8 years ago today....

....I married my best friend.

We had a whirlwind romance and got married less than 8 months after starting to date.

And we were young, he was barely 23 and I was a fresh faced 20 year old (barely).

But we knew that we loved each other and that we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together.

 

It hasn't always been rainbows and sunshine.

Life has thrown us our fair share of curve balls, but by God's grace we have made it through each and every one.

And have come out stronger in the end.

Bryan is everything to me.

He is my best friend; my favorite person.

We have the best time together.

Sometimes in deep conversation; sometimes in belly laughter.

He is the father of my two beautiful children, and dang it all if I don't see his face EVERY time I look at theirs.

 

I can honestly, without a doubt in the world, say that I love him more and more as each day passes. 

There is absolutely no one in this world that I would rather wake up next to every morning.

No one that I would rather go to sleep next to every night.

No one I would rather raise a family with.

No one I would rather make a life with.

Happy Anniversary, B!!

I love you!

monday misc. :: sick weekend

Within 2 hours of coming home from school on Friday, Kid A got sick.

 She had a yucky 24 hour stomach bug/fever.

So, the hubs quarantined her and himself into our bedroom, so that he could take care of her and not risk Baby LL or myself getting sick.

Sure enough, in the early morning hours of Sunday, he caught it.

Good thing is, Kid A is over it and hopefully the hubs can come out of his hidey hole tomorrow for our anniversary.

And let me tell you, after sleeping on the couch for a few nights, I am more than ready to get back into my comfy bed.

During a trip to Target with Baby LL, I picked up some Clorox wipes and have been using them like crazy.

Clorox wipes, you are my life now. :)

It was/is very hard to not be able to be around Kid A or the hubs, but I have spent every waking (and sleeping) moment for the past 3 days with Baby LL.

He is SUCH a happy baby, and has the greatest disposition.

He even took a 2 1/2 hour long nap with me today.

 Thanks for that buddy, mama really needed it.

 

I love this little guy!

I also realized that he LOVES his stuffed giraffe (it plays Twinkle, Twinkle).

It's half the size that he is, but he's loving quality giraffe snuggling time.

 

During our Target excursion we also picked up a little somethin' somethin' for the little dude.

He'll be 5 months old later this week and we got the green light from the pedi to start solids whenever we wanted.

And seeing that this little boy can eat something FIERCE, we will be starting rice cereal  this week.

Just waiting for daddy to get better, so he can watch (and I can have a photographer).

 

Late  last week I took a little shopping trip to Anthropologie  to use the gift card that my mama got me for my birthday.

Here are my shopping spoils.

I actually received the vase and sugar bowl as presents.

 I still have a bit left on the card, so I will be headed back soon.

And yes, I have already put the mini colander to use holding our tea bags.

I haven't been very hungry today, but I'm craving a BIG bowl of Cheerios (with ice cold milk) something fierce!!

And seeing that this weekend didn't go as we planned, I thought  the following sentiment was appropriate.

{via}

inspiration workshop! - inspiring books

This week the Inspiration Workshop!from Gussy Sews prompt is Inspiring Books.

If you read this previous post of mine, you could probably already tell that I'm a bit of a bookworm.



Reading is something that I grew up loving to do.
Some of my fondest memories revolve around bookstores.
As a kid, my uncle (who was/is also a book nerd) used to take me out on a Saturday morning to brunch and then Half Price Books.
He would go his own way, probably to the sci-fi section, and I would go mine, most likely to check out which Babysitters Club and Sweet Valley Twins books they had in stock.



And as an adult, with a family of my own, some of our best Saturdays have been spent eating pizza from Little Caesars ($5 Hot 'n Ready, baby!) and perusing 3 or 4 different Half Price Books around town.



A love of reading is definitely something that the hubs and I hope to pass on to our kidlets.
So far we're succeeding with A, in that regard.
At 5 years old, reading is in her blood.
Sometimes she will drag a huge stack of books into whatever room I'm in, find a spot to settle into and just read, read, read.
And, two of her favorite places just happen to be the bookstore and the library.
Between the hubs and I, there is really no hope for our kids.
I just counted the books that I have on 2 small-ish bookcases, the total was 140.
Add to that 3 more (larger) bookcases, a dresser full of stacks and multiple small boxes of books, and we are well on our way to having our own library.
Oh, and A has a bunch of books too.



All if this to say, I love to read.
Always have, always will.
And, if you aren't a "reader", I strongly encourage you to become one.
You won't regret it.

Check out my books on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/profile/jen_l_06



All photos via Pinterest.

me, a-z

(a)ge - 27 years young (but that will change in less than 2 months).

(b)ed size - Queen. It's from Ikea and it's SUPER comfy!

(c)hore you dislike - Dishes!! YUCK!!

(d)ogs - None right now. But ever since I was a kid I've wanted a female Golden Retriever named Sadie.

(e)ssential start to your day - Iced tea or Dr. Pepper. Give me caffeine!!

(f)avorite color - Turquoise.

(g)old or silver - Generally silver, but gold is starting to grow on me.

(h)eight - 5'3 3/4". Yes, I claim that 3/4 of an inch.

(i)nstruments you play(ed) - Used to play piano. I WILL pick it up again one day.

(j)ob title - Currently, Mommy.

(k)ids - 2 cuties. Audrey is 5 year old (going on 15) and Lawson is 10 weeks old.

(l)ive - Central Texas. IT IS HOT!!!

(m)om's name - Charlotte.

(n)icknames - Jen, Jenny, J, JJ, etc.

(o)vernight hospital stays - Twice. When each of my kiddos were born.

(p)et peeves - My main one is when people use the word, irregardless. Also, text speak.

(q)uote from a movie - "I love scotch. Scotchy, scotch, scotch. Here it goes down, down into my belly. Mm, mm, mm."

(r)ighty or lefty - Mainly right, but I'm pretty ambidextrous.

(s)iblings - 2 older brothers, 1 younger sister, 1 younger brother.

(t)ime you wake up - Which time? Normally between 6 and 8, although that will change in the coming weeks, when A starts Kindergarten.

(u)nderwear - Ummm, yes please?

(v)egetables you don't like - Beets and spinach from a can. BLECH!!

(w)hat makes you run late - My kids and the hubs. Plain and simple.

(x)rays you've had - Dental, arm and foot.

(y)ummy food you make - I'm a pretty decent cook, but a few family favorites are spaghetti, chicken fried steak, arroz con pollo and cupcakes.

(z)oo animal favorites - Hmmmm....giraffes and hippos.