Marriage

Ive come to a realization. Its about marriage. Im blessed and beyond lucky. Why do you ask? Im so blessed and lucky to have parents who modelled a healthy marriage for me and my sisters. Im also very lucky and blessed to have a husband that I love more than anything, and that loves me unconditionally... even when I have those crazy hormonal moments.

Over the past few months, Ive found out that a few couples we know are having some serious issues within their marriage. It doesnt get any easier to digest when you find out that news, that yet another couple is seperating or getting divorced. Each time it feels like a blow to my stomach. Why? Maybe because I took my wedding vows so serious, and for Andy and I divorce is not an option. Please dont think that I have the mindset that I am "Holier than thou" because I know marriage is tough and sometimes it really sucks! Yup, it does! But how does a couple go from getting married to being divorced or living apart in a matter of months or a year??

Ive been open about this before, but Andy and I have always said we will go see our marriage counsellor every 6 months to a year. We go weather things are tough or weather things are great! We leave feeling like we can take on the world... but together.

Having Eli was the biggest hurdle we've had to tackle yet in our marriage. Nothing can prepare you for the shock of having a child, and the adjustment and commitment it takes from both parents. But we've figured it out, and I can finally say that almost 2 years in from having Eli we have a healthy balance in our life!! We have a healthy balance in our marriage, and a healthy balance as parents, and a healthy balance as Andy and Karla.

This week is our 4th wedding anniversary. Andy I have been together for almost 8 years! I cant believe it. But I also cant believe how blessed Iam to have such an incredible man. He is so hands on as a dad, he is helpful around the house, and always willing to be there for me emotionally.

When I woke up this morning there were notes all around the kitchen. One on the counter, one in the fridge, and one in the bathroom. These are the little things that keep me going on some days. He is so thankful, and although some days he doesnt show it, he makes up for it on others!

Im so happy to say that although Andy and I dont have it all together, and there are days where we hate each other, we love each other with a love that isnt just skin deep. Its emotional, physical, and even spiritual. Without God I dont think we'd have lasted this long. Andy said this to me this morning... cheesy but I felt goosebumps when he said it. "When God created Adam, he created Even. When God created me, he created you." Yes I know, cheesy, but I do feel like Andy is the man planned for me. My choices and my path lead me to him, and that doesnt mean that there arent other men out there that I could be married to or make things work with, but Andy and I made the decisions that lead to each other and Im so blessed and couldnt be happier!

Happy Anniversary, Andy!

Breakfast

This weekend Andy went to Jasper with his brother and cousin. Which leaves me on baby duty (or little boy duty!!) for most of the weekend. I was thankful this morning that my family came over for breakfast which even though its a busy morning it gives me a bit of a break and some adult conversation is nice too!! I made eggs benedict (from scratch) and I was quite disappointed to say the least. Ive made this recipe many times before and it seems like my hollandaise gets to a point and then seperates. This has happened before but usually I can get it back to its nice emulsified sauce. This morning though it didnt happen. Luckily even though its seperated and not very nice looking it still tastes all the same. Anyone have any suggestions on how to fix a broken hollandaise sauce? Help please?!

Last night I cleaned, and came home to relax a bit with Andy before going to bed.

My initial plan for today while Andy was gone was to paint the downstairs bathroom and put some wall paper up, but Im not feeling motivated so I dont think its going to happen.

Tonight Im going out with a girlfriend and then to relax a bit before bed.

Enjoy your weekend!!

Hello Hormones

Im feeling emotional today. My husband will thank my hormones. Funny how "that time of the month" has such an affect on us as woman. Sometimes I think guys have it so easy.

We went to bible study this morning, and afterwards we went to a girlfriends for lunch. Eli was quite tired and I think over stimulated. He was down right miserable and throwing tantrums left right and center; not to mention at one point he hurt himself and he just wanted to cuddle with me. So once he had another full out tantrum I decided enough was enough and we were going home, even though we'd only been there for less than an hour.

When I pulled up to the house I decided that we should go for a walk. Ive been wanting to get out and jog lately, but the lazy side of me has taken over. Today not so much! I did the full circle around our house and it was great! Even though it was windy and cool today I got out, and knew Id feel better once we got home. Well, I did to some extent, but I didnt eat before I went out and that was a mistake. Eli was still miserable by the time we got back and so I put him straight to bed, and made myself some lunch. Now Im just relaxing.

But what Id love to hear is how you as a woman handle your emotions and hormones when it comes to that special time of month we all love?? Do you get out and exercise, eat your heart out, take a class, etc? Id love to hear it, cause right about now Im feeling like I need some way to blow off my emotions!!

Fill me in!!

Busy Birthday Weekend

We have had one busy weekend. But Andy doesnt really know it. This weekend was full of birthday events for him. 2 to be exact. One which he didnt know about.

