Happy Thanksgiving!

From the turkeys!

Delilah 18 months

It's such a strange juxtaposition - In some ways it is unbelievable that Delilah has been here for an entire year and a half, but in other ways it's unbelievable that she hasn't always been with us.

My little baby is NOT a baby anymore! She is a walking, talking (screaming, running, climbing...) toddler. A full-blown TODDLER! She is still infatuated with her older brother. She copies just about everything he does. It is the sweetest thing to see the two of them interact. Jameson will grab Delilah's hand to lead her somewhere and it melts my heart, every time.

Delilah has been talking for a while, but today, on her 18 month birthday, she had a language explosion! She's been saying Dada, Mama, duck, and cat for a while, but really only when asked or mimicking us. But today she was independently talking - asking for water, she found a bubble wand and said bubble, and then some of her favorites: off, on, cat, etc!

Delilah is truly fearless and shows her independence more and more everyday. Her favorite pastime is to climb up on the arm of the couch and jump to the seat and sometimes she'll continue on to the pillows that she has pushed on t the floor. She can climb on to every chair that we have in the house and recently discovered that she can reach the doorknobs to open the doors. She likes to play hide-and-seek and shhhhhhhhhhhhh, her favorite hiding place is in the laundry room. :-)

Delilah continues to be enamoured by her big brother. She follows him around and imitates his every move. I know at some point he will likely get annoyed by it, so I am cherishing the fact that it doesn't seem to phase him right now. Right now he's enjoying her attention. They are always giving hugs, kisses and high fives! And don't get me wrong, they do fight, but Delilah isn't afraid to put up a fight. When she gets mad, I pretty sure you can hear her shrieking from 3 houses away! :-)

So, happy half birthday to my brilliant, beautiful, and wonderful diva!

*Tap, tap, tap* Is this thing on?

Oops! Um, it's been a while, hasn't it? Here's the thing, we went on this AWESOME cruise at the end of April. I fully intended to write a blog post about it, but just couldn't find a chunk of time to do it enough justice. So, then life would happen and I felt guilty thinking about writing another blog, but not blogging about the Disney cruise.

So, here's what I'm going to do... I'm going to keep up from this point on. I have some creative projects planned, exciting business ventures, and things going on in my life that you might interested in. But, I'm going to go back and update with as much as I can in the past. I don't really care if it's a blogging no-no. One of the big reasons I started this blog was because I think it will be fun to look back on later on for myself and the kids. So, I want to fill in whatever gaps I can! So, look for some updates in the very near future!

And the rockets red glare...

Well, we didn't celebrate Independence Day in our usual fashion this year. It was a pretty laid back affair this year...at least from our house. Russell works nights currently and his schedule is so weird. He works roughly 10pm-6am, so when he goes in at 10pm on Sunday, it's referred to as Monday. This works out nicely when he is scheduled to work holidays because he gets holiday pay, but is off around 6am on the holiday so he has most of the holiday free...minus sleep anyway!). Well, Russell was scheduled to work on the 4th of July, but we thought this would be perfect because he would get home at 6, sleep until noon or so and be ready for fireworks! But, because the 4th landed on a Monday this year, it was decided that the circle fireworks would be done on Sunday night since everyone had to work on Tuesday. And by that time, the day was full, so Russell couldn't take it off.

Unfortunately, Russell had to work that night, so he was pretty tame and had to leave before things got too crazy. Also, I wasn't feeling too well (I later went to the Dr. and had a sinus infection), so I didn't do a great job of representing my house...of course, that didn't stop me from drinking the bucket drink or dominating the Spoons table. :-)

Overall, it was a fun night, albeit on a smaller scale than past years, but it got me really excited for the annual circle party!!

"What an awesome day!"

Today we were invited to the zoo by Papa Terry and Mama O. We were grateful for the invitation because we have not had as many oppurtunities to go to the zoo as we have in the last 2 years. And to make things even better, all of the grandkids were able to go!

On the way to the zoo, Jameson asked me if he could ride on the train. This was amazing to me because the last couple of times that we've visited the zoo, Jameson has wanted to ride on the train, but we haven't been able to for whatever reason (I think, usually time-constraints). So, it was astounding to me that he remembered that on our way to the zoo! That boy amazes me every day.

