5 Years Ago

It was probably the most beautiful day of the year...
September 25, 2004
I will never forget all of the little details...
74 and sunny.
I remember those butterflies in my stomach.
I remember almost being late for pictures.
It was one of the best days of my life.
It was more than I dreamed my wedding day would be.
I still believe it was the most beautiful wedding...
which is a good thing, since it was my own!

We have gone through a lot together in the last 5 years.
These 5 years have flown by!

From left to right...
Jessica, Kay, Cassie, Me (duh), Sara, Brenda
In the last 5 years, all but one of these girls have had at least one child and 2 have been married.
I love them all dearly!

Cassie and I...

Chris and I...

Look how small Brigg and Lani were!!!
They were both complete angels (as they always are!) that day...

Brigg was just a little older than Tate is now on our wedding day.
He was such a sweetie and very cooperative that day.
Tate and he are 2 different types of children...that's for sure!
I love how Brigg is watching the girls kiss Sean in this picture...

Sean and his groomsmen...

Lani had been walking for less than a month and she walked with sheer glee down the aisle!
So, so cute...I'll never forget it!

Minutes after we were married...

Just before heading into the reception...

Sean,
I cannot imagine going through this life without you. We have our tough times, our disagreements, our differences...but through it all, I love you with every bit of my heart. I know that we will only learn and grow together in the next 5, 10, 20, 50 years we hopefully have together on this earth. I wouldn't want anyone else in the world for Tate to call "Daddy" and look forward to growing our family with you!
I love you more today than 5 years ago!
Happy Anniversary!

Love,
Jennie

We ALL do!

Not exactly an exciting birthday...

I felt awful all day. I've had a headache for over a week off and on and today couldn't eat anything because I had nausea all day. So no fun birthday dinner for me. I watched Dancing With The Stars and am now heading to bed. I will say that I had a great moment when I got home from work and Tate gave me his birthday card he got for me and gave me tons of hugs and kisses! That was the best birthday gift and for a moment my headache and stomachache went away. He is such a sweetie!

I officially have less than a year in my 20's...ugh.

and it's over

I cannot believe the weekend is over. Even though tomorrow is my birthday, I STILL don't want it to come. We had a productive weekend, but still some of the things on my looooong list didn't get done. :( However, some things that I didn't have on my list DID get done.

We did some rearranging of Tate's toys because we understand he'll likely be getting some more in the next couple of weeks and our living room has slowly become a toy room. So we put some of the toys he doesn't play with away and then we had a low, long unit in the basement that we used to have the TV on and now that the TV is in our room, the unit wasn't necessary down there. SO, we moved Tate's rocker out of his room and brought it downstairs and put the unit in his room to store toys/books on. It fits PERFECTLY in his room and looks as though it was meant for his room. He was SO excited when he walked into his room and saw all of his toys set up. He played in there and read books in his bed all evening. Now, we have about 1/3 the amount of toys in our living room as we had before.

I also cleaned and organized Tate's closet which made a huge difference too! Also, I reorganized our hall linen closet which was in dire need of some organization. I did do a few loads of laundry, payed bills and Sean did the dishes. That was pretty much it though. I didn't get the "deep cleaning" done that I would have liked to have gotten done. I haven't been feeling 100% and seem to be getting tired really easily. Also, I've had a headache that has kept re appearing at some point every day for the last 10 days or so. I am still pretty satisfied with what we accomplished this weekend and we still found time to just relax and enjoy some family and football time! We were thrilled to watch the Hawkeyes win again this week!

Hope everyone had a great weekend! Here's to the week flying by!

Funny Face

I am feeling just awful for Tate. As I have mentioned before, he has nightmares...almost nightly. He has always said, "a tiger is eating me!" or "a cheetah is eating me!", but that's pretty much what his nightmares are about. We stopped showing him the movie Kung Fu Panda (even though he loves it!) because we think that's when the nightmares started and they seemed to have slowed down since we stopped watching that. This morning at 5a.m. he woke up saying, "there's a funny face in my room! He pushed me down! He cut me!" He would not go back to sleep after that...he was too scared. We have NO IDEA what he's referring to, but he has been OBSESSED with this "funny face" all day. He would peek down the hall towards his bedroom, but wouldn't go down the hall without us and then he asked us to go to his room and find the "funny face". We would tell him that there was no "funny face" in there and so all day he kept saying, "see, there's no funny face in my room Mommy." But he couldn't stop talking about it. We would try to avoid the topic and just change the subject so he would forget about it, but he won't. He is scared. It is so sad! He took a 5 hour nap in our bed today. He was exausted, but not scared. Then at bedtime he didn't want to sleep in his room because of the "funny face". We assured him there was no "funny face" in there and made him go to bed in his room. He just kept repeating over and over and over, "there's no funny face. there's no funny face. there's no funny face." My heart is breaking for him!

