The Love of My Life

Four years ago today, I married my soul mate. And it has been the best four years of my life!

Nick, you are everything I have ever wanted and needed in a husband. I used to marvel at how wonderful you are and how lucky I am to have you in my life. And I am still amazed by you everyday. You are an awesome daddy to our boys and an incredible husband! I love you with all my heart forever!

Firsts

When you have children, every day is a first "something". Some of them are big (you record them in your baby book)--first tooth, first word, first step; others are small (and you don't necessarily want to remember them)--first scrape, first fever, first tantrum. This past few weeks have been filled with many firsts for our family.

Gabe started eating solids--his first food was bananas--and he LOVED it!



Isaiah rode a horse for the first time at Grandpa Peter's in Canada.

Gabe went out of the country for the first time to visit our Canadian family.


Isaiah caught his first fish--a 10 inch rainbow trout at Lake Elsie--with help from Uncle Timmy. He wasn't too sure about the fish but was super-excited to tell everyone about it later.



Isaiah had his first pinata at his 2nd birthday party--it was shaped like a football and made by one of Aunt Shasta's students for extra credit. He cried when it started falling apart.

Isaiah got his first guitar (I am sure there will be more to follow) from his Aunt Celina. He LOVES it and has the most difficult time sharing!

I am sure there are many more that I am forgetting (not a first) but this is just a taste of a few. As a parent you wish that you could remember all of them (even the tantrums) because someday your days will not be filled with so many firsts! I hope that all the firsts in my life continue to happen because they make everyday exciting and wonderful!

Two years ago...

we were blessed in a huge way--Isaiah was born! It was one of the most wonderful days of my life! He is such a delightful boy and we are constantly amazed by him. After he goes to bed at night Nick and I ask each other "How did we get such a smart, cute, happy, well-behaved, and all-around awesome boy?!"

To celebrate his 2nd birthday here are a few of my favorite things about Isaiah:

He says "bless you, mama" when I sneeze. He says "thank you, mama" a few thousand times a day whenever I do something for him (and it melts my heart everytime!). He says "Gabe hungry" when Gabe cries and makes sure that I feed Gabe. Whenever we are getting ready to go somewhere, he asks "Zaiah come too? Gabe come too? Daddy come too? Mama come too? Lucy come too?" because he wants to make sure that everyone is coming and no one (not even the dog, Lucy) is left behind. He calls Fruit Loops poops and is therefore always asking for more poops. When I say to him "you're cute" or "you're funny" he says it right back to me. His little bum. His laugh. His eyes. His love of all sports. The way he busts out things he has learned like counting to ten randomly one day in the car or singing his ABCs. He insists on taking a book (or two or three) to bed every night. He waits by the window or door when I tell him that daddy is coming home. And a million other things that I don't have time to list!

Happy Birthday Isaiah! You are a true blessing to Mama and Daddy and we are so incredibly happy to be able to call you our son! I love you Buggy bugger! :)

My boys

Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'

Gabe's gone mobile! :)

The Homestead

Spending the day out at my parents house yesterday was wonderful! I love spring in the woods--everything is so green and lush. And you can find treasures everywhere. Yesterday while walking around the property I found:

A pink (once red) motorcycle, enough yummy morel mushrooms that my mom could make mushroom soup, frog eggs in the pond (which I can't wait until they are frogs and I can show them to Isaiah!), a Keystone beer can (not really a good find), a couple of plastic potted plant containers (which came in rather handy for collecting previously mentioned mushrooms), a red and black centipede (I showed it to Isaiah and he called it a snake), and a beautiful birds nest with 4 precious eggs inside and one little mama sitting on them. Ok, I didn't actually find the birds nest, my Mom showed it to me, but still, it IS an awesome treasure! :)

Sorry the eggs are out of focus, I didn't want to get too close!

The day started out as just a short visit to see the cousins, Audrey & Lola, and to pick up some wood for making our boxed gardens. It turns out the wood was in a big pile and was riddled with nails. After de-nailing, cutting, and power-washing the wood (THANK YOU MOM & DAD FOR ALL YOUR HELP!), we had been there all day! It reminded me how much I loved living & growing up in the woods. We even witnessed a thunder & lightning storm and got to listen to the rain on the metal roof, which happens to be one of my favorite things ever! What a wonderful day! :)

Canadian Cousins Visit!

Last weekend we had a wonderful visit from Nick's sister, Theresa, and her two boys, Amani and Moses. We had a blast! Of course the pool at the Kroc center was a highlight! The boys all had a wonderful time playing in the backyard with Lucy. We are so happy they could all come and can't wait to visit them in Canada at the end of May!