Wow, what a fun day we had! We got to see lots of animals. The kids had fun running and playing. Delilah thinks she is one of the big kids and really can hold her own with them. She is running, climbing, and playing right along with them.

Oh, and guess what?

We got to ride the train!

As we were walking past the Desert Dome, Jameson turns to me and says "What an awesome day!" You're right, Jameson, I couldn't have said it better myself! Thanks again Papa Terry and Mama O for an awesome day! :-)

*M* *I* *C* *K* *E* *Y* *M* *O* *U* *S* *E*

Even though I just got home from our DC vacation, it was time to turn around and pack for another vacation...with the kids this time! For Christmas, my parents gave us a very GRACIOUS gift. The whole family was able to go on a Bahamian Disney Cruise. (Never in my life, did I think I would be saying that I was going to the Bahamas AGAIN!) It was an awesome family vacation - Disney style!

Traveling with a 3 year old and a 1 year old was a lot less traumatic than I thought it would be. Delilah napped for a bit on the second leg of our flight, but Jameson did not nap at all, so he was a bit on edge. He did okay on the shuttle from the airport (Beach Front Avenue!!) and as we checked. But once we were checked in, he did not understand why we weren't getting on the cruise right NOW!

There was a bit of a melt-down as we were waiting our turn to board the ship, but the excitement grew once our number was called. We through the doorway, got our family picture professionally taken, crossed the ramp to officially embark on the Disney Dream and met up with Erin and Ray, who were already on the boat. I look at Jameson and ask if he's so excited and he says "I want to go on boat again." Oh man, I didn't even consider that a 3 year old wouldn't consider what it meant to be on a cruise ship. I did go to a window to try and show him what it meant. But, I'm not sure that it ever really sunk in.

The first day was a whirlwind! We spent the first half traveling. Once we were on the boat, we ate a quick bite, settled into our rooms, and then got freshened up for dinner. We asked the room attendant to set up the bunk beds in our room. They offered a crib, but I was worried that it would take up too much room. The cruise that we went on before had "free-style" dining. With the Disney Dream, we had set times and set tables, so this was a new experience for us. When I first arrived to the table, the waiter came over to me and said "I'm going to take care of you, Shannon". My brother heard this and gave me a look and thought he was offering something not on the menu. He didn't realize that I had submitted dietary restrictions! Haha! We didn't even make it through dinner and the kids were dropping. So, Russell and I decided that it would be best to take our travel-weary kids to bed.

Once back at the room, I decided that I should explore the ship and bit and pick up a couple of essentials that missed getting packed (sandals for J & I) and things that were confiscated at the airport (sunscreen). When I got back, R said he wanted to explore the ship. I suggested that he call my brother because I knew he was still up. (Big mistake on my part!) He returned several hours later on his 30th wind from basically not sleeping for 48 hours and a bit more than tipsy.

The next morning, we were in the Bahamas. The kids and I got up and headed out for breakfast, Russell wasn't feeling up for it. I return after breakfast to get ready for our beach day excursion at Atlantis. Russell was still not feeling up for it, so I set off as a single parent for the day. Fortunately, we were going the Kelly, Mark, Tyler and Nichole. So, I had extra hands to help wrangle my kids. And double fortunately, they were willing to refund our non-refundable tickets for our "sick" passenger!

Our 5 little fish (Jameson, Delilah, and their cousins) LOVED the beach. They played in the water for a while and then pilfered someone else's sand toys. They build sand castles until it was time for lunch. While we ordered our lunch, I saw Nichole in action. As a part of our excursion package, we got lunch tickets. Well, Delilah and Justice were free because they were under 3, however that meant we didn't get any sort of ticket for them. But, Nichole specifically asked if they would still get lunch and was assured that they would. Evidently someone was confused though because the people at the food stand insisted that they could only give us a lunch if they had a ticket. Nichole argued with them and we ended up with a lunch for every child - impressive stuff!

