In the spirit of Christmas

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper I suppose...bags are so expensive.
2. Real tree or Artificial? REAL!! I grew up with a real one...nothing compares.
3. When do you put up the tree? asap after thanksgiving.
4. When do you take the tree down? After New Year's.
5. Do you like eggnog? Um, no.
6. Favorite gift received as a child? You expect me to remember that far back?? I remember getting a bike...I really liked that.
7. Hardest person to buy for? This year...alayne!
8. Easiest person to buy for? Maddy and Emmy
9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes...many. at least 5.
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? both...i love to receive mail...but going green is also good.
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Can't remember ever getting a bad gift...how lucky and I...
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? That depends...last year when I was expecting a baby around christmas I was done before thanksgiving. This year...two weeks before christmas.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? no can't say that I have
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? It's got to be pumpkin pie with whipped cream...same as thanksgiving.
16. Colored or Clear Lights? clear..not as tacky.
17. Favorite Christmas song? oh holy night/mary did you know.
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? stay home
19. Angel on the tree top or a star? star
20. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas morning
21. Favorite ornament theme or color? snowflakes/white
22. White or Warm Christmas? Definitely white!!! dang this texas weather...
23. Favorite Christmas Tradition? this is bad...we really don't have any...5 years of marriage and we don't have any traditions for christmas...what can I say we like to wing it.
24. Favorite Christmas Location? Anywhere my family is...preferred with snow but not a must.
25. Who do you tag? like whitney who gave me this wonderful, fun, festive tag....anyone who loves christmas!! merry christmas everyone....we love you.

Let it snow Let it snow Let it snow!!

So Houston got snow today for the first time in 4 years (it kinda snowed here the first year we moved.) It was so exciting and Maddy was loving it. She has been asking for snow for weeks now. The funny part was that yesterday it was 80 degrees all day starting at 9am and then we woke up this morning to 35 degree weather at 10am. Talk about day and night. Around 3pm it started to kind of sleet and then around 6pm it really let loose with huge flakes. I found it hilarious that while we were out to eat I overheard the woman behind me say "Wow it's really bad out there we need to go!" There is less than 1 inch of snow and none of it is laying on the streets or sidewalks. Only in Texas! I'm surprised there wasn't a run on bread and toilet paper in the stores. That I suppose is only in Pa! Anyway, Maddy had fun in her hat and sweater that Poppy got her from Sweden. All Emmy knew was that it was cold outside...
Now I feel like putting up some Christmas decorations. :)

This is what it looked like at 5 pm didn't look like it was going to amount to much...

Emmy inspecting the snow

Emmy and daddy

Maddy and her COLD snowball from Uncle Mikey!

Maddy with her tongue out trying to catch the snow

The snow girls!

Happy Birthday Emmy!!

Then

And now!!

December 7th was Emmy's first birthday. I can't believe my baby is one. It feels like she just came to us.
We went to Matt and Jeanne's for dinner and cake on Sunday. We had yummy clam chowder and Emmy got to open her gifts. She wasn't really interested in her cake or her gifts. Maddy helped blow out the candle and open Emmy's gifts. The frosting on Emmy's face in the photo is from when I shoved her little face in the cake...cruel I know...but it was cute. She was just so tired. She got alot of cute gifts and her favorite....the balloons! Go figure. Emmy did get her hand in the cake before the candle was blown out and she tried to get the candle with her hand while it was lit. But other than that...All was calm.

Emmy's cake

Playing with uncle mikey!

Trying to figure out how to get the cake!

Are you waiting for something?

