Days like this...

Can’t a girl catch a break……seriously?!  Do you ever feel like the world is out to get you?  Bad things happening everywhere you turn.  One set-back after another.  That’s ME right now.  Ugh!  And to top it all off with a big fat cherry on top, I get into a fricken accident on my way to daycare pick-up last night.  I never swear and I rarely even use the term “fricken”…so it’s an indication that I’m really mad and frustrated.  My phone must have been trying to lighten the mood because when I typed the word “fricken” into a text message to Trav, my spellcheck changed it to “frogmen”…as in, “Seriously, one frogmen thing after another!”  Whatever that means.  And then I thought, seriously, who would EVER use the term frogmen???  And I got a little more mad!  Anyhoo…I’m getting off track here.  My SWEET minivan now has a smashed in driver’s side door…..and to be quite honest, it looks a whole lot LESS COOL, if that is possible, than it did before. 

So there’s my rant for the day.  I’m lucky that I didn’t have the kids with me.  I’m lucky that I wasn’t on the highway and that it was just a side street and traffic was only moving at a mere 20 mph (which was really ticking me off because I was going to be late to daycare pick-up).  I’m lucky that my minivan is still functioning and that no one was hurt.  I’m lucky that the girl that hit me was driving a big old beat up Suburban and she said nothing happened to her car, because the accident was both of our faults. 

I’m lucky that my hubby can bear with my crabbiness and grumpy self sometimes when I get overwhelmed with all this crap that life throws at me…whew!  Thank God he is so great at diffusing anxiety or I’d be a walking time bomb!  He’s all, “We got this babe…it’ll be alright.  No worries!”  And I’m all, “The world is going to end.  Why me.  Stupid, stupid, stupid me.”  We’re a good match, you see. 

And good thing because we’ve got the monster to contend with…Miss Marley has been changing her own poopie diapers lately.  Yea, all by herself.  Last night was round 3 of what Travis and I have “coined” the Poop Massacre.  She came out of her bedroom, all smiling at me…and I look down at her and she looks like she is rubbing brown lotion all over her arms, up to her elbows, squishing it in between her hands like it’s soap.  I stopped dead in my tracks and my mouth fell open.  And then I looked in her bedroom.  Yea, let’s just say that was pretty fun (rd 1 and rd 2 cleaned up by Trav, poor guy).  All over her carpet.  All over her little nightstand.  Seriously, what is her obsession with poop.  As I was tucking her in last night I told her, “See Marley, your room stinks now.  Smells like poop.  Poop is gross and it belongs in the potty and we DO NOT touch it.”  And she said, “Momma, mell (smell)…ugh.  Gwoss.  Spway some of your fume (perfume).”  And so I did and then she was happy.  Please God, let her make it to the potty next time or else I might throw up.

And so it goes………life is never dull in my house.  No time to sit still and rest with the crazy bunch that I live with.  Good thing that Trav and I are eyeing up a trip this coming winter because MAMA needs a break.  A little mental health vacation where all I do is suntan and speak to my husband about things not involving Marley’s poop and Jax’s teething and car accidents and such.

Think I’ll go home tonight after taking care of this car repair business, hug the babies, put them to bed, pour a big ol’ glass of wine and just sit still for an hour or so, brainlessly watching Bravo or something…now, does that sound exciting or what?!

My babies...

Just an update on our crazy little family (mainly because I feel as though I’ve neglected Jax and his baby days—truth is, we’ve just been SO busy)…

Something about that 6 month mark with a baby that makes you feel like, Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh…I’m alive, I’m out of the dark, we’ve made it!!!  Because man, those first 4 months, and maybe 6, are tough!  I think the first 5 were miserable this go round because poor Jax was sick constantly.  Nothing too serious, but always a cruddy cold and cough that made all of us sleep-deprived!  Despite that on-going cold, Mister Jax is the world’s most smiley baby!  Seriously.  The kid can’t stop smiling!  And it’s like an all out, wide as his face, twinkly eyes kind of smile.  Infectious!  On Friday, my little man turned 7 MONTHS OLD……I’m not quite sure where the time goes, but it sure does fly!  He’s been crawling since about a week before his 6 month birthday, and he pulled himself up to a stand last weekend…milestones that Marley didn’t hit until she was 8 ½ months or so!!  At this rate, he’ll be walking come fall.  Oy vey! 