We looked online about nightmares in toddlers and found some information that indicated that they will occur when toddlers are being taught new things or are experiencing stress causing changes. For example, potty training or parents pressuring them to change behaviors or learn something new. This would actually fit some things that have been going on lately. Tate is being more defiant these days and we are really cracking down on making him "listen". More time outs have been given and we feel as though in the past we may have been too lax and now we're trying to correct that. In addition to that, we have been attempting potty training, however we've decided to stop that for a couple of weeks. Also, we have been concerned lately that Tate is color blind. Not that there's a whole lot that can be done about that, but we would just like to know. He knows his colors really well, but always seems to get red and green mixed up. He can't tell them apart, which is apparently the colors that people who are color blind tend to have problems with. When we hold up something red and ask, "what color is this?" He says, "green". So we've been working on his colors A LOT lately. Apparently doing all of these things at once where he feels pressure can cause a stress that causes nightmares. We read that this is the age when nightmares start to occur because when a toddler turns 3 is typically a common time where lots of changes occur...potty training, learning a lot of new things, preschool, ect.

Anyway, I have no idea what to do to stop the nightmares. As I said, we are putting potty training on hold for a few weeks, so maybe that will help. We will not be putting our attempt to making him a better listener on hold though! This is necessary! I don't know. He has been so scared about the "funny face" all day and I just feel so bad for him. I hate to know that he's in his room scared. :(

Beaverdale Fall Festival 2009

When posting about our weekend yesterday, I had totally forgotten that it was the Beaverdale Fall Festival this weekend. There is a parade every year in Beaverdale and it was this morning. We went last year and met up with Sean's cousin Tammie and her family. That day, she told me that they were expecting again! This year, we met up with them again and they now have a family of 4 with the new addition of Oliver.

It was so much fun and Tate LOVED it!!!

Here are Tate, Sophie and Cooper. Tate went to daycare with Sophie (Sean's cousin's daughter) and Cooper and was SO EXCITED to see them both and was running and giggling in glee to be with them!

He got 2 bags JAM PACKED with candy...

And snuggling with Oliver solidified the fact that I AM READY FOR ANOTHER BABY!!! Oh my goodness, he is such a little snuggle bug, I didn't want to let him go!

And here he is.
Can you say ADORABLE?!!!!!!

Tammie and Derek make BEAUTIFUL children!
Just look at those peircing blue eyes Sophie has!

The weather was perfect and the parade was looooooong! Tate was wore out and went down for a nap right when we got home. It was a great way to start the weekend!

We honestly don't know where he got this from...

Yesterday, Tate put 2 tennis balls under his shirt and said, "these are my boobies!" Really, we have never prompted him to do that or seen him do it before. He's not around other kids a whole lot since he's not in daycare right now, so we have no idea where he got it from. It was pretty funny though!

You can't really tell in this picture, but the tennis balls are in his shirt...

Weekends

Thank goodness it's Friday! Oh how I long for the weekends every week! And they never fail to deliver. There's just nothing better than a weekend. Whether we have no plans at all and spend it together as a family doing nothing, or we spend it getting a lot done around the house, or we spend it traveling to visit family or friends, or we spend it on a mini weekend vacation somewhere...it's always super satisfying! This weekend will be spent getting stuff done around the house. I turn 29 on Monday and for my birthday, want nothing more than a clean house, not a single load of laundry to do, not a single dish to wash and to know that there's no hidden mess somewhere behind a closed door. So this weekend we will clean and get the house organized which in turn helps to make my life feel organized. Monday evening will be dedicated to spending time with my 2 favorite boys in the world! Can't wait!

I know I will feel super good on Sunday after having a productive weekend...exausted, but good! There will be some 'down time' this weekend too. Like tomorrow during the Hawkeye game...I will be planted in front of the television rooting on my team. And can I just add that I couldn't have dreamed up better weather than the weather we've been having?!!! Wow...it could stay like this ALL YEAR and I would be one happy camper. Not too hot, not too cold...JUST RIGHT!

This time of year is my favorite...maybe partially because not only is the weather great, but I also get to celebrate Sean's birthday, my birthday, Tate's birthday AND our wedding anniversay all in a matter of a 4 week period of time! We will be celebrating 5 years of wedded bliss this year. Ha. That kind of cracks me up just typing that. I can't say it's ALL been wedded bliss, but I wouldn't change it for anything and the not so blissful times have just brought Sean and I closer and it's definitely brought me closer to God and taught me that I need to lean on Him more, which I will ETERNALLY be grateful for! As most marriages, we have a lot that we can improve on and even after 5 years, we're still working out the kinks, but we're doing it together and I can't speak for Sean, but I fall more in love with him with every year that passes! :)

All of that to say...

