"yes"

I have SO many back-blogs to write....but this one's a priority :)

On Friday, November 5th, after a nice dinner, Eric and I came home, and while sitting and talking, Eric got on his knee and said (as best as I can remember...I was a little shocked:): I knew that I loved you the first day I met you, I have fallen in love with your children, and I am asking if you will spend the rest of your life with me and be my wife.

And....I said yes.

On November 27th, Eric and I will celebrate 3 years together, 2 of those years living together as a family with Katie and Carter.  We've been through a lot, to say the least, but I can specifically identify when I knew that we were "right".....when we stopped asking whether the conflict/fight was too hard and we weren't sure if we should stay together, to...this conflict is really hard, how are we going to get through it. 

I love this man.  I love the way he loves Katie and Carter.  I love the life that he has made for us as a family.  I love how important family is to him....and the amazing example that he had from his own parents.  I hope that his mom is looking down on us, and is happy.  I love Eric's family, as he loves mine, and I look forward to a lifetime of memories.

Grow old along with me....the best is yet to be.
(robert browning)

peek-a-boo!

what could possibly be in this basket??

it's a Carter-bug!

I may be biased, but he is really really cute

back in he goes..

love, love, love him

(now if only he would learn how to do the laundry :)

...

..."have you ever looked fear in the face,

and said I just don't care...."

sometimes it hurts to grow.

but growth is good.

best buddies

"we loved with a love that was more than love"
edgar allen poe

welcome, fall

I love your crisp breeze in the morning and your sunny afternoons.

I love how KJ tells me "it's not fall yet, mommy, the leaves are still on the trees!"

Oh, and one more thing...could you stay this way for awhile and not turn cold so fast?  much love.

beware...carter's gonna get you :)

so cute.
these are the simple moments
i don't ever want to forget.

note to self

"I cannot admit this out loud.  In the first place, we are expected to be supermoms these days, instead of admitting that we have flaws.  It is tempting to belive that all mothers wake up feeling fresh every morning, never raise their voices, only cook with organic food, and are equally at ease with the CEO and the PTA..

Here's a secret: These mother's don't exist. 

Most of us--even if we'd never confess--are suffering through the raisin bran in the hopes of a glimpse of that magic ring.

Real mothers wonder why experts who write for Parents and Good Housekeeping--and dare I say it, the Burlington Free Press--seem to have their acts together all the time when they themselves can barely keep their heads above the stormy seas of parenthood.

Real mothers don't just listen with humble embarassment to the elderly lady who offers unsolicited advice  in the checkout line when a child is throwing