Tessa @ 7 months

Our girl is 7 months old today!  I can't believe how fast her first year is flying by - with each child, time goes by much faster.  Tessa is still a sweet girl - but she has developed a little bit of a temper/spoiled nature this month.  She feels like she must be held or at the very least, played with 95% of the time.  Grandma I tell you - GRANDMA!

Tessa is growing by leaps and bounds.  I'm not sure what she weighs, but she is wearing 9 month clothing, or 6-12 months depending on the brand.  Some of her 6-12 month one piece outfits are way too short now, thanks to her long torso, but the 12-18 month is still way too big.  (Why do clothing manufacturers torture us??)  She has graduated to size 3 diapers and still has about an inch left in her 0-6 month shoes (little feet like her mom).

Probably her very favorite thing to do is sit in the floor with her toys surrounding her.  She still tolerates her exersaucer, but the whining starts after about 10 minutes.  She isn't so crazy about her swing anymore, but I still force her into it, just out of dire need to buckle her in somewhere for a few minutes.

We have started trying sippy cups, and for now we're sticking to the Nuby silicone cups (until she figures out how to bite the nipple and let water run down her face - then she will be forced to graduate to the hard spout).  Sometimes she gets it, sometimes not.  No worries - we're just practicing.

I noticed her trying to get her knees under her a few times in the last couple of days.  As my friend Ann would say, I immediately knocked her down.  (Just kidding - but sooooo not ready for mobile baby).  She is teething again - this time for the top two teeth.  Hopefully, she'll get some relief soon.

Her sleeping is awful right now.  She usually picks a 2 hour period between 2 and 5AM to wake up and cry/whine/play around in her crib.  Being the mean mommy that I am, I don't get her out of her crib.  We just go in from time to time and replace the paci.  It is impossible for mommy and daddy to sleep through, so we're all ill and tired lately.  Oh well - this too shall pass, right?

So excited to have her (and her brothers') pictures made this month.  Hopefully, I will be able to share those soon :)

Here are a few outtakes from her 7 month "photo shoot" -

Brooks @ 3 Years Old

I can't explain to you how awesome this little guy is.  Unless you've gotten to know him, you probably wouldn't notice, but he is one of the coolest kids I know - and I'm not just saying that because I'm his momma :)

One of my greatest joys in motherhood has been watching my kids become little people with their own personalities.  I hope that I always encourage my children to be who they want to be, to love what they love and to not worry about always fitting in.  Brooks always walks to the beat of his own heart.  He is a man who knows what he likes, and will accept nothing less.  And I LOVE that about him.

When he was a toddler, I called him my little politician because he never met a stranger.  In restaurants, he would wave and say hello to everyone as we walked to our table.  People smiled in return as he offered them his signature dimply grin.  Although a little more timid now that he's older, he is still my more social child.  While his brother hides behind me and waits for me to enter a room first, Brooks usually beats me to the door - with his little chest poked out.  At birthday parties and social gatherings, Brooks can often be found having the time of his life all by himself without a single thought about what the other children are doing.  It's not that he's intimidated to play with them, because he does socialize quite well, he just wants to do what HE thinks is fun, even if that means playing alone.  LOVE that.

He is fearless and "as tough as a pine knot".  When big brother is too afraid to go into a dark room and turn on the light, Brooks will gladly do it for him.  When he falls and scrapes his knee, he may cry, but he has usually stopped before I can even get to him.  He'll go down any slide, any time, anywhere - no fear.

Brooks is also my best eater.  He is always willing to try new foods, and rarely decides he doesn't like something.  He's not big on berries (may be the tartness) or some of the tougher meats, but he loves veggies, casseroles, pizza and pasta.  His very favorite foods are cheese (cooked or uncooked), jelly biscuits, tacos and potato soup.  He LOVES mustard and requests it will anything that he feels needs a little "somethin" extra.  I do think he prefers the savory foods over sweets at this point, but he doesn't shy away from desserts either!

He has the most mischievous little grins you've ever seen.  When he knows he's doing something that's not allowed, he'll almost always give it away with his facial expressions.  His big blue eyes have such a gleam, and his little mouth curls up in the most precious way that it's almost impossible to keep a straight face while punishing him. 

On his 3rd birthday, his favorite things are his papa, "ill" (Will), "excavers" (excavators), Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, "yegos" (legos), pajamas, watching Disney Jr on the ipad, Temple Run and Perry the Platapus on his ipod, his farm toys and playing in the dirt.  He always always has to have a toy in his hand to go to sleep - sometimes a toy in EACH hand.  His brother Will is his best buddy and he loves to hold his baby sister in his lap.