After lunch, we ran through the aquarium at Atlantis, but the kids were fading fast. So, soon, it was time to catch a shuttle back to the ship. Let me tell you, we learned a lot about Atlantis and other cruise ships, but we also feared for our lives as the shuttle weaved through the streets of Nassau!! Fortunately, we made it back in the same condition that we left! We returned to the room to find Russell in a much better state. Just in time for the kids to take a nap! :-)

We had to wake the kids up for dinner. This night was pirate night! Mama O bought everyone festive pirate items. Papa Terry REALLY dressed the part, he looked a lot like Captain Jack Sparrow! So everyone donned their pirate attire for dinner. We had another delicious dinner and the waiter did a fantastic job of helping me to navigate the menu. After Dinner, the older cousins went to the Oceaneer Club, which is an on-board activity center for children...similar to a kids' rave! The kids LOVE it there. They have different activities for them to do, computer games, different themed rooms (Monster's Inc, Toy Story, Tinkerbell, etc.), and the characters come visit. After the pirate party, we went up to one of the bars on deck, had a few drinks and waited for the fireworks. The guys went and got the kids before the fireworks started. Everyone enjoyed the show and then it was back to our room, so that we would be refreshed for the next day.

Our last full day on the ship, we stopped at Castaway Cay, which is Disney's private island. The kids and I got up and had breakfast and then went over to Nemo's reef, which is a fun little spray area for the kids. Jameson had a blast, but Delilah got caught by surprise by one of the sprays and wouldn't let me put her down afterwards. Then she entertained herself by going up and down the couple of stairs that lead to the splash area.

After that adventure, we went and picked up Daddy, so that we could go on the island in time to meet Mickey. We waited in line for a photo op with Mickey, Jameson just didn't even know what to think. After the photo shoot, we headed over to the beach. We had lots of fun splashing in the ocean and building sandcastles. But, then it was getting to be lunchtime and they were having a very meat-heavy island feast. So, we decided that since we had spent the day before at the beach, we would head back to the boat.

We had lunch at the buffet on the ship and then headed back to the spray area. Delilah still spent her time climbing the stairs, but Jameson and his cousin, Alaina, ran through all of the different sprays together. Daddy took a turn on the AquaDuck, which is a huge water slide that surrounds the entire boat. We passed the time until Stitch (from Lilo and Stitch) was scheduled to to on the top deck. We went up to watch for Stitch to make his grand appearance. We were trying to distract the kids by watching Dumbo on the big screen over the pool. But, we were into nap time and the kids were getting antsy. Suddenly, there he was - causing destruction, by knocking over deck chairs and stealing towels, in his path. He stopped to give Jameson a hug and to take a picture. Jameson was on Cloud 9! This was our mission for the whole trip! And then it was nap time!

Once again, we had to wake the kids up for dinner. On this night, we ate at the Animator's Palace. While we waited for our dinner, we got a visit from Crush, the Sea Turtle from Finding Nemo. It was fun! Crush interacted with many of the groups in the restaurant. Afterwards, the kids went to the Oceaneer club for one last hurrah. On this night, we had scheduled Delilah to visit the It's a Small World Nursery. So, the adults were able to have one last hurrah as well!

We went to Skyline. When the boys went out the first night, they scouted out this bar and harassed Jessica, the server, who happened to be from Ireland. Russell's favorite drink was the 9 dragons, which he liked to order in multiples - "I'll have 18 dragons in two cups evenly, please." It was nice to relax a little, without needing to keep track of two curious kids. It was here that we learned that the housekeeper left Tyler a little something in his room. Well, it was bittersweet, but it was time to pick up the kids and get ready to leave in the morning.

We had to be to breakfast super early the next morning. And after that, it was time to get ready to go. Our paradise family vacation had come to an end. Overall, the kids did well on the trip home, especially considering we had quite the wait at the airport in Florida. Delilah slept pretty much the first leg of the flight, but the kids were pretty restless by second leg. *I* didn't think they were that bad, but I noticed the lady across the aisle grabbing the bridge of her nose any time they made noise. At any rate, we made it home, travel-weary, but happy!

Another BIG thank you to Papa Terry and Mama O for their VERY geerous gift. And also to my Mom for helping us out with a birth certificate issue and helping us to get Delilah on the boat! :-)

Happy birthday to me!

Well it has come and gone, my thirtieth birthday and the last of the holiday/birthday landmine that happens at our house between Nov-April! Despite everyone’s ribbing, I’m feeling pretty good about turning 30. Honestly, I think I went through my “crisis” at 25. At that point, I was very unhappy with where I was in life. That was what pushed me to start grad school and find a new job. But, 5 years later, I am thrilled with where I am in life. I have my Masters, 2 kids that I adore, a wonderful job that allows me to work part-time, so I can be home with my kids more, and a new business that is gaining momentum! So, as if I wasn’t spoiled enough, I got a HUGE surprise for my birthday!

