Three, 3, tres, drei, III...

3 years ago we didn't have a child to hold.  

3 years ago we went to bed dreaming of our boy who still hadn't met yet.

3 years ago I woke up the happiest I have ever been when my water broke in the wee morning hours.

3 years ago the most beautiful boy was born to us and we are celebrating, unbelievably,  his 3 years in this world.

It is absolutely shocking to look back on video of Riley at 2.  The change and growth he has done from 2-3 is incredible.  He was hardly talking when he turned 2, he still wore diapers, he loved for us to do everything for him.  These days he is potty trained and likes to pee standing up "just wike Daddy." He loves the challenge of getting dressed himself and as long as he is leaning on the couch can successfully put unders and shorts on.  He is a big brother and his favorite line is "me do it."  He doesn't have any baby chub left (he didn't really start with much either though) and he never stops talking.  His understanding and comprehension of everything is shocking and his innocent insight into life is breathtaking.  

"You sad Lyssa?  Here watch Wiley wing a bat and it make you happy."  

"Mommy, I make you happy?"  

"Mommy, you and Daddy weal tired?  

I LOVED 2.  I loved everything about it.  He was such a good natured, happy, easily pleased 2 year old.  With 3 tomorrow we are steadily noticing that it might not be such a cake walk.  

He is stubborn.  He needs to do everything himself and if you try to help him with just a pinky finger nudge he has to start all over.  He asks one hundred million questions such as "who he Mommy?" as we drive or "Why is you driving so fast?" as we cruise down the highway.  If you get him dressed in the morning there is no changing his shirt later.  He cries out "no, me like this shirt, me only want to wear this shirt," and of course it's either a sweatshirt with 95 degree heat or a t-shirt and low 50's with a strong breeze.  He gets something in his head and it it like life or death for him.  We always heard 3 was usually the start of the terrible 2's and we are realizing everyday that indeed the rumors were true and that this is going to be a turbulent season.  

Although he tries our patience with outbursts and whining as of late he is still our sweet boy.  He hugs me and tell me how much he misses me when we have our reunion at the end of each workday.  He says "wank you" for everything even when we simply compliment him on his good attitude.  His imagination is endless and he plays so well by himself if we are tied up with his sister.  He is nice to every little child he comes in contact with and patiently waits his turn for toys or swings.  He is outgoing and has a smile on his face 90% of the time (watch out if it's the other 10% though : )  He is incredibly thoughtful and tells me how "pwetty" I am when I have been playing at the park with him, dripping in sweat with 2 days past when I should have shaved my legs.  He often tells us we are the best Mommy/Daddy "evwer" and we don't get tired of that : )  

He is all BOY.  He recently received a party favor 'purse' and as we left he quickly turned it over to me stating "this for girls Mommy, me not want to carry it."  He will be happy for hours if he is in the boat and fishing is just the start of the spectrum for his excitement.  He is getting harder and harder to take pictures of because he either does a fakey smile, or he quickly ducks as my camera clicks.  I sometimes cannot have my shutter speed set high enough because he is to darn fast.  

We love him with everything in us.  We cannot wait to wake up and give our big boy his birthday hugs. Every fiber of me is proud of him and misses him every second that we are apart.  I have shed a few tears at the thought of leaving 2 behind but the future is now and I am slowly accepting of it as I look forward to my preschoolers first day by himself, date nights with just my little man, t-ball and that last hug and "wove you this much Mommy" as we close out everyday.  

We are so thankful for this child.  

Happy 3rd Birthday Big Man!  

These balloons lasted about 3 camera clicks before he let them fly away...I will be re-doing them soon!

Bestest buds and 3rd or so cousins!

Last 2 pictures of the swing courtesy of the lovely and talented Annie Schaber Photography! : )

Father's

I love this picture.  The "3 Dad's" in my life.  

Bob- You are our angel.  You were remembered this Father's Day while we watched our children play, while we ached to hug you and while we sat down to look at your pictures.  It's just not the same without you here and we miss you dearly.  I hope you had a fabulous Father's Day peering down from the clouds  as you watched all of your boys and your grandkids.  

Dad-I have never wanted to disappoint you.  You were/are a softy.  You almost always made it to all of my games and I can imagine most were uber boring especially the fast pitch ones starting out.  I appreciate you so much more now that I watch Riley follow you around the yard and sit on your lap to mow the grass.  He adores you and so do I.  Thank you for being patient and almost always making us laugh.  

