6 years and counting

Continuing to look back on the couple months I didn’t post…

Jason and I celebrated 6 years together on August 11th.  It’s amazing how it feels like just yesterday that we got married but at the same time, I feel like he’s always been in my life.  Considering I’ve known him for 14 of my 29 years of life, it makes sense.  He’s been one of my best friends for a very long time.

Celebrating 6 years wasn’t very eventful for us, we spent the day before our anniversary at the State Fair for typical fair stuff & a Barenaked Ladies concert that night (my favorite band of all time). 

I look back on this year though and think that it was probably one of the more challenging years for us.  We’re no strangers to life-stresses (both good and bad).  When I look back at what we’ve gone through together, just as a married couple, it’s a lot.  We’ve lived in 3 states, moved 5 times, bought 3 houses, sold 2 houses, adopted 2 dogs and had a baby.  We’ve lost a friend and a few family members.  We’ve supported each other through several job changes, career changes and the stresses that go along with job promotions. 

This year, even though it seems like it would have been a piece of cake (no moves, no big purchases), had it’s challenges.  A lot of changes at Jason’s work, a job change for myself full of high-expectations combined with the beginning of pregnancy with a 2 year-old requiring a lot more patience, along with all the other craziness, we’ve had to adopt our styles and learn even more about each other.  No matter what we go through, I feel that we’re constantly growing as a couple even as we grow as a family.  As cheesy as it sounds, I know I can get through anything with him by my side.  *even if I am a cranky, hormonal pregnant woman*

I say all of this, as we’re about to embark on life with TWO children.  Yep I said it, we’re going to have TWO kids to look after.  No more two parents > 1 child.  We will have to split up, we will have to learn the style of another baby and learn to communicate even more.  Does this scare me to death?  Yes!  But again, I’m lucky to have someone by my side through it…and if all else fails, we’ll ship them off to their Grandparents.  🙂

Some of the more fun things that happened in our 6th year of marriage?  We traveled to the same country we honeymooned at to see two great friends get married there.  Jason turned 30! (I think that’s fun, he thinks it’s the end of the world) We also took trips to Orlando and New York City.  We watched our little boy turn 2.  Our favorite baseball team won the NLDS and we were able to see a game.  The biggest event this year was obviously finding out that we were expecting our second little man.  And as we embark on our 7th year of marriage, I guarantee there will be no 7-year-itch.  We’re in it for the long-haul.

My favorite song as of late:

“Our differences they do a lot to teach us how to use the tools and gifts. 
We got yeah we got a lot at stake
…
We had to learn, how to bend without the world caving in
I had to learn what I got, and what I’m not and who I am.
I won’t give up on us even if the skies get rough
i’m giving you all my love” – Jason Mraz

Fashion Advice from a 2 Year Old

The perks of a sweet little boy just keep coming…

Last  night, talking to Jason on the phone:
K: Did my package come in the mail today?!?!
J: Yes, I see you got two pairs of shoes.  The white ones are ugly.  (This is what I love most and least about my husband – he holds nothing back)
K: Well, maybe they are, I did pick them out online…I’ll look at them when I get home.

Get home & I think they’re cute – so I ignore Jason and proceed to wear them this morning.  I walk into Brody’s room to wake him up.  Within 30 seconds of being in the room:

B: Mama’s shoes are pretty!!
K: (Not sure I heard him right) What did you say sweetie?
B:  Mama – pretty shoes!!

After thanking him for being such a sweet little boy, I quickly yelled downstairs to tell Jason that he’s clearly wrong about the shoes.  We’ll just ignore the fact that I’m taking fashion advice from a two-year-old!

Week Away

Jay & I spent last week in paradise. Also known as Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. We left the little guy at home (heart-breaking), but he obviously was in good hands. Plus there was plenty of skyping to satisfy my need to see my baby.

The trip was perfect and just what we needed. Time alone, fun with friends, a week without a clock (seriously, I didn’t know what time it was most of the days) and lots of sunshine.

Picture taken by Photo Souvenir

When Brody Grows Up…

He wants to be just like his daddy…

Love.Them.To.Pieces.

Working Mom Struggles

As I mentioned before, the end of our summer got a little crazy at work. For a few months I was working crazy hours. At least 6 weeks of it Jason was basically a single parent, when I never even left town! I easily thought about quiting my job daily. (OK not really since I knew it was only temporary and I love my job).

I’ve gone through busy periods in my career and had jobs that never seemed to not been in a busy time. Everytime that happened though, there was only one person I was leaving at home. When it was just Jason and me, he was very understanding when I had to work late. Sure I’d get the occasional complaint, but at the end of the day, he understood that I enjoyed my job and sometimes that required a lot of hours.

Ever since Brody was born, I’ve been in a job where we have busy times, but that really only amounted to 50 hours a week. And I’ve been very lucky where I can work at home at night instead of staying at the office late.

Then we had an unexpected thing come up at work (it was accounting related, so I won’t bore you with the details), that not only did I have to work late and work weekends, it wasn’t optional. For the first time in my career, I was told that I had to work all weekend. We were here for 15 hour days for over 10 days straight. Which = not seeing Brody for most of those days.

Things I learned:
1. There is a reason I work where I do…this was a rare situation, where other career paths I could have taken would expect this on a regular basis.

2. I’m not emotionally capable of handling being absent from my family for long periods of time. There were a lot of tears shed… (Also, working 90-100 hours in a week is exhausting)

3. I have the BEST HUSBAND IN THE WORLD! Ok, I already knew that, but, he’s always been there for me when I needed it and this time was no exception. I normally take Brody to daycare every day. But in order for me to get home before 10pm at night, I had to start coming in earlier than daycare opened. So he had to go to work late a couple days a week, just so I could be in at 6am. His job is important to him too, so it wasn’t easy to have to balance that as well as taking on Brody full-time.

On the weekends when I was at work, Jason didn’t just sit at home with Brody staring at the TV, he actually took him out to do things. Our zoo passes were awesome because they would just head out to the zoo for a few hours and then head home when they got bored. He really is a great father.

4. We have a great family. Again, I already knew this, but we had a few people have to come and babysit last minute because I couldn’t get out of work. It’s a huge help having them around and knowing Jason wasn’t in it alone.

5. I do really work for a great company. There were many people who had to go above and beyond this summer and they made sure to recognize everyone.