The Ebb and Flow of It

February tends to be a busy month with Valentine's Day and Aaron's Birthday. 

And while we love any excuse to celebrate, open gifts, have a date night, and go with the flow as life pushes us forward, it's always nice to get back to the ebb.

Although grocery shopping on Mondays,  laundry day Tuesdays, and daily trips to the park are nothing to write home about, they are what make life what it is. And sometimes the down time can be just as fun and canteen filling as wild activity packed weekends.

It has been this down time which has showed me that Grace is a lot more clever than I give her credit for. She figured out how to get to the figurines on the bookshelf by flipping her bucket upside-down and balancing on it.

She was pretty proud of herself, and to be honest, I was pretty impressed with her skills.

You can only let your baby get away with so many things until they do something like this.

After an afternoon with a friend and her small baby, Grace was reminded no less than 400 times "Gracie, we don't touch the baby, we just look." After baby Max left and the seat remained, I let her play pretend with a stuffed animal that she could touch all she wanted.

And she proceeded to point out his tongue and sticking out her own. I had no idea she knew that, and wouldn't have believed my eyes had I not snapped a picture at the very same moment.

Now we're heading into March. In like a lion, out like a lamb. Or is it the other way around?

How Did We Celebrate?

I took the definition of cranky and wrapped it up in a diaper and let it run around.

Grace attempted an escape.

The Crank took a much needed nap and woke up on the right side of the crib, ready for her Valentine's bucket from her Dad, and ready to model her Heart Day dress from Grandee and Papa.

She cleans up pretty nice, eh?

At 9pm Aaron came home, the babe was sleeping and we enjoyed a romantic homemade dinner for two. Sans flowers, chocolates, and tender love poems. It was a perfect celebration.

The Life Canteen

I've come to the conclusion that life is very much like a canteen. Keeping water in it is the key. You have to find a balance between the things in life that pour water in and the things that drain water out.

Lets just say that my canteen was running a little low the past couple of months. There were only so many kicks in the pantaloons that I could take before I broke. I was even considering a steady diet of Blue Bell ice cream and m&m's for breakfast lunch and dinner just to make me feel better. Emotional eating at its best ladies and gents. As my canteen reached the "needs more water" point, a silent beacon must have gone off because the troops swarmed in.

Sisters that use their gym passes to get you and the little one into the pool for a much needed afternoon out.

Friends that show up with Sonic drinks at 8pm just to keep you company.

Trips to Going Bonkers so the little one can play with her cousins.

 She's mastered the one handed ride on the crazy buffalo.

My almost dry canteen was filling up pretty freakin' fast. And if that wasn't enough, I found out that Aaron didn't have to work on the weekend. His team decided to take a weekend off before things got straight crazy. And spending a full workless weekend with your husband (the first in 6 weeks) is pure heaven on earth. We spent every moment (aside from G-towns nap time) with each other and out of the apartment.

We ate out.

 Went to the bookstore

 Bookstores are my personal drug. I love everything about them, and despite having a kindle, I go just to be there.

 Went to the park

 Where I got to witness this

 And this

 And we finished our day by window shopping at the mall.

By the time Sunday rolled around, we were wiped.

But my canteen got so filled with water it started overflowing to the point of "Crap now my shoes are getting all wet." And it is awesome. It's so much nicer to function on a full life canteen. It makes the things and moments in life that will drain the water out not seem so bad anymore (although teething is pushing it). And maybe now I can pick up a water bucket and run it around to those who really need it. Because its no fun to have a full canteen when others are getting dry, right?

Let me know if you need a sonic drink or a trip to the park, and don't worry I'll bring my bucket.

In Honor of Love Day

Aaron and I had a long chat last night. I asked him if he remembered anything about the beginning of our relationship. I told him I could only remember the bookend events and the stuff in-between seems to have slipped through the cracks of my memory. He remembered things that I had completely forgotten.

Today as people shared their stories of love, it got me thinking, yet again, about the beginning of our relationship. I'm kicking myself that I didn't keep a journal during that time, but I realized that I still had all the emails that I had written during that time.

I came across an email that I wrote to my Mom on March 24th, 2005. If you read The Story of Us, this was three days after Aaron picked me up at the Cannon Center after he got home from his mission. Toward the end of the email, I said:

"It's weird to say that I have only been with Aaron for 3 days, a lot of people are skeptical, but remarkable things are happening in my life. I don't know what the future holds, or if Aaron is even in mine, but as for now I'm amazingly happy."

I was happy then, and I'm definitely happy now. 6 years, 3 states, and 1 kid later.

For your viewing pleasure I dug up some engagement photos. These were taken 1 year after I wrote that statement to my Mom. The one thing I told our photographer was that I wanted the pictures to be taken outside. The following pictures were basically all we got. And no, none of the poses were our idea.

Okay, maybe this pose was our idea...

Seriously?!

Needless to say, I chose the one picture that was actually taken outside for our wedding announcement.

Happy Valentines Day Babe.

Sometimes

Sometimes life isn't sunshine and unicorns. Sometimes its clouds and Eeyores.

Sometimes Aaron, Grace and I get sick, a lot.

Sometimes I hate that Aaron has to work until 10-11pm everyday

And sometimes I wish busy season didn't exist.

Sometimes Grace and I butt heads.
And sometimes I honestly have no idea what I'm doing as a Mom.

Sometimes I need a close friend and a sister to talk sense into me.
And sometimes getting a little perspective can completely turn things around.

And then sometimes when I finally realize that the above things just don't matter, clouds and Eeyores can turn back into sunshine and unicorns.

Because if life was always easy, we wouldn't learn anything. Right?

At least thats what my new motto is.

Here's to hoping the rest of February is full of perspective and getting through the random crap that brings clouds and Eeyores to my front door.