First of all, Russell picked me up from work Wednesday night and took me to Target under the guise that we needed to pick up diapers for Delilah. I was, however, a little suspicious because once we got the diapers, he asked me if I wanted to look at clothes…very out of character. :-) We get to the house and the first thing I notice is my friend, Kellie’s, car parked on the street. I think what I said was “What the heck?” and all I got in response from Russell was a smirk. I walk in the door and was greeted by my friends and family. I was surprised by the number of people that came out in the middle of the week!! Amazing! Jameson immediately grabbed my hand and pulled me over to see my cake, a beautiful, VEGAN (more on this in another blog), red velvet cake done by the very talented Ashley of Sweet Bites (seriously, check her out, she is amazing!!).

As if the party wasn’t enough of a surprise, Russell tells me to look at the calendar. He had crossed off all of the activities for the next few days and wrote “Washington DC, WOOT!” across Thursday-Monday. And then informed me that we would be leaving at 6 am, the next morning. Oh, you know, like 10 hours from the time he told me… But, amazingly, he talked to my boss and got me out of work, reschedule doctor and chiropractor appointments, got my Kid-Ability class covered, and arranged childcare! Amazing! Oh, oh AND he built my garden boxes (which is all I REALLY wanted for my birthday)!!

So, off we go to DC, on about 2 hours of sleep. I got to sleep on the first leg of the flight and Russell got to sleep on both. Once we arrived at DC, we hit the ground running. We stopped and grabbed lunch at this crazy deli, that also was like a convenience store – with a wine section- and you could rent things like laptops from them…maybe? It was weird, but the food was good! Then we walked over to the Metro station and figured that out. The plan was to go to the Air and Space museum, but *someone* (hint, not me) had to use the bathroom and couldn’t wait, so we made an impromptu stop at the Pentagon. Which, in case you were wondering, is the ONLY Metro stop without a bathroom. So, we stopped at the 9/11 memorial because it was near the bathrooms. After that adventure, we did make it through the Air & Space museum. The weather was perfect and the museum was not very crowded, so we were able to look at everything at our leisure. It was just about perfect! Then we went over to this cool part of town off the East Market stop for dinner. We were looking for this Asian Fusion restaurant, but passed this Thai place on the way and decided to stop there instead. It was NOT a mistake! Dinner was delicious!!!! Then we went back to the hotel to recharge for the next day.

Russell had contacted the office of our local Senator, Ben Nelson, for a personal tour of the Capitol on Friday. We show up and his staff started chatting with us. One guy asked what we were planning on seeing and mentioned the National Archives (pronouncing the “ch”), so that was our running joke for a while. We met the girl who was going to give us our tour (and I can’t, for the life of me, remember her name!). She took us down on the elevator and then we walked through some hallway, which was underground to a small tram (that I am kicking myself for not taking a picture of, but I thought for sure we would take it back). Anyway, that was pretty cool because most people don’t get to see the secret underground tram thingy! :-) She pretty much took us on the standard capitol tour, but she was very patient when we wanted to take our crazy pictures. We did get to see the Brumidi Corridors, is on the first floor of the Senate side of the Capitol building, which are murals painted to reflect great moments and people in United States history. The painting started in 1856 and includes depictions of Benjamin Franklin, John Fitch, Robert Fulton, and events such as the Cession of Louisiana. And apparently he’s psychic because also included is the Spirit of St. Louis, the Moon landing, and the Challenger shuttle crew. :-) After our personal tour, we headed back to the hotel…for surprise #2. Much to my surprise, Russell walked past our hotel room and knocked on the room next door, which was answered by my dear friend Danielle!! Danielle and her family (David, Briauna, and Ella) live in Maryland and came up to DC to see me for my birthday!! On Ella’s 2^nd birthday, might I add. The last time we saw them was our crazy trip to Maryland 4 years ago!!

