[making brownies]

[singing “happy birthday”]

[of course, she got her own, too]

[it was july 28 … not today. or yesterday. or last week. I’m a wee bit behind.]

So I met Ken on a blind date 8 years ago. March 28, 2002. Huh. I didn’t realize that I remembered that date until I typed it out. It wasn’t one of those love at first sight things, but I did know as soon as I met him that he’d be a significant part of my life.

I didn’t know we’d get married.

I didn’t know we’d have a daughter a year after we got married.

And I certainly didn’t know we’d have another daughter three and a half years after that.

I didn’t know that we would be THIS happy. I didn’t know that we’d be best friends. That he would be the first person I call when anything good or bad happens. That we would end up being soulmates.

I didn’t know that I would celebrate eight birthdays with him.

And I sure hope we celebrate many many more together.

Happy Birthday.

[And thanks for letting me get rid of most of your pleated pants.]

also, I would have loved to have included more pictures, but my lappy toppy seems to be having a memory problem [it must have mommy brain, too!!!] and it has taken me an hour just to type this post.

Hi.

We are were here.

We like liked it.

Lucy is was amazing for someone who hates traveling.

Emma is hanging hung in there. For being in a new place, outside of her normal routine, she did fantastic!

We went to the aquarium …

… climbed  rode an elevator to eye-level with the surrounding mountains …

[some of us stood next to the edge … some of us sat next to the elevator]

… rode some swings

… slid down a few water slides [including one with a 40 foot vertical drop that a certain 4-year old rode TWELVE TIMES]

… rode the “River Rampage” six times … and “only” six because it had to shut down for a couple of hours

… rode up a mountain with our feet dangling below us

… went here

… and here

… and here

… and just spent time together. So much time together.

And that was the best part of all.

Maybe one day, I’ll actually do a recap or something. But I have learned not to make any promises. Especially in the summer.

Oh yeah … I started this post while on vacation. We got back 3 days ago.

I always thought about how Ken would be as a father once we started dating more seriously. I never in a million years thought he would be as amazing as he is.

He just gets it.

He is calm with them [while I lose my mind almost daily].

Loving and kind.

Never favors one over the other.

Plays like a kid with them in the front yard for all the neighbors to see.

Takes dad patrol while I am putting Lucy to bed.

He is more than I ever imagined, and I’m glad we’re doing this together.

Happy Anniversary to my best friend!

Ken bought Emma a tennis racket yesterday. It didn’t take long for him to start teaching her the ropes.

Strangely enough, she didn’t lose her patience and throw down the racket like I did when he tried to teach me.

Although, he wasn’t hitting them at her as full speed … scaring the crap out of her in the meantime.

I don’t see why not? I mean, she’s gotta learn sometime!

Emma’s outfit: long-sleeved tee – American Apparel; short sleeved tee and skirt – Target; leggings – Trumpette @ Target; shoes – Converse

Merry Christmas!!

ken * keli * emma * lucy

today, the hubby and i are celebrating four years of wedded bliss.

(yes, that’s the ocean in the background — our wedding was amazing!)

we have our moments, but he’s a pretty great guy to put up with all of my crap. and i’m a pretty great wife to put up with his other wife.

her name is Sports. playing tennis and then watching pretty much any other sport on tv. or at the stadium.

some of our friends are getting married in september, and the first words out of ken’s mouth were, “i wonder what [football] game they’ll be missing?”

gotta love him.

and i do.

so very very much.

happy anniversary to my best friend.

Why do men not care as much about their age as women do? Ken will tell anyone who asks that he turned 41 today. Happy Birthday, honey!!

Of course, he’s in great shape. People always tell him he looks younger than he really is. He still plays tennis, runs and cycles. And he can kick my butt on most Wii games.

Sometimes, he forgets how old he is and plays flag football with guys in their early 20′s. And ex-NFL football players.

But all-in-all, he’s pretty amazing.

As a husband, he puts up with all of my crazy quirks and mood swings without complaining. He lets me go off and take pictures, he waits on me when I lag behind taking pictures, and he endures my hours of sitting at my computer editing pictures. He provides for our family quite well as a business owner, and he works hard to make sure that we have all of our needs met.

As a father, there is no other like him. He is so patient and kind with Emma, always treating her like the princess that she is. He may spoil her a little bit, but aren’t all fathers that way with their daughters? He was the only one who truly understood her separation anxiety, and he helped me to treat her with love and kindness when it was so hard for me to understand.

He changed her cloth diapers, even when he didn’t understand why we used them, and he does her entire bedtime routine on nights that he is home. No one can read a book quite like him.

No one can make her laugh like he can.

He is her hero.

And mine, too.

But don’t tell him – I’ll never be able to live with the ego.

We drove down to Georgia on Saturday to celebrate Mom & Mema’s birthdays.

Everyone had a LOT of fun.

I’m still amazed at the difference between Emma now and the Emma 6 months ago. We honestly thought she’d never grow out of her separation anxiety, but now, she cuddles and snuggles and goes places with just about everyone.

She still needs time to get used to people that she doesn’t see often, but she is definitely coming around a lot faster than she used to!

Now, her and Sydnei play in their own room without Emma needing to check in with either me or Ken every 5 minutes.

I feel like she’s a normal kid. Not that she wasn’t before … but now I get to actually talk to people without having her hanging all over me.

Don’t get me wrong. I love my baby … I love spending every second of the day with her. But sometimes, you just NEED to not be touched, talked to, whined at, or sat on.

I’m finally getting that quiet time, and I am just so proud of my girl.

Now if I could just teach her that crayons are for paper only.