"I LOVE ME SOME WEEKENDS!!!"

love this...

I found this poem today on another adoptive mother's blog and had to share it!

I didn't give you the gift of life,
But in my heart I know.
The love I feel is deep and real,
As if it had been so.
For us to have each other
Is like a dream come true!
No, I didn't give you
The gift of life,
Life gave me the gift of you.

--- Unknown

A Rough Night

Since Tate got pneumonia after his tonsillectomy 7 1/2 months ago he hasn't so much as had a sniffle. He's been healthy as a horse! Prior to his surgery, he honestly got sick with a cold and fever almost monthly! It has been glorious and uncharted territory for us to have a child without constant snot, fever and drool. We broke the streak though. Tate is S-I-C-K! I forgot how awful it is to not be able to do anything to make your baby feel better. He's been congested the last couple of days, but I was hoping that's all that it would get to. I was wrong. He was up literally ALL NIGHT last night. He cried and cried and couldn't breath and was coughing and coughing. I ended up giving him medicine because he felt like he was getting feverish and then I brought him in bed with us. This is something we don't do often, but I didn't feel like getting up and going in his room every hour in the night. He lasted in our bed without waking up for about an hour before he was tossing and turning and crying again. Sean broke out the Vicks VapoRub and Tate seemed to calm a bit after that was applied, but only for about 10 minutes before he was crying again. Finally, Sean decided to bring him in the livingrooom where he proceded at about 3:30A.M to throw up. After that, he never went back to sleep. Needless to say, it was a loooong night! I don't know how long I will be making it today at work, but I am going to give it my all. Sean isn't feeling well either and I have been battling a cold these last couple of days as well. I guess we were due! :(

Patrick Swazey

I was sad to hear that Patrick Swazey passed away today. When I think of him, I think of all the hours I spent watching Dirty Dancing when I was young. I knew every song in that movie and must have watched it every single day! I knew that it was coming, he has been sick for a long time, but I was surprisingly more sad than I expected I would be when it happened. Such sad news.

Happy Grandparent's Day!!!

Tate is SO BLESSED to have such amazing grandparents in his life that love him SO MUCH! He is blessed to have 3 amazing sets of grandparents and 3 Great Grandparents who we want to wish HAPPY GRANDPARENTS DAY to.

Tata with Papa P.

Tate with Nana P.

Tate and all of his 'Stewart Side Cousins' with Nana and Papa S.

Tate with Grandma Shingledecker

Tate with Grandpa Shingledecker

Tate with his Great Grandpa Clodfelder

Tate has another Great Grandpa, Don and a Great Grandma Mary Ann who we unfortunately don't have recent pictures of him with.

Thank you to ALL of Tate's grandparents for loving him so much!
We love you!

Out of the mouths of Mommies

I saw this on someone else's blog and I thought it was hilarious, so I am copying the idea...

These are some funny/strange things that have come out of my mouth lately:

It would be a lot easier if you'd eat those noodles with your fork instead of those sticks.

What? You're all wet? Is that water or pee? Let me smell it. Stop running away...come here right now so mommy can see if you smell like pee!

Come here so I can smell your bum.

No, we cannot eat dinner in Mommy's bed. We eat dinner in the kitchen. Mommy said no, we will not be eating in Mommy's bed.

No, that fly is not going to fly in your penis hole. Nope, he won't fly in your nose either. It's okay...stop screaming, the fly is harmless!

Put your sunglasses on so that you stop sneezing!

That's not a vaccuum, it's Mommy's back scratcher.

Tate, we don't eat Sweet and Sour sauce with a spoon. I don't care if it's good...it's sauce. I know you like it, why don't you dip your pizza in it.

You have a choice, we can go on a nature walk or we can go home and eat ice cream. What's your choice?

Many of these things would make a whole lot more sense when being aware of the context in which they were used, but being an outsider hearing me say these things makes them pretty comical! Ha.

It's been 8 years?!

It feels just like yesterday that I was sitting in my apartment in Minneapolis as I watched the 2nd plane fly into the World Trade Center. Where has the time gone?! I'll never forget how I felt watching that and how it scared me so much. It was not even 1 week later that I moved back to Iowa and haven't left since. It's unbelievable how much has changed in our world, my life and my heart since that day. I was only 20 and yet it feels like it was yesterday.

and more birthdays!

Not only is Tate's Daddy's birthday today, but Tate's birthfather Brandon's birthday is today too! We think about Brandon every single day and see him whenever we look into the face of our most handsome son, but today he is on our minds and hearts even more as he is on several other significant dates throughout each year. He deserves so much in life as he has given us more than we can ever repay him for! So today, we want to wish Brandon a Happy Birthday!!! We love you, Brandon! We look forward to seeing you very soon!

And Happy Birthday to Tate's Uncle Travis too! Today is a BUSY day for birthdays!!!