Once we got assembled, we decided to head over to the Natural History museum. The running joke was that we were looking for the Unnatural History museum or the Super Natural History museum. We continued our series of crazy pictures (I’m going to make a separate blog post with just pictures because that will be easier). Afterwards, we were going to figure out dinner, but first we had to wait for Russell’s pre-dinner snack of a hotdog and chips. Good grief! We decided to go to the Asian Fusion restaurant, for real this time. It was delicious!! It was happy hour, so the adult all had a drink – hey, none of use had to drive!! Danielle had them bring dessert and serenade Ella ("Ellen") and I for our birthdays! David went down the street, to the liquor store to buy a bottle of wine and some Captain Morgan. Which lead to some crazy shenanigans back at the hotel involving a birthday grope, Danielle jumping from bed to bed and ringing in my birthday in Eastern AND central time zones! It was a good night! :-)

Saturday was my actual birthday. It started off slow. We had breakfast and then headed over to the Metro station and waited as Danielle and Russell coordinated my 3^rd (and 4^th) birthday surprise(s). Once everything was synchronized, my fabulous, beautiful friend, Harper, and her son Liam came all the way from New Jersey to DC to see me!! So, we braved the rain to go to the American History museum. And there we met my wonderful, adorable friend Sarah. Thanks to the internet, I’ve been friends with Sarah for years, but I’ve never had the opportunity to meet her until now!! Sarah’s brother lives in DC and she was visiting him, but she made time for me on my birthday!

We were pretty much limited to the museum due to the rain…and so was everyone else. It was packed! I did a chance to chat with my friends while browsing what I coined “the junk drawer of the Smithsonian museums” (you know, all of the stuff that they don’t know what to do with :-) ). Anyway, we took some more funny pictures. Harper and Liam had to leave around 3 because she had a drive ahead of her with a little one (which ended up being waaaaaaaaaay longer than the drive up). Thanks again Harper for making the drive, it was a WONDERFUL surprise!! Then we decided that it was time for dinner. Russell and David suggested Chipolte (which breaks my traveling rule, but that’s okay for one meal out of 10+!!). After dinner, it was Sarah’s turn to leave. Sarah, Thank you for taking time from your visit with your brother to hang out with us. I’m so glad I got to finally meet you in person!! Then we headed back to the hotel and it was time for Danielle and family to leave. :-( *S* family, thank you sooooooooooooooo much for coming out to visit me. And Bri, thanks for taking a day off of school to make the trip. We made lots of memories, to last us until we are able arrange another meeting! ;-)

Then after my whirlwind of surprises, it was just Russell and I again. It was kind of weird for it to be just the two of us after being surrounded by so many!! It was still kind of drizzling, but the rain had let up quite a bit. We agreed that we still wanted to see the White House, Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, etc. and there was really no better time to do it than this night. So, we made the trek, in the intermittent rain, under the big umbrella that we had purchased earlier that day. This was one of my favorite moments of the entire trip. From what I remember, we saw the White House, the WWII Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, the Korean War Veterans Memorial, the FDR Memorial, and the Jefferson Memorial. Believe me, that was quite the walk!! But, it was nice to be snuggled up under the umbrella with Russell. The only disappointing thing was that the reflecting pool was drained for repairs. But, other than it was a pretty perfect evening!

Our last touristy day, we visited the Holocaust museum and Arlington. You know, the really uplifting stuff. :-) I had been to the Holocaust museum before, but Russell never had been. They had a crazy long wait, but fortunately they offer an open-ended ticket for military, State, and Government workers (something like that, anyway). And we were VERY lucky that Russell had his military ID on him!! Score! :-) It was strange because the only thing I remembered from my trip in 8^th grade was the room with the shoes and the reflecting room at the end. It’s amazing to me how differently you experience things with a little more maturity and then add parenthood to the mix. It was very moving (and disturbing). After lunch, we set out to find a vegan bakery for a DELICIOUS birthday cupcake. On our way, we discovered the Museum of Unnatural history. It was a funny little gift shop that sold things such as “unicorn tears” in order to fund a completely free, drop-in tutoring program called 826DC. Check it out, it’s pretty cool. Of course, we took a picture to send to the *S* family as this was our running joke at the Museum of Natural history. After that, we were on our way to Arlington. Amazingly enough, we made it to the Tomb of the Unknown Solider just in time for the changing of the guard. It was incredible to watch! Then we made our way over to JFK’s gravesite. After that, we walked over to the Marine Corps Memorial. And then our trip for all intents and purposes was over. I was sad to see it come to an end, but I COULD NOT wait to see my kids!!