Derrick-you are the Father to our children.  In my eyes you are perfection and I hope you know that.  Riley looks up at you with sparkles in his eyes and our little Lu looks just like you as she smiles.  You are the best Daddy and our kids are so very lucky.  We are all so very lucky.  

I hope we show our appreciation and love for you everyday because you deserve nothing less.  

Happy Father's Day to the 3 men in my life that are all extraordinary and exceptional men, Father's.  

6 years later...

We celebrated 6 years of married life on Saturday.  Married life with children that is.  We stayed put all day long soaking in diaper changes, naptimes and loads of laundry while we waited for our one and only graduation celebration Saturday afternoon.  We didn't have any major plans and figured free food, beer/drinks and family would be the perfect way to spend the evening.  Turns out we couldn't have had more fun!

Riley was excited to see his cousins and Lyssa Lu was passed from person to person smiling and just going with the flow.  Someone actually asked me whose baby D was holding!  : )  It's hard to keep up even for us some days!

We flew out of there to drop Riley off with my parents so they could go and watch the Twins and Lyssa off with my sister for the night so we were officially child-less and a bit uncomfortable with it actually.  Pulling out of Katie's driveway I was a little sad.  I have never spent a night away from my sweet Lyssa and every night Riley has spent away from us we always end up going to bed just a bit somber with the reality of an empty house so going back to the party was rather challenging but after some small talk, memory lane walking and a few drinks we quickly realized that time together, alone (not really but alone as husband and wife instead of Mommy and Daddy) was the perfect way to commemorate another year of LOVE.

It was fun dancing and drinking (really rather responsibly actually!) while catching up with cousins and Aunts that we rarely see anymore.  Our whole s-ball team was there and it was really fun spending the evening with them since our team didn't play again this year.  Talks of next year of course followed and with a 1.5 year old we just might be able to pull it off.

Everyday I see something more in Derrick that I love.

Watching him with especially Alyssa has brought out a tenderness in him even more so than before.  It is a wonderful feeling knowing that we have found our perfect match.  In the ebb and flow of a busy life he carries me when I stumble and I keep things organized and moving when he can't keep a thought straight.  We switch on and off who gets which child in pj's and we hold hands after they are both in bed for the night.  It's a simple, humble, deeply rooted affection that doesn't require much work or fancy expensive gifts with lavish nights out.  It's easy and comfortable.  It's our simple life.  We work, we play, we live, laugh and love.

He is my everything and I could not ask for more.

Happy 6 years D...I love you.  

Here goes nothing

I have always wanted to enter these lash lovelies into a competition and finally got around to it over at

http://thepapermama.blogspot.com/2011/06/photo-competition-your-best-shot.html,

Regardless I am in LOVE with the owner of these lashes and this pic will always be a favorite to me just like the boy is! 

Sweet Treat

This girl of mine has been curing my usually insatiable craving for sweets all day.  She is a doll and I just couldn't love her anymore!

She is my new sweet tooth!

Lyssa Lu: 4 months

Our Little Lu Lu you are a JOY to be around.  Your first week with us was interesting.  Anytime they took you out of our arms you screamed.  You screamed for every diaper change.  You were clearly not ready for the 'real' world and we called you our little lobster because you would turn beat red as you cried.  I remember your first tears when they finally developed and started falling as you cried and they broke our hearts.  Looking back on you and our first 12 weeks together I can definitely agree that you were a "particular" baby.  You liked things a certain way and you always wanted to be held.  You are a baby that one needs to figure out on their own.  We know your cries. We know that when you start pulling your hair it's because you are tired and want to have a lovey over your face so you can fall asleep.  Baby crying usually means pick up and love on that baby but we now know that sometimes you want to be put on the floor to roll and play on your own (completely goes against every mothering fiber in my body).  We know you, we love you. (and if you must know your brother was an easier baby)  You are uniquely you and we wouldn't change a thing.

I find it interesting to look back on Riley and realize how very laid back and easy going of a baby he was.  He loved to be held, he didn't mind be put down, he slept good in his crib and didn't have crazy eyes when the lights went out, he ate good and was a great pooper but at the same time he was such a huge life changing event that it was at times so overwhelming.  You however are 'particular' and you like to be held a certain way (much like a football, looking out so you can see everything around you), you had crazy eyes every time the lights went out for your first 12 weeks, you are having some trouble adjusting to formula, but I haven't felt overwhelmed with you.  I appreciate your babyhood in a whole new way.  Perspective is everything. 