Brooks is potty trained and sleeping in a twin size bed in a shared room with his brother.  He is my most independant child so far.  Every morning, I give both boys a pair of socks, shoes, and their jacket (they go to grandma's in their pjs).  Every single time, Brooks has his socks, shoes and jacket on completely before Will has even stopped whining for me to help him get his socks on.  I love his independant nature, and I like to think that he got that part of his personality from his momma (because he resembles me in no other way).

His behavior is so so.  I mean, he is 3, so what else can be expected?  He is often caught doing things that he has JUST been told not to do.  He likes to climb things - think his dresser, pantry shelves, etc... he also loves the occasional bed jump, taking toys, and hitting his brother.  I don't really think he would haul off and hit another child - but your brother doesn't count though, right?  He likes to fight with his brother over toys, and try to get away with "no nos" while we're not looking.

Brooks is such a fun and vibrant boy.  His little guilty grin and snickering laugh make him impossible not to love.  And he loves so freely.  He will be the first one to tell you "I ove you momma" or "I ove you 'ill".  He still has several speech issues - I'm pretty sure that I'm the only one that understands what he's saying sometimes.  I'm a little concerned about this, but I know from experience that the 3rd year is a year full of growth and development, so I'm trying to be patient and allow him room to correct some issues on his own.  For example, he will not say his "Ys" when saying "yes" or "yellow".  He says "es" and "eyyow".  He does use the "y" sound when saying "Ls", like "I no yike that momma."  He also still uses phrases like "I'm are" and "I no like that."

We had a small (not really small in number, but small in that I didn't do anything but cake and balloons) birthday party for him last weekend at our house.  Me being the awesome person that I am, did not take one.single.picture.  Oops.  Totally forgot.  But he had a great time and when asked what his favorite part was, he of course answered "cake."

I love love love this mischievous, handsome, easy-going, sweet boy.  He is a all-boy and makes the world take notice when his feet hit the floor in the mornings.  I can't wait to see where this little man goes in life.  When I imagine him as a teenager and young man, I imagine a boy who will have many friends, and probably many girlfriends.  I see him being the child I never see because he'll be my socialite.  I see him being athletic and the child that I have to threaten to do his homework.  He will have a blast in college (just like his momma) and worry me to death.  I am so excited to go on many adventures with our little man.  We love you Brooks - all the way to the moon and the stars!!

(I miss the curls so much)

Tessa @ 6 Months

My sweet lovebug is officially half a year old.  She is getting soooo big and continues to be the picture of happiness 95% of the time.  Other times not-

She is eating more and more solids without making sour faces.  She gobbles it all up pretty quickly these days.  I wouldn't say that she has any real favorites.  Some days she goes nuts over peaches, and some days it mangos.  She also loves sweet potatoes.  She takes 5-6 ounces every 3 to 4 hours during the day.

In her 5th month, getting her to eat solids was a challenge, and sleep is the challenge in her 6th month.  She's started breaking free of her straight jacket swaddle blanket and it's quickly becoming unsafe.  Night one of no swaddle resulted in crying every 30 mins and by 3:30AM, mommy and daddy caved and swaddled her up.  (Hey! We had to sleep so we could work the next day!!)  Night two, she went down great & woke up only twice.  She didn't cry either time, but we definitely knew she was awake from all the babbling coming from the monitor.  Night three (last night), was a little more difficult BUT she had her 6 month shots yesterday and I know that had a lot to do with it.  After a little tylenol, she slept wonderfully.  We'll see how tonight goes. (Edited to add - she has NOT been sleeping great since the change. Oh well - no going back!)

She learned to sit on her own this month!  So excited for this milestone.  I really love being able to plop baby down in the floor with toys.  She still isn't so steady that I would put her down on the hard surfaced floors of the house, but definitely the carpet.  Who am I kidding - our hard surfaced floors are too gross to put baby on :/  Serious.

Her 6 month stats were:  17lbs and 10 ounces (70%).  28 inches long (95+%).  Head size is off the charts too (just like her brothers).

She still loves her exersaucer and her favorite source of entertainment - her brothers!  She loves to play with her toys and chew on everything.  She still has only 2 teeth.  She is such a joy and smiles 95% of her time awake.  The other 5% of the time she's upset because she's sleepy.  She's like her mama in that if she's sleepy, she's mad :)

I think it's also important to add that her grandparents and Aunt Kristian have officially spoiled my girl.  She thinks she needs to be held quite a bit now ;)  I swear it wasn't me that did this!

