Happy Anniversary

~ Disclaimer: parental units, you can skip this post if you wish! ~

We've been married 4 years, together for 10 (essentially), and

Ryan and I have always been, if nothing else, passionate.

We work, fight, and most importantly LOVE passionately.

Lately, there has been less passion.   

I'll be honest and say that I've been a little out of sorts.  I'm not really sure what my deal is, but I've been "off".  I think my man misses me.  I miss him.  I miss US.

I understand that as you get older, the business of life can take priority over other things, but I think it's important to make time for the stuff that matters.  How about the one you devoted yourself to?  Oh yeah! That person!  The one that used to make my stomach flippity-flop with a gentle kiss!  Now, a kiss is usually a quick "Welcome home, whatcha want for dinner?" or "See ya later, I'm off to work".  Rarely is there time (or a time when I'm not wiped out), that I can just relax and savor that kiss.

4 years ago, I married a wonderful man.  We spent a delightful 2 days at a gorgeous place called Canoe Bay, seeing the most magnificent fall colors I've ever known and doing all that other great "Newlywed stuff"! 

  When we came back, our wedding photographer did a little "special" session for us.  Some people might think we're crazy, even a little risque', but I love them.  They make me smile.  They remind me of how passionate we were.  Mmmmmm... sigh. (and yes, I do have a few of these up in the house!)

  Tomorrow, Ryan and I are heading to Duluth.

2 days.

No kids, No dogs, No house.  Adults only!

Just us being a couple and taking time to enjoy each other and do all the things a passionate couple should do!

Happy Anniversary Ryan!   

I love you so much and CAN'T WAIT to spend the next few days with you!

birthday

I'm 29

Last year as a "twenty-something".

Kinda weird.

I really don't have any of the typical "getting older" fears, 30 is not scary to me.  I know I'm gonna get more wrinkles.  I know my anatomy will inevitably head south.  Whatever.  Such is life.

Today I have celebrated by waking up with a raging headache and no cream to put in my coffee.  Boo.

The weather has been gorgeous and I feel like I'm living on a lake (the river is SO high!).  Yeah!

I had a hard time getting the girls ready and out the door, as I needed to go pay to get my drivers license renewed.  Boo.

Both girls were delightful the whole time, through getting gas, government center, groceries, etc. Yeah!

It is now after 2 and I still can't get Lila to take a nap.  Boo

After stopping at the grocery store, I now have coffee with cream in it!  Yeah!

I also bought a couple of New York Strips that Ry and I can grill up tonight with some sweet potatos, and a spinach salad. Yeah!

And because I found some canned pumpkin, I'm going to make some pumpkin bars to bring and share at work tonight.  Yeah!

AND because it's my birthday, I get a few hours of double time Birthday pay! YEAH!

Now, since Lila is knocking on her door downstairs, I should probably just deal with the fact she won't nap today and get her up.  I'm sure she'll have a great time "helping" me make my bars!!  ;)

Here are a few photos of my Greatest Birthday gifts!!

Sugar

Spice

And everything nice!  Mmmmm.....

Our "Lake"

rainy, blustery, headed-back-to work kind of day

blah.

I woke up in a pretty foul mood this morning.  I hate these Fridays.  This long stretch of work is a killer and I'm almost sick by the end, just from missing my loves.

But then I had a cup of coffee and got a GREAT morning kiss and snuggle from Lila.  The day started to look up.  Then I walked into Ellie's room to find her wide awake, bright-eyed, with a big smile on her face.  Getting better!  THEN I remembered that this stretch of 6 out of 7 days is actually only 5 (I took a vacation day for our anniversary) AND I will get double pay on Sunday night because of my birthday!

Okay, now I feel better!

up on her knees, getting so strong!

Sitting up all by herself!

The girls and I have had a pretty low-key day, but it's been nice.  It's so darn windy, I don't feel like taking them out.  So we've been just doing the random odds and ends around the house that need to get done before I head back in to work tonight.   Laundry, dishes, vacuuming (until I sucked up something and now it doesn't work, boo).  You know, the usual. We have also sang songs, played Mr. Potato Head, and read books!  Lila tormented the dogs by chasing them around with her shopping cart, and Ellie and I worked on some floor time!  She's getting so strong.  Just today I was amazed that when I left her on the floor, she can get herself up on her knees!  She also is getting really good at sitting up by herself!   Literally, that happened overnight too!

