Happy 9 Year Anniversary

I would like to make a huge understatement: parenting is hard. Really, really hard.

Yesterday Ben and I spent our 9 year anniversary in the thick of parenting. With moving in a week and a very busy work schedule for Ben, a babysitter and date night just wasn’t going to happen. But, we were determined to have a fun evening by packing a picnic and heading to the Portland Rose Gardens. It is one of our favorite places and the kids would have fun, right?

Well, by the time I headed to the Rose Gardens with the boys to meet Ben, I had fought for 2.5 hours with Josh during naptimes; his last “nap” he didn’t even fall asleep. I then sat in traffic for 45 minutes trying to get to the Rose Gardens. By the time I gave Ben a quick peck and handed a hungry, crying baby to him, I was frazzled and frustrated. We spent our picnic with a fussy baby who ate dirt and grass at every opportunity and twin five year olds who ran around like banshees.

A sign of a seasoned parent is that one knows when to cut and run. We were out of there within an hour. Josh, of course, fell asleep 2 minutes from our house without pjs on or a bottle. Poor boy was out cold, exhausted because no afternoon nap. Ben snuggled him for awhile and then we had the big decision to make: just put him to bed as is (no bottle) and risk a later wake up, or count on the fact that he’s so exhausted that he’ll basically sleep through a diaper change and feeding. We chose the later with hopes of a quiet evening with all kids asleep. Wrong choice. Josh took his 10 minute nap as a “re-charge” and proceeded to play until 9:45.

“Happy Anniversary, sweetie.”

But you know what? I think it’s days like this that DEFINE marriage. It isn’t the date nights, cruises, and special trips away from the kids. It’s being in the trenches of life together. It’s collapsing on the couch after an extremely weary day next to your spouse. It’s being okay with an ordinary day for your anniversary because you know that you’ll have a lifetime of special days together.

So, yes, “Happy 9th Anniversary, my love.” Thank you for being in the trenches of life parenthood with me. You are the most amazing husband and father I could dream of. (And next year, can we please go to Hawaii?)

My dinner date(s)

The cause of so much angst and unfortunately I never cleaned this face for the rest of the pictures.

Such a rascal! We get that look on the left a lot when we say “no”

“Please don’t run into someone, please don’t run into someone.”

The roses really were gorgeous. These white-ish yellows are my favorite every year…I love the way they contrast with the dark green leaves—almost like they glow!

We did get some great pictures! (Seth in black, Sam in blue)

Who would have known that someone that tired could stay up for almost 3 hours past his bedtime. Ugh. Did I tell you that parenting is hard? (But very rewarding!)

It’s Official: We’re Moving!

Ben and I have lived in our home for seven and a half years. It was our first home that we bought at the height of the housing market to renovate and flip for a profit (like a lot of other naïve 20somethings). And while the quick flip didn’t happen, the renovations did! Ben built a beautiful deck, a fence, and an amazing custom shed. We replaced all the windows and I painted every inch of the trim white. I also painted the outside of the house and every inside wall at least once. We tiled and updated both bathrooms and the kitchen. We completely transformed our backyard planting hundreds of plants, adding a rock garden, fruit trees, a rose garden, raspberries and strawberries. And while I was pregnant with Josh, we even laid bamboo floor all by ourselves. We learned A LOT about renovations in this home!

More importantly than all the work, this was the place we brought our three sweet babies home to. It has been a haven of wonderful moments and memories. It has housed spit up, diaper changes, sleepless nights, potty training and fits. Those aren’t what I remember the most, though. I remember the laughter, wrestling, hugs and kisses. I remember the boys learning to crawl down the hallway and turning the corner into the kitchen to find me. I remember handing Seth and Sam their bottles at the kitchen sink and watching them toddle back to their cribs. I remember Joshy learning to crawl and desperately trying to get into Seth and Sam’s bedroom to play legos with them. I remember quiet evenings, just Ben and I, sitting outside at the fire pit, proud of what we made into a home. It’s the home where I learned to be a homemaker and a mother. And the home where Seth and Sam learned to build legos, read, and be a good big brother to Josh.

I could spent pages and pages listing my memories, and maybe some day I will. But now, let me tell you a bit about what we’re going to!

