4 Years of Wedding Bliss

Tomorrow marks 4 years of marriage for Kelly and I. I sat down today thinking about what has all happened in 4 years, and to be honest, I got a headache. I mean, WOW!

These last 4 years feels more like a decade. Most likely because our lives have done a complete 180 the minute we said "I do".

- we finished renovating our house. We started when we got engaged but in these last 4 years we have been able to complete an overhaul on the upstairs and downstairs, ripped up our entire backyard and built 1 patio, 2 decks and all new sod, then came our exterior which is 90% complete.

- we changed career paths. Went from owning our own business, working for someone else, losing his job because of receivership, and then starting our own company again. We went from struggling for money to having enough that we don't have to stress.

- we sold our building that in my opinion, was just holding us back from life. It has given us freedom in more than 1 way.

- We have 2 children in our home, 1 in my belly, and 3 in heaven. We went from 0 children to essentially 6, which we will have for an eternity.

All I have to say, is with all this change, we have done it together- and quite smoothly I can proudly say. We compliment each other well. We work well as a team. And I think we made a wise choice in deciding each other for forever.

I know the next 4 years, can NOT be as eventful as the first 4 years. For that I am grateful. Our first years of marriage have been a whirlwind and it's been an adventure so far. My wish for the next 4 years is some stability. Some calmness. Some normality. And we will share in that together as well.

Our hearts are full. Our home is full. Our pockets are full (enough). Our cup is full. 

Life is good. Marriage is good.

Overwhelmed

Overwhelmed is the feeling of the day. It started with Jack biting Charlie's finger in the tub last night which immediately got him sent to bed early. He must have been out of sorts because he woke up every hour screaming for no reason- keeping myself and Kelly awake. Did I mention I need my sleep?

Charlie is teething again. He has popped 1 tooth and 1 molar over the last week and another molar is ready to come, causing him to be a little out of sorts as well (in all honesty, he does AMAZINGLY well so I don't really have to complain about him).

I am just tired. This pregnancy is kicking me in the arse. This busy season of Kelly's is kicking me while I'm down; and is it okay to just say "I need a break"?

I mean a real break. Not just grocery shopping by myself kind of break. Like a full day, get a massage, do some shopping, go out to eat, kind of break. I need to replenish, ME.

I love my children dearly. I do. I love having them close together too. But mommy just needs a time-out.

peaches

So what does one pregnant woman who has been having a hard time finding anything to eat lately do, when suddenly she gets a craving for peaches? She buys a case load at $25.00/case then needs to figure out what to do with them all!

6 qts of canned peaches, 3 peach pies, and 2 peach crumble pies later.... I am exhausted! But it will be GOOD!

Who is this child?

Who is this child sitting before me?

Jack has been quite a delight over these last few days. He is remembering his manners and saying "Thank You" and "Your Welcome" without having to be reminded. He is not fighting me on EVERY single detail of his life like, "go put on your gitchies" and "let's brush your teeth". He is actually cleaning up his toys quite well for a 3 year old which is leading me to believe that maybe one day I will have a life other than picking up after little boys. He is actually listening which was a task that proved to be very difficult just a short month ago.

What's changed? Me? Him? His age? Maturing? Am I yelling less? Yelling more? I just can't quite figure it all out.

He has come a long way from the little boy for the past 1 1/2 years who literally brought me to tears on a weekly basis because I felt like I was failing with him. He was always the worst listener at every play-date. I was always the frantic Mom wondering "where is Jack" every 1 minute because there has been crayon on other people's floors too many times to count. I was the Mom that was dragging her little toddler out of every fun activity he did because he was flailing himself on the ground, throwing a tantrum the size of Mount Rushmore. I was that Mom. That's why I felt like I was failing. A grown woman could not control a 2 year old.

I kept working at him. Tried different techniques. But always remembered that he needed me to love him through it all. And through all those efforts, I am starting to see it pay off. Thank the Lord.

I should have listened to all those Mom's who just gave me a sympathetic look and said "It's a phase, it will end." I guess I just didn't believe them. Their child wasn't acting like this, "could they know?" I was the one Mom that was going to have a tantrum throwing 15 year old too.

So to all those Mom's that are going through it with their first right now. Trust me. From a Mom who knows what you are going through; It is just a phase. They will grow out of it. Keep doing what you're doing.

Now I'm on round 2 with my second littlest child but I know I can breathe a little easier knowing that those words are true. If I stick to my guns, Charlie will grow up just fine too.

Jack pulling all his books off his shelves. He did this at least 3 times a day.

Had to watch him every second, or he was grabbing something. This time, an orange.

Dog Food Stealer.

This is when Jack got into my mascara, and was FURIOUS with me for taking it away!

This was a doozy. His friend and him got into finger paints and painted the carpet and every single toy.

and then there were 5

My Stick Family from WiddlyTinks.com

So we are expecting another little one! This first trimester has not gone by fast enough. I have felt horrible. I sure appreciated my pregnancies with Jack and Charlie after this time around. Before going on the max dosage of medication, I lived on ginger ale and soda crackers and my bed. I literally had a hard time getting out of bed. It felt like a bad stomach flu that just never went away. I actually thought I had the stomach flu a few times because how can one little baby cause that must havoc in my body? So there I laid, with ginger ale and soda crackers, and crumbs in my bed with my thermometer constantly checking because I had to have had a fever! This had to be the flu.  It wasn't. It was just this little baby causing havoc in my body. I think God wanting to ease my mind about miscarrying a little so he knew if he made me really sick, than that's all I would think about. And it worked. We've had 2 ultrasounds so far and everything looks just like it should! The doctor even heard the baby's heartbeat with the Doppler at 9 1/2 weeks- which I was shocked at. So far, we've got a strong little heartbeat. Music to a mother's ear! Jack is beyond excited that mommy has a baby in her tummy. He's such a caring little boy. He comes up and kisses and hugs my tummy all the time and sings to it. He is equally excited to get to share a room with Charlie and that the new baby gets Charlie's room. I wonder if Charlie is equally excited? I highly doubt it. He will be tougher to adjust. But he will. And so will we. I've dreamt of having a larger family and my dreams are continuously coming true. God is good.
So now you know why I haven't been writing so much. My mind has been occupied with the new little baby and just trying to take care of my family, all while feeling like death was knocking on my door. These last few days I've felt a lot better though and I see the light at the end of the tunnel.
I've announced on facebook and pressing that 'post' button was really hard for me to do. My doctor encouraged me to share our good news though. I cannot live in the past and constant fear that things are not going to go well. This is a new baby, new pregnancy and we'll just have to wait and see how our life progresses.