6 Years of Wedded Bliss

Today is Mike and my anniversary. Oddly, 6 years seems so short since we've been together for 10, and were good friends for two years even before that. So much has happened in those 12 years that it's hard to believe where we've started and have now landed. On our 4th anniversary we had no kids (though Jack was on his way), and now on our 6th we have two! (Mike tells me he hopes not to see the same kind of change in another 2 years). My parents came to watch Jack on Friday night so that Mike and I could go out for a nice anniversary dinner. Ben joined us and was a great dinner guest. We went to Flemings Prime Steakhouse and had an incredible meal. Mike took a photo outside in the parking lot of our ghetto vehicle amongst all the upper crust (my parents took the Prius since it had Jack's carseat, while the Geo has a second car seat base for Ben):


(In case you can't see the photo well, we have Volvo, Audi, GEO [and me with a Vanna White pose], Lexus, Lexus SUV)

Here is a photo of our happy family that same night:


Yesterday in the mail we received a gorgeous sweater knitted by my friend Sarah. Carrie, I know you wanted to see it, so here it is in all its glory:

Thank you, Sarah, we love it!

I survived my first 4 days home alone with the children. Unfortunately Jack decided once Mike went back to work that he wasn't getting enough attention, and the BABY was the reason. So he has started acting out aggressively here and there to show his frustration. Luckily he is so young that he does it in front of me for attention, so I can stop him, unlike the subversive acts of aggression I used to perform at age 4 on my baby brother when my parents weren't looking. I did hit a low point, though, when Jack ran over and tried squeezing Ben's head, pulling his hair, and yanking on his leg. I had never before yelled at him until that moment, and he was scared. I had tried firm no's, explanations, even short time-outs, and nothing seems to be working. He still is apparently too young for these types of discipline and I'm at a loss for what to do and how to protect Benjamin. It comes down to me not being able to leave them alone in the same room together for even 10 seconds, which makes it hard to, oh, go the bathroom or get something to eat. But I had known the first several months would be hard, so I'm dealing. All in all it's going fairly well, and those developmental and adjustment moments are expected. Ben is still easy, even at night, and Jack is still challenging. Lest you forget what dining with a toddler entails, here's a reminder:


Mike's last "project" he wanted to finish before returning to work last week was to renovate our sandbox. He took out all the old sand, built up the sides, fashioned a cover (complete with 4 storm-proof locks and handles), and filled it with Cancun style sand. On these great 80 degree days, Jack enjoys it: