarm goes off, I feel like I run around like a chicken with its head cut off. That's kinda just the way things are right now with working full-time and a little guy who is almost one!

But everyday, I try to put a "to do" item to the side and replace it with a "want to do". Cleaning up after dinner can wait...playing with my little guy before bed cannot. Laundry can wait...rocking my little one cannot! I could just give him kisses and hugs all day long and never get tired of it. Really!

I know every mom probably feels like this, but it is going way too fast. I truly can't believe he is so big and can do so much. It's bittersweet to see the baby leave him, but it's so fun seeing the little boy he is turning into!

What a happy little guy. Love him!