Aside from nearly dying in the shuttle on the way to the airport the next morning, our trip was pretty uneventful. It seemed to take forever, but eventually we were back in Omaha, getting picked up by Kellie. I was sooooooooooo anxious to see the kids. We got home, ditched our stuff and quickly went over to Nana Sandy’s house to pick them up. They both had just woken up from their naps. We walked in and Russell quickly grabbed Delilah from Nana. At first she didn’t know how to react. I think she even reached back out for her Nana, but once she realized who we were she broke out in a huge smile and hugged us. Jameson came down the stairs and started yelling to us once he saw us. It felt so good to be a whole family again.

I couldn’t have picked a better birthday present. I had such a wonderful time!! A GIGANTIC thank you to everyone who helped Russell pull this off and those who made it extra special. Thanks to Papa Terry, Mama O, Nana Sandy, and Papa Bruce for watching the kids. Thanks to Staci for feeding the cats. Thanks to Ashley for my awesome cake. Thanks to Danielle, David, Briauna, Ella, Harper, Liam and Sarah for visiting me. Thanks to my Mom, Ione, and Sandy for helping out with the party. Thanks to Kellie for picking us up from the airport. Thanks to Ms. Minnie and Ms. Crystal for working with Russell and letting me out of work. And thanks to everyone who attended my party and sent me messages for my birthday! I appreciate each and every one of you. (I apologize if I forgot anyone, remember I wasn’t around for the behind the scenes stuff).

Oh wait, last but certainly not least, thanks to my AMAZING husband for out doing yourself and making this birthday extra special for me. Love you!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Jameson!

Whoa, I am the mother to a 3 year old. That doesn't even seem possible. Three years ago I gave birth to one of the most adorable babies I have ever seen. After a 2 year struggle to get and stay pregnant, I wasn't fully convinced that this tiny, perfect thing was for real until I was actually able to hold him in my arms. Even when the doctors started explaining his club foot to me, I didn't care. He was here and he was all mine!

It is so much fun to watch Jameson master each developmental stage. I know I am biased, but I swear he is incredibly smart. Even when there was some concern about his speaking (or more accurately, his LACK of speaking), I just knew that he was aware of what was going on, he just chose not to speak. The problem was that the kid was AWESOME at charades. :-)

But, as warned by many of my friends and family, once he started talking, I cannot get him to stop! Now I sit back and enjoy the crazy things he says to me. I love when I can tell by what he says that his little mind is thinking about something. We also are aware more and more each day that he is absorbing way more than he is letting on. Russell showed Jameson one time that when making a fist, you should put your thumb on the outside, so not to hurt it. And then, weeks, later Jameson started explaining it to me. He also found an ice tray one day and proceeded to tell me how you make ice!

My little buddy knows the alphabet, numbers, and colors. he can spell his name, Delilah's name, Mommy and Daddy. He loves spelling other words, but still needs help. He one time called the house phone and text "Mommmmmmmm" to Russell while I was putting D down for a nap - and that's ALL he did! He knows the difference between an electric and acoustic guitar and knows how to work the pedal and amp. (Rockstar in the making??) He FINALLY pooped in the potty, which is what was holding up official potty training. Now that we've passed that hurdle, I assume he's going to ROCK that as well!

Jameson is also such a little lover. He'll give hugs and kisses all day. Whenever I hurt myself, he reassures me "You okay, Mommy." He is constantly hugging and kissing his sister (when he’s not pushing her down! Haha!) And my favorite, he'll be talking to you and will gingerly touch you on the face. If you slip up and say "shut up" he'll correct you "No, shut up is bad! We say be quiet" ...every time. :-)

He is also a little comedian. He loves making faces. He does the funniest things with his eyebrows. He likes to smack and shake his booty. He may also call you a "grey hippo" ...but, you'll have to talk to him to see what that actually sounds like.

My big boy is growing up right before our eyes. I know I’m going to blink and he’ll be graduating from high school!!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Jameson!

The Seven Year Itch?

The seven year itch refers to the inclination to become unfaithful after seven years of marriage. It has been a running joke in our household the last few months as we approached today, our anniversary, it has been 7 years since I married the love of my life.

So, as we have now hit that anticipated 7 year mark, am I worried about the 7 year itch?

Nope.

