In Eight Years

Today is our 8 year wedding anniversary. August 17th, 2002 is another day that changed my life. With the bizarrity of time, I'm not even sure if that sounds too long or too short.

• 8 years
• 96 months
  
• 3 moves
• 2 houses
  
• 3 children in 5.2 years
  
• 2 lawn mowers
• 1 CPA license
  
• 6 cars
• 32 months of nursing and counting
  
• 5,000,000 diapers (I guess I could add and counting to most of these!)
  
• 5 hours of sleep a night, on average
• 600 arguments about whose turn it is to wake up early tomorrow
  
• 180 pounds gained and lost (some of that is pregnancy!)
• 3 wedding rings (Lawrence wore a one size too small Titanium ring for 2 year before we got a bigger size!)
  
• 5 vacations counting our honeymoon
• 2 day care centers
• 1 preschool
• 3 nannies
• 2 Au Pairs
• 27 Ear Infections
• 9 Bouts of Croup
  
• 56 Pediatrician visits
• 40,000 to do lists
• 4 digital cameras
• 2 computers
  
• 200,000 pictures taken
  
• 1 revisit to our wedding spot (on a foggy day, so you couldn't see the mountains!)
• 1 broken foot
• 1 lost job
• Visited 13 states (Lawr is disappointed that we don't get to count the states before we were married!)
  
• 3 Buckeye national championships (we were in AZ for the time they WON it!)
• 2 Hood to Coast runs (Lawrence as the runner, me as the child care + loving wife!)
• 13 - 5Ks - both of us
  
• 3 Romp to Stomps (Snoeshowing for Breast Cancer)
• 14 weddings
  
• lots of wonderful friends made over the years
• countless blessings
  
• and 2 people still in love!

The wedding we've been waiting for...

When Katy started working for us a little over 2 years ago, she told us about her boyfriend, Andy, who she knew she'd marry someday. I've mentioned Katy lots and lots over the years, as she was our nanny for the previous two summers. She has a bright smile and a beautiful heart, and I knew her man must be a lucky one. Now she is a first grade teacher and I think that every child who gets to learn from her is so blessed (the parents too!). My girls still have such an attachment to her even though they've only seen each other a few times since last August.

The first summer she worked for us, while Lily planned out her elaborate 4th birthday party, making Katy PROMISE to attend, Katy planned out her wedding to Andy also PROMISING to invite Lily (to sit a special 'kids only' table - which didn't happen and luckily Lily forgot about it finally just a month or so ago!) Katy also had Lily help her to stop biting her nails, you know, so that when she had a ring on her finger she wasn't showing it off with her bloody stubs! :) So last summer when Katy came to work for us again for a short 2 months, she was still unengaged. She and Andy had finished up their student teaching and Master's programs for teaching and were actively searching for jobs in a struggling Portland teacher market. Katy wasn't discouraged, she knew it would still happened, as she helped Andy's sister plan for her wedding for early this summer. Finally in December I got a text that she was engaged! So last weekend, it was hard to believe that the big weekend was already here. July 17th. It seemed like that day was a million years away when I first had Bryson.

A few months ago I looked through a summer scrapbook that Katy made with the kids. At the end, she wrote them both a letter. At sweet letter of how much she loved them and how great she thought they were. It made me cry. So I got out the scrapbook from last summer, more tears. I thought about how lucky my kids were to have her in their life.

On Friday, I felt antsy for her the night before her big day and on Saturday morning, I was so excited for her, thinking of her jumping out of bed and squealing, "today! this is my wedding day!" For some reason I was so reflective about how she was feeling. I kept thinking about how Katy is so bright and her smile is radiant on a bad day, I couldn't imagine how she would glow ON HER WEDDING DAY! She's one of those adds energy when she walks in to a room girl. As we pull up to the beautiful golf course and farm, Langdon Farms, where the wedding was located, I felt weepy. (and kinda silly because I'm often weepy).

We decided to leave Bryson with Sabine and just take the girls, so we could have some fun time with just them, and so we could stay later and enjoy ourselves a little more too.

The girls were so excited to see Katy. I was worried because the bride, on her wedding day, often does't get a chance to spend as much time with everyone as she'd like, and I didn't want the girls to be disappointed when she didn't say hi when the first saw her, walking down the aisle.

But as usual...Katy didn't dissapoint...

In fact, she DID say hi to my girls while she was walking down the aisle, she teared up too. She actually stopped at the end of the aisle, said hi to my kids, and was so happy to see them at her wedding. So touching. More tears.

The excitement on her face and in her body was overflowing. She was gorgeous, ravishing, amazing, not enough words to describe her. Not just her outer beauty, but it was honestly like happiness was just dumping out of this girl. She was following no rules of trying to look composed or "just right" and because of that, she looked incredible, more beautiful than usual. You guessed it, more tears.