Happy Birthday, Sean!

Sean is turning 33 today. He deserves to have a great day. He's had a rough go at it lately and I don't want anything more for him today than to enjoy his day. I don't have much more to say than we love you and appreciate all you do for our family.

Happy, Happy birthday honey!!!!

More Family Photos

I edited some more of the photos Cassie took of us...

I am so in love with this little man...there are just no words!

And family pictures on the railroad tracks...GREAT idea, Cassie!

This is so fun having so many great pictures of our family! I love editing them and wish I had an amazing camera like Cassie's so I could take as fabulous of pictures as these!
Thank you Cassie!!!!

9

Today is 9.9.9.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009.
Wednesday has 9 letters.
September has 9 letters.
It's the 252 day of the year...2 + 5 + 2 = 9.

Just thought this was interesting.

Family Pictures

Here are just a few of the family pictures that Cassie took of us that I love. I am holding back from sharing some of my most favorite ones so I can use them for our Christmas card. I do need to disclose that these are the pictures she took and that I edited. She is going to edit them with Photo Shop and send them to me, so I may do another post with the pictures once she has edited them because I'm sure they'll be better than these, but I couldn't wait to post some...I love these! She did a great job!!! I think in this grouping, the first and the last ones are my favorite! I can't wait to see the ones Cassie edits!!!

A Busy and Fun Weekend!!!

We had a terrific weekend! It was busy and fun. We headed to Muscatine Friday night after I got off work. As soon as we got there, we ate a late supper. Then, Saturday morning...Sean, my dad, Paul and Brigg got up head to the IA vs. UNI game. Cassie, my mom, Lani, Ayla, Tate and I stayed home and hung out and watched the game on TV. It was STRESSFUL, especially at the end. What a relief that we came out with the win though! When the guys got home, we prepared ribs for supper and the kids played and had a blast while the adults relaxed. Then Sunday, we went to church in the park. It was so beautiful out and really nice to lay out our blankets and sit out our chairs for church outside. After church there was a picnic, bounce houses, a slip and slide, a rock climbing wall and all kinds of fun stuff for the kids to do. After church, we hung out at Mom and Dad's and played Bag-O while Tate and Ayla skinny dipped in the baby pool and Brigg and Lani rode bikes and played. There were some Gin Buckets involved in our festivities that somehow disappeared way more quickly than we expected. We ate a fabulous steak and shrimp dinner and stuffed ourselves silly. Everyone went to bed at a decent time while Mom and I stayed up a bit later and I did Mom's hair. Then on Monday, we had plans for Cassie to take some family pictures of us. I have been wanting my hair cut for a while and so I had my mom cut my length and then I went into the bathroom and gave myself some layers before our pictures. I haven't cut my own hair since cosmetology school probably! I love it though and am so happy I did it! The guys went golfing while we played with the kids, cut hair, ate lunch and scoped out some places to take our family pictures. Once the guys returned, we got ready for our pictures and headed out. It definitely wasn't the easiest thing because Tate is NOT cooperative when getting his picture taken. Cassie did a GREAT job though and we managed to get about 25 pictures (out of the 350 she took!!!) that we LOVE!!! Hence, the new blog header. :) I will share some, however, 1 or 2 of them might make an appearance on our Christmas card this year, so I may hold a couple of my favorites back. After pictures, we went out for Mexican for dinner and then cleaned up our stuff and headed home. I am SO HAPPY I took today off, I never would have made it to work today...I am exausted! It's so nice to have a day to get our stuff unpacked and cleaned up and ready for the week!

Mom and Ayla...

Cassie and Ayla...

CHURCH IN THE PARK
Cassie and Zeke...

Tate snuggling with Daddy...

Ayla must have gotten tired...she decided to take a rest on Lani.
So sweet!

Skinny Dipping...

Hanging out...

Tate loved 'playing' in Papa S's car...he especially loved eating his pack of gum he found in there when Mommy wasn't looking...

Almost there...

This has been a long week! We are almost at the weekend though and I am pretty excited about the weekend we have in store! The Hawkeyes play their first game (GO HAWKS!), we get to spend time with lots of family, relax and hang out AND the weekend is extra long to top it all off!!! I even took Tuesday off to extend my long weekend even more. Woohoo!!!! I need some time off of work. It will be so nice.

Tate had a blast at Nana and Papa's house last night and DIDN'T wake up with a nightmare! I was glad that Nana didn't have to wake up with a screaming boy. Tate continued to wear his Super Hero cape all evening and was extremely distraught when he spilled a small amount of milk on it. He practically hyperventilated and was insisiting on "wipin it off with a nackin", so I gave him a napkin and he very thoroughly wiped it off. That cape is precious to him!

So I hope you all have a great Labor Day Weekend...I know we will!!!