Of all the things that I struggle with in life, my marriage has never been one of those things. Are things absolutely perfect 100% of the time? Not a chance. But, when people talk about how hard a couple has to work to make a marriage work. I smile and nod as if I know exactly what they are talking about, in reality, I don't have a clue. I don't know, things are just easy for us, I guess. Believe me, I recognize how absolutely blessed I am...on most days, anyway. :-)

2004

2011

A Party Fit For Our Little Lady

Delilah 1 year

Well, here we are. It has been an entire year since my sweet little princess was born. It doesn't even seem possible! I know, I know...I say this every month, but I'm serious this time!! I went through the entire year pointing out all of baby D's firsts. And I guess it didn't REALLY hit me until Valentine's Day. February 14th, 2011, Delilah's very first Valentine's day. You know, the day before her very first birthday! Now, I do realize that there will be more firsts in her lifetime, but during the first year, EVERYTHING is a first. ::Sniff:: At this point with Jameson, we had already started talking about trying for another baby, but we're just not to that point yet. Not much longer though - what am I going to do when I'm done having babies?? :-) Anyway, I seem to have gotten off track of the purpose of this post...

My sweet little one year old is less and less like a baby and more like a toddler every day. She is walking!! Consistently. She is an expert stair climber. She thinks everything is funny and lets all of us know by her hilarious "ha ha" (pronounced just like that!). She likes playing with her big brother...when he's being nice to her, that is. :-) She is still a mama's girl, but it's getting better. She is an excellent eater, in fact, on most days she out-eats Jameson!! She is a sweet little cuddly girl who will snuggle up for a hug or lean in for a kiss (even if it's open-mouthed!).

This morning Russell, Jameson and I (We let the princess sleep in on her birthday) got up at 6:30am to see little Miss Delilah in her TV debut:

Then we visited Girls Inc (you know, since I took the day off! Haha!) to show the kids off. Then it was lunch at Gandolfo's and dinner with Nana Sandy and Papa Bruce at Fuddruckers. Delilah was treated to a HUGE brownie sundae...which she kindly shared with the rest of us! All-in-all it was a very good day!

Happy Birthday, Delilah!

I have enjoyed learning all about you this past year and I look forward to many, MANY more!!

Whirlwind weekend!

I was so spoiled last weekend with all of the snow. You see, I'm as bad as the school kids when it comes to snow days because generally when OPS closes, so does Girls Inc. So, I'm stalking KETV.com every night when they start announcing closings. Last weekend, we got 3 snow days, making it a 5 day weekend for me! :-) So, this weekend felt extra short.

This weekend included a night with the neighbors, a superbowl party and a day trip to Kansas City. But, the most exciting event was my niece's birthday party. She had it in Shawnee Mission, Kansas at a place called Little Monkey Bizness. The kids had so much fun!! It’s this really cool place that has different types of playthings for kids. They have inflatables, towers, slides, cars, costumes…the list goes on. Someone should really open one of these in the Omaha area!! :-)

Jameson was off and running as soon as we got there. He loved to climb up and down everything and following his cousins around. It took him awhile to master it, but his favorite activity was to climb the tallest tower. And he did pretty well as long as the bigger kids weren’t rushing past him (although, they would give him a boost from time-to-time).

He would occasionally call for help because he still sometimes gets scared on slides, but once he figured out he could go feet-first, he was good to go!

Delilah was so happy to be climbing on everything (her new favorite pastime!). She found a slide her size and was in so excited!! :-)

She would climb on her own to the top and then stand there and try to shake the thing until someone would help her slide down.

Once our time in the play area was up, we went into the party room. The kids got to color some monkey masks and eat ice cream and cake. My kids BOTH finished their cake (Yes, Delilah ate an entire piece of cake!!). Good practice for the coming weeks, I guess.

Jameson & cousin Hannah

Happy Birthday, Alaina!

Cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese!

Delilah's new favorite food - string cheese! Also, maybe you can see that she's working on her 5th tooth!!

Weekend Update

Per our usual, another fun-filled weekend!! :-) The first big news is that I have been published! :-) I was approached by a writer for Shout! Weekly (thanks again, Cindy!!) who want to write an article about my new life coaching business. The papers come out on Wednesdays, but I didn't get to see it until Thursday.