Sharing with momma

Emmy is our petite girl. She is weighing in at 18lbs 12 oz, and is 27 inches long. She is only 10-25 percentile in weight and 25 % in height. She is fearless and loves to climb off of things. She can maneuver the stairs going up and down all by her self. She isn't talking very much yet only two words...uh oh and dog (more like da). We figure she will catch up to her sister soon enough and one talking child is more than enough when it's Maddy. I love that Emmy is such a good girl and that she loves her sister. I can't say it enough how grateful I am that Maddy and Emmy get along. They are the best sisters. I appreciate their differences. Emmy is petite and Maddy is tall, Emmy has brown hair and Maddy is white blond. Emmy takes her time doing things her way, and Maddy has always been ahead of everyone her age. I love my girls and am so grateful for them. Emmy we love you and are so glad you are a member of our family. Hope you had a great birthday. Love you baby girl!

My how the time does fly

I can't believe that I've only blogged twice in the last month! My how the time does fly. Anywho, The last week has been a long one. Adam and I had our 5 year anniversary on the 15th of this month and we had a great time. These are the flowers he got me. They are the most beautiful flowers I've ever received. Thanks honey!






I can't believe it's been 5 years. We had a wonderful day ..we went to a gun show...I know I know. But we had lots of fun. We took the girls and I bought a Bersa Thunder 9mm. Love it. It is actually Adam's gun. It was my gift to him. Then later that evening, sans the kids, we went to Wal-Mart and shopped and then went to Jack in the Box for a late dinner. I know it doesn't sound like much but it's probably one of the best anniversaries yet. We've come a long way and I'm loving it more and more. Thank you honey for 5 wonderful years and here's to many many more even better ones! I can't wait.

I finally got some pics of Emmy's teeth..not great ones but hey they are in there. She was eating a donut but the bottom one shows both the bottom teeth and the one on top. Adam calls her snaggle tooth because ...well I think you can figure it out. Sorry her head is cut off on the bottom pic...she moved just as the pic was being taken..but I got the teeth..that's all that matters.




Maddy wanted to show off her teeth too...so here are hers!


Isn't that a great shot!! She is too funny. And then I just can't resist...I have to put in some more shots of my kids because lets face it...they are my life right now.

My beautiful girls!

I love Emmy's face, I don't think she loves anyone more than her big sister!

I don't remember what warranted this face...but it sure is cute!

This week has been a nice one because I've been off. I called in sick Saturday and Sunday and got to spend time with my husband and kids. Sunday we went to mom and dad's to celebrate Mike's birthday. We had fun playing settlers of catan. Thanks for playing Lanie! It's so nice to be able to just relax. I've had a head cold for what seems like forever, but it's really only been almost two weeks. It really is starting to go away. But I have days where I just need to lay down...and this week I did. I finished a 500 page book in less than 5 days. I can't tell you the last time I did that. Thank you for head colds. :) I'm looking forward to the next week or two. With Thanksgiving coming up and Adam and I have a dinner date with Matt and Jeanne. I'm really excited about that. I will keep up on my blogging!!

Randomness!!!

These are bug bites on Emmy's arm!

Emmy watching sissy do her hopscotch!

Maddy doing her hopscotch!

We were out side today enjoying the break in the rain. The last two days have been wet. I was still cloudy out but no rain so we had fun playing. Maddy loves to do her hopscotch..I have a video of her but I have to figure out how to get it on here. We also played ball and Maddy rode her bike. We played so much that Maddy actually took a nap today!!! She hasn't napped in about a year or so.
The mosquitoes here are bad...since Ike they have been hanging around so we don't go out too much. And I guess the saying "In Texas everything's bigger!" even applies to bug bites. At least for Emmy anyway. Poor baby.

The Holiday and such...

