My happily ever after...

 6 years ago....

..... I married my best friend. It's still hard to believe that it has been that long and yet at the same time it feels like forever. I am so beyond thankful for the amazing years I have had with Alex and am looking forward to many many more.

Alex and I met when I was just 16 and he was 18. At the time I didn't feel like we were really young but now I look at my 16 year old little sister and realize just how young we were! Why is it that we are always "so much older" when we were a certain age and then we see someone who is that age now and they seem like such babies!?!

Anyway, we met at college  in the fall of 2003 and I can't say that I liked him right away because at that point I wanted nothing to do with having a boyfriend (although there was definitely something that attracted me to him and kept me interested in getting to know him more). I dual enrolled my last two years of high school and earned my AA degree at the same as I graduated from high school and he had already graduated. I think the age difference was definitely a good thing since everyone knows boys take forever to grow up :) In December of 2003 we started dating right after I turned 17 and we have been going strong ever since.

When we stood at the alter and said our vows, I never imagined how many twists and turns life was going to throw our way. Alex has stuck with me through different surgeries, ICU and hospital stays for asthma, pregnancy complications, preterm labor, long hospital stays, etc. We have had a car stolen from us when we were poor college kids trying to take care of Aidan as a newborn; Alex struggled and succeeded going through college and graduating as a Mechanical Engineer all while working nights and taking care of us; we spent 9 months going through a major headache of buying a house, bought three cars together, and many many other adventures. What a crazy 6 years it has been!

This week actually brought with it many bad memories from our 5th anniversary and I have struggled quite a bit trying to block that out but it has been hard. We didn't celebrate our 5th because I was at my sickest point in my pregnancy and wasn't able to stop throwing up. Fun, right? I am determined to move forward though and make new (good) memories to replace all of the bad ones that still haunt me. We went out to eat for the first time in a LOOOONNNNG time last night so at least we are on the right track!

Well, that is my walk down memory lane for now and while I run the risk of grossing everyone out with a bunch of mushy talk, I just want to say that I am so thankful to have Alex in my life. I have never met a more hardworking, dedicated, caring, creative, amazing person and I am so blessed that he is all MINE!!! 

So Alex, happy anniversary to you. Thank you for taking your vows seriously and staying by me in sickness and in health, no matter what happens. You have been my rock and I don't know how I would have survived this past year without your love and support. Love you babe!

The 4 Year Old Mind!

Tonight I bravely (or stupidly) set on on the adventure of grocery shopping (with coupons!) with both Aidan and Colin - by myself... It went okay but I'm not sure that I'll be attempting a big trip like that anytime soon!

Even though it was hectic (and that's putting it lightly), I am consistently saving more money than I'm spending so I am very happy with that! Woohoo!!


Anyway, on to the point if this post. When we came home I took one pack of toilet paper into my bedroom and layed it against the wall. I showed Aidan where I put it and asked him if he could please bring all of the other packs into my room and stack them on the one I put there. There were 4 bags total.


I went to the kitchen to make dinner and I noticed it was taking Aidan a while but I figured he must have gone to the other room to play or something.


When I put Colin to bed I saw what took him so long. He had unwrapped every single pack of toilet paper and stacked all of the rolls up. He's such a cutie! I guess next time I'll be more specific!! (Or maybe if he's being naughty I'll *accidentally* knock the towers over and ask him to restack them... OOPS!!)


Here's his final project :) I'm always laughing with this little man around...

My 1/2 year old

Happy 6 months to my sweet boy!

Can time just slow down a little, Please! How did 6 months of my pregnancy go by SOOOOO painstakingley slow and I blink once and my little boy is HALF A YEAR OLD!?! How does that happen? While I am loving every minute of his cute little personality that he is developing and finally noticing an improvement on the way that I feel physically and emotionally after the toll that the pregnancy took on me, I still sometimes wish I could freeze time. I honestly don't know if I will ever have newborn again - I don't know if I'm brave enough to go through another pregnancy - and that makes me sad.... Ahhhhhh, oh well, enough whining and thinking about things. It's time for an update on all my little boog is up to lately!