I truly do LOVE this baby stage…all the smiles, the peek-a-boos, the giggles, the drool, the curiosity.  He’s ALL boy, but he is SWEET!  Trav gets a bit frustrated because he is a total mommy’s boy!  If I walk out of the room, he can go from happy to a crying mess in about 5 seconds!  And as soon as I’m back in sight, he’s happy again!  Last week, my heart about melted when I went to hand him off to Trav and he VERY CLEARLY did the whole, lean into mommy/wrap arms around my neck thing…………awwwwwwwww!!!  I could’ve just eaten him up—my little sweet boy!

Here's what he is especially loving at the moment, besides MOMMY:

1.  The Batman song...Trav started singing it to him one day and he got so happy.  Now, if he hears, "Dun-a-nunna, dun-a-nunna, BATMAN" he breaks out in the biggest smile!

2.  Patty-cake & peek-a-boo!

3.  Sucking his thumb...this must be genetic, I swear!

4.  Marley, except I suppose when she pushes him over and then he cries...darn sisters!  His eyes are glued to her when she's around, curious as ever and wanting to be off and running with her!

5.  The apple and cinnamon puree I made for him!  Yum!  The boy loves to eat!!

6.  Bedtime.  7pm sharp.  He doesn't like to rock...just wants to eat and then he's ready to lay down, wide awake in his crib.  He does his whole "restless leg" re-arranging for a minute (must get that from his father) and then he's passed out!
 

Miss Marley continues to chatter away, get into trouble, and make friends with every spider, bug, toad, animal that comes her way!  A daredevil, to say the least.  But I am not going to get in the way of her and all her tomboy-ish bravery!  You go, Mars!!!  She’s all dirt and funny faces and jokester by day, and sweet, baby-loving, momma hugging girl by night.  She can’t fall asleep until I sing her “Rock-a-bye baby”!  And the other night, when we were getting ready to say our nighttime prayers, she starts off by saying, “Thank God…for ev-y-ting!”  Couldn’t have said it better myself, baby girl.  Wise beyond her years!

So we’re all good—busy, but great!  We have a couple crazy weekends coming up…trips to the cabin, a trip to Chicago to visit auntie Brenna (which we are soooooooo excited about), and another trip to Fifty Lakes, this time with all of my sister’s kids in tow.  I really wish I didn’t have to work all summer long, so I could just soak it all in! 

Wishing you all a fabulous and safe summer!

The Times They Are A-Changin'...

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin'
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'.

Indeed they are.  AND I love this song……..though it’s talking about something much deeper than just my LIFE CHANGES, it still is something that I can relate to at this point in my life.  Growing up, letting go, learning to change and adapt or be forever lost in the growing hustle and bustle of life these days.  Becoming more patient, more understanding, more sympathetic, more accepting……..all good things when you are raising two young babes! 

This is going to seem totally silly, but I’m having an especially hard time letting go of one thing in particular….my car.  Was it an awesome car, you ask?  No.  Well, awesome to me, a person who really could care less about what kind of car I drive as long as it gets me from A to B.  I’ve never been a car person and never will…….it’s just not something that I VALUE in the least.  Awesome because of all the memories and moments it represents to me.  As I was driving the car to work on Thursday, I got all choked up thinking about trading it in.

I remembered back to when Travis bought the car.  The day stands out in my mind…he picked me up and took me out to lunch that day to “show it off” and I was smitten (with him and the car)!  And I remember a few years later, when Travis told me that it was best for me to drive it (as his construction business required a much bigger vehicle) and so we transferred the title into my name……I thought it was the coolest thing!  And then just a few short years later, Travis staged our Engagement Weekend Scavenger Hunt in which he had me driving all the way up to Ely, MN in that car, clues hidden along the way.  He proposed that weekend and it’s been almost 4 years since!  What comes after is the part that really gets to me…we brought our BABIES home from the hospital in that car.  And our Sasha pup, too.  So to me, it is so much more than “just a car”……..it is part of all of those wonderful memories and for that reason, I am sad to see it go.  Travis said I’m crazy and that we will make new memories in the new car……and I know we will.  Our family has grown and we’re TOO BIG for that little car, though it hasn’t stopped us from packing into it like sardines, two car seats, Sasha, Mom, Dad, weekend gear, and heading to the cabin on several occasions.  It was a great car and when I look back to think of our family years from now, I will remember that car as a very special part of WHO WE WERE….

