4 Years!

(Wedding Day Feb. 11, 2006)

Today is our 4th wedding anniversary. It feels like it's been a lot longer sometimes, and others I can't believe everything that has happened in such a short period of time.
Ryan and I met at a church youth activity when he asked me to dance. Ryan was a senior in H.S. at Chaparral, I had just turned 17 and a junior at Murrieta Valley H.S. Ironically, I had just broken up with a loser boyfriend the week before, thank goodness! Our first date was soon followed after spending that weekend at the youth conference, I found him hilarious, witty, intelligent, and handsome.
We dated casually for a few months, then didn't really talk for a couple months, then got back together for the last 6 months or so before his mission...I know...kinda ridiculous :)
We each wrote weekly letters while he served his mission in Brazil from July 2003-July 2005. Those letters were my weekly delight, and to this day when I look at our binders full of letters it makes me so happy :) Ryan surprised me when he came home. His entire mission he told me he would be home the 21st ( I think) and he showed up on my doorstep a week early after I had come home from work. Biggest shock of my life!
He proposed to me the weekend before Thanksgiving in 2005. It was such a great day! The night before, he made sure I was in bed early. Called me somewhere in the crazy early morning hours and told me I had an hour to get ready. I did, and when he picked me up he blind folded my eyes, and drove me to the church where he first asked me to dance. A little sappy, but he turned on the song we danced to that first night and had another dance under the morning stars in the parking lot. lol. that's kinda funny. but cute. He blind folded me again and drove me to a winery in Temecula where a hot air balloon was being set up. That was SO cool! THEN, after the balloon ride, he drove me up to Idywild (where he first saw me, before the dance that same night) and took me to the same camp, got down on one knee...and I got a big question and a diamond ring! What was I supposed to say? Obviously, it was a YES!

(engagement picture)
Four years ago, we were married and I've been so happy to be with him each day. Real life came fast when we found out we were having a baby that same year, he joined the Coast Guard, and now we're in Georgia with another little man!

Thank you Ryan for loving me, and making me so happy. I love you, and look forward to spending forever with you :)

My New Pink Toy

I don't think I blogged about my computer crashing recently, well...it did! Ryan's laptop went down a couple months ago, then mine. GGGRRRR! I of course needed to back my files up when it happened, so I lost things I will forever be sad about. BUT out of the sadness comes a fun new PINK laptop for me! You can officially welcome me into this new decade, I got photoshop too! I'm so excited to learn all kinds of fun tricks.

A Little Love in the Air

If I had the money, I'd go crazy with decoarating my house for each holiday. My goal now, is to just get a few things each year, then that dream will become a reality over time. Today I finally got around to putting up a couple Valentines decorations up around my house!

Need a easy/inexpensive idea to show some love?

Here's a good idea for your Valentine this year: (I'm doing it for Ryan, but it could be for kids, parents, or anyone else you LOVE, just adjust it accordingly;)

1. Buy some candies (preferably v-day, but not neccessary)

2. Have a jar or other container they can keep their candies in (I'm using that mailbox on the table, got it from Target for $1)

3. Leave a note that explains how to play this little game:

4. The idea is to hide, put out, or give out candies throughout the days leading up to v-day. Your valentine will have to save up the treats and keep them in their container. The candies will later act as money (so to speak) and they can "spend" the money how they'd like. This way your valentine can recieve what HE/SHE would like, instead of you having to come up with something and hope they like it :)

Example:

10 Hershey Kisses= 15 minute massage

15 Hershey Kisses= Breakfast in bed, made by me

8 Hershey Kisses= Homemade Chocolate Chip cookies

You get the idea, I haven't made my list yet, so if you've got some good ideas send them my way!

I just gave Ryan his mailbox, with a rhyme inside explaining the objective and gave him 6 kisses to start!

Love ya! Happy Valentines Day :)

Amateur photographer

I gave Skylee one of my old cameras when I got a new one for Christmas from Ryan. For some reason, she still wants the one I use! As I was looking through my camera to review some pictures, I noticed there were a lot that I hadn't taken, especially blurred, side ways, fingers on the lens pictures. Skylee has been swiping mine! This is some of her abstract work :)

^Our dinning room/ kitchen area

^Our new t.v. and homemade t.v. stand (it used to be our entertainment center, we took a saw to it!)

^Parker getting into toys

^Me looking rough at the end of the day, thank you Skylee

^We asked her to take a picture of us after our date last night

Not too shabby for a 3 year old ;)

10 Months

Bath time= Happy time :)

All clean!

If you look real close you can see those little teeth

Parker is a 10 month old wild boy! If he's not sleeping, or smiling and laughing, he's screaming and crying (usually the latter). There is no in between with him these days of teething. He's been teething really bad, but has two bottom teeth to show for all that misery. He's also got two on top that are just about in! I hope all his teeth come fast, he's been miserable, and almost driving me crazy some days!
Even though he's had a rough time with teething lately, he loves going places. If he's in the car, he's so happy. He's in a toddler car seat now, forward facing along with Skylee.
Parker doesn't seem to be interested in crawling yet. I think he'd be a happier if he could follow me around and get to things he wants, but right now screaming will eventually pay off for him just the same.
He has always had a deep, wet cough since he was born and I finally took him in to have it checked out. They took a chest x-ray and only found he had RSV (a common virus that infants and young children get with cold like symptoms). He was put on a nebulizer (sp?) for about a week and a half of treatments, and steroids as well. That really seemed to help.
Parker also protests eating solid foods, STILL! He'll snack on some, but won't eat a full meal. That means he's still waking up at least 3 times a night to drink a bottle. We're work'n on it!
He's got a few little tricks that he likes to show off, they make us laugh every time. My two favorites are his fake laugh, and shaking his head like a crazy man. He has such a great relationship with Skylee, they really love each other a lot.

As many challenges as this little boy seems to have right now, he is such a happy part of our little family. It's crazy to think that he'll be a year old in a matter of a couple months! There's nothing better than easing his pain/discomfort by just picking him up and holding him, he's a mama's boy :) I love this little man!