Friday, we went to the car show. We are starting to research our next car with the idea that we will have 1 or 2 more kids. And, yes, even though I'm ashamed to admit it, I was looking at minivans. Jameson had a blast driving all of the cars and going down this giant inflatable slide they had there. Anyway, when I got home, I excitedly ran copies of the paper over to my neighbors' houses that helped me out with it. I ended up hanging out with one of my neighbors, Staci, Friday night. We drank a bottle of wine (okay, I drank most of my bottle while she finished off her...oops!) and talked all night. It was a nice time!

Saturday was our third annual Turkey Day. It all started when a group of our friends ended up with too many turkeys one year and didn't know what to do with them. So we had, basically, a pot-luck Thanksgiving. It has been a lot of fun every year and this year was no exception! We did a secret santa for the first time this year and I think that was a success! And everyone braved all the snow to get there! :-)

Sunday we went to dinner with Nana Sandy and Papa Bruce. It had been a while since we last saw them, so it was nice to catch up. They were also pretty anxious to see the kids.

Snow!

Yum!

Kid-Ability!

I know that I have alluded to the extra things that I have going on the side. One of these things is that over the summer, I was fortunate enough to become a Kid-Ability instructor. Kid-Ability is a national sexual abuse prevention program for children in kindergarten, 1st and 3rd grades. We go into schools in the Omaha Public School system and teach the program. The program is 4 sessions long (1/2 hour each for kindergarten and 1 hour each for 1st and 3rd grade). I really enjoy teaching Kid-Ability, it is very rewarding for me! :-)

Weekend Update

Yet another busy weekend in the *B* household! Friday was just a normal day to relax and get ready for the weekend's festivities! On Saturday, we spent the day with Papa Terry, Mama O, Uncle Tyler, Aunt Nichole, Hannah, and Justice. We went to the train show to see THOMAS!! It was crazy. There were miniature train displays set up everywhere. Jameson was in heaven! I think he dragged Papa Terry over the entire Qwest center! After looking at a fe things, I had the great idea to jump into the line to ride Thomas, since it was to the back of the building. I had D in the stroller, so I was in the way anyway. I was in line for a 1/2 an hour, but let me tell you - it was worth every second to see the look of pure joy on Jameson's face when he went around the track the one time on Thomas.

Thank you Papa Terry and Mama O for taking us!! Then we went to lunch at Micheal's in the Old Market. It was delicious...even though I had to share half my fajitas with Delilah!!

Sunday, we were back with everyone to celebrate Hannah's 5th birthday! It just doesn't seem like she can be that old! Hannah was so proud of her cupcakes. She had to show them to me a soon as I walked into the door! The kids had fun running around and playing under the table. Once again, I had to share my dinner (pizza, this time) with Delilah. I was not sharing fast enough and she let everyone know! She even finished Jameson's piece!! Then we ate Hannah's cupcakes - which were delicious! :-) Happy birthday, Hannah!

Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. day, which is a holiday at my work. It's always a little bittersweet for me because it's the end of the holiday marathon which starts on Thanksgiving. We don't get another holiday until Memorial Day. But, luckily I have the cruise to hold me over! Until then, I can just keep wishing for snow days!! :-)

11 Months!

Holy Moly, 11 months! I KNOW I say this every month, but we all know what the next birthday will be. My baby won't be a baby anymore, she'll be a 1-year old!! That just doesn't seem possible! I can distinctly remember this time last year. My C-section date had been scheduled, so I knew she would be here no later than 2/15 (which is her birthday), we were busy getting things ready to meet our little lovebug, and we were just anxious to meet our little girl.

This year, we have a blossoming young lady. She is becoming so much more social. She can wave 2 ways - by opening and closing her hand and by waving it from side to side. She can give kisses and blows kisses. But, she doesn't blow the traditional kiss, she will stick one or two fingers in her mouth to get a good smacking sound. I posted earlier about Delilah taking her first steps. Well, now she's able to take about 7 in a row! And she can stand up on her own and she'll initiate walking on her own! I know any day now she's going to take off running!

Delilah is STILL in love with her brother. She just thinks he's the funniest person she's ever met. They've started playing together a little bit. So long as Jameson is being nice, they get along pretty well. Delilah loves to give her brother hugs and kisses!

Delilah is becoming such a big girl, that she has pretty much shunned baby food! She wants table food!! Specifically whatever I'm eating. :-) She is doing really well and will pretty much eat anything I give her...except yogurt. I guess she doesn't like yogurt.