And so I say good-bye to our trusty Oldsmobile Aurora!  We’ll miss you! 

And a big HELLO to my new ride……oh yeah baby, I’m a minivan mom now (Chrysler Town & Country).  Don’t be a hater, this van is SAAAAAAWEEEEEEETTTTT!!  Reminds me of the Toyota Sienna commercials and the mom singing....."Straight owning bake sales with my cupcake skills!  I'm better with the money, so I handle the bills.  I always buy in bulk, ain't afraid of no spills and every Mother's Day proves.......I'm kind of a big deal!!"  

Oh, this is the GOOD LIFE!!

 

XOXO!!

I feel a good cry coming on………maybe it’s because I’m overly tired.  A sick baby, one that has been sick for 12 days and waking every 2 hours at night, will do that to you.  Maybe it’s because I’m feeling like I don’t get enough time with JUST MARLEY………and it makes me so sad because she is growing up, more and more every day, right before my eyes.  And I just want to cuddle her and kiss her and tell her that mommy loves her just the same, if not more, than I always have.  Maybe it’s because I just got off the phone with my sister who is just getting to the hospital to wait for her dear friend to get out of surgery.  Her friend is 34.  She has cancer.  And it makes me sooooo sad.  She has these 3 beautiful little girls, and it makes me think of my own babies, and how having to go through something like that would be incredibly difficult. 

And so I’m sad………..life is just too short.  I feel like I won’t ever have ENOUGH time with the people I love.  I won’t ever have ENOUGH hugs and kisses from my Miss Mars.  I won’t ever have ENOUGH sleep, no matter what I do, and so I’m going to make the best of it.  The best of this crazy, beautiful, messy, amazing, sometimes painful, life that is MINE.  There really is no point to this blog post.  Writing it just makes me more aware of the ways in which I need to be more present in my own life.  How I need to keep taking these mental pictures of Marley when she does one of the hundreds of things that make me smile……..the way she is mastering jumping with both feet (it looks so silly), how she says, “Yeah, yeah” to everything (and how it’s a clear indication she is NOT listening to me, the way she looks at me when she’s being sarcastic…chin to her chest and looking up rolling her eyes, how she yells, “Love you” from her bedroom for about 5 minutes after I close her door at bedtime.  Man, I love that little girl.  Even the smell of her blanket.  It was laying in our bed the other day and I picked it up and thought about how it just smells like Marley...

I’m taking mental pictures of Jax too.  He is growing up so fast…not even a baby anymore.  But I try to remember all the things I love about him at this particular moment.  I mean, it’s everything, really.  As much as I love my sleep, I love rescuing my little man at night when he cries, sitting in his room, nursing him and rocking him back to sleep.  The way the little fingers of one of his hands sprawl out on my chest.  And his smell……..ahhhh, can I bottle it up?!  There just really is nothing more precious in my life than my babies.  Sweet little miracles and I can’t believe they are mine.  

So, if nothing else, I hope my family and friends know how very much I love them.....how I carry them in my heart, wherever I go.  I do my best to always say those 3 words.  To smooch my nieces and nephew and tell them I love them.  To lift them up like I did when they were babies, because it seems like just yesterday they were.  Hey, I'm a lover, what can I say?!  And that is exactly how I want my kids to be........warm, affectionate, kind little people that don't hesitate to say I LOVE YOU, and hopefully they say it often!

Anyway…….enough sappiness for one day!  Seriously!  How about this weather?!?!  Haha! 

My sister took a few pics of my babies this past weekend.  She’s gotten so busy with her photography biz and that makes me SO HAPPY!!  Doing something she loves, finally!  And bonus…….she snaps photos of the kids from time to time.  Amazingly sweet pictures!  If you have not been to her website yet, please check it out.  Heidi Kubes Photography!.  Newborns, maternity, family, senior pics…….she does it all, or will give it a try if she hasn’t yet!  She gave me a peek at a couple pictures of Marley and Jax.  Here they are…  

Happy Tuesday!!

Back To The Grind...

