Almost done!

The bottom features a picture of me just a few days ago at 37 weeks. Crazy! This pregnancy has gone by so fast, yet SO slow. So happy to finally be down to the last few weeks! Chad and I are so ready to meet this little girl and to be one step closer to a complete family. We have so much love to give and are excited to shower it upon this new baby. What a blessing it is to be a part of such a beautiful process!

And so the countdown begins! Although, there has been a new development that may require an early delivery. Just within the last week I have developed all the symptoms for something called cholestasis (look it up, pretty interesting stuff. One of the symptoms is itchy hands and feet and it is driving me NUTS). They will do some blood work at my appointment tomorrow to confirm whether or not I have it. If I do, there is a good chance I will be induced early as it is not good for the baby. Anyway, no real answers yet but something we are preparing ourselves for.

I am so looking forward to this summer with a new baby and a toddler that loves to explore. I am so grateful for my little family and feel so blessed to see it grow. Life is good!

A Few Thoughts on Marriage

It's not easy. In fact, it's one of the hardest things I've ever done. You go your whole life looking out for número uno, focusing on how to fulfill your own wants, needs, and aspirations and then after a simple ceremony one day you have a whole new set of needs and aspirations to fit in. And not to mention that you now share your space, bed, and spend most of your time with another person with a different personality and way of looking at things. It requires quite the adjustment and it definitely doesn't happen overnight. And after you adjust it doesn't end there.  It requires consistent work to make sure you don't fall back into your old single, selfish way of thinking.  And don't get me started on the pet peeves you don't discover until after you live together.  It's so easy to get negative about those and let them get under your skin but you have to work extra hard to let them go.

And of course there's the burning fire of romance, which burns so brightly while you're dating and you soon find out after you get married that it needs consistent feeding to keep burning.  Once the honeymoon stage ends, you get so wrapped up in responsibilities that it's easy to forget to spend that one on one time together.  And it's that much harder once you add kids to the mix.

So I guess you could say that my synonym of choice for marriage would be WORK.  But, boy, does that work pay off!  Just like everything else that requires hard work, it provides the greatest paycheck.  The reward is a deeper love than you ever imagined you would have in your life, both to give to someone else and to receive in return.  You have somebody you can always go to to laugh with, cry with, and to simply enjoy life with.  You have the best friend you've ever had by your side to hold your hand as you face whatever life throws your way.  You have the security of knowing that you are never alone.  What more could you need to get through this scary thing called life?!

And with that, I would like to end by saying thank you to my husband.  Thank you for putting as much or even more work into our marriage as I do.  Thank you for seeing past my imperfections and loving me anyways.  Thank you for supporting me in achieving my hopes and dreams.  Thank you for helping and encouraging me to reach my full potential.  Thank you for being my best friend.

Te amo!

A Day In The Life

This little boy sure makes me laugh.

Changes

Before:

(I had no idea my hair was that long)

After:

Best haircut decision I ever made.

A Few Thoughts on Valentine's Day

Let me start out by saying that I love holidays. All holidays. Yes, they may be very commercialized but when you take away all the candy, gifts, cards, etc. that stores push you to buy, there is something great to be celebrated with each one in whatever way you want to.

That being said, I love Valentine's Day. And I'm sure some of my single friends are thinking (if they happen to read this), "Of course you love Valentine's Day, you're married!" Along with all the posts on facebook saying "Happy Valentine's Day" there are just as many saying "Happy Single Awareness Day" and that always makes me cringe. Yes, everywhere around you, boyfriends and husbands are buying flowers for their girlfriends and wives and neglecting everyone else, but that is not the way it has to be. I have always celebrated Valentine's Day. It started when I was young when I would wake up to find small gifts from my parents every year. It continued as I had boyfriends and now my husband, but even when I didn't have them. When I was single in high school, my mom and I would always do something special, usually involving chocolate and chick flicks. When I went to college, I celebrated with my roommates by going out to dinner and then doing something with chocolate and chick flicks. And even now, it's not just about me and my husband, I think of everyone I love in my life; my son, my parents, my siblings, etc. I always make a point to call my mom and whoever else I feel inspired to on Valentine's Day. It's not about couples, it's about love.

So while I do not believe in saying "I love you" only on Valentine's Day (I say it every chance I get), I still think it's just as good a day as any. So start celebrating everyone you love on Valentine's Day and tell someone you love them. The only thing we take away from this life is the people we love, so why not have a holiday to celebrate the one thing that will stay with us forever!

On Life, Love, & Laughter

Life

Life is hard sometimes. I look at where I am compared to where all my friends in high school are and I feel very envious sometimes. They aren't strapped down by all the responsibility that comes with a family. They have been able to devote all their time to school and fun. They get to spend their money on new clothes and going out and I have to spend my money on bills and diapers. Sometimes I wish I could just get away and spend a weekend not worrying about bills, mom and wife responsibilities and just have fun. But, at those times I'm reminded of something more important than fun....

Love

At those moments I always seem to get a huge smile and a kiss from my son, feel the life inside of me moving around, or find my husband looking at me affectionately. My life is filled with so much love. I have a husband who adores me, who I adore back. I don't have to deal with the stresses of a family by myself. We are there to support, encourage, and love each other. I have companionship in my life that I wouldn't have if I had continued my single life. I have a son who has an endless supply of kisses for me. His spirit brings so much love into our home. And even the baby inside of me has already brought so much love into our home. So while my apartment may not be filled with nice clothes and other nice things, it is filled with love and I wouldn't change that for anything.

Laughter

I am also so grateful that my house is full of laughter! Nothing cures frustrations and stress like laughter. I love that Chad and I love to make each other laugh so we're constantly finding ways to do so. And Jarek is quite the silly little dude. He is always doing things to make us laugh and he loves it! What a blessing it is to me that I have a family that makes me laugh so much.

So while I may not have the carefree life I sometimes wish for, I have a very abundant life. An abundant life that brings me so much love and happiness. The Beatles said it best, "All you need is love." :)

Update Since....May

As you can see, it's been a super long time since I have posted. Life is crazy and I just haven't gotten around to the blog (although I stalk blogs all the time). We had a wonderful summer full of family reunions and work and school. We also had a wonderful fall celebrating all of our birthdays, our 2nd anniversary, Thanksgiving with family, and finding out the arrival of baby #2 in May! Of course, the fall then was slightly unenjoyable as we had to deal with the morning sickness and moodiness that comes with pregnancy. But, overall, it was great! We had a wonderful Christmas full of family and blessings. And we have started 2012 off with a bang. I started school again, which I both love and hate. We found out the gender of baby #2. We are having a.....

GIRL!!! We are so excited! I wish I had gotten a picture of Chad's face when the tech gave us the news. We was grinning from ear to ear! He was really hoping for a little girl. And lucky for both of us we don't have to go through the agony of picking out a boy name as we have had our girl name picked out since we found out I was pregnant. Her name will be Hadassah Rose (Hadassah after Esther from the Bible. It was her Hebrew name. Rose is after her lovely mother and great great grandmother) and we are so excited to meet her!

Life is good and we couldn't ask for any better! We are so grateful to be able to give all of our love to our growing family and for the happiness that Jarek and Hadassah have brought into our lives. We have struggled the last little while but have been overcome with the protection and love we have felt from the Lord and are grateful for the things we have learned. We have also been immensely blessed in all of our endeavors and are anxious to see where life takes us. Hopefully I will be better at blogging so you can join us on our adventures!

And now to leave you with this little gem:

(He got in there all by himself one Sunday before church. His new favorite hang out!)