On Friday night we went out to the Blue Chair Cafe. Its a little restaurant that supports live music. You have dinner, drinks, and then a show at the end of the night. This night was a blue's night. Incredible. Thats what I can say. There was 4 guys playing, a bassist, electric guitar, drummer, and a guy on the harmonica. It was so neat to watch. I can never listen to that type of music on the radio, but live was completely different. Front Porch Hills was the name of the night. They all took turns picking different songs, leading the song, and basically it was a jam session all night. The food was incredible. They use organic food, and have things on the menu that arent your typical restaurant foods. I had the vegetarian lasagna. So yummy!! The best part of the night was that all 3 of Andy's brothers were there. The last time that all 4 brothers were sitting at the same table was over 10 years ago! It was such a blessing to have the whole family there, and my parents. I told Andy this night was to celebrate him being a journeyman plumber and his birthday.

Here we are all dressed up and ready to go for supper at the blue chair! Such a nice evening!

Saturday morning, I got up and went to clean another clients house. We hung around at the the rest of the afternoon, and I cleaned our own house. This didnt make Andy wonder if something was up because I always clean on the weekends. Andys mom was coming over to watch Eli so we could go out for a bite to eat. I told Trisha that Eli hadnt been feeling too well throughout the day so if something came up we werent too far and wouldnt mind coming home.

We went to Original Joe's and ordered some Nacho's and beer. My best friend Chelsey also came over early to our place to get everything in order for all our company to arrive. Im so thankful for Trisha and Chelsey's help, I couldnt have pulled it off without them!!

Andy and I decided that after we were done we were just going to go grab some snacks and go home since we spent so much money the night before. This was not in the original plan, but since he had suggested it I thought why not. Shortly, after we decided that Trisha called and said Eli was acting odd, and not like himself and she thought we should come home. So off we went to go home. I gave andy the keys and followed behind him up the back walk way. We walked in and Trisha called Andy into the living room, "Andy, Im in here, quick!!!!" She sounded so alarmed, he rushed into the living room and little did he know that there was going to be 20 some people sitting there waiting for him. "SURPRISE!!!!!!!" He was surprised. He had no clue!! We pulled it off, and he didnt suspect a thing! It was an incredible night of great company, awesome food, a beautiful cake, and celebrating my husband!

Eli even had a good time! He walked around mooching chips and pop off everyone. He knows that usually if he says "peeease?" he can get what he wants, and he got his fill. He finally went to bed around 9pm, and went down without a peep and slept till 9:30am! Which we were thankful for since we went to bed after 1am!

What a beautiful night, and a great weekend. And to top if off, we're going out on Tuesday (Andy's actual birthday!!) to take a peek at a preschool open house, and maybe get some dessert. Lots of celebrating this month. Our 4th wedding anniversary is coming up aswell so on the 21st we'll be celebrating more! We are so blessed!

Here are some pictures from our weekend!!

Pictures

Playing at Galaxyland!!

 

New Toy & A Good Cause

Eli and I stopped at our church's garage sale this morning, and he found a toy that we've been wanting to get him for awhile. $10 is a good price, and all he wanted to do was push it around the warehouse where the garage sale was.

There was so much stuff there, and it was fundraiser for a missions trip. The youth are going to Ecuador. Last year they raised $15 000 from the garage sale. You should go check it out if you have a chance. Its right across from Millenium Place in Sherwood Park.

Here are some pictures. As soon as we got home he wanted to "dump" all of his toys in it. He also tried to convince me to put him in the cart. Definitly was not happening!

A nice evening

Last night wasnt as bad as the night before.

Andy and I had small group last night and my mom came over to watch Eli. We were a bit unsure of how the night would go, but we left the 2 of them playing upstairs in our room. Because quite a few people couldnt come to small group last night we decided to go out for wings and beer. Yup thats right, our Christian small group (which is our bible study group) went out for wings and beer. There were 5 of us there, and it was such a great evening! Its always awesome getting to know people a bit better, and even better to have a night out to ourselves!

When we came home (close to 10pm) the light on the stairs was on, and mom wasnt in the living room. When we walked into the house and up the stairs Eli was laying on the floor while my mom was changing his sleeper. He had been coughing so hard, that he couldnt sleep. Poor kid was sure happy when we walked through the door though! He started jumping up and down and getting all excited. Shortly after mom left we put Eli to bed and then followed. He only woke up crying twice in the night which was way better than the night before. He slept in until almost 9am this morning and off we went to our moms group. We have enjoyed our day, and now he's napping and all has been quiet for about half an hour!!

YES!!!

Rough night

We had one rough night last night. Eli seems to have come down with a cold, weather its a real cold, or teething its not fun. He is coughing up a storm and last night was no exception. I went out before he went down to bed to do some birthday shopping for Andy, so Eli was in bed by the time I got home. When we finally went to bed, we heard Eli start crying and then he did something he's never done before "Mommy!! Mommy!!" He cried out. Of course I had to go to him. I pulled him out of his crib and cuddled him for a bit then put him back to bed. A few minutes later he started crying again. Andy went to him this time. After being put back down after a few times he was still crying so I got up with him and cuddled on the rocking chair.  After putting him back to bed he was okay for a few minutes and then cried. This went on all night. We didnt go to him because he just gets more wound up in the end and the result is the same... he cries himself back to sleep. He must've woken up every hour crying, and each time I woke up and just listened to him cry. Needless to say we were both quite tired come early this morning.

By his nap time he was more than ready to go down. We'll see what happens though, he's already woken up once crying and then fell back asleep. I think he's just so overtired that he needs a really good sleep. Poor kid.