The ceremony was beautiful, short, sweet, and meaningful. Katy was so excited to be named man and wife. She might have even pulled out a fist pump! She's THAT cool. At the reception she somehow found time to give the girls lots of love and attention and announced to the room that it was her perfect day and now, she just wanted 'to cut a rug'.

Addie went up to her right away when it was finally community dance time, but then just stood next to her, holding bear-bear and not dancing (and for the record, bear-bear only got to come out because it was nearly 9pm, and Addie was exhausted, so I was eeking out another half an hour of wedding enjoyment.) When Lily got out there, she just wanted to hold hands with Katy and was not much of a dancer next to K's little cousin who had some serious moves. Don't get me wrong, Lily did "dance" but it was apparent that she just wanted to jump around hugging Katy on the dance floor! :) She announced that the wedding dress was "kinda scratchy". Yeah all those beads and crystals are not for cuddling, Lil. The girls had a skirt twirling contest, started by Lily, which Katy happily participated in. Man, I love that girl.

Lawrence and I realized as we were walking to the car that we didn't take a picture together, so Lily took one of us, from her car seat. So it wasn't the beautiful golf course setting, but actually, it was a decent picture of us! On the drive home, we talked about how much fun we had and remembered about the first time we'd told each other "I love you". It's funny how weddings do that to you. Make you remember your own love. The way you felt on your own big day.

Congrats to Katy and Andy. We are glad you are in our life, can't wait to see what your future holds, and we know that if you can keep this kind of excitement about your love, you'll have many years of happiness ahead. Thanks for reminding us about our excitement for our own love, too.

Katy's getting married!

If you know us at all I'm sure you remember our summer nanny for the last two summers, Katy. Katy worked part time for us while she was getting her masters and waiting to become a teacher. There was one other thing Katy was waiting for while she was working for us. She was waiting for the love of her life to propose. And finally in December, he DID!!! They have a July wedding planned.

Click HERE to see the most amazing engagement photos I've ever seen. Not to mention some pretty cool shots that show of how beautiful Portland's downtown waterfront is! How beautiful of a bride is she going to be? I can't wait!

Do over, I want this photographer to do MY engagement photos. (No offense to Lawrence's dad, Steve, who got some great shots of us in their NJ front yard next to a killer bush for our engagement photos!) I felt better when I told my friend Carrie about our bush engagement photo background and she said, "Engagement photos, what engagement photos?" :) Okay, good.

CONGRATS TO KATY AND ANDY. I'm sure I'll have an awesome blog post about how much fun we had at their wedding later this summer.

7 blogs in 7 days - day 7

July - the things I skipped over...

Wow, around day 3 I thought that I wasn't going to be able to keep up with this. But it's already 7 days and I have a million things to write about and pictures to share.

In order to continue to use this system (thank you Aimee) to clear out my photos, I'm going to update you on the July pictures that didn't get posted.

A beauty shot with yogurt face

Katy (our summer nanny) had so much fun with the girls this summer...every day was spent outside, at parks, at picnics, running in the sprinkler. The three of them lived in their swimming suits.
Addie's potty chart. Every time she goes, Lily excitedly gets her a sticker and they run to the chart together saying "Yay, Addie". Lily made the chart with a picture of her helping Addie and the potty.
If you wondered how Lawrence stays so buff...this is a daily occurrence...
I gave my friend Robin a baby shower in July at Jopa and it was so fun. It was a small group of close friends, and we celebrated what a great mother she is. (Me, Robin, Beth, Melissa, Shawna, & Jodie)
Melinda's wedding with Jeanine
Melinda (best friend in Jr. High) and I at her wedding

Indigo Girls concert at the zoo (Me, Stephanie, Shawna, & Kirstin). This is the night before the wedding...so this was a busy jet setting weekend for me!
Playing at the mall with such a happy smile
Helping make lunches
JUMPY HOUSE!!!!!
The girls LOVE jumpy houses, and will always be up for an hour line wait in the blazing heat to go in one (a few times to find out that Addie was too YOUNG!) but our friends, the Ornelas's bought one for their backyard and the girls couldn't be happier.
This was at our frined Jennifer & Linda's bday party. These are the TWO Addies! My Adeline Faith and Marsha's (Guernert-Moore) Adeya Hope! They both loved saying TWO ADDIES!!!
This is not a great picture, but that is Lawrence with the double stroller at Relay for Life in Lake Oswego, an amazing event that we hope to make an annual tradition. Our family raised almost $200 for the American Cancer Society and the girls had a blast
Lily getting to meet the Bissell's son, Cohen (Addie was napping).
Admiring goats at the zoo. The girls LOVE the zoo
Addie at the zoo!
Nail party with Katy (one of the many rewards for great behavior).
Ballet

I thought I would add a few missed photos in August too...but I don't think so. This post is long enough. 7 of 7 - I MADE IT!