Big Day and Big Yesterday

Well today is Declan's six month "birthday!" I can hardly believe that he's six months old already. He is growing and changing so much, and I love him with my whole heart. He is still exclusively breastfeeding, and will be until he is at least seven months old. I have read that doing that helps prevent iron deficiency, and since there's nothing wrong with exclusively breastfeeding longer than six months, that's what we're going to do. Our plan is to actually wait to introduce solid foods until Declan has at least one tooth (unless he gets a tooth before seven months). He is so sweet and smiley, and he has the cutest, chunkiest legs ever!

My big yesterday was Adam's and my third anniversary! The lame part is that he was working out of town, so we didn't actually get to see each other on our anniversary. The secondary lame part is that we can't really celebrate it until next weekend (unless you count the movie-date we went on last weekend as a pre-celebration) because tomorrow we are going to a friend's parents' farm to slaughter chickens. Yes, you read that right: Happy Anniversary, let's kill some chickens to celebrate our love and commitment. I, thankfully, will be taking care of Declan, so I will not be slaughtering any chickens personally. And there's a pool, so I think I may let Delcan splash a little in there, weather permitting :-)

It's amazing how time flies! I can't believe Adam and I have been married for three years, and I also find it hard to believe that I have a six-month-old! Even typing it out still feels a little unreal, but wonderful. I was talking to Adam the other day about how I really miss getting to sleep in, and he said, "Would you rather sleep in or snuggle with Declan?" And without a doubt, Declan is worth all of the sleeplessness or sacrifices we have to make. He's our blessing from God, and we're so thankful for him. And each other.

This weekend/ Sad/ Happy

So this weekend, Adam and I went to a marriage retreat at a camp we have been to before as chaperones/leaders for our church's high school group. It was nice to have some time just for us, but there wasn't as much "free time" as we had hoped. It was very session-heavy. We learned a lot of tools to help us fight intelligently. There were a lot of opportunities for us to practice using the tools, which was good, but we didn't really have a lot of unresolved issues, which is also good. So we did practice using them and I think when issues come up, this will help us address them before they become huge blowout problems. It just got me thinking how sad divorce is. I mean, I have always known that, as a child victim of divorce (I don't want to use "victim" to make me seem all pathetic and what-not; I just mean that literally, my parents divorced, and I was a victim, not a "participant"), but this weekend got me thinking about the husband and wife that go through a divorce. Of course it's difficult, but can you imagine if you wanted to try to make it work, but your spouse didn't? And there's nothing you can do, once it gets to the point of the other person giving up/wanting out. They don't need your permission. It doesn't seem fair, because you got into marriage together, but you can get out of it alone. It makes me really feel for the person who wants to make it work, if that is their situation. It also makes me really happy that Adam and I said before we got married (possibly before we even got engaged), that divorce is not an option. It's just not. We are together till death do us part, and thankfully he is a wonderful husband, and I know that when problems come up, we will work through them. Easy for me to say now, right? But it's true. And it's comforting to know that. I feel very God-lucky to have him, and not only that I have a caring husband, but that we both have a personal relationship with Christ, because without that, I can see how it would be so much easier to give up. I love him.

So glad

You hear people say, especially in movies or on TV, but also in real life, that they can't imagine spending their whole life with one person. I think those people are CRAZY. There is no way I would want to keep looking for the next person to spend a few years with, starting the whole process over and over again. Having to get used to a new person, and have them learn all of your quirks and annoying things over and over again. Ugh, just thinking about it makes me feel nauseated. I'm just so glad that I found the person I get to spend the rest of my life with. Not only am I excited because I found the right person, it's just a relief to not have to worry about all that junk any more.

I have been going to a kickboxing fitness class. It is really kicking my butt (pun slightly intended)! But I like it because I can really tell I am getting a workout. I am hoping to eventually get a six-pack. Or maybe a two- or four- pack, depending. But anyway... I went last night and man, am I sore! Just sitting here typing, my back is achy. I don't like being sore, but I like that I'm at least sore for a good reason.

Ok, that's it for now. I hope you can all survive until the next installment, whenever that may be!

As I nodded, nearly napping...

So my husband hurt his foot. It’s not really serious, but it’s taking a while to get better. In the meantime, he is pretty restless when he sleeps, and tries to take up the whole bed. After two nights of sleeping up against the wall (no, I don’t mean my shoulder was next to the wall – I mean I was sleeping on my side with my whole body up against the wall, taking up maybe 1/16 of our queen bed), I decided we couldn’t sleep in the same bed while he’s recovering. This presented a problem: we do have a guest bed upstairs, but I am expecting a visitor soon, and I didn’t want to wash the sheets again after having slept in them. I could sleep on the floor or I could sleep on the couch… except that we don’t have a couch. Which leads me to another sub-topic: my husband and I are kind of hippies. We bathe regularly, do not smoke anything, and are faithful to each other, but in other aspects we are hippies. We eat hemp seeds for the health benefits they provide, I rarely shave my legs (I do shave them, just rarely), and we do not have a couch: we have a huge bean-bag like chair called a LoveSac. It’s really amazing, the most comfortable thing ever, but it’s a little non-traditional, to say the least. All that being said, it seemed to be my best non-bed option. I gave it my best shot, and while I definitely got some sleep, I’d say it would have been about the same as if I had stayed in bed with Adam (although I definitely had more room on the LoveSac!). My final opinion is that the LoveSac is great for naps (especially when you really meant to sit and read for a half hour and you end up dozing for more like an hour and a half), but not so great for a whole night’s sleep.

And last night? Well, I got a full night's sleep, but I'll have to wash those sheets upstairs after all.