(Her eyelashes make even her momma swoon)

ETA - This post is way late (like she's going to be 7 months old in two days), but I did write it just as she turned 6 months old.  I just didn't get this pics added until today ;)

Something On My Mind...

A few months ago, I began to see a lot of my friends pinning things like 40 Ways to Pray for Your Husband and 8 Tips for Being A Better Wife.  After I read a few of these, I felt so angry and I didn't know why.  I couldn't really say that I don't want be a better wife - I do.  I also couldn't say that I don't pray for my husband, because I do that as well - just not in the ways that these posts were suggesting.   One highly repinned post suggested that I pray certain prayers for my husband.  Some of them sounded logical enough - pray for his relationship with God - okay, sounds good.  Others had me wrinkling my eyebrows - pray for him to continue being a good provider for our family.  Pray for him to resist temptation from other women, etc, etc... huh?  I'm confused - am I praying for my husband or am I praying for ME at this point? Why am I supposed to be spending my time in prayer with Christ keeping my husband from temptation, when I need to be praying that I keep MY OWN head on straight.  When I finished the post, I felt like I was expected to carry the burden of my husband's indescretions.  Like - if he cheats on me, is it because I didn't pray for him enough? OR if his job doesn't allow me to stay at home with our children, is he an inadequet husband and father?  OH CRAP!  What does this mean about me if I sometimes LIKE working outside of the home?? In the post titled 8 Tips for Being A Better Wife, the writer suggested "Don't make your husband ask you twice - if he asks you to do something, do it then and he'll know he can depend on you." Ummmmm - so does this mean that if I have to ask him 25 times to take the trash out that he clearly can't be trusted to feed the children if I have dinner with my girlfriend??  Or do I even get to have friends anymore??  I'm confused.

WHY in the world are we doing this to ourselves?  Why are we becoming so obsessed with proving ourselves to be the most loving, self-sacrificing, all-encompassing wives and mothers on the planet??  I mean, is it not enough that we work hard, whether in the home or at the office, raise our babies and have loving relationships with our husbands?  Why are we not satisfied with that?  It seems these days, it's not enough to pour your kid a bowl of cereal and drop him off at school before a long day at the office.  You're not doing enough if you're not hand sewing your child's halloween treats for pre-k (and lord forbid you don't send a similar small homemade gift for each appropriate federal holiday thereafter!)  You obviously aren't spending enough quality time with your child if she's not reading by age 3.  All of this AND you're not being the "best wife" if your husband asks you twice to pick up his dry cleaning.

I am so over it.  I'm over having discussions about homemade baby food.  Let the kid eat cheerios and bananas and mashed potatoes.  I'm pretty sure that's what I was fed.  I don't want to talk about how long it's appropriate to breastfeed.  That's your business and no one else's.  WHY does it matter to anyone other than the two people participating - unless it's your husband and then don't make him ask you twice to stop!  Geeeezzzz ladies - stop the madness!

And when I say I'm over it - I really mean it.  I am typing this to you from a happy and loving home where my husband warmed up his own leftovers tonight and fed the kids cheese puffs for supper as I walked with a neighbor.  I was the dreaded mother who sent store bought valentines to the pre-k this year and I'm happily registering my oldest for PUBLIC kindergarten next week.  Look - life is hard enough.  I have decided to free myself from the craziness of Pinterest-inspired marriages and MOPS group lifestyles.  I love my family.  I love our life.  And if my husband can't resist the temptation of other women without me spending an hour a day in prayer over it, then we've got bigger problems.  Try it girls - let it go :0)

A Tornado Hits Our Town

We live in a VERY small town.  Think 2 or 3 stop lights.  The city limits span only 4 or 5 miles and the whole town boasts less than 5,000 people.  So when an F3 tornado spanning 1/2 mile wide tears through the middle of your very small town, it pretty much tears the whole town to pieces.  Last Wednesday started out like many other days...

I sent two babies off to Grandma's and Will off to preschool.  The weather forecast promised some nasty weather and we were already under a tornado watch.  I am not afraid of storms in the least (thanks to my dad who used to make me sit in his lap on the porch and watch the storms come through, but that's another story probably better suited for a therapist...) so I brushed off everyone's drama over the weather and pressed on with the day.  Will's preschool director even posted on Facebook about whether or not to cancel school and I commented that "nothing's guaranteed" and that school should continue on. 