We’re moving to a small town Northwest of Portland called Scappoose. Ben and I have been looking at properties up there for more than a year, and our “perfect” home finally came up for sale in April. I say “perfect” because someday it will be—with A LOT of work. Yep, that’s right, we’re moving into another fixer-upper, and this one we’re not just battling 80’s pink and purple tile. We’re talking full-on 60’s motif: the kitchen has brown and yellow tile, and there’s a bathroom that’s we’ve affectionately titled the “Sunset” bathroom due to pink and blue tile that’s covering every inch of the walls and counters. But, it has good bones.

AND it’s on .68 acres and is a whole 600 square feet bigger than what we’re currently living in. Oh, I breathe a sigh of relief when I think of the amount of space. It has four bedrooms, plus a playroom. And the boys can run, play, and build dirt piles for days—and I’ll still be able to have my pretty landscape and yard. Oh we are so excited!

So, in less than two weeks, we’ll be on to our next adventure! We’re looking forward to living in a smaller community and a bigger home with outdoor room for the boys to run. We’re so grateful for God guiding us through a pretty stressful home selling/buying experience and learned a lot of very important lessons (maybe some day I’ll detail the whole story—it’s  been a rollercoaster ride!)

Sammy dressed up like a girl (the toys are his earring, and the blanket his skirt)

Joy

My children bring me so much joy. Thank you God for allowing me to be their mother.

Aren’t they so special?

The Birthday Parties

Every year around the boys’ birthday, I am struck by the amount of love and support we (and consequently the boys) have in our life. I am so thankful for our friends and family! Each year Sam and Seth are blessed with multiple parties, with many different people—all celebrating with us these joyful boys!

Our first party was with our Morris-side cousins. Their cousins Judah and Titus’ birthdays are also at the end of May so we usually do a combined party. This year we met at Sky High Sports and let the kids jump themselves tired on the trampolines. Seth and Sam had been asking to return there for a long time, and were thrilled to go with cousins!

The babies of the group: Selah and Josh

We had the boys’ party on the Saturday before their actual birthday. They chose a football theme solely based on the football party hats we found at the store. I had fun looking for ideas on Pinterest and then was thankful for my mom helping me implement them. We even made 2 gluten free cakes that tasted amazing (and I have been craving cake ever since—it had been over a year since I had cake!) It was fun to have a cake for each boy to blow out his own candles on.

My mom carved this: didn’t it turn out awesome!?

Dollar Tree table cloth and a little while paint…so easy fun!

A cake for each boy

Even Uncle Levi loved the party hats. And here’s Seth boy eating his nachos and fruit salad.

The kiddos: the Gowen’s, Wesley and Seth and Sam.

Josh had a rough evening, due to the fact that he had graced us with his presence at 5:45 am that morning. Thank goodness for Grandparents to hold him!

Sam was so intent on reading his cards.

Seahawks football helmets! (other gifts included swords, razor scooters, nerf guns, a Bible, and water guns. Later on their birthday Ben and I gave them the game Labyrinth, some new shoes, and a Dr. Seuss book each.)

The big 5 year olds (Sam, Seth)

Mike giving the boys their pre-game pep talk…it must have worked because they took Uncle Nate down

Seth, Sam

Logan running races with the boys; Mike and his girls

Ben and I and are 5 year old twins (Sam, Seth)

On their actual birthday, my mom was still in town, so she could watch Josh while Ben and I took just Seth and Sam out. It was nice to not be constrained by a babies nap/feeding schedule. The boys picked “fishing” as their outing, and Ben, who’s not the biggest fan of fishing, took it in stride. Ben and I didn’t last long at the pond as the bites were non-existent and the seaweed plentiful. It was fun to be with boys’ on a sunny afternoon, though. We ended our afternoon with ice cream for Seth and Sam.

Such a good daddy!

We love you Seth and Sam! Happy 5th birthday!

*A couple more notes that I didn’t include in their 5 year old summary:

-They are 44 inches and 40 lbs. They still weigh EXACTLY the same almost every time they weigh (which is almost every day)…even to the ounce. It’s crazy!

-They are such great helpers and hard workers! They love helping Ben and I, or our neighbors do yard work.

-They love singing, but have horrible voices. Today at church, they were singing very loudly, while trying to read the lyrics on the screen (which meant they were about 2 lines behind). The people in front of us kept cracking smiles, and commented to us after church on how sweet it was—I think they were being very gracious.