Wow, I can't believe it's been two plus weeks since I've last blogged. Well....let's get started. The last few weeks have been filled with fun. Maddy was so looking forward to Halloween. She decided last minute she would be a ghost ( or as she called herself a ghosty ). I, to my husbands great pleasure, used my sewing machine for the second time since I got it for christmas last year. I took a pillow case and sewed a head hole and two arm holes and was very excited with myself. Maddy was so cute.
Emmy was a Texans cheerleader and I made her pompoms. I in no way will I ever encourage my girls to be cheerleaders....but the outfit was modest and just her size...we couldn't resist. Adam was a football fan/player? He couldn't decide. But he looked great. And of course he was the only one I didn't get pictures of. Grr. I was a nurse...how original I know. We went to our wards fall carnival last Wednesday and I had to work afterwards...so I just went in my scrubs. Mike and Lanie were Abraham and Sarah. They looked great in their official Middle Eastern garb.
Maddy had a lot of fun. She loved having her face painted...that really surprised me. Halloween night Mike and Lanie took the girls out trick or treating and Lanie told me that Maddy would go up to every door and say, "BOO!" and when anyone would act scared...she would reply.."Oh no! I'm a friendly ghost!" To cute. Then when it was time to go Lanie would ask, "What do you say?" and Maddy would say "Trick or Treat!" Hopefully somewhere in there she said thank you...we do teach manners in our home. Emmy was too tired and only made it a block or two before Mike turned around and took her home.
Adam and I were able to take the opportunity to go back home to Pennsylvania for a few days. It was an early anniversary trip. We had our ten year reunion this year which we didn't really go to the official reunion...we had one of our own. Adam had a group of guys that hung out and were in the musicals together in high school so we got together with all of them and their wives. Thanks to Chera and Josh for letting us use their home and having GREAT soups!! It was awesome!! Sorry to Alivia for keeping her awake so late. We miss you guys! We had such a great time. I got to see all the leaves changing colors before they all fell off the trees. Sorry Sarah, I forgot to take the camera so I didn't get any pictures. I was so homesick for fall...It was great to get home and see family and friends even if it was for 2 days. We had fun going to a high school football game and getting escorted out of the bleachers!! The opposing team didn't appreciate us sitting on their side cheering for our team...which won by the way. GO BULLDOGS!!!! Taylor had a guy offer to punch out his teeth, and the police (security?) came to talk to us. We ended up getting escorted out with 3 minutes left in the game. They tolerated us for that long I don't know why they couldn't for the rest...sore losers I suppose. It was fun to see the faces of the people and cheerleaders as they realized we were not Littlestown fans. All in all, we all kept our teeth and had a fun time. I love high school football games. I really miss seeing my brothers play.
And onto other big things...Emmy offically has teeth. They broke through last Monday October 27th. She has two on the bottom in the middle and one on the top. I can't get any decent pictures of them so that will have to come later.. but she sure does look cute. She will be eleven months on the 7th. I can't believe my baby is going to be 1!! My how time does fly.

me and my girls

Emmy and all of her cuteness....she didn't have much fun..but she did look cute!

Maddy waiting in line to play the games!

Mike and Lanie...don't they look great!

Pumpkin time

Last Friday we had playgroup at Old MacDonald's Farm. They have pony rides, a train, animals, playgrounds, a HUGE pile of sand to play in and a pumpkin patch just for the fall season. Maddy had so much fun seeing friends that she hasn't seen in a while, riding the train and playing in the HUGE pile of sand. These are some of the pics I got of the girls amidst the fun and pumpkins. I hope you enjoy and Happy Fall everyone....it truly is the best season.


So much sand, so much fun, so many smiles!

Me and Emmy...not the most flattering pic I know..but hey what can you do.

Proud Maddy on the pony!

Emmy laughing at sissy!! She really loves her big sis!

Happy Fall!!!

I love that she has hair to do at this age!!

Maddy and Emmy on the pony..only Maddy rode the pony..
Emmy is on merely for a photo op!! Emmy was amazed at the live,
moving pony...all she could focus on was the head moving up and down!!

Getting ready to ride the train!