By 9:30AM, everyone in my office was buzzing about the weather.  One of my bosses (am I the only one with like 3 or 4 bosses in one building?) came in and started again on the weather.  I said "I'm going to need more coffee if we're going to discuss the weather all day."  Little did I know I would have to eat those words later.

By 10:15, parts of our county were under a tornado warning. The town 20 miles south of us was in the path of a storm, but nothing for Adairsville.  At 10:45, my father-in-law called to tell me that instead of waiting until noon to pick Will up, he wanted to check him out early.  He "didn't like the weather" and I told him it was okay to pick him up early.  I laid my phone down and walked away from my office.  I went into my co-worker's office and scoffed about an over-protective grandpa being worried about his grandson.  Boy would I feel like an idiot later...

At 11:08, I went back to my office and noticed a missed call from Will's school.  The call had come at 10:58.  When I tried to call back, the office administrator answered and said "Will has just been picked up.  We were trying to get all the kids checked out, but he's already gone.  We're taking shelter now" and that was it.  I walked out of my office, with my phone in my hand.  There were no sirens going off.  I walked in front of the windows that face the back side of the bank, looking south towards Will's school (1/2 mile away).  The sky was dark and gray but nothing I hadn't seen before.  I mentioned to my co-worker that the clouds look low and creepy - almost like they didn't know where to go.

It was 11:15 at this point and I walked away from the windows and out into the bank lobby.  A customer came into the lobby, saying that the ATM was out of order.  As I went to help this customer, I heard, what we in the south call a "commotion" coming from the window I had just left.  My co-workers had spotted the funnel cloud moving toward the bank from the south.  And just like that, the lights started flickering.  Still no sirens.  After 15-20 seconds of flickering lights, the power went out for good.  People poured out of their offices, someone locked the front door to the bank in the dark, we grabbed the customer who was still upset about the ATM and ran for the vault.  10 adults in a very dark, 8X10 vault.  As soon as we were in the vault, my phone started lighting up "Are you taking cover?" "Are you okay?"  "Tornado in Adairsville. U ok?"  I sent a mass reply "In vault.  No power.  Funnel came right at us."

From the vault, I could see the windows in the lobby.  I saw gray.  That's all I saw.  I couldn't tell you if it was clouds, debris, or rain - it was just like a solid gray blanket hung over the windows.  We didn't hear the "train" you hear people who've lived thru tornados talk about.  To me, it sounded more like the sky growling at us.  Like a rolling thunderous growl.  After about 3-5 minutes the growling stopped and we heard police sirens - LOTS of police sirens.  We figured if the police were driving down the road, we were probably clear to come out of the vault.  We were all pretty quiet as we each tried to get enough cell service to call our loved ones.  More police flew by.  Ambulances and firetrucks flew past too.  I called to check on my kids (who were not in Adairsville).  They were fine.  I called Brandon (also not in Adairsville).  He was fine - just concerned about me and the house.  OH CRAP THE HOUSE.  I knew that the tornado had come directly at the bank from the south side of town.  Right where my neighborhood is.

I grabbed my keys and tried to get to the car.  The torrential rain was too much.  I wasn't going to be able to leave the bank.  I tried to get my neighbors.  After a few tries, my neighbors confirmed that our neighborhood was okay.  I relaxed.  My family and home was safe.  The 10 of us found seats in the dark lobby of the bank and listened to COUNTLESS emergency sirens fly by.  The roof started pouring water in several different spots.  We were all kind of emotionless as we shoved trash cans under the water.  Rumors were starting to pour in via text and Facebook.  Adairsville was gone.  The one grocery store was demolished.  I got wind that my son's school had been hit.  The same school he was at 15 minutes before the whole nightmare began.  I immediately asked God to forgive me for being a crappy mom (at least that's what I felt like) and thanked Him for keeping His hand on my family.

After several hours in the dark bank, with no food and soaked to the bone from my one attempt at leaving, a co-worker and I got in the car in search of food.  All we could see was the incredible amount of emergency vehicles everywhere - from counties and cities all over the state.  We knew that it was bad, but couldn't really tell the extent of the damage.  We found food in a neighboring town and tried to bring it back to our stranded co-workers.  The state patrol officers at the edge of town gave us a hard time about getting back into town, but we eventually made it back to the bank.

