Time Starved Marriage

This Tuesday, Paul and I celebrated eight years of marriage with a quick kiss in the morning and a hug as our paths crossed for a brief moment after work but before Paul left for class.  This year has been a tough year on our marriage.  Adding a second child to the mix, working, coaching, and Paul now being back in school has left us with little time or energy to invest in each other.  Our goal is to read the book, A Time Starved Marriage , over the next few months.  We are hoping it will help us find some better ways to stay connected in the midst of the necessities of life that keep us busy and apart.  Despite the difficulties our marriage has undergone this year, I wouldn't trade this guy or life for any other.  

Run for our money

Micah has recently been teaching us that we have grown a bit too accustomed to having one child (Caleb) that is a sensitive rule follower.  Micah is so much the opposite.  He thinks being punished is funny and often laughs at me when I put him in time out or sternly tell him no.  This week he has shown us a new level to his independence.  (Disclaimer...I realize the stories I am about to share make me sound like a negligent parent, but I really do provide supervision for my children...apparently, I can do better though.)

Last Friday, we came home from the zoo and the boys hopped out of the car and ran into the backyard.  I went into the house to unpack our bags.  As I was finishing the last bit of unloading, Caleb ran into the house and shouted, "Mom, come and see what Micah is doing!"  I opened the back door and immediately I could smell it.  Micah had gotten hold of the gas can in the shed and proceeded to dump the majority of it all over himself and everything in the shed.  The rest of my day was spent taking everything out of the shed, scrubbing everything down, and then repainting the shed floor now that the gasoline had taken the paint off.

Then Monday, Paul arrived home with the boys after work and Micah decided to go in the back yard and play while we prepared dinner and unpacked from the day.  After about 5 minutes, I went to take a peak outside to see what Micah was doing.  I couldn't see him.  I asked Paul if he knew where Micah was.  He did not.  Paul said he would go find him (our backyard is fenced in, so he couldn't be too far.)  Paul yells for me and I run outside to find that Micah is missing.  We frantically run around and check every nook of the back yard.  I look up and across our neighbors back yard onto the street and see Micah standing staring at us, in the middle of the street as we yell his name.  Paul ran and scooped him up and carried him back home.  Micah's initial response to my reprimand was to laugh but when he saw the look on my face he snuggled in nervously tight and close.  When I asked him what he was doing he said, "going walk."  We are now looking for locks for our gates.

Tonight Micah grabbed a little suitcase full of sticker books and attempted to open the front door.  He told me bye-bye.  When I asked where he was going he said, "wa-wa, quack-quack."  He was planning to walk down to the water to see the ducks: a one mile trek.  I am guessing he was going to show the ducks his sticker books.

He is such a mess.  We are in for quite the ride with him.

post holiday treat

Holidays always leave me missing family and wishing we lived closer.  This Easter was no different.  Thankfully, we were able to fill the two weeks following Easter with visits with members from both sides of our family.  Since I didn't ask permission to post pictures of said family members, here are pictures taken of my boys during those family visits.  As you can see, they had a happy two weeks.

Farewell

These past few weeks, I have been trying to fill every minute that can be spared with my best friend and her family. As of Tuesday, they are officially no longer US residents. They have moved to Mexico and in order to really commit to the culture/people and to help work through culture shock, they will probably not return for a visit for four years. Needless to say, my heart is sad. She has been my best friend for the past thirteen years and for all except two of those years, we have lived within close proximity of one another. Our husbands are great friends, our kids love each other, we share a similar outlook on life, faith, marriage, politics, parenting, church, wellness, and budget. She is irreplaceable. Of course she will continue to be my best friend, but I will miss our weekly dinners, our last minute get togethers, our exercise dates, our venting without judgment or explanation, and the intimacy that comes with shared experiences.

My boys adore her girls and wanted to share a farewell message to their best buds (we had three takes and instead of picking one, I included them all). As would be expected, if you know my boys, the farewell included a mention of their other love, sharks.

After nap promises

Today I was holding Caleb as he woke from a good nap. Our conversation went like this...

Me: Caleb please stop getting bigger.

C: no mom, I have to keep getting bigger.

Me: But I don't want you to get bigger because when you get bigger I can't hold you in my lap.

C: mom, when I get bigger you can still hold me in your lap.

Me: Can I hold you in my lap even when you get big like daddy?

C: Yeah!! and daddy can hold me too.

I am putting this promise in writing because when those awkward adolescent years hit, I am going to hold him true to his word.

Stats

Our fifth visit to the doctor this month, thankfully, was a well check-up. The boys are keeping with the Gyorfi tradition and staying in the 95th and up percentile in both weight and height.

Micah at 18 months weighed in at 29lbs 14.5oz (95th percentile) and was 35 inches tall (99th percentile)

Caleb at three years is 40 lbs (97th percentile) and 3 ft. 4 1/2 in. (97th percentile)

Becoming Pals

More and more often the benefit of having children close in age is showing itself. We came home from running errands last week and the boys ran upstairs, shut their door, and I could overhear laughter and playing. Yesterday, I was fixing my hair and when I told Micah I couldn't read to him at the moment, Caleb volunteered. He is a little difficult to understand because he has a cold, but you get the gist.