A peek at Lyssa: 4 months
*You are wearing size 1 diapers.
*You are eating 4 ozs every 4-6 hours.
*You are wearing 3 month old clothes.
*You are going to bed at 8:00-8:15 and sleeping through the night til 5:00 or so.  (you do wake up for a Nuk most nights a few times but stumbling into your room for a plug is much easier knowing we are going right back to sleep, in fact I think we have plugged you a few times and thought it was a dream!)
*You are easy to put to bed.  Eat, rock for a few minutes, insert lovie's on both sides of your cheeks, turn on your ocean and you are out.
*You can roll over now! 
*You must have a lovey next to your face while napping/sleeping.
*You love to sit in your Bumbo and wave around toys wildly since your motor skills are fresh. 
*You have found your hands and feet and you stare at them sometimes accidentely smacking yourself in the face as you try and figure out how they work. 
*You are all about chewing on your hands.  It is a wonder you aren't always dehydrated with all the drool that comes out of your gummy mouth these days.
*You lay content on the floor forever now as long as you have room to roll and watch us play. 
*You laugh literally everytime we get you dressed/undressed. 
*You think poopsie is the funniest word and it always gets the giggles. 
*You are so pretty with your blonde hair, sparkly blue eyes, perfect lips and rosy cheeks.  We tell you that all the time. 
*You have officially rubbed all the hair in the middle back of your head off.  It's cute.  Have I mentioned how much I love your hair flying around on the top of your head? 
*You have found your voice!  You love to hear yourself babble and girlfriend you are loud!  It's hard to talk over you!

You have your 4 month check-up Monday and Riley has promised to hold your hands for shots.  There is a good chance that I might want to clock the nurse adminstering the shots but I will try not to be 'that' mom.

We love you so much Alyssa Marie!

30 years later...

(This was a 'scheduled' post and apparently got lost in blogger land so it's a bit late!)

I forgot to post about my parents surprise 30th wedding anniversary and know that especially G'ma Shirley is awaiting a few pictures!  : )  Way back in May/April I had enlisted the help of my much wiser and better big party planner S-I-L Sheri on how to throw a suprise party.  She gave me many ideas and lot's of advice and I sat on all of it all summer long until all of a sudden it was August 12th and the party was scheduled to go down in about 5 weeks.  We and by we I mean mostly me had to scramble to get invites out the door and in my haste screwed up the font size on the invites...biggest mistake EVER!  Riley was on my lap, I was under the gun and just wanting the get er'done so I chose the card not realizing it was a dark grey background and that I chose black ink for my font and also not realizing that the pre-set font size was a mere 10 and that aside from it being hard to read black font on dk grey photo paper the itty, bitty, teeny, tiny font made it nearly impossible.  Needless to say the next day I had 3-4 voicemails on my phone from guests saying that the picture of my parents was nice but that they couldn't read anything and they really wanted a call back ASAP so they didn't ruin it in church the next day.  To say it was the most frustrating RSVP process I have ever been through (yes, worse than my wedding RSVP's) was an understatement and I will NEVER EVER again rush through and hardly give it a 2nd glance before ordering 50 photo invites!  So we procrastinated some more and ended up on Saturday the 11th (the party was on the 12th) meeting for some grocery shopping, decoration shopping and day of baking.  My brother watched Riley man while Katie and I hit the stores.  Dollar store shopping can really add up as you cruise the aisles : )  We finally made it back to my place and started baking.  We made brownies, Rice Krispie bars, Special K bars, Costco cookies ; 0, and Reese's PB cup cookies.  Yes the theme was desert/punch bar!  We also made a coffee punch and a fruit punch with orange juice, strawberry jello, lemon juice and more!  They were yummy!  We ended up having to tell my Dad about the surprise so that someone could creatively get my mom back to church on a Sunday afternoon!  The party was a hit and although we came back home with lots of treats it was fun and my parents were surprised and had a blast. 

Yes, the lighting in the church is BAD!  and my patience with Manual mode was thin so this is the best I could do besides who wants to take pictures when there is a table full of goodies and family to talk to?!