At 4:00, we decided it was time to try to get home.  Every.Single.Road between the bank and my house was closed due to damage.  The damage was horrendous.  People standing in the road where their homes used to stand.  Emergency crews everywhere.  Trees lying in the road and on homes.  The whole town smelled of wood.  Like a lumber yard - except it was from trees that were splintered by the storm.  There were mattresses, clothing, and home insulation in the trees that were still standing.  It was all too familiar to the storm damage 2 years ago on my in-law's farm.  After a 40 minute drive to my house that's 1/2 mile from the bank, I made it home.

Home was good.  Home was great.  The storm missed my home by about 200 yards.  Since the storm, I have thought MANY times about how a storm 1/2 a mile wide can split the 3/4 of a mile distance between my home and my office and not hit either place directly.  I've spent lots of time thanking God for my father-in-law and his decision to go get my baby before the tornado hit his school.

So many people have reached out to me - via phone, text, and Facebook.  I really appreciate everyone's concern.  We feel very loved and most definitely blessed beyond measure :)

Tessa @ 5 Months

....(I waited and waited to post this because I couldn't upload pics for some reason.  I still can't, but want to post it.  So maybe next post I will have some pics...)

Miss Tessa is 5 whole months old now.  She's had a few new developments this month too!  Her little personality is so sweet.  She laughs and tries her best to get the attention of everyone in the room by jabbering and growling (ha!).  She loves her brothers and lights up when they come near her.  She reaches for their little faces and she especially loves Will's glasses.  I can tell that she's going to be a little spit fire though - when the boys get rowdy and rambunctious, she laughes and gets loud with them!

We introduced solids this month.  She is so NOT a fan.  We started with rice cereal and got lots of gagging so after a few nights, we moved on to oatmeal.  She tolerated that better.  After oatmeal, we moved to peas.  More gagging.  After peas she had carrots.  She refused to open her mouth after 2 bites.  After a few battles over carrots, I offered pears.  She gagged AND shivered.  After pears I tried sweet potatoes.  She also tolerated sweet potatoes okay.  So she will eat oatmeal and sweet potatoes without gagging.  She still makes lots of funny faces though :)

Her sleep schedule is the same and she now has a pretty standard 7:30 to 8:00 bedtime.  With Will, we were so regimented with his bedtime routine that he would NOT go to sleep unless the routine happened just so - bath, lotion, pjs, book, bottle, bed.  With the 3rd child, we do good to get 2 of those steps accomplished each night.  She sometimes gets a bath at grandma's - sometimes at 6, sometimes just before bed.  Sometimes she gets lotion.  She never gets a book (bless her).  But she always get pjs!  And a bottle!  So I'm not so terrible I guess :)  She sleeps soundly until 6am and then rustles around for her paci.  She will sleep until 7:30/8:00 if she's able to, but most mornings she's out the door by 7. 

She rolls from belly to back as soon as you put her on her belly.  She is bringing everything to her mouth - including her paci when she can find it!  She also has two little teeth!  I noticed the first one on her exact 5 month birthday.  The second one wasn't far behind.  Sooo cute.  She has done pretty well with the teething - a tiny bit fussy some nights and lots of drooling and keeping one little finger in her mouth, like so:

One of the most noticable changes this month has been her discovering her little voice more and more.  She is hilarious and often growls and almost hums (I don't know how to really describe it) to get attention.  For example, if I put her in her swing to do something else for a while (laundry, deal with other kids, etc...) she will start by crying and if I just can't get to her fast enough, she starts the growling.  So funny!

She still enjoys her playmat (I often lay her there to get a few things accomplished and she stays so quiet that I almost forget she's there!), her exersaucer and being held (of course).  She's starting to really get tired of her bouncy chair and swing, BUT she's still getting plopped down in them of course.  She spits up less in them than lying flat on her back or sitting straight up (in the exersaucer or bumbo).  She still spits up quite a bit, but no worries - all of our babies have done that.  Still nowhere near as bad as Will did.  He holds the record for sure.