Playing in the Mr. PotatoHead bucket!

"Mom, I'm bored

The Boone!

Anyway, I'm going to lay down and rest until the girls get up from naps, Happy Friday to all of you who get the weekend off.  And to the rest of us... well, guess I'll see you at work.

Anticipation

Okay,  so I'm so freakin' excited I can't even stand it!!!!

My BFF is due to have her baby at the end of October and I CAN'T WAIT to meet this new little wonder!  Boy or Girl?  It's a suprise (just the way I like it!).

I was honored to take some photos of her lovely round belly today and just had to share one of my fav's!

Memory

2 years ago Beth left us.

She was an amazing, vibrant woman, with a laugh that will ring in my memory forever.

5 Months and stuff

Holy Cow!

5 Months!

What?

She's amazing, we love her.

Enough said!

The weekend was super busy, but lots of fun!

We spent time with ALL the Grandma's and Papa's and many of the Aunties, Uncles, and Cousins too!

It was so good to see everyone and actually just have time to visit!

Lila has been doing excellent on potty training, she doesn't even wear Pull-ups in the car anymore!  Even with all the weekend running around, NO accidents!  Yeah Lila! (Naps and bedtime are a different story, but we'll take what we can get!)  She's speaking more clear every day and becoming more animated by the second!

Now, I'll be honest and say that we're getting a full-on taste of the "terrible two's" and I'm not loving that so much.  She's gonna be a devil for Halloween.
  I'm not saying, I'm just saying....

Anyway, speaking of the devil, her and I are having a Mommy and Lila day!  Elaina went to daycare and she stayed home with me!  My plan is to try and get her 2 year pictures done, but we'll just see how that goes.  Most of all, I just want to enjoy her!  One on one, because these moments are all flying by faster than my heart can handle!

Happy Wednesday

Happy Birthday Ry

Here's wishing my hubby a WONDERFUL 31st Birthday!!!

Ryan,

 I love you so much and feel blessed every day to have such a great man in my life!

We won't see each other much today, but work calls, and I know you'll have a great time at

the game with your dad! Enjoy!  You deserve it!

Have a great day sweetie, I love you!

~Love~

Looking forward to the week

Delighted, Thrilled, Ecstatic, Overjoyed......

I cannot express how happy I am that it's Friday!

This last stretch of work for me was killer.  No real reason, it just was rough.  I miss my family.
My girls, my man, even the hounds... I just miss them.

Yesterday, Ryan and I did the Hilton parking lot swap with the girls and I took them home.  Elaina is off her normal, so of course, I couldn't get them to nap at the same time. (Translation, no nap for mommy).  Lila was pretty good, but she is a super active girl, so she keeps me moving!  Ryan was able to get home a little early and made my night, by bringing home dinner!  NO COOKING FOR ME!  Hooray!
Both kids were pretty laid back all evening and bath time was great!  Why?  Oh, because Lila asked me to get in the tub with her, and I obliged!  Then Ryan brought Ellie in too!  Mmmmm, fun orange-scented bubble bath with my loves!  Joy!
Lila went to bed fairly easy, (we are on the countdown to NO NUK by age 2) and Elaina was sleeping by 8:50, and I was in bed and sleeping by about 2 min after 9:00! Awesome!
Now, never mind Ellie was up twice last night and I've been awake since just after 5, I'm still in a wonderful mood!  I have a cup of coffee in hand and have had 20 minutes of quiet (E fell back asleep).  I plan on cleaning my house today and getting out all my fall decorations!  And of course, just taking time to enjoy my kids!

The next week holds lots of fun stuff; family visits, birthdays, pictures, zoo... Yay!
Happy Friday, are you as glad as I am?

Here's a few random photos from the past  week and a half.

...and a comb, and a brush, and a bowl full of mush....

Lila helping Daddy give Boone a bath!

Pretty girl!

