13 ... and Counting

Today, Ed and I are celebrating our 13th anniversary.

Statistically speaking, we shouldn't have made it this long ... both of us coming from divorced families, getting married {when Ed was} so young, having a child with special needs and various other issues that "should" have factored against us.

Thankfully, God had other plans! We have had some wonderfully amazing times, some downright dark times and a whole lot in between.

In retrospect, I'm thankful for the dark times. Those are the times that built the intimacy in our marriage. That taught me about phases of marriage. Taught me that marriage is never stagnant. Those are the times that taught me my marriage is worth fighting for. Working for. And every dark time brought immense light in the end. I love that man so much more today than I could have imagined 13 years ago. Not that he doesn't drive me crazy. 'Cause he seriously does. In many a way. But, our commitment is deeper and our love is stronger.

We went out Saturday night to celebrate and talked about going to premarital counseling, where the pastor did some personality profiles and such. The results told us that Ed had a very idealistic, romantic view of marriage. I, on the other hand, had a very pessimistic view. How's that for a combination? It had "happily ever after" written all over it, don't you think? I remember listening to those results, thinking Ed was just a romantic (which he is!) and that in a few years, he would see how naive he was. Thankfully, I was the naive one!

I love you, babe ... more today than yesterday. Happy Anniversary.

Twenty Years Pass in a Flash

This past weekend, we attended my 20-year high school reunion. Seriously ... I am NOT old enough for this! It just doesn't seem possible! I am the age my mom was when I graduated from high school! WHAT???? I'm not THAT old! And, now I know she wasn't either.

I always thought nearly-40 would feel different. Older. And, in reading my memory book, I also thought I would be married and have a baby by 23!!! I didn't even meet Ed until I was almost 24! But, at eighteen, 23 seemed ... well ... old! It is, as they say, all relative! My memory book also says I weighed 110 pounds my senior year - and I thought I was so fat! Ha! Again, ALL relative. Oh, to be that "fat" again!

In the last few months, I've reconnected with some old friends via facebook and that really sparked more interest in my reunion. I'm so glad I went! It was more fun than I imagined it would be. It was at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Houston, so Ed and I stayed the night. Which was a much-needed getaway for us. We had a beautiful view of the city from our room and enjoyed sleeping in! It was the first time I'd left Jace overnight, but he did great with Grandma.

We went with my friend, Nancy and her husband, Jason. She's one of the few high school friends I've kept in touch with over the years. She was my best friend throughout high school, we were in each other's weddings ... one of those kinds of life-long friends! But, even though we've kept in touch, we haven't spent much time together in years! I've only seen her once since we moved back to town, but we had a blast together! The night went by way too fast - and we stayed up way too late (at least for old people!!) - which are good indicators that it was indeed fun!

I loved getting to see some old friends (that's me and my friend, Cindy above) and there were others that I wish had been there ... but maybe at the 25 or 30 year ... when we're REALLY old! LOL!

I wish I'd taken more pictures, but I was too busy having fun!

Subscribe to my blog!

How cool am I? It only took me three years to figure out how to add a way for people to subscribe to my blog - with a reader OR through email! I'm totally jazzed about this, folks!

So, for all my crazy fans out there - all three of you - you can now enter your email in that little box to the right ----------> and get an email each time I post an update.
Or if you're a blogger yourself and you want to follow along in a reader, there's an option for that just below the email option.

AND, AND, AND ... I'm even cool-er ... because there's also a little button to find me on Facebook as well. Can't say I'm that great at catching all the updates on fb ... its a little too time-consuming for my current life, but I do catch a few.

There's no stopping me now! :-)

First {Wobbly} Steps!

I can hardly believe we have an actual average aged child to take his first steps! It only took 4 kids to get here! Not that we've ever been in a hurry for our kids to walk ('cause I find it SO much easier as the parent to have a late walker - for a whole host of reasons), but average would be O.K.
Before today, the earliest walker was Jake at 14 months. Jadyn was 15 months and Jordan ... oh, bless her heart ... she was 20 months. Two months AFTER Jake was born, I might add. Yeah, that was fun.
But, I digress. This is all about our Little Man!

Last week, Jace took several steps, several times in a row. Since then ... nada. Until today. It all clicked - the light bulb went off - the desire kicked in - and the muscles cooperated. He turned 13 months four days ago.

So, for your viewing pleasure - a couple attempts to catch it on video.

***Let me just apologize for my squeals. New walkers are one of my very favorite things in the whole world and clearly, I get carried away. You might want to lower your volume. Seriously.***