I returned to work on February 20^th after 12 blissful (and sometimes not) weeks of maternity leave.  There really isn’t too much to say about going back…it is what it is, I knew I’d be working again, and I was prepared for the sadness of having to leave my baby.  That being said, it was much easier the second go-round.  And it really boils down to the fact that I LOVE my daycare provider, she’s amazing, and knowing that I’d be leaving Jax with her had me completely at ease.  Marley didn’t start daycare until she was 15 months old (as some may know we were fortunate enough to have Uncle Jesse take care of her out of our home).  We were led to Robin through a good friend of mine.  BEST THING that ever happened to us and our kiddos!  Marley has truly blossomed at daycare and I know Jax will do the same, and that he will have lots of attention and love from Robin and the gang of girls that have become Marley’s “friends”!  Being that my children are little extensions of my heart, knowing that they are well cared for and loved when I can’t be with them is the best feeling ever!  Funny how your daycare provider becomes almost like a part of your family, a second mother to your kids...this is truly how I feel about Miss Ra Ra!!

The good thing about being back to work is getting back to our normal routine.  Term normal used very loosely.  Something about 2 kids has really made me feel like a MOM.  Getting outfits picked out the night before, remembering to thaw the breast milk for Jax’s bottles at daycare, setting the “delay brew” on my coffee pot (which I never did before), meal-planning/prepping like it’s my jobby job…….anything to make the next day go smoother.  It does take a lot of organization, but it has helped immensely and kept me sane these last 3 weeks!!  I've actually grown to love the feeling of Sunday.  Not the "going to work tomorrow" part, but the "Ahhh...my house is clean, my fridge is full, my week is planned" part!

Little Jax buddy, or Bubby, as we call him, is doing great!  He’s adjusting to daycare and developing more of a schedule.  He found his thumb while napping at daycare the other week and he couldn’t be happier!!  When he gets tired, he starts chewing on his fists and soon enough, he gets that thumb!  Go Jax!!  And we have to keep an eye on this one….he has rolled over both ways already.  Not consistently, but he’s capable of doing it.  Just the other day at naptime, I watched him fuss in his crib while laying on his tummy.  He rolled onto one shoulder and started scooting himself over with his leg.  In a matter of 30 seconds he had rolled onto his back, found the thumb, and fell asleep!  Little stinker!!

Marley is also doing great.  She is so long and lean.  Always on the go.  And into everything!  I remember going to a Jerry Seinfeld comedy act in Vegas with Travis about 4 years ago...Jerry started talking about his family and he said, "Yeah...we have a 2 year old at home.  I recommend you NEVER get one of those!"  I couldn't relate at the time, but now...oh man, do I get it!!  Marley has learned to scale the walls of her crib, so she’s no longer held captive by that space!  We’re having minor (sometimes major) discipline issues with her.  We just haven’t quite figured out what is effective…time outs don’t seem to mean anything to her.  In fact, I had her in a time-out this weekend (she kicked her brother) and I was explaining the reason afterwards.  I told her that we don’t kick people, that we use our feet for jumping and running and such.  And I told her that I expect that she be nice to her brother and that I expect that Jax be nice to her.  And then I said, “You need to remember to listen to mommy because I’m the boss!”  And she looked at me, pointed at her chest and said, “I BOSS!”  And I said, “No, you are not the boss, mommy is the boss!”  At which point she repeated, “No, I boss!”  Officially have my hands full with that little devil!!!  She is such a spit-fire!

To compare (because it's fun to ponder whether or not they look alike), here is a picture of Marley at 3 months and one of Jax at 3 months.  So different, huh?!

Marley Jean

Jax Thomas

   
Aside from the usual craziness that accompanies two kiddos, we're doing well.  Getting over a house full of sickness, a bad cold that moved from Marley to me to Trav, and finally to Jax.  I hate it when all of us get sick......no fun!  We have a pretty low key weekend planned, thankfully.  Catching up on some rest, dinner with girlfriends tonight, breakfast and 3 month photos of Jax baby at my sister's house on Sunday!  Yay!!  And we have even better things to look forward to in the coming months.  We're less than 60 days away from Auntie Brenna's wedding in Naples, which means first flight for Jax and Marley's big debut as FLOWER GIRL!!!  Can't wait!!


Hope you all have a fabulous weekend with your loved ones and ENJOY the beautiful sunshine-y weather!!


XO!
Stevie

meet jax

Kind of hard to say what he will be like "when he grows up", much less to imagine how his personality will take shape over the next year.  One thing is for sure, he is TOTALLY SWEET!!!

