My Wild Child

The only time Jack holds still all day is when he is strapped in his high chair and eating and I guess that isn't even technically still seeing as though his arms and hands and mouth are all moving. Even when he's sound asleep in his bed, he's moving non-stop like a little wiggle worm. It's really cute to watch on the monitor but when I think about my next 18 years or so, I just laugh. And yawn! This boy is going to keep me on my toes in a way that Max never did, has or will. I never understood why moms always talked about their house in shambles... until this boy! And I'm not the only one that noticed... Jack spent the night with my Mom earlier this week- it was his first night away from me, not at our house, and there was no reason for it-- just because my mom called and offered. Well when I went to pick him up the next day, I noticed that none of my mom's stuff and knick knacks were anywhere to be seen. Then she told me that she actually had to baby proof-- something her nor I had to do with Max.

So let me just give you some photo proof... this is what my living room looks like anytime Jack is awake and about.

And this is where he spends most of his time...

...locked at the top of our stairs in baby jail because all he wants to do is this...

Climb and up down the stairs... here, at the pool, at Annie's, or anywhere there is any sort of ledge he can mount and then dismount. And he prefers to do it while holding stuff.

It makes my heart leap out of my chest every time he starts to wobble a bit-- mainly because concrete and slate tiles are often involved at the bottom. But that doesn't stop him! He get more bumps and bruises on his head in a week than Max has had his whole life! I've recently added those foam square mats at the bottom of the stairs, but it doesn't calm my heart in my chest! And I've tried to relax and not pick up quite so often... but even when it's nap time and I get all the rooms put back together, I know I'm just biding time until my lil tornado reappears :) At least he's cute! And hopefully that gets me through the ER visits that are in my future as well.... the Lord knew what He was doing when He gave me a wild thing, now I'll just spend the next 50 or so years of my life praying for Jack's safety and my blood pressure!

(And if you're wondering about Jack's pained face when he's behind bars, that's his "cheese face"-- when he fake smiles and says cheese... apparently he learned that from Max-- it's a mix between anguish and constipation, and best part is that he thinks he's being precious!)

Rationally Irrational

I rarely shower in the mornings anymore for two reasons-- 1) I don't go to work and 2) I do go to the gym at some point in the day, which when combined, moves my shower time to the evening hours. Naturally this leads to me donning one of Chad's softer, non-form fitting t-shirts and some pj pants as soon as I'm clean, which then always results in him saying "why are you wearing my shirt?" and Max saying, "why are you wearing Daddy's shirt?" To which I want to reply because that is why I got married-- to inherit a whole other drawer of t-shirts which are bigger than my own and feel way better on and since I would never pay money for shirts like this of my own, this is the only rational way to get one. It's one of the "perks" if you will, and it goes a long way.

Now my guess is that Chad isn't super impressed by the pj choice, but considering our number of kids to years of marriage ratio, I'd also say it isn't really causing a problem. Which leads to my next (and main) point.

When women marry men, they inherit bigger, more comfy clothes. These serve them well for pj's, frumpy and sick days, and any other time that we say so. And most importantly, pregnancy. Well unless you're me and your husband weighs about what you weigh when you workout everyday... And he's 6 inches taller. I'd like to point out that it isn't like he doesn't have muscle- he does, but it's like his bones are filled with air and mine are filled with lead. Now let's add a baby to the oven... And the pounds that come with it. It isn't right. It isn't fair. It's down right cruel!

Now I understand that some people gain like no weight-- that is NOT me-- when I do pregnant, I do PREGgg-Nannnt! I get about half way in and Chad's "big" "loose" "comfy" t-shirts no longer make it over my head-- I swear even my head grows when I'm with child. They even squeeze my arms. I've recently discussed this with a girl at the gym and my newly un-pregnant friend, Danielle, both of whom also suffer from this same plight, and we feel like we're being cheated. The point of marriage is to have some back up clothes that swallow you and make you feel so tiny and dainty, especially when you're pregnant. Their t-shirts and their pj pants are supposed to serve as a safe place, but if you can just picture someone trying to squeeze 10lbs of pooh into a 5lb bag, then you've just pictured me trying to "wear" Chad's lounging pants when I'm about 30 weeks along. By 37 weeks, I'm ripping seams.

But I've got it-- I've finally figured it out. Before I get pregnant again, I must buy some new shirts for "Chad"... A size (or 2) bigger than normal and put them in his drawer. That way, when the time comes, I'll fish around in there and magically pull out a shirt that slips over my entire being, baby "bump" (aka mountain) and all. And I'll feel just as wonderful and comfortable and happy as I do now, in one of my favorite go-to tee's from his drawer. Well "comfortable" in the beached whale, I've for to pee every 5 seconds, my hips ache, will you get a forklift to help me roll over kind of way. See, I'm being completely rational about this!

Celebrating 4 wonderful years... and the best is yet to come!

As I mentioned, this past week, Chad and I celebrated our 4th anniversary. And I've got to be honest, that just seems like such a small number considering all that's happened in our marriage. And I do not mean that in a bad way at all-- time has flown, and I've enjoyed it all-- but we've managed to go from apartment to house living, trade in both of our cars for new ones, add two precious boys, I became a stay at home mom, grown Chad's business, paid off our debt, changed churches, and about a million other milestones, I'm sure.

I'm also astounded at just how far we've come in our short time as man and wife. Now let me make it very clear that we loved each other like crazy when we got married.... but that doesn't really cut it! We've grown SO much in our relationships with the Lord, in how we respond and encourage each other, in how we communicate, and in our parenting. The number of arguments or "disagreements" between has decreased by like 95% and he went from being my favorite person, to being my most most most favorite person. And last but not least, our friendship with each other has really grown too. I just like him :)

But let me also be clear that we have by NO means arrived-- anything not handled correctly becomes a bomb, my mouth can still wreak major havoc, my love tank sometimes gets really low because Chad isn't a "words" person, and we're still learning so so so so so much! BUT I just love that we're doing it together, and that we're putting in the work now to have a great, sturdy, reliable, loving, and fun marriage til death do us part.

We celebrated this past Saturday night since we didn't actually see each other too much on our actual anniversary. My parents kept the boys and we went to Murphy's in the Virginia Highlands for the first time-- it was SO delicious-- one of our top 5 meals for sure. We tried really hard to save room for dessert but failed. So we went to Piedmont Park to walk around for a bit. But at 9pm it was still 93 degrees and we were sweating to death. So we sat on a bench for a while instead. It wasn't really helping any in the "making room" department, but we did get some good people watching in :) So before heading to claim our kiddies, we decided to go ahead and make a stop at Cafe Intermezzo-- of course it was delicious and of course I had to bring the majority of mine home in a box, but hey, at least we tried!

And of course, to stick with tradition on the year by year book I'm building, here is our "4th Anniversary" picture... I keep telling Chad that the book is to watch how we change, but really it's to watch me grow... year 0: newly weds, year 1: 8 months pregnant, year 2: 10 months post pregnant, year 3: 5 weeks post pregnant, and now this year, a whole year post baby and we're not even expecting another... wow it's like our own version of the calm before the storm :)

Happy Anniversary to the best man I know-- I love you Chad Bowman and I'm SO glad you're mine!