Years

7 years of marriage...
9 1/2 years since we got engaged...
11 years since we began dating.

2 kids and counting.

that's a true journey! mike and i thought back over our past anniversaries and how we spent them, then decided that our current way of celebrating has changed a bit :) for our first anniversary we were on a cruise ship in the caribbean, after spending a week in puerto rico. our second was spent in des moines (we were currently living in iowa city) at the same hotel we stayed in the night of our engagement, the Renaissance Savery downtown. our third was spent in maine (we were living in new york at the time). our fourth was in des moines in our first house, with dinner out, followed by a week at lake okoboji with my family. i was pregnant. yeah maternity swimsuit. the fifth anniversary began the long descent into "do you think we can espcape for two hours to have dinner alone?" since it was our first anniversary after children (well, child.) dinner out, again followed by a week at lake okoboji with my family. last year's anniversary, our sixth, was again dinner out. but no week in okoboji-- we had a 3-week-old! and this year i'm pregnant *again*, so leaving the 1-yr-old and almost 3-yr-old was quite the feat and we headed out to dinner together. we were eager to make use of our alone time, but being sunday night of memorial weekend, nearly nothing was open. so we went to target and lowe's to run errands after dinner. woo hoo! i know one thing for sure: our 10th anniversary will have to be awesome. i miss traveling so much! i'm already dreaming about where to go... fiji? ireland? new zealand/aussieland? ahhh... only 3 years to wait :)

we ended up going to cosi cuchina's italian restaurant, the same place we got engaged. they ended up seating us at the exact same table we got engaged in 9 1/2 years ago. how eery would it have been if we had had the same waitress? she was there, but didn't wait on us. we even exchanged gifts this year. i gave him a gift card to see at least 5 movies by himself whenever he needs a break from work and kids. he gave me a gift certificate for a prenatal massage and pedicure. i'm soooo excited :)

the best photo we were able to get of us and the kids (smiling, that is)

on memorial day, our actual annivesary, we took the kids to the zoo. first train ride

at the front of the train! (it wasn't until i saw this photo that i realized i already have that charming pregnant roundness of the face. and i still have 4 months to go! yippee! )

that is a HUGE bull

yeah, monkeys!

Mother's Day Photos

Don't forget the new one!

Those stretch marks are from Benjamin, not new one. Although according to everyone I know, my stomach is growing faster this time around, so I might as well adjust to the idea of more....




Cinnamon rolls are the BEST, daddy!

We tried getting a photo of both boys with Mike's mom. We took a series. All together, they'd make a funny flipbook. The first is the best, the last, the most telling of how the photo shoot went....

Look!

My baby is a model! Tee hee hee.

My scanner still doesn't work, so I did the old take a photo of a photo thing. Not the best result, but here is a smiling Benjamin for his 1-yr photos.


On Friday I did a super quick, but super worth-it, trip to Iowa City WITHOUT children. It was the first time I had left Benj for more than a few hours, and he did about 8 hours without nursing (which really, he can do). I didn't push my luck, though, so I got to IC just in time for the gathering I went for, and left 3 1/2 hours later (the same amount of time on the road as in IC), but again, totally worth it. Our Feminist Anthropology Track mini reunion was great. I only wish I had more time to be there (as you can see, clearly little Eleanor did not feel the same way).

Good food, great company!

The new Dr.

Yes, I'm about the only non-knitter. Okay, maybe not, but it feels like it.

Birthdays and Butterflies

My baby turned one yesterday! I can hardly believe it. I also can hardly believe that I'll be busting out that number "1" cake mold again a year and a half from now! Benjamin had a small family party on Saturday, at our neighborhood park. We had gorgeous weather and flowering trees, and a boy who absolutely LOVED his cake. The next day, on his actual birthday, my brother came from Iowa City to accompany us to Ames to visit the butterfly gardens and to treat Benj to his first birthday sundae at Hickory Park.












He sat on his cake. There were actually corduroy prints on the cake.

After a whole cake, I'd be thirsty, too

Both boys have been enjoying the new water table Benj received as a birthday gift from his grandparents


I neglected to take photos inside the butterfly garden, but I took a few of the tulip gardens. We all learned some very interesting things about butterflies and moths at our visit. In the hatching window, a huge (seriously, HUGE) moth had just hatched from his cocoon. One of the anthamologists transferred him into the gardens while we were there. We found out that his lifespan is FOUR days and he would not eat at all. They don't even have eating/digestion parts for this reason. Their whole purpose in those 4 days is to find a mate in order to lay eggs. Because the gardens didn't have another of his species right now, it won't happen for him. So he'll sit there looking pretty for a total of 4 days, and then die. Talk about needing to life life to the fullest. Most other butterfly species have a lifespan of 2 weeks. Can you believe it? It makes me feel just a teensy weensy bit better about the science project I did in 7th grade where I had to catch them, kill them, and mount them on a board. Not much better, but at least I know I didn't shave years off their lives.







Benjamin took his first steps a month ago, but in the past week or two has been starting to preference walking over crawling. He's still about 50/50, but he's getting better and it's cute to watch. He had his 1 yr wellness check-up at the pediatrician's office today, and he's only 50th percentile. He's a little tall, at 75%. He was very tough with the finger prick and shots :) Tomorrow he'll get his 1-yr photos (by himself; no big brother intrusions).






Our garden is tilled and ready to plant this afternoon. The blueberry bushes went in yesterday. Here's hoping they thrive!