Goals for 2013

To be honest, I've never made a New Year's resolution.  In my whole life.  Ever.  I don't know why.  It's not that I don't believe in them - I'm always supportive of people setting goals and trying to better themselves and their lives.  In truth, I've never been one to set a resolution because I just don't like the idea of putting the extra pressure on myself.  But I do like the idea of setting goals and really striving to meet those goals.  That doesn't seem so daunting.  So I've decided to put pen and paper (or in this case - fingers to keys) to my goals and get them out of my head.  That way at the end of the year, I can take a look back and see how well (or not so well) I did.  So let's discuss:

Get Organized!!
This is something that I generally struggle with.  Not because I don't start out organized, but because I have a hard time maintaining that organization.  When I'm short on time, patience or sleep I tend to let the details slip little by little and then next thing I know, I'm an unorganized mess again.  I plan to maintain better organization this year by:

• Implementing a family organization "bible" if you will.  This will actually be my 2nd year to own one of these awesome little planners.  I LOVE it.  In 2012, this was my only source of organization and I'm building on it this year.  I can't say enough great things about the "life planner".  It's especially well suited for our large family.  I carry it in my purse and take it to work, as well as all of our appointments. 
• Set a weekly meal plan.  Hopefully, these will be written in said planner.  I usually only buy our main supply of groceries every two weeks, so this may end up being a two-week meal plan thing so that I can have all groceries on hand.  At the rate I'm at now, I feel like I am in the grocery store 3-4 times a week buying one or two items that I have forgotten or that we've ran out of and that is the LAST place I want to be after working all day.
• Get the house organized in a more functional way.  Sighhhh - I'm not sure how I'm going to do this one.  I'm not even really sure how to describe what I mean.  We completed the playroom last year in hopes that the Toys R Us showroom would move out of our living room and down to one organized spot.  But we still have things in our living room and kitchen areas that I would like to see in other places - legos, playdough, board games, craft supplies - all things that I don't necessarily trust them with alone in the playroom.  Also up for organization - magazines, kitchen areas (mail/paper dump baskets, pantry, cabinets and drawers), living room bookshelves, etc. 
• I also want to implement some sort of chore/responsibility system for the boys.  Not so much to pay them for (cause hey jack! I don't get paid to do those things either!) but mainly to teach them to be good boys who help around the house.  I also want to start teaching them about saving money too -  I just haven't figured out how to separate the two yet.  If you guys have any suggestions, let me know. 

Update The Kitchen!
Not a full "dream" update (cabinets, countertops and appliances) but most definitely paint, possibly a backsplash, and few other minor updates.  This is the only room in our house we haven't updated in the last couple of years and I HATE seeing the little finger prints on the dirty paint.  The magic eraser thing has gone as far as it can go.  I just have to decide on a color.  I want simple, clean and light, but I have medium cabinets and black appliances.  Who has suggestions - anyone???

Cook More!
We always eat at home (we may eat out 2xs a month) plus we eat at my in-law's once a week, but I feel like we're always eating the same things or taking the easy way out.  I'm hoping my meal planning will help.

Have More Fun As A Family!!
Here's the deal - both parents work Mon-Fri and at least 2 Saturdays a month.  This leaves 6-7 whole days a month for us to NOT work.  2-4 of those off days are spent cleaning the house, working in the yard, or other obligations (birthday parties, family gatherings, etc.)  Soooo when we get a day off, we tend to spend it lounging at home with the babies.  That's awesome and we really cherish those days, but Will's impending Kindergarten entrance has helped me realize that our babies are growing up and I want to spend our days making lasting memories with them.  I want to make more of an effort to take them out for fun.  Could be the park, could be weekly family nights, could be the zoo, could be Alaska... who knows?!  Let's just do it!

Be A Better Wife!
Let's face it - I'm a pretty amazing wife, but I want to be better.  I kid I kid ;)  With three little people climbing over each other to get to me and talking over each other to talk to me, it exhausts me.  I really don't see those things changing, but I do hope to carve out more time for one-on-one with Brandon.  I'm hoping we squeeze in a few "couple" trips this year, as well as make it a point to have more meaningful conversations and time together, rather than just using our time together to discuss the kids and clean the house.  I won't be slaving to pack his lunches or have his playstation controller all ready for play, but I do love him and want him to feel just as important to me as our 3 munckins because he IS.  One day these crazy kids precious babies will move out and it will just be the old man and me.  What happens if we don't nurture and keep that relationship current?  Why do you think so many people get divorced at 50 years old after 25 years of marriage?  They just spent 25 years raising kids and NOT maintaining the one relationship that brought those kids into the world.  It happens people.  I won't let us be one of them.  I love me some Brandon - and I want us to have those same feelings when we're 50.

So there it is... the things I would like to see happen this year.  No definite timelines, but definitely things to implement this year to make me a better person, mommy and wife.  I think I can I think I can I think I can....