Can you believe that we are married?

My wonderful husband! I am so thankful to get to life by your side.  Yesterday, you said "Can you believe that we're married?" and I laughed because I certainly can...it feels more strange to me that we are about to have our second child together.  But, I love that you are still amazed by being married. It is such an incredible privilege! I am so thankful that I get to sleep by your side every night- that I get to be the last to speak to you and the first to greet you in the morning, that I get to know your dreams, that I get to kiss you goodnight.  We get to see each other EVERY DAY (just about) and that is such a blessing! I love spending time with you- I feel so safe having you as my husband and my best friend.  You are also so sexy- and what a God given delight it is to get to be intimate with you! Marriage is so much fun. and so much hard work. We are working hard to build up our marriage right now before baby #2 enters the picture and we have another period of exhaustion and adjustment.  It is wonderfully romantic to go through these tough stages of life together, but it is also hard so I am so thankful that we are able to take these next few months and relax together and ENJOY each other! I have loved being able to get away with you- on date nights and over-nighters (thank goodness Jo is weaned!) It is so much fun to reconnect and just relax together. I love spending Jo's nap times with you too ;) I love you, Jesus! Please continue working toward being the spiritual leader in our household- I know that you are making incredible strides in this area, and I cannot wait to see how God will bless our relationship as we seek to put Him and His commands for our family first.  XOXOXO 

3 year anniversary and exciting changes!

Hello my wonderful husband! Right now, you and Johanna are both napping and I grabbed a few minutes to write to you before the girly wakes up.  She has been down for a bit over 2.5 hours so I probably don't have long...
We celebrated our 3 year wedding anniversary last month! It was awesome! We went away overnight for the first time since Jo was born.  We went to McMennamins Grand Lodge (just like for our 1st anniversary) and did the Hammerhead package.  We got so many tater tots! After dinner, we went and played shuffleboard (working on filling out our passports!) and you got a whiskey flight and I got a milkshake.  Later that night, you got a bit of a milkshake too ;) and then the next morning, we had to go to Walmart at like 7am to get a new part for my pump since Johanna had bitten it and broke it lol.  I pumped 4.5 oz that morning! OMG! then we had an awesome breakfast! Can't wait to go overnight with you again- hopefully next month for our 25th birthdays!!! it was so much fun to get away with just you and spend time being best friends. Talking, laughing, playing.  I miss those early days of marriage so much and it makes me look forward to the years once our kids are grown and it is just us again ;)
Why did I get a milkshake, you ask? Because I am pregnant! I am now just over 12 weeks along, so starting my 2nd trimester soon.  We are really excited, but this time around it just seems to fade into the background a little more.  I posted an ultrasound picture up on our whiteboard where you have written "Our Heritage and Our Reward" and I look at it everyday and it makes me so happy.  But this time, I am not stressing. I have no concerns or research to do. and I am busy with Johanna all day! Luckily, I can still get in a nap most days when she is napping! I can hardly believe we will have another baby in 6-7 months... we both feel more comfortable with another girl, but of course it would be so super fun to get to experience a boy too.  I am anxious to find out the gender!
We have grown so much in our love! Marriage is hard work, and this year was certainly very hard.  I feel like we went through a lot of personal growth this year. We both learned a lot about putting the other person first even when we feel tired or stressed. And I think we have really learned to compromise.  We have also been able to grow together as parents- you are so supportive of the decisions I make (vaccines, what clothes to buy, what food to feed, when to give milk, etc.) and I have had to be intentional about including you in her day and being respectful when I greet you, talk to you, talk about you, etc. Lucky for me, it is easy to respect you!
You have been going through so much change at work! You were going to quit the golf course and work on the farm for the summer, but then they offered you an extra $1,500 a month to stay through October, so you did.  But, after October, you will be done at Forest Hills.  It is kind of strange that you will be giving up the golf industry, but I know you are going to feel so fulfilled working for the family farm! and I am so excited for you! I am sorry to see you struggling with whether or not to continue in the PGA program.  I know how much you have loved teaching and it is such a hard decision, but it is a lot of money for very little reward... I hope you know that you have my full support in whatever you decide to do! I know that you are such a hard worker and that you give your all to provide for your family, so I am here for you whether you want to continue in the golf industry, work on the farm, or go get a desk job somewhere.  You are such an incredible provider and I am so so so blessed that I get to stay home with our littles while they are little because you are working so hard! You are making my dreams come true- and I thank you for that! You make me so happy!
Anyway, I just wanted to recap everything going on and remind you that you are my very favorite person and I feel so blessed to get to do life together. Thanks for being my partner through it all! Love you so much xoxoxoxo

7 year dating anniversary!

