I've finally reached that point

My entire life, I've been counting down to something. Always waiting for the next big event, the next milestone, the next, way-more-exciting-than-what-is-happening-now thing to happen. I even wrote an entire blog post dedicated to countdowns almost 4 years ago, when I was at a very different place in my life.

When I was little, the "big things" were so innocent:

"I can't wait for that sleepover at my friend's house."

"I can't wait for Beauty & the Beast to come out on video."

"I can't wait for our trip to Disney World."

When I reached adolescence, it was all about wishing my youth away so I could be "older":

"I can't wait to turn 13 so I can be a teenager."

"I can't wait to turn 16 so I can drive."

"I can't wait to turn 18 so I can be an adult'" (HA!)

"I can't wait to turn 21 so I can (legally) drink alcohol."

"I can't wait to start my first 'real' job."

And then into adulthood, it was all about hitting the "adult" milestones

"I can't wait to finish grad school!"

 "I can't wait to buy a house!"

"I can't wait until our wedding!"

"I can't wait to have babies!" 

And finally, the journey into parenthood:

"I can't wait to be pregnant again."

"I can't wait to hold that baby in my arms."

"I can't wait until she sleeps through the night."

"I can't wait until she walks"

 

"I can't wait until she talks" 

See a theme here? Waiting, waiting, waiting. Lots of waiting. 30 years of waiting in fact.

Some would argue that I'm simply a future-oriented person who gets excited over the little things. This is true. But on a 14-hour drive in the middle of the night on our way back from Charleston, I had a revelation of sorts.

I was lamenting to Jon that our summer vacation was over, the last of 3 trips I've had the privilege to go on this summer, and that meant fall was right around the corner.  Fall is an extremely busy time in the life of a college career counselor, so I knew the "lazy" days of summer were coming to an end.

But then I looked in the back seat, at my sleeping babies, and all of a sudden I had this overwhelming urge to freeze time. They both looked so angelic, so peaceful, and I will have that beautiful image in my brain for the rest of my life.

Because I finally realized: "I don't want this time to end."

I've spent 30 years waiting for the next big thing, and now, I realize the biggest and best thing is right here, right now. I've always wanted to speed things up, and now, I am at the place in my life where things are so good, I'd be content to stay in this bubble for the rest of my life.

I'm not saying my life has reached it's peak; far from it. There are goals to achieve, memories to make, and I still want to contribute to the greater good in a way that I have not discovered yet. I'm still going to look forward to events with the same joy I always have.

But after all of the waiting, the wondering, the struggles, and the pain, I don't want to wish away one more second. Every second I have on Earth, and every second I have as a wife, mother, daughter, sister and friend is a second worth cherishing. I get it now.

 

Two Weekend Recaps in One!

Well, hi there. 

The past few weekends have been a little crazy, but lucky for you, I managed to take a few pictures so I can share a little bit of the fun (with the three of you who read this blog).

Last weekend we celebrated Emerson's 2nd birthday with an "Oh Two-dles" party. Toodles is a character on her favorite show, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (aka toddler crack). The party was very low-key, but when my kids are little, and really for just anything in life, I've just gotta have a theme. So that's what we came up with.

Then, we corresponded all of Emerson's favorite foods with characters from the show.

Goofy's Greens. Daisy's Dip.

Clarabelle's Cheese and Crackers

The pièce de résistance, Hot Diggity Dogs

  

Minnie's Bow-Tie Pasta. Pete's Pizza. Pluto's Puppy Chow.

Excessive amount of presents for a 2-year old and a Toodles cake.

Everybody laughing at something Emerson said.

So, do you remember last year when she hated her birthday cake?

 Well, this year, instead of crying, she just politely declined.

"No mommy, I no like that. That cake is yucky."

^^ What? Is this even my child?

Wearing her new birthday jammies after a long day of partying!

And switching gears, this past weekend, Jon and I took a whirlwind trip to Chicago to celebrate his birthday. My first overnight trip away from Anna and it was SO hard but truly had an amazing time.

Our hotel, Hotel Sofitel, was amazing. Probably one of the nicest hotels and best hotel experiences I've ever had.

The hotel, and the whole city for that matter, was decorated for Christmas, and it just added to the magic of the weekend.

It was also our first time going out for sushi together since 2010. We get take-out alot, but we haven't had a sit-down sushi dinner alone in 3 years. That is just unacceptable.

On Saturday, we started the day off right with brunch (who doesn't love brunch???) at the Sunnyside Up Cafe. As soon as I saw the word "Cronut" I knew it had to be mine. It was over so quickly I thought it might have been a dream, but this picture proves that culinary works of art really do exist. Just like Santa.

Anna's first time FaceTime-ing with mom and dad and she thought it was a hoot!

On Saturday night, Jon's friends scored us tickets to the Cavs/Bulls game. The seats were awesome. The Cavs performance? Not so much. Such is the life of a Cleveland sports fan.

Even though we spent less than 48 hours in Chicago, and it was definitely one of the best trips we've ever taken, we were so ready to get back to these two. I am honestly not sure how I'm going to survive a 6- day trip to California without them. Do they charge extra to bring toddlers as carry-on luggage?