The big HUGE pile of sand to play in...every kids dream...
every mother's nightmare!! ha ha!!! Emmy at the bottom pushing
sand and Maddy at the top building her sand castle!

talking about the future

So as parents of two girls...we worry about the future. Adam and I have started early telling Maddy the facts of life. It really took off when I was prego with Emmy and she kept talking about having a baby. We seized the opportunity to explain that you can have a baby after you get married in the temple (when you are 32!!). Adam and I have also talked/kidded about encouraging her to run away to the temple or elope to the temple and we would have a huge family picnic for her reception. She loved that idea because she loves picnics. Well. This morning as I finished my shower I had to get some garments out of the wash basket sitting next to the bed where she was lying watching a movie on the computer. When I pulled out a pair she asked me what I was doing, to which I replied, " what does it look like I'm doing?"
" Getting some garments?? Why do you have to have garments?"
"When you go to the temple you make covenants with Heavenly Father and you wear garments to protect your body." I tell her.
"Oh, When I get old like you mommy I'm going to go to the temple and get married and wear garments and wear my wedding dress until I have a baby and then I'm going to have a picnic because I love picnics. Can we have a square blanket to keep the bugs away mommy?" is her reply, a very excited reply I might add.

At least I know she is listening to me and taking in what I say.

I just can't help but smile.

Maddy Maddy Maddy

Another fun conversation with Maddy!

Maddy was finishing her cereal one morning and didn't want to drink her milk.
Maddy: Mommy my tummy hurts, I can't drink my milk I'm full.
Daddy: Maddy you need to finish your milk. (as he pops a peanut butter cup in his mouth)
Maddy: Daddy I want one!
Daddy: You just said your tummy hurts.
Maddy: Oh, my tummy feels better now...can I have one please?

silly sillly girl!!

the sickos

Well we have had quite a week. Last Friday Maddy started puking after I left for work and kept it up until Saturday morning and Emmy started having diarrhea. Sunday Adam started throwing up. Mike and Lanie came home from their trip to Utah Sunday evening. Monday I came home from work and slept and when I woke up...felt like I had to throw up. It continued until Tuesday morning but I never did. Tuesday afternoon Mike came home from work early because he'd started throwing up. Lanie felt like she was going to start throwing up on Wednesday and stayed home from work Wednesday and Thursday. Thursday I had to take Emmy to the doctors office because she'd been running a fever since Tuesday evening and still had diarrhea. She was a lump on a log, no energy and didn't want to eat anything other than 2-3 bottles. The doctor said she just has what everyone else was passing around minus the throwing up and plus the teething. She is defintely cutting teeth, hence the fever. So other than Emmy still having lose stools...we are all back to normal. Hopefully we've had our fill of the poop and pukes for at least another year.

hurricane pics

Ok so here are some of the pics we took after the hurricane. We are blessed that we came away from this unharmed and no substantial damage and no electricity for only a week. These pics are still nothing compared to Galveston.

This one is most impressive to me. The tree is completely twisted.

This is a house just around the corner from Matt and Jeanne. The whole front yard came up with the tree roots.

This tree split and one hit the house and the other completely covered the road.

This little tree is in our side yard...

This is a house around the corner.

This is another house around the corner...the tree literally fell inches from the front over hang. There were lots of trees down most of which had the whole root system out of the ground like this one.

One of the billboards on beltway 8.

There was no tree that knocked down this wall...it just crumbled.

The girls!!

So before I forget the info or lose it...Emmy had her 9 month appt Thursday and she is 27 inches long and 17.4 lbs. She is in the 25% for her weight and 25-50% for weight. She had to get two shots and actually did better with them than me. I hate holding them down. She has learned to wave bye bye. I came home this past monday from work and found her in the tv room and as soon as she saw me she started waving. It was so cute. We need to get a video of it. That and of her playing peekaboo. I've tried on several occasions, but every time the camera comes out...she becomes distracted with a new "toy". She loves electronics...just like her dad. She has also learned to patty cake with in the last two weeks. I know these are all normal things to do at this age, But I really just want to get it down as to when she did them since I'm on here more than in her journal.