Hello handsome Jesus! I am so excited that our 7 year dating anniversary is coming up this week! We were hoping to go away overnight for the first time since Johanna was born to celebrate, but it looks like your parents will be in Mexico and this week, Johanna has been waking up in the middle of the night to nurse every night... so I don't think it will happen yet :( We will have to come up with something special.  I am giving you a pair of boxers and a bag of ghost pepper chips that I think you will love ;) It feels so crazy that we have been dating for 7 years... saying it out loud, it doesn't sound like very long.  However, that is almost a 3rd of our lives... we really have been together since we were just babies ;) We were so young at 18 when we started dating and I am so thankful that you are the only man I have ever dated! What a blessing our relationship and marriage is to me! You teach me patience, selflessness, joy... you stretch me beyond my own limitations, inspire and encourage me, and gently lead me in my relationship with our Lord.  You are my very favorite person in the world! I am so happy to get to live life with you by my side. Through all the change we have been through lately, you have been such a steady rock for me to lean on. You are always happy, always seeing the best in life, and always quick to serve. My love for you continues to grow everyday! We are about to start trying to get pregnant again, and as we enter this new stage in our lives, I am working hard to put you second (behind God).  I think last time around, I was so busy feeling nervous and trying to research everything and trying to soak it all in, that I left you behind a little bit... this time, I want to be focused on you through it all.  putting you first is the very best thing I can do for our babies <3 I love you so much and am so excited to continue to go through life together! xoxoxo

Changes

Hello handsome! Wow- I can hardly believe it has been 4 months since I have written a love note to you... so sorry! I will work harder to post every few weeks.  Right now, you are driving home from a 4 day trip to Bandon Dunes.  You had so much fun, but we missed you a lot here at home! It was our first time spending more than 1 night away from each other and our first time in years that we have gone more than 24 hours without seeing each other...  I am sitting here on the computer writing a love note to you while on hold with a company for a homeowner's insurance quote.  Johanna is napping- we went to church this morning and then to Gymboree class, so she is pooped! We are in the process of buying our first home!! We are hoping to close by the end of this month (2 weeks...) so that is pretty crazy! We have been staying busy with Johanna, work, church, small group, and house hunting.  I am deciding between trying to start my own business that I can run from home long term or working just one or two more summers for your family.  We have been doing so much business, but haven't really done any playing... we need a vacation!!

Well, new day, same post! Johanna woke up just minutes into my blogging... but here I am again 3 days later ;) You had Monday and Tuesday off this week and we did a lot of relaxing! We went out to Ihop to redeem a freebie, we went to Red Robin, we relaxed, we watched a lot of tv, we played outside when it was sunny (Cece and an exercise ball...)! It was so fun and so wonderful to have you home! We are in the process of finishing paperwork for our new house- so exciting! We have made a LOT of HUGE, life-changing decisions in the past few days.  Your sister had been looking at houses, but had been for quite a long time and we didn't think she was going to move very quickly... but all within the past few days, she put in an offer and it was accepted! Last month, we had been racking out brains trying to figure out if we could somehow move in with your parents- make the garage into a 2 bedroom studio? 1 bedroom upstairs and 1 in the basement? and it just wan't making sense for us.  but all of a sudden, there will be plenty of room for us- and at the absolutely perfect timing.  It is such a God thing, it is crazy! I had been SO stressed out and God showed up and worked everything out at just the right time.  We went from thinking we would move into our new townhouse and that I might even get a full time job at Yahoo! to make ends meet to moving in with your parents, renting out our townhouse and me working for your family while getting to stay home with Johanna.  Amazing! There is still a lot to figure out and we have a lot of feelings to process, but I am pretty excited about how well we (ok, mostly me!) handled all the rapid, huge changes.  Lucky little baby has no idea any of this is going on hahaha.  I wonder how she will handle moving... i think she will be homesick :( but she will adjust and so will we :)
You just left for work a bit ago (working a closing shift) and Johanna just went down for her first nap! Today, we are planning on going to a Gymboree class at 2:30-3:15 and then getting groceries.  Somewhere in there make dinner and hopefully the house won't be too much of a disaster when you get home... but at this point, any time I clean 1 room, Johanna is destroying another ;)
We are getting kind of excited talking about when to have our next baby.. Right now, we are planning to start trying sometime in April- making the next baby a February baby, so just over a year from now! We will see how all that goes ;) I am starting to feel really ready to get pregnant again... which is kind of odd- I thought it would take me longer to stop feeling overwhelmed, but Johanna is easy at this point and I feel ready to add to our family! I have only 2 lbs left to lose to meet my goal- back to high school weight (9 lbs. under pre-pregnancy weight) so I am working out consistently and eating less and still breastfeeding, so hopefully I will get there by Johanna's 1st birthday! and then I will REALLY feel ready!
SO SO much going on in our lives. and big changes. moving. thinking about adding to our family. only 7 weeks until we celebrate our baby's 1st birthday! it is all exciting, but overwhelming and I am so thankful that you are my rock.  you are my steady and stable. my comfort. Thank you for all that you are- adaptable, maximizer, positive- that is such a complement to me.  You can always help me see the best in any situation. and you are always there- in the scary times, in the happy times, in the sad times.  I know I can count on you!
Now, let's get moved! and then let's go on a vacation for goodness sake!! maybe we can take our first overnight trip without the baby soon... it will be so easy once we live at your parents' house! If only she would stop waking up once a night to eat...
I love you so much, Jesus.  You are my knight in shining armor.  You are my rock.  I am SO thankful to have you at the head of our family- protecting us, leading us, and helping us to love life.  You are my favorite person in the world and I am so lucky to do life with you!