Thoughts & Happenings ~

I've been gone for far too long! After a while, the thought of updating seems a little daunting. Not too long ago, I'm pretty sure I vowed to update MORE often.. yet I think I've gotten worse. :) We've had a lot going on, though! That's not to say that I haven't had things I wanted to share, or too many thoughts running through my head, as usual. :)

Ryan started his new job last week, and boy, are they already keeping him busy. :) He traveled two days last week, and is currently in Pittsburgh until Thursday training with one of their best. I'm so thankful that this is ONLY for training, and that all of this traveling is not permanent, since his territory is local. :) I know plenty of women have husbands who travel often for work, but I've definitely found that I'm not built that way. We're much happier when he's home. :) But, he will definitely will be busy, especially for these next few months before our son is born, which I completely understand. He LOVES his job and the company, though, and we are still thanking God for giving it to him!

In other news, we have a new townhouse! :) After touring nearly a dozen of them, we finally found one that we love! We will move in all of our things June 27th, when we're required to move from our current townhouse, but won't physically move ourselves in until July 1st. It's not in our current city, but rather where I grew up.. which is about 10 minutes away. The townhouse is enormous in comparison to what we have now, with 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, a massive kitchen and living room area, and a big rec room downstairs, with room for Ryan's new office area. It has a big, open backyard for Brooke and baby boy, a good sized deck, a fabulous neighborhood pool, many playgrounds, and a gorgeous lake across the street with walking paths around it. It's exactly what we were looking for! :)


I took pictures inside as well, but it's sort of pointless to post them at this point, since it's going to look completely different when we move in. The entire place will be professionally repainted, and all carpeted areas will be re-carpeted. There is some wallpaper in different areas, and whatever is not taken down by the painters, we will take down ourselves and repaint. We're not wallpaper people. :) Oh, and they'll be redoing the landscaping outside.. though I'm not sure what all that will entail.

Brooke had her very first play date on Sunday! My brother's girlfriend, Joanie's sister and brother-in-law invited us over for a cookout, and they have a 2 1/2 year old, Angie. Brooke's only real interaction with other kids has just been in the church nursery, so it was really awesome to see her with another girl close to her age. They played so well together--I saw Brooke sharing for the very first time, and caught Angie giving Brooke hugs. :) It was truly precious. Seeing your child make a new friend is so great! I hope that I'll be able to plan more play dates for Brooke from now on. :) We just really don't know many people our age with little kids around her age, so it's just never happened.


Brooke & Angie ~

Trying out Angie's adorable chair ~
And the ones below are from Saturday.. :)

Waving to a passing car ~

I LOVE this outfit.. too bad it's getting too small ~

Goldfish! :)

Sweet girl ~
*sigh* I just love her so much. You know, last night, when baby boy was kicking my belly, I told him that I love him... and I wondered, how will I ever possibly love him as much I love Brooke? Of course I already love him, but meeting him for the first time will be totally different. I'm sure everyone else thinks about this. It's the kind of thing where I know that I will, but it's just hard to actually picture right now. The love you have for your child is intense.. and it's hard to imagine that my heart will have the capacity to love this little boy just as much.

I look at it this way: When you're dating the man who will become your husband, your love grows the more you spend time with them, and even though that love that you have is unconditional, it absolutely took time to build. We even tell each other how it's crazy to think how much more we love each other today than the day we got married. On your wedding day, you're so in love that it's hard to imagine how you could possibly love them more than you do right then. Yet here we are, and we do, by a mile. The things we've gone through together, how much better we know each other now, how we've learned to work together, and then seeing each other as a parent.. our love has absolutely grown immensely since our wedding day. The love you have for a child, though, is instantaneous. The first day I met Ryan, if you asked me if I loved him, or if I would die for him, I'd tell you that you're out of your mind! But the day I first laid eyes on Brooke? Wholeheartedly yes. And I know when I meet our son, it will be the same way.

I will say, though, that one of the things Ryan and I have always said all along is that our kids will never take priority over our marriage. We've witnessed so many people who, once they have children, their children become their entire world, and their marriage is neglected. But what happens when your kids inevitably leave home? Will you even recognize the person you're married to? (that is, if your marriage survives that long) I really think that the best thing that a child can see are their parents loving each other, and that foundation will make them feel safe and secure. Not to mention, having that blueprint of a successful, loving marital relationship will help them down the road when they are married themselves. I know that it has for me, and also for Ryan.

My other recent thought has been, realizing there's really not that much time before our "baby" transitions to a "big sister," I've really been soaking up as much time with her as possible. Even more kisses, even more hugs, even more books, and singing, and being silly, and playtime together. The new addition will definitely be an adjustment for all of us, but I really want to make sure that Brooke gets what she needs once he's here, also. Yes, she can point to where her baby brother is, give my belly kisses, and knows that she's going to be a "big sister," and "Mommy's helper," but really? She doesn't have a clue about what's going to happen! :) So, of course, I shouldn't worry at all about it.. we'll deal with everything day by day, but I'd say that my expectations of how it will be initially are likely not rose colored. :) I'm thrilled, though, that we will soon be a family of four, and I can't wait to see our two children interacting with each other. I'm already picturing this coming Thanksgiving, and Christmas, and summer vacation next year, with TWO children. :) I'm eager to see what this new chapter will be like for us, and am feeling excited, and blessed.

So, there you go, likely much more than you cared to know about how we're doing. :) I guess that's what happens when you don't update for weeks! Honestly, we're just really doing great, and feeling like we've been blessed a lot recently. We're seeing our needs be provided for one after another, and we're really enjoying this time of answered prayers, and calmness. It's what sustains you, really, when things are not calm, knowing that it never lasts forever. :) Hope you all are doing well!

¶ 9:33 AM