Maddy has just had a rough night of throwing up, and both Adam and Maddy are recovering well. I came home early from work this morning to help and bring home some pedialyte. She had been throwing up since 8pm and stopped around 8 am. She's been holding things down since then and is enjoying that she gets sprite and popcicles. There was no fever that we know of...just puking and pooping. So far no one else has gotten it. WHEW!!!!

Let there be lights!!!

I found out from Jeanne that they have electricity again!!! woo hoo. They had gone to a friends house to spend the afternoon and Chris with high hopes had turned on the porch light "just in case". When they returned home in the dark the porch light was one of the best things they've seen in a while. We are so glad that we all have had every thing restored. I also want to take this time to thank all those who left their homes to come help us out in Houston to get our power restored. I feel a sense of pride when I see a line of electric company trucks barrelling down the freeway. I just want to shout THANK YOU!! out the window, the feeling is much similar to how I feel about the military...very strong gratitude!!! Thank you thank you thank you. They will never know what they have done, both the power guys and the military.

Full name!!

Ok here is a funny one from Maddy. One day this week I heard a voice coming from the bathroom (dark bathroom).."Parents...Parents..please come help me!! I need help wiping." I walk into the bathroom and ask "What did you just say?"
Maddy replies, "Parent, I need help, I can't reach the paper toilet." (toilet paper)
I ask, "Why are you calling me that? You call me mommy."
Maddy says, "Oh, well what's your full name?"
To which I reply, "Candace Mealey."
"No, mommy your full name!"
"Mommy Candace Mealey?" I question.
"No your full name...Randall something?"
" You mean Candace Reynolds Mealey?"
"Yeah mommy...your full name!"

I can't keep up with her! She is a trip. We think that she gets calling us "parents" from watching Noggin because they say to ask a parent or your parents to get on line to play games. Sometimes she just wonders around the house looking for us calling out...Parent...Parent...Parents!
Silly girl.

All is well...almost!!

Hello to all after a week away. We have been living in a different place and time the last week. Since I last logged in we have been busy. I will have pics to follow at a different time. We'll start at the begining. I got off work on Sunday at noon and headed over to Matt and Jeanne's with the rest of my family. We had a family sacrement meeting and then Adam and I headed up to Kingwood to see the damage...Mike and Lanie's house was fine...just a little water damage in the kitchen from everything defrosting in the freezer. When we pulled into the driveway there were 3 kids standing in the front yard..one with a pick axe and when they saw us 2 of them took off. We got out of the car and the one left behind said that they were looking at a cat in the bushes. Sox has been missing since before the hurricane..we'd see him every now and then but not at all before the storm hit...so I was really glad to hear that they had seen him...not so much that they were looking at him with a pick axe in hand. We put food out for him and water...
The rest of the neighborhood took on some serious damage. We were very blessed that both houses (M&J's and M&L's) came away with no damage. Tree down everywhere.
Monday we hung around the house with no electricity but the weather has been awesome. It was wash day too. We got a small generator from wonderful friend and ran the washer but the generator couldn't handle the spin cycle so we had to wring out all the clothes and hang them on the line to dry. I felt slightly pioneerish! I took a long nap that day. We played games in the evening by candlelight!! fun times. Tuesday we spent the day cleaning up the yard and the yard of the neighbors on either side of us. woo hoo for service. One neighbor is a volunteer firefighter and we haven't seen him and the other a a single woman. It was good to feel useful. Then Adam went back up to Kingwood to check on the house again. He brought back the meat that was in the freezer. We had so much meat that even after 4 days without electricity it was still cold and some had ice on it. He brought back 5 lbs of hamburger, a 15 lb brisket, 4 trays of ribs each had to be at least 5 lbs, and a bag of chicken breasts. Since mom and dad didn't have electricity either we had figure something out. The stove top worked so we boiled up most of the chicken and the grill worked....so I bbq'd ALL the ribs. I started at 3:30 and the last pan finished at about 9:30pm. But they were delicious!!! We hooked up the crockpot to the generator and cooked the brisket. The house smelled awesome!!! We also got to hook up the tv to the generator and watched a movie together! Ok here is where my memory starts to fade and the days start running into each other. Wednesday..Adam and I took the girls to the mall..I think...either way we went shopping and Maddy got to play at the play place with some kids her age. She had a blast. We hooked the tv up again and had movie and card night. Thursday was pretty low key. We drove up to kingwood again to check on the house and our electricity status. We were told that it could be until Oct 5th that we would have elec. restored. :( That night we went to a friends house to share our ribs (since we had so many) and their a/c. (they had electricity) The boys had fun playing video games and we just had fun visiting. Friday we woke up to a text message from one of our neighbors in kingwood saying that the electricity had been turned back on!!! Did we dare believe it?? So we packed the girls up again and went to check it out. Sure enough...WE DID!!! So Adam and I packed up the girls and took everything back to KW and invited mom and dad to come stay with us...They are not forcasted to have electricity until Sept 25th. They are going to tough it out where they are. They recieved a larger generator so they think they will make it. We are hoping and praying that they don't have to wait that long. The weather has been bearable this week but the weekend is calling for rain...We are all just grateful that this wasn't worse for us. We are so blessed. Thank you for all your prayers and thoughts. The phone lines are better so you can call if you want to....the gas lines have died down as more gas stations are open. Life is slowly drifting back to normal. The grocery stores are still empty of most food items...but are getting more shipments everyday. Still no ice cream!! Adam starts classes again this week, and school is opening on tuesday so he can go back to work. Thanks again for all you have done for us. We love you all!