Emma Krumbee's

Yesterday my mom and Alan came for a visit, and with the GORGEOUS weather we were having, we decided to take a trip to Emma Krumbees!  Well, not much of a trip, considering it's just across the highway, but whatever.

Wearing Daddy's hat to keep out of the sun!

They have their Scarecrow Festival every year and I wasn't sure if it was worth the $ to get in (didn't know if Lila would like it), but Mom said, "oh just try it" and paid for the crew (a whopping $20 bucks!) and it ended up being worth every penny!!!  Lila enjoyed it much more than I would have thought, and I enjoyed all the little photo opps!  I took way more pictures than I will ever know what to do with, but lets just be honest... we all know I have a little photo addiction. 

We made some Delicious caramel apple crisp when we got home and all in all, had a great day!
Here's just a few candid photos.  Nothing fancy.  Nothing inspirational.... just cute and fun.  Just like the day!

My Ellie

Oh baby.

She is a sweet one!

Seriously, she is one of the most chilled out, relaxed, happy babies I've ever met!

And, she's all MINE!

We got her started on a little solid food now,and yesterday, she actually seemed to enjoy it a little too!

Her two bottom teeth are in!

She is sleeping through the night again!

She will smile at just about anything and the slightest belly rub prompts a great giggle!

Mmmmmmm, I love this little bundle of sweetness!!!

New photos

Lila insisted on wearing her winter hat!

Lila's checking out Rio's pearly whites!

Rio is SOOO patient!

My homemade chicken noodle soup! Yummy!

Sweet

Can you see the two bottom teeth?  They're there!

September Shout-Outs!

September is THE month!

Seriously, in our world, Fall is the craziest time of the year, and September takes the cake!

Really!

It's the greatest month!

Never mind the great cool weather and the amazing colors,

but it encompasses both Ryan's birthday, my birthday, and our anniversary!

Mmmmmm, I LOVE September!

There are also a million other reasons to enjoy this great month and honestly, since I've been know to flake out here and there, I'm going to send some September Shout-Outs while they're on my brain! (Heaven knows they won't stay long!)

Happy Birthday to :

  Dana, Tessa, Colin, Kris, Heather, RYAN, Bjorn, Major, Jeff, Bella Grace, and Kaiya!  (Me too!)

Happy Anniversary to:

  Heather and Jason, Amy and Chad, and US!!!

Ok, there is a good chance I've forgotten someone, please forgive me.  I'll try to throw them in later if that's the case!!!

Dad~ I love you and am remembering with you this month!

Friday update

My week off comes to a close tonight.  

Boo.

The week was busy, but we had some fun!

I spent the Whole week with my two babies and it was wonderful!

Lila is becoming a little girl.  This both excites me and makes me sad.  Every day I have moments where I can't stop kissing those sweet cheeks and then the moments where I want her to just BE QUIET!  She's a boisterous little girl and her volume control needs some work! Ha!  

Silly girl!

JUMP!

 Potty training is going wonderfully!  She really is doing far better than I would have expected.  We wear a Pull-up at naps and a diaper at night, but otherwise she's in big girl undies and we've been accident free for days!  Even going to the Great MN Get-Together didn't throw her off!  We made it through the whole day dry!  Woo Hoo!

Elaina is not feeling stellar.  My suspicion is that her second bottom tooth is coming in.  The past five days she has been really needy.  Wanting to be held all the time, fussy eating, weird sleep, yada yada.  Plus you add in the non-stop finger chewing and the faucet of drool... pretty much adds up.  Regardless, she still is a pretty happy baby.  Anytime she catches your eye she gives you the big grin!  

Yesterday I took the girls and my sister to the State Fair and we really had a good time!  When I woke up, it was pouring rain,  but the sun broke out and we ended up having some fantastic weather!  We ate some goodies (garlic fries, fried pickles, and carmel apples), went through the barns (Lila liked the horses best!), and Lila even went on a little carousel with Auntie!  She wasn't too sure about that, but was smiling by the time the ride ended!  

I'm posting a few videos I've taken recently, nothing special, just our everyday stuff!

(Ellie LOVES splashing in the tub!)

Have a great weekend and if anyone is bored, give Ryan a call!  He likes having stuff to do on my work weekends!