4 Years Ago

4 years ago today Luke and I got married under a giant oak tree. May 20, 2006 was the happiest day of my life. I know, I have 2 children and shouldn't the days they were born rank as the happiest? The days that Will and Dane were born were definitely the most unbelievable, divine and incredible days of my life. But the day I married Luke was by far, the happiest. I have never been happier than I was that day. It was a perfect day because I knew from the bottom of my heart that I was marrying the right person for me. Four years later, I feel the exact same way. We were so fortunate, so madly in love, and so happy to celebrate our marriage with the support and love of our families and friends who shared that day with us.

Sometimes I find myself reflecting on the crazy path my life has taken. I have to admit that my life definitely took an unexpected turn in January of 2005, when I met Luke - and I thank God that my life didn't turn out like I had expected. Often when I'm taking the boys on a walk I will close my eyes, take a deep breath and inhale the fresh air. I will look around at this beautiful land we live on and know that I'm exactly where I am supposed to be. In life, in love, in my marriage, and as a mother.

Get the pregnant lady some doughnuts!

I'm not one of those pregnant women who asks my husband to run out to the store to fulfill my pregnancy cravings. The worst errand I've asked him to run for me was a 4ish am run to CVS the first night we were home from the hospital with Will. I had decided no pacifiers for us! I was told they can delay speech and I wasn't going to start off on the wrong foot with my baby. Well, after 3 days and nights of absolutely no sleep, and that first night at home holding my crying baby and staring at the clock the entire night I woke up Luke and said "Please!! We need pacifiers!! Get one of every kind they have!!"

Having said that, Luke has always gone above and beyond to satisfy my raging pregnancy sweet tooth. He makes me cookie dough (eggless of course) about every other week, brownies with chocolate frosting and even lets Will help him with the cooking/baking. If I asked him to I know he would trek across the state to get me that certain sweet. Well, I have been craving doughnuts. I had mentioned the other day that I would love a "hot now" Krispy Kreme and too bad we didn't have one near us. Each time I go to the store I ponder over the pre-packaged boxes of Krispy Kreme or Entemanns doughnuts. In the end I always figure I don't want to waste all those calories on the boxed kind. Well this morning my sweet husband got up and drove about 40 minutes to Long's Bakery. Voted Best of Indianapolis Bakery the last couple of years. He returned with a box full of glazed bits of heaven. Mmmmm, they were soo good! Thank you Luke for being such a sweet and thoughtful husband/daddy.

I am very excited that we are having another boy for a number of reasons...

• It's not possible for me to love Will any more than I already do. He has been such a blessing and a joy and although I was a little nervous at the idea of having a boy at first, now it is so natural and second nature that it makes me think: What's better than a precious, adorable, loving, irresistible little boy? TWO precious, adorable, loving, irresistible little boys!
• We already have everything we need, in the correct color! When Will was a baby and it seemed like every month I was packing away clothes he had outgrown and barely worn, I thought my gosh, what a waste! Now...we get to use them all over again! I can't wait to get them all out and wash them and put this next little guy into some of the old favorites.
• I can't wait to see Will interact with his little brother. And I can't wait to see this next little guy grow up with Will as a big brother to take after and follow his example (which both excites me and scares me to death)
• I'm sorry, but can you think of anything cuter than my two little boys running and playing on the beach in Michigan?? Or playing together on all the land where we live?

The only downfall (which Luke would consider a very good thing) is that I haven't shopped for much. Part of the fun preparation of having a baby is doing the shopping, finding the bargains, getting the new things for the new baby. We don't really need anything. I have picked up a few things here and there that I couldn't resist, but not much. So anyway, if you're still with me...

I was SO excited to go to Buy Buy Baby with my 20% off coupon and get a new double stroller this weekend with Luke and Will. After, I bet, at least an hour and a half of frustrating shopping we left with nothing. I was shocked to realize that a double stroller is going to set us back just about as much as the whole darn travel system that we got for Will! (hundreds of dollars) Is Will even going to want to ride in a stroller that much when he's 3? I decided no on a side-by-side because Will could barely even squeeze his shoulders into them with his winter coat on as it is. Plus they don't look that comfy for a baby. Which leaves us with the "mall cruisers" - the big front/back strollers with the cup holders and storage underneath. They look nice, but are monstrous and I would have to put Will in front (insert image of him kicking newborn in front of him if he were in back) and the front seat was so short that it didn't look comfy for Will at all. (plus the fact that he screamed bloody murder when we tried it out and was attempting to slink out of it the whole time kind of turned me off too). We still don't know what to do - they have these "boards" that you can attach to your current stroller that your older child can stand on and ride. But I'm not sure I want to commit to Will never riding (sitting) in a stroller again if we go with that option.

The only bright point in the entire experience came from Luke. We had taken our Chicco infant seat with us because apparently they are only compatible with a couple of other strollers, so we thought we would take it along to actually try it out. After we shopped for at least an hour, and had determined this was not going to be an easy task, Luke took the infant seat and approached a side by side stroller. I looked on with horror as he tried to jimmy it into the stroller, rocking it back and forth trying to 'get it to stay'. I was imagining our newborn baby in there, suffering from shaken baby syndrome. After he had gotten it wedged in, with the seat sitting almost vertical, he turned to me and with all seriousness said "We could probably bungee it in and..." I burst out laughing. That is SO my husband. Willing and able to fix anything. Gotta love him. :)

Happy Father's Day Luke!

On Father's Day I want to thank Luke for being such an incredible father. It must be so difficult to be away all week. Especially when Will was first born - trying to adjust to being a parent, which is hard enough, but only being able to do so on weekends. But he has done an amazing job, and Will absolutely adores him. I love seeing the two of them together, playing and reading and rough-housing and laughing and being silly. I see Luke in Will every day and it makes me smile. I love you Luke!

ps: the Chopper is going well. D-Day is still set for next spring!