wouldn't it figure!!

ok, so I just sent out that blog...and the power kicked on. Woooo hooo for A/C!!! I got a hold of Adam and they are doing fine hot...but fine. They are getting ready to go for a drive to see what they could see and to get the A/C from the car :) Thank you for all your prayers and thoughts. We are far from over with this...but we are one step closer. We love you all!!!

aftermath

Hello from Houston Texas....just another update as to what is going on. We (the hospital, matt and jeanne) lost power at about 4 am or so last night and it has yet to be restored. I at least have generator power at the hospital but that is starting to be in question. They have also told us that if the regular electricity is not turned on by Tues I have to come back for another disaster mode for 48 more hours. We are all hopeing that the elec. is turned on by then. We have no a/c even with the generator. I have lost contact with Adam and the girls and I'm very nervous. My mothering instincts kicking in I guess. They have no power and no a/c and now the cell phones are down. Please do not call us to find out what is going on. It just ties up the phone lines. If you have any questions or concerns...please email me at [email protected]. As of 3:30 p.m. Matt and Jeanne and Adam and the girls were ok, hot but ok. We still have no idea what shape Mike and Lanie's house is in. The eye of the storm headed that way and I'm so grateful that Adam and the girls got out. There are buildings downtown that sustained damage. Walls giving way and the such. A few of my coworkers have had phone calls come in of trees down on their homes and a shed in the living room for one. I will try to keep ya'll posted and I will continue to try to make contact with Adam and the girls. Again, please do not try to call them it will only tie up phone lines further. Thanks.

Landfall

It is now 4am and Ike has made landfall. The trees outside are swaying in the breeze...they look like rubber trees with their leaves being violently shaken every which way. The rain is deafening on the roof in the lobby and the electricity has gone out too many times to count here at the hospital. Adam say that the electricity has yet to go out as of 1am at Matt and Jeanne's. Go figure. We just had a fire alarm...not really amusing after the reports of a fire in galveston and a little girl getting burned. We've had a security guard accosted by a mother trying to get into the hospital to see her son. She drove here in the midst of the hurricane only to be turned away. Note to all those out there....DO NOT try to go to the hospital in the middle of a hurricane to visit family members. You may come if you are dying because that is the only way you will get in once a hospital has been locked down. Not too much more to report. Adam called at 1 to let me know he was going to bed and there hasn't been anything major. He went out with the dog earlier and the vent from the chimney flew off and landed 10 ft. from him. Not much else. We are just waiting for the eye to cross and the other side of the storm to hit...that is going to be the whopper. At least that's what they say.

