10 YEARS! HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO US!

I have to say, I am still that happy today. I will admit that before we got married, I thought Chris was perfect and I was so lost in la-la land that I can now see why my roommates were so annoyed. I have learned that he isn't perfect and he found my countless imperfections out very fast too...but I wouldn't want to be living my crazy life with anyone else. Chris truly is the one for me. (We would have loved to take a trip, but with a 3 month old and the kids busy schedules, we were only able to carve out time for a late night dinner at our favorite restaurant, Hyde Park...so it will have to be a big trip for the 20 year anniversary...right!?)

So, on our 10 year mark here are 10 things I love about Christopher:

1. How he laughs all the time

2. How he can light up a room and make a boring event seem fun

3. How he started wearing a white shirt and suit to church from the day Cade was born, because he wanted to be an example to his boys

4. How excited he gets about food

5. How he tells me I am beautiful, even when I am nine months pregnant, or nine days postpartum

6. How he makes our weekly date nights top priority

7. How he can sit and watch his favorite sports on TV with all the kids piled on top of him

8. How amazing he is at communicating and always being the first to say he's sorry

9. How I can talk him into ironing or mending my clothes

10. How he freely admits to watching chick flicks (used to be soaps) and cuddling with me on the couch

Our chunk of love is growing too fast!

Such a smiley, fun baby. Linc is finally coming out of that "4th trimester" where he really just wanted to be back in the womb...but I do love newborns, it goes too fast. Now if he could stretch out those night feedings...there's gotta be some food storage in his thighs somewhere.

Nathan is 5! He parties Star Wars Style

So, Nate had been planning a Star Wars party for a while now, and with everything going on this month, I really wasn't on the ball; but we decided to pull one off, with a few days notice.The best idea I found online was to make foam light sabers using pipe insulator and electrical tape from Home Depot. Better than taking the hard, plastic light saber hit to the head!Here are the kids playing Jedi, Jedi, Luke. (AKA duck, duck, goose) Chloee wanted to dress up too, so she wore here Cinderella dress all day and I sported the Princess Leia hair-do.

Here is Nate at the end of the day. He snuggled up to Chris and it probably took him 5 seconds to crash... A combo of too many late night hockey games (the penguins were so close to winning!) and a full day of fun. I hope he never out grows his cuddliness...I love it when he says, "Mom, I need you to snuggle me." He is our little peacemaker and such a joy to have around!

Happy Birthday Nate! We love you so much.

Zach's wedding: our quick trip to Cali

Random pic: Have I never noticed these beautiful, purple trees before when we visited southern cal? They look like the trufula trees from Dr. Seuss. I love them!I got to go, last minute with Chris to his little brother Zach's wedding. We had so much fun! Here is a shot of all the siblings together...with the beautiful couple!

It was so much fun to just have Lincoln with me. He loved being held all day and having all my attention. Here is little Linc and Christopher with his favorite Aunt, Cheryl.

Nate's Preschool Graduation

Off to kindergarten next year! This is Nate's close group of friends: David, Connor & Ezra. We switch houses, hosting a play date once a week.

Month of May: The Ups and Down of Nate

May was scary, miraculous, triumphant and fun. In April we found out Nate would need open heart surgery to patch a hole he has had since birth. It is impossible to describe what it felt like as a parent, when the surgeon told us exactly what would be done to our sweet, little four year old boy! (Saw open his sternum, pull the ribs up and then send all of his blood through a heart and lung machine so they could stop his heart from beating while they made and incision in his heart to patch the hole...HELLO!!) We were assured that this is their "bread and butter" type surgery, but somehow, that still didn't help much. But, truly we are so glad to live by an excellent Children's hospital with a fantastic team of heart surgeons. When they went in, the hole was actually bigger than they thought...it was a dime to nickle size hole and they found a second small hole as well. They patched the first one and stitched the second, and after doing so, his surgeon said the enlarged portion of his heart decreased significantly...his poor heart was working two and a half times harder than it should have to pump the blood. It is amazing that he never had any symptoms or side effects. If it wasn't fixed, however, he probably would have had major problems by the time he was in his twenties. There were so many thoughts and prayers from family and friends that Chris and I were truly amazed by the calm spirit we felt throughout the whole process and the amazing speed at which Nate recovered. This is a picture of Nate before he woke up for the first time (I will spare the graphic pictures for any woozy people). When Nate first woke up he said, "I'm hungry" - It was hard for him to go that whole day without eating or drinking anything. The next day when I walked into his room he had a blue mouth and I almost freaked, until Chris told me he had a few blue popsicles. (His doctor also came in and said that is such a cruel trick to pull on a cardiologist!) We made sure to bring Cade in for a visit while he was in the ICU, so he could see just how serious it was and why he wouldn't be able to wrestle or beat up on Nate for the next 8 weeks. Nate has now taken advantage of this and likes to hit or kick Cade just for fun, because he knows Cade can't do anything back. Cade has said twice, "Nate I can't wait until your all healed because I'm gonna wrestle you so hard!" Nate was the cutest, bravest patient. He went home 48 hours after surgery, walking out of the hospital with a smile. We have had the hardest time keeping him down...We were probably only successful the first few days and when neighbors saw him running around and playing we could only shrug our shoulders. Kids heal so fast and are just amazing! My favortie thing is how Nate refers to his incision as a "scratch." We are so grateful our little Nate is healed and doing so well!

Linc's Blessing

Lincoln's Blessing Day

Sunday, April, 27 2008

Chris gave Lincoln such a beautiful blessing. We loved having our family in town. Such a big, beautiful boy!

Like Father, Like Son

For Christmas two years ago, Chris' little brother, Ryan gave him a photo album of pictures from Chris' childhood and family, including many that he had never seen before. Needless to say, it was the first present he received to bring him to tears. Anyway, when we showed Nate this picture just a few weeks ago, he was certain that it was him. What cuties!