Back into the world of babies...it's crazy how easily you forget what it's like to have a teeny one in the house.  A few things stand out in particular:

1.  Diapers.  Seriously.  I forgot that infants sometimes go through 10-12 diapers a day!  Wow!


2.  Clothes.  Itsy bitsy clothes.  And putting them on a squirming, lotioned up baby has to be my LEAST FAVORITE thing in the world.  Jax hates getting dressed!


3.  Blow-outs.  Not the "I just straightened my hair" kind.


4.  Backaches.  The constant holding/bopping a baby takes a toll.  Must bust out the yoga DVD's to remedy this!


5.  Nail clipping.  Again, seriously, this is another one of my least favorite things!  I've tried filing, and it just is not quite as effective.  I haven't cut him yet, so I guess I'm doing ok!


Sometimes I feel like we are running out of space for all the "stuff" that comes along with toddlers and babies.  Just as we had the baby gear stowed away, out it comes.  Our house has been invaded by bottles and frozen breastmilk and diapers and butt cream and those nose-sucky things (I DON'T even know the real name for it).  I knew I was back into the swing of this baby stuff when, once again, I started finding breast pads stuck under pillows or in the sheets of our bed.  Gross, yes......but whatever.  If you've nursed at night, in your bed, half asleep, you know what I mean.  Those things have a way of running off!  This morning I had 2 on one side and 1 on the other.  Not quite sure where I got the 3rd one from.  Must have been stuck in the covers!  Ha!  The good life, I'm telling you!


Those people that tell you to "sleep when baby sleeps"...pssshhhh.  In an ideal world, that would be oh-so-nice!  But really.  Is someone going to send a fairy over to my house to do a few loads of laundry, unload the dishwasher, prep dinner???  Having said fairy would be the only way that I could "sleep when baby sleeps".  Without her, my house would fall into complete disarray while we slept the day away!  This is the one thing that I panic about the MOST.  Returning to work in 2 1/2 weeks (soooooo sad), and hoping that I can juggle two kids, work, and such, while maintaining some sort of healthy meal plan for dinnertime and keeping my house sort of clean..........yes, I'm lowering my standards once again, from OCD clean, to really clean, to now sort of clean.  That will have to do for now.  I don't have the energy, nor will I have the time, to accomplish anything better.  


Back to Jax, my sweet baby boy!  Oh, I love him so much, I can't even explain!  He's super smiley, a bit colicky at night (witching hour perhaps), a very good eater, and just a precious little man.  Marley and Jax are getting along a lot better these days.  She must know that he's not going anywhere!  We don't have any sort of schedule quite yet, but Jax sleeps pretty good at night.  Not long stretches, but he'll sleep 3 hours, eat, fall back asleep immediately, and repeat about 3 times.  That's good enough for me!  I'm not feeling the tiredness that I felt the first time around, perhaps it's due to my being used to waking at night.  I've heard grandmas say that you won't get a good nights sleep until your kids are out of the house, and I'm sure that is true!  We've been trying to get Jax to sleep in his crib at night, but sometimes I bring him back into our bedroom (really because it's easier).......and I need to stop doing that!


I'll post some pics of his nursery tomorrow.  I realized I haven't taken any photos of his room and it's pretty cool!  Lucky little man!!

Happy hump day!!!

Tardy for the Party....

Yep...I'm waaaaaaaaay late in posting something, anything really, on the blog about the birth of our son!  And it's not because he's second best.  And it's not because I'm lazy.  It's truly because I haven't had a more than a few minutes to myself in the last six weeks.  Squeezing a shower in each day is a major accomplishment and I know all you mamas out there can relate.

As you all know, we welcomed Jax Thomas Severson into the world on December 6th, 2011.  He was born via c-section at 12:58pm, weighing 9lb 6oz, and measuring 21in.  What a BIG boy!!  Previously, I had written about my WISH to VBAC (to deliver vaginally and not have a repeat cesarean)...and obviously this didn't happen.  The story goes something like this:

I went to my doctor appointment on Monday, December 5th.  I was 41 weeks, 3 days pregnant.  Travis and I had decided that if I wasn't progressing, we would ask Dr. Jenkins to schedule a repeat c-section.  I had an ultrasound that day and also a non-stress test.  The ultrasound showed us that we had a big baby boy, that he was practicing his breathing skills, head down, ready to go.  The amniotic water was cloudy with vernix, much different than how the water looked early in pregnancy.  Our ultrasound tech noted that he was SO READY to come out, but she also pointed out that my cervix was not dilating at all.  The non-stress test was uneventful.  Baby was doing just fine and Dr. Jenkins told me she would let me stay pregnant for 1 more week if I wanted to stick to my guns and attempt a VBAC, though she did point out that he was already a big boy, and since my cervix wasn't doing anything, we could certainly end up in the operating room a week from now regardless.  I was uncomfortable and ready to meet the little guy, so I asked Dr. Jenkins if we could just schedule it...the thought of being pregnant past 42 weeks was making me sick.  And so that is what happened.  The next morning we woke up, had breakfast with our little miss (well, not me...I had to fast), dropped her off at daycare, and headed to the hospital.

