I had a most wondrous Valentine's Day this year...
We decided to spend the day relaxing at home, spending time with each other. We did get in a trip to the grocery store to stock up on groceries, but other than that it was filled with lots of card making, cuddling, hugs, and kisses.
The Knight bought me beautiful flowers and a nice basket to store my yarn in. I love the basket, although I think it was his way of politely telling me that he is tired of having to step over my yarn and needles whenever he walks into the living room... Today we are getting snowed in, the perfect opportunity and excuse to stay home, drink hot tea, and knit.
I have lots of projects that I am looking forward to knitting, but I know that the sweetest creations of all are my two beautiful girls and the life I hold inside me.
Lately I've found myself without a lot to write about.
Wait, that's not true. I have a lot to write about. But when my life is full of such joy and hope and euphoria, how do I write the words to adequately describe that?
I just can't.
Yesterday I spent all day doing laundry. I played with the girls and folded laundry, played with them again and folded more laundry, and so on. A day full of repetition.
Sounds dull, doesn't it?
But it wasn't. Because in between the folded shirts and pants, love filled the room. And so did laughter.
Hope bloomed, and it is beautiful.
This life inside me? It causes smiles all around. Like when the Guppy lifted up my shirt and shouted at my belly, "What are you doing in there, baby?" Or the Mermaid tried to guess how many hours a day the baby was "sleeping".
Sometimes, it is those days full of repetition, those days designated by those who don't understand as dull or boring, those are the days that I treasure the most.
This summer we've been a bit lazy in terms of homeschooling.
Rather than sit down and focus on our curriculum, we've been spending a lot of time playing outside and visiting friends. We've got a pretty basic schedule worked out, although it frequently changes. Mondays and Thursdays we either stay at home or visit friends. Tuesdays we go to a La Leche League meeting where the girls socialize and then hit a park or go home and play outside. Wednesdays we head over to the EcoTarium for their preschool program, followed by dance class. And Fridays, we usually go to the library and then grocery shopping, where the girls help me add up the costs of items to stay within our budget, count how many things we need on the list, etc.
We've also been playing a lot of games, like Candyland, Sorry!, and card games like GoldFish and Memory.
I've noticed that The Guppy and The Mermaid tend to have different learning styles. The Guppy likes to just observe; for a while, when she wouldn't participate hands on in our projects, I was slightly worried that she wasn't "learning" anything. But later, I would overhear her "teaching" her dolls whatever we've been learning, so I know she is picking things up just by observing.
The Mermaid, however, is very hands on. She picks things up really quickly, and is a "greedy" learner. She wants to learn the next thing, and she wants to learn it NOW. Lately she's been begging me to teach her how to read, and I've been thinking of finally going through Teach Your Child To Read In 100 Easy Lessons with her.
My girls are young and I am new at homeschooling, but we love it. I feel so blessed to be able to be my girls teacher, and to be able to learn from them as well. I can't wait to see what comes up next in our homeschooling journey!
The Knight celebrate our four year anniversary in two weeks. Four years later, and he is still my Knight in shinning armour.
Today I am over at my blog at Fix My Love, a really cool site on love, relationships, and dating. My blog is Keeping Romance After The Ring and my first post is about keeping romance alive when you've got no time and two kids.
Growing up, my sister and I were very close and remain so today. We never really bickered or had too many "sibling fights". My sister is only one year and six days younger than me, and I've always thought that our close age had something to do with it and therefore wanted to have children closer together. Although not that close, because I could never imagine being pregnant when my first baby is three months old (I still don't know how you did it, mom!).
I'm really happy that so far, the girls get along really well. They are each other's best friend, and very protective of each other. While this may change, for now I am going to enjoy these moments of peaceful friendship and love.
Do you find that your children get along well? What do you think is the perfect "age gap" between children?
Two years ago today, I walked down an aisle and into the next chapter of my life. Two years ago today, I stood at the alter, faced my Knight in shinning armor and pledged my unconditional love in front of our family and friends. Two years ago today, I gave my entire heart and soul to my best friend, the love of my life, my soul mate. The Surprise:
Although we had known each other for years, the Knight and I had only been officially dating for three months when I found out I was pregnant with the Mermaid. I was terrified. So was the Knight. After our initial, OMG what are we going to do!?! reaction, I was surprised and overjoyed when he actually became very happy and excited about the thought of being a father. We briefly discussed marriage and I told him that there was no way I was going to get married just because I was pregnant. He told me he didn't want to marry me because I was pregnant; he wanted to marry me because he was in love with me. I felt the same.