I took my little chunky monkey to the doctor and he now weighs 14.4 pounds and is 25 inches tall!! He has grown 10 pounds and 7 inches since he was born! Unbelievable!!
Let's see, this past month Colin has learned to sit up unassited for a LOOOONG time and he is oh so close to crawling. He has also become a champion roller. If there was a rolling event in the olympics, he has a good chance of getting the gold. It is nearly impossible to change his diapers or clothes without him flipping in the middle of it but it's so cute that I sorta don't mind it. :)

He just started to get a taste of some food and he is anxious for more! He tries to grab anything he can off of our plates and has spilled food on either Alex or me more than once because of his grabbing abilities.

He has decided that he likes to sleep on his side and he always needs a blanket to hold. We have also found a pacifier that he loves but I already made a whole post for that. Can you tell that I am SO excited to not be the only one/thing that soothes him?!

This kid is the snuggliest, most cuddly little squishy baby I've ever held. He is very different than his big brother who was much more interested in moving around. I love that he's a little snuggler! It's kind of adorable...

One thing that I am less than thrilled with is the fact that Colin has not been sleeping at night as well lately. He thinks that night time is the perfect opportunity to practice his crawling. I know it's just a phase but it's hard to function on very little sleep!

Colin is just a sweet baby with an amazing personality and I am so blessed to be his mommy. He has a smile that lights up the room and he smiles at just about anyone that smiles at him. It wasn't easy bringing him into the world but I am SO thankful I had the support and care that I had to be able to endure my pregnancy with him. I can't imagine my life without him.

That is all of the updates that I can think of for Colin. I don't know his weight and length yet because his check-up isn't for two more days, but I'll update that when I have it.

There isn't much new with Aidan, he is just doing more of the same of his goofy tactics. He is getting excited for school and his birthday (in fact, he has the next 5 birthdays all planned out). He still loves his brother and even though he is a little mischievious, he really is a good kid. Love my boys!

I won't bother with a lengthy update on myself, I'll just say that I'm doing better than I was which is awesome. I have a ways to go but it's a work in progress. I am still having nightmares, though it isn't quite EVERY night and I am definitely not as panicky during the day. So SO thankful!

Enough of the updates, here we go to with my usual photobomb!!

first time eating rice cereal

I can do it, mom!

I love this boy!!

Just hanging out with the big kids, no big deal :)

he tried cucumbers and cooked carrots

so serious...

Roooollllliiinnnngggg over :)

can't forget my big boy! He's growing so fast!!

My absolute favorite <3

Being sick is a family affair...

Being sick is NO FUN!!!

This week we experienced our first time that the entire family has been sick at one time. That's right! All four of us were sick AT THE SAME TIME!! Talk about family fun! NOT!!

My throat started to feel fun while I was in Orlando on Monday and I just knew what was coming. Aidan was a little stuffed up Sunday morning so I guess he shared with me. Tuesday morning my throat felt like I had eaten glass, it hurt SO bad! Colin also woke up sick on Tuesday. Maybe that's why he was a little fussy on Monday... Hmmmmm....

Anyway, unfortunately Colin had the worst of it. On a good note, all he wanted to do was cuddle so I got TONS of baby lovin'. That part was great :) We are on the mend now thankfully. My cold is gone but I am having bad asthma. I'm on steroids for that though so I should be significantly better in a few days. Aidan and Alex are completely better and Colin is working on it. Here are some pictures of my little sick boy because he's just so dang cute!!

sweet thing...

Colin was supposed to be sleeping but daddy fell asleep instead :)

Road trip!!

This past weekend Colin and I went on a little road trip with three of my (not so) little sisters, my mom, and Katrina (my big sis). On Sunday we left and drove to my grandmas house to spend some time with her and Monday we drove to Orlando to spend the day shopping. Soooo fun! We have been talking about doing this very road trip forever and it finally happened!

We went to IKEA, and the outlet mall and shopped 'til we dropped. Colin was an absolute trooper and didn't even cry on the long car rides. It was an exhausting trip for sure but I can't wait to do it again!!

keys: CHECK!

toys: CHECK!

this is how we shop!

my sweet boy was SO good in his carseat

she's probably going to hurt me for this one <3 Love you Katrina!

Look what I found at IKEA!!! and yes, I definitely HAD to take it him home with me :)