It was easier this time around because we knew what to expect with the whole c-section process.  We checked in at St. Francis at 10am, where we were able to situate ourselves in our room that we would "live" in for the next 3 days.  At about noon, I was whisked away to the c-section suite (yes, at St. Francis they have an operating room on the same floor as the birthing suites...awesome).  I was prepped for surgery, where I had a minor freak out because the anesthesiologist, while attempting to numb me, sent a shooting pain down my back and then when I jumped, he replied, "Well, I'm not perfect!"  OMG!  You damn well better get this "perfect" because I don't want to be feeling this operation that is about to happen.  

Everything else was smooth sailing...and no, I didn't feel it!  We made bets in regards to how much baby would weigh.  Dr. Jenkins thought he'd weigh around 7lb, Travis thought he'd weigh 8lb 6oz, and I thought he'd weigh 9lb 3oz.  They struggled to get his shoulders out as they were situated at a weird angle in my pelvis.  Within 10 minutes, I heard that beautiful sound........a baby crying!!!  Ahhhh!!!  And Jax was lifted over the surgical drape so that I could see him and it was pure heaven!  Sweet, crying baby boy!  All 9lb 6oz of him!!  I was able to cuddle him immediately, and instead of Travis being swept out of the room with baby, they were allowed to stay sitting next to me, so that I could hold him and see him while I was stitched up.  It was a great experience when compared to my first c-section, and I'm very happy with how it all went........not dwelling on what could have been because the outcome, delivering a healthy baby, was achieved and that is all I ever prayed for!!

And so here we are, 6 weeks later.  Jax is a sweetheart...cranky at times, maybe a bit colicky (like his sister was), but smiley as can be and a breastfeeding monster!  We all love him to pieces and Marley is finally starting to adjust.  I'd be lying if I said it was all rainbows and unicorns in our house though.  The adjustment period, which were are still in the thick of, has been a struggle.  It's hard because we're all sooooo tired, we feel like we're just squeaking through our days, trying to tag team the kids, dealing with Marley's terrible 2's (can a 2 year old have A.D.D.?????), potty training, cluster feeding, cold/flu season, Christmas............the list goes on.  There have been moments when I retreat to an empty room and cry because I just think, how can I get through this...it's that hard.  I don't think, as a mom, that I'm alone in feeling that way.  I know this phase of our lives will pass, that things will get better, that everyone is growing and learning and adjusting...but it doesn't make the "hard stuff" any less hard.  And don't get me wrong, I love, capital LOVE, my kiddos to death!  It's just that this going from 1 to 2 kids stuff has been challenging, and maybe a lot of that has to do with Marley's age at the time Jax was born.  Being 2 is hard.  Lots of stuff going on with her, and throw a new brother in the mix......girl is going crazy!  And being naughty.  She can be a bruiser and a bully, and a "throw my food on the floor" master, and more recently, an "I am going to dig the poop out of my diaper with my bare hand everyday" girl, and sometimes that makes me sad, because I want her to be my sweet little girl.  And this stage too, shall pass.  I know.  Trav and I have those moments where we pass by each other, me feeding baby on the couch, him chasing after Marley as she literally tears the house apart, and we look at each other like, holy crap...what did we get ourselves into.  Ha!  Someday, we will have a date night again...someday, we'll be able to watch a movie at night while both kids sleep...someday, we'll be able to just sit, if even for just a moment.  

With all that being said, life is good.  We have two healthy, beautiful babies.  They are our world and we wouldn't change that for anything.  I'm sure these are the years that we'll really remember, the ones that pass so fast that if you blink, you'll miss something.  So, we're soaking it all up, loving our babies like there is no tomorrow, and praying for a date night (SOON)!!!!

Here's to a happy, healthy, wonderful 2012!!!