I ate three sundaes on a Sunday

What a wonderful weekend! I'm about to spew all kinds of happy things, hope you don't mind.

Here's why it was awesome:

1) This girl. Obviously. Easter Basket #2 + Bed Head = Love. 

2) Our new house passed it's inspection, meaning I'm 99% sure we're moving on May 8th! 

3) I found movers that only charge $60/hour and I am certain it will be the greatest investment in the history of investments.

4) Sunday's weather was phenomenal and made me remember why spring is the greatest season of the year (in Ohio at least)

5) I got to spend time with lots of amazing people

6) I had a $3 bar tab (after getting a beer spilled on me and unknowingly ordering a cayenne-spiced brownie, the waiter felt bad and only made me pay for my french fries)

7) I proved that you CAN be 36 weeks pregnant and still go out to the bar for your friends birthday, as long as they serve water and french fries.

8) I went to a "Scentsy" party that actually turned into a Baby Shower for our new princess. I am so touched and grateful and words can't express how much I love my friends. How people can be so thoughtful all the time is beyond me, but these gals prove the world isn't so bad. They also bought gifts for me and for Emerson, including this book that I tried reading to her last night and only got through 3 pages without crying. 

9) I ate three ice cream sundaes and that's just fine.  

10) I have the most wonderful friends and family EVER.

"Happy"

Funny how a blue sky can change your entire outlook, eh?

This was my view on my way into my building today. I am READY for spring. So ready.

I want to say thank you for all of the emails and messages from the other day. I really appreciate your kind thoughts. Just like the blue sky, things are MUCH better than they were a week ago. My family is doing much better, I'm doing much better, and both my girls are just awesome :)

Oh, and we even picked a name for baby sister!!! That's a huge relief. Emerson can already say little sissy's name, and she says it with a New York accent. I don't know how that happened, but it's so adorable I could burst. 

And speaking of, well, speaking, I just had to share one happy story:

Ever since we sleep trained Emerson, gosh, almost a year ago, we began instituting a bedtime routine. Give or take a few things occasionally, she does the same thing every single night. Upstairs at 6:30, bath, pjs, book(s) and snuggles, dim the lights, sing our song, turn on white noise, lay her down with her baby friend, and she's out in 5 minutes. It's a beautiful routine.

The "song" that I have sung to her every single night for almost a year is "You Are My Sunshine."

For the last few weeks, she has been walking around the house saying the word "Happy!" Not surprising, because she is becoming extremely verbal. You tell her a word a few times and she holds onto it. But we never specifically taught her the word happy.

This weekend, I'm cuddling with her as I start singing our song before night-night. 

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me - "

And she sits straight up and yells "HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

My darling sweet girl finished the lyrics for me. Talk about melting into a pool of love. She knows that this is our song, and knows the word. And chooses this one word to sing for herself:

Happy.

With love like mine, how can I be anything but???

It's all worth it

Classes begin next Wednesday, which means I will pretty much have no free time for the next 3 months.

I've been working late every night this week in preparation for the craziness. For 3 nights in a row, I wasn't able to put Emerson to bed. Which was heartbreaking, since that only happened one other time (when we were in Vegas).

So last night I got to come home at a decent hour. I pulled up to the side of the house, and Jon was just pulling Emerson out of her stroller. They had gone on a walk while waiting for me.

I got out of the car, and all of a sudden she spotted me and went NUTS. Huge smile, mouth wide open, legs kicking, squeals of glee.

In all my life, with all of my loves, I have never had anyone that genuinely excited and exhilarated to see me. I had to snap a photo to capture the moment.

I'm sorry, but nothing compares to this.

Future gold medalist

Hi friends!

Though she will not be eligible for the Summer Olympics until 2028, I feel like Miss Emerson has a future in gymnastics, pole vaulting, diving, and possibly bungee jumping if that is an official sport by then.

Watch the video below and I dare you to disagree.

That right there folks is a Jenny Jump Up. At first I was skeptical (My baby dangling from a door frame?!?!), but oh my word.... it has become the greatest thing in our house. Baby girlfriend goes absolutely apesh*t crazy over this contraption. (Please don't judge me that I put her in there backwards. It has the same effect.) I love that it kind of looks like a strawberry with the top cut off. Right??

If she has her mommy's athleticism, her dreams of winning a gold medal some day will be dashed. However, her patriotism is admirable.

USA! USA! USA!

Love equals...

Spending a relaxing weekend with my sweet girl. How can someone so tiny bring so much joy into our lives???

I don't know how she does it, but it's working.

Wedding highlights

They're in!!!! 

Lindsay's photographer finally posted all of the photos from their beautiful wedding, and as I suspected, they are STUNNING!

I'm sharing a few (okay, alot) here because I need people to see how gorgeous and awesome this blessed affair was. And how cute Emerson looked ;-)

To answer a few questions in advance:
- No, my sis-in-law is not a model (Though she should be right??? Hot Damn!!!)
- The wedding venue was called The Bluestone
- Their wedding theme was wine, and they did SO much with it - the details were unreal!
- I am not including many pictures from the end of the night, because I have a daughter. We all had fun. That is all I have to say about that.

CONGRATULATIONS MR AND MRS!!!!!