The Proposal:
It was four months into my pregnancy, and due to morning sickness the only thing I could keep down was cereal. The Knight surprised me with a candle light dinner of Cheerios and milk, with roses all over the house. We danced to our song and then he popped the question. I, of course, answered yes. I was surprised at how nervous he was. His hands shook a little when he was eating.
We were married June 4th, 2005, on a beautiful sunny day. Our ceremony took place on a gazebo in the center of a local town, the reception took place at a restaurant across the street. About 100, 130 people attended. The wedding got off to a late start because the limo broke down on the way to pick us up and also the Best Man got in a car accident on the way to the wedding. Thankfully he was not hurt and we were able to proceed. The wedding was gorgeous, more than I could hope for. The Mermaid was 9 months old at the time and was in attendance, in fact the Knight held her in his arms while I walked down the aisle. It was wonderful.
The Marriage:
These past two years have been the most wonderful years of my life. Nervous about how our marriage would turn out, I know now I had nothing to fear. The Knight is still my best friend, my soul mate. He is the most kind and considerate man I have ever met. He is also a wonderful father. When we are out in public, I feel so proud to have him on my arm. He buys me flowers for no reason, helps out with the housework, encourages me with my passions and interests. He is so romantic and passionate yet he also knows how to just sit and goof around with me like a buddy. He knows my every secret, my every flaw, my every quirk, and still loves me unconditionally. Whatever obstacle I face, I know that I will have his support and encouragement.
The Future:
I no longer fear the future. While the uncertainty of what tomorrow will bring used to make my heart beat with fear, now it beats with excitement. I know that whatever comes our way, both good or bad, we will come out of it with a determination to continue on together. Our hands are clasped but our hearts are intertwined. I never really understood the quote from Browning's poem until now: Grow old along with me, the best to come is yet to be.
This morning, instead of doing laundry or dishes or other things that needed to be done, I decided to waste time on the computer. I wanted to update my MySpace page.
I sat down to redo it and I did what I usually did, focusing the entire page on the girls and adding pictures of them, etc. Then I decided to add pictures of just the Knight and I, without the girls. But....I couldn't find any. Well, I did find some. But they were from our wedding and our honeymoon. That was over a year ago.
Whoa.
This is what made me realize that my dear Knight very often gets overlooked. The Knight is my best friend, my soul mate, the love of my life. He is a terrific father. After working all day, he comes home and asks if the girls need diaper changes (usually yes), whether I need help with dinner (usually no), and how my day was. After praising my cooking to the skies (even though he hates beans and I'm on a bean kick right now) he helps me clean up the dishes and the kitchen and puts the girls to bed. He compliments me, makes me feel sexy, makes me laugh. He always puts himself last. And today I realized that I take all that for granted.
I feel like the Knight and I need to reconnect. How can it be that we haven't even had our picture taken together in over a year? We're so busy taking care of the kids that we haven't stopped to take care of each other in a long time. Don't get me wrong, we have a great marriage. We rarely fight. But sometimes, I wonder....is that necessarily good? Do we rarely fight because we have a great marriage, or because we are so focused on the children that we have nothing to fight about?
I don't want the Knight and I to drift apart. I want us to feel like a couple again. I want us to be giddy when we're around each other. I want us to have a conversation that doesn't involve the word "baby", "poop" or "diaper".
I hope, I dream, I act...
When I get my first paycheck, I will cash it and keep it saved. Then I will make a reservation at a great restaurant. I will have my mom watch the kids. We will have a romantic dinner. We will hold hands. I will ask him about his day, how he is feeling. We will not talk about poop, potty, diapers, or toys. We will talk about each other, about our future, about how we are going to grow old together.
We will reconnect.
And I will have the waitress take our picture. Just the two of us.
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Do you find that your children get along well? What do you think is the perfect "age gap" between children?
