Happy Anniversary to My Beloved

On July 5th, Brian and I celebrated our 7-year wedding anniversary.  The day was spent doing laundry, grocery shopping, chores (see previous post), giving in to Lorelei's constant demands to be held and, as always, answering Rhys' questions. After all of that, we drug ourselves out to dinner (sans kids) where, after one drink, I was so tired I wanted nothing more than to lay my head down on the table and have a snooze.

I'm probably supposed to say "I'm too exhausted to enjoy dinner out with my husband but, no biggie, I have two beautiful healthy children that make it all worth it!"  But, for me, that statement would be mostly false.  The true part is that I have two beautiful, healthy children and I am most certainly grateful for them.  But I was really disappointed that dinner was kind of a bust.  And the kids, in all their glory, do not cancel that feeling.  To me, that's what the phrase "make it all worth it" feels like - a cancellation of sorts.  I feel X, but Y "makes it all worth it" so X doesn't really matter (or even exist).  Nope.  My kids freakin' exhaust me and I love them a whole bunch.  Two simultaneous, somewhat contradictory feelings.  They both exist.  One does not cancel the other.

(Has anyone else noticed how much our culture supports this whole "one cancels the other" thing?  I eat like crap, but it's ok because I exercise. I sit 10 hours a day but it's ok because I run marathons.  I don't get enough sleep, but it's ok because coffee gets me through the day.  Eating, exercising, sitting, sleeping, caffeine - they are all inputs to the body with unique results.  They do not cancel one another out.  Really, they don't.  We need to understand this.)

So, anyway, back to our anniversary...I was exhausted and disappointed that I was exhausted.  What made me happy, and what always makes me happy, is being married to Brian.  There is a lot I love about him, but what I truly cherish is this simple fact - he is a genuinely good person.  Did anyone read that without nodding their head and thinking "yep, true"?  I didn't think so. You all know what I mean.  He has such a big heart and truly cares about everyone around him.

It's an honor to be married to this good man.

 

          

Cheap Labor

He only charges $0.50/hour. Any takers?

Sibling Love

Brian and I both feel blessed by our sibling relationships.  It is one of my greatest wishes for Rhys and Lorelei that they grow up feeling the same way (about their one sibling, not siblings -  just to be clear.)

Saturday morning adventure

Rhys and I had really great time together last Saturday morning.  I was happy to be out of the house and away from Lorelei as her clingy phase is driving me batty.  So it just was icing on the cake that Rhys and I had such a fun time. We were out and about, on foot, for nearly 2.5 hours and at the end it was only me complaining about me hot and tired! Rhys' new shoes must be magic (more on those later).

First stop?  Haircut for the little man.

He was thrilled when I let him have the sucker they offered him and could hardly believe it when I told him he could have it all.  In retrospect, maybe this is why he was in such a good mood the whole time...

I loved watching him get his haircut because 1) he did not talk the entire time (he typically only goes more than 30 seconds without talking if he's sleeping) and 2) he clearly loved how it felt, which was so fun to watch on his little face.  When they used the electric clippers, he was soooo in the zone I swear I saw a little drool.

Next stop?  Toy store.  They have a great little train set that he loves playing with; he can actually entertain himself for 10+ minutes.  I am guessing that would not be the case if it were at home, so I just enjoy it for what it is at the toy store.

Next stop:  Park.

We had a break for a snack, played on some toys and then did a bunch of "balance beam" walking around the perimeter of the park.

You can see his new shoes in the previous pics and video really well.  They're from a company in Oregon called Soft Star Shoes and they (both the company and the shoes) are fabulous. I'm really picky about shoes for the kids as proper foot development is crucial for proper body development. AND YET, the last pair of shoes I got for Rhys were too big for him but I didn't do anything about it until now (and only now because the velcro was wearing out).  Bad mommy.  Luckily, I feel like I made up for it with these great, minimal shoes that he clearly loves.

And then we headed home, which was another mile or so of walking and looking at plants and talking and talking and talking and talking. And some more talking.  Even with all the talking, it was a really fun adventure.  And, we certainly covered a lot more ground than we would have with Lorelei in tow as going for a walk with her these days looks a lot like this:

Katie Strikes Again

 Katie got these shots of the kids waving in sync.  Aren't they great?!