update

Ok, here's the deal. Adam decided to take the girls and head to Matt and Jeanne's. I feel alot better knowing he has help if he needs it. I am here at work and all is well so far. No rain yet, lots of wind and the lights have been flickering since about 6pm. We will keep you up dated as we go the best we can. Please continue to pray for us. Thanks!!

bring it on...

Ok so as most if not all of you know.. there is a hurricane headed right for Houston. Fun fun fun. Hurricane Ike is charted to make land fall on Saturday early in the morning. We have made all the fun preparations for this lovely storm..Adam and Maddy are planning on making a blanket tent to play/sleep in. I however will be cooped up at the hospital working. Woo hoo!!! Hey I get paid for every single hour I have to be there. Not too shabby. I just wanted everyone to know that we have made plans and prepared so everything should be ok. You will not be able to get a hold of us most likely by our phones. I will try to update everyone from the computers at work but there is no guarantee of this. Prayers would be appreciated for my family and Adams who are staying here to weather it out. We love you all and we will see you on the other side....of the storm of course!!!

Favorite Things

Maddy had me singing one of her favorite songs today at the park..."the one with the dog in it" as she calls it. "when the dog bites when the v sings (or stinks) when I'm feeling sad." It made me laugh. And today am a feeling sad. So here is a list of my favorite things and maybe then I won't feel so sad. (go ahead and sing it...you know you want to!!)

1. Maddy saying that her daddy's name is daddy matthew mealey
2. Emmy with her cute smile while she sits and claps her hands
3. Emmy's smile when she's feeding the doggies and knows she shouldn't be
4. Maddy recognizing and shouting out "there's a Texas roadhouse!!" twice in the same car trip
5. Adam coming home with 8 50 dollar bills in his wallet
6. Maddy asking me if I want to smell her armpits cause "they're clean....sniff sniff...yeah, they're fine to me."
7. Emmy's hugs first thing in the morning
8. Acutally seeing Adam for more than 5 mins a day
9. Going walking 3 times a week and finally having the scale show it
10. Seeing Emmy's face light up when Maddy walks in the room

Love of My Life

This blog is dedicated to the "Love of My Life". And yes by this I mean my husband. I love you so much. I don't feel as if I say it enough..then again...can you really say it enough.

I love our story..long as it may be...I love it and I wouldn't have it any other way. You know this. It's filled with young love, heartbreak, distance and finally a happy ending. I love that we are best friends and lovers and so much more in between. I love that we have moments when we can't talk to one another and then there are moments when all we do is talk and I have never felt closer to you. I love that you thank me for the little things I do for you and the girls. I love that you ask like a little kid if you can go and do things with your friends and think I'm the bestest wife ever because I say yes. I love how you refer to me as "the boss". Not that I feel I am the boss...but it's nice that you think so. I love that you are the turkey, but even more so that I am the goose! I'm thankful that you are understanding and patient in most cases on my crazy days and I always end up in your arms at the end of the day. I love that I can cry on your shoulder and that you listen to me. I LOVE it when you play the piano and sing to me just like when we were kids. I've always loved that.

I feel sometimes that I don't deserve you or what we have. I'm not the best wife a lot of the time but you always argue that statement and it makes me feel good that you defend me against me. Thank you for loving me for who I am and am not.

I love our life. I love our past, I love our present and I look forward to the future. It will be five years this November that you and I will have shared our lives together as husband and wife. I look forward to many many more.
I love you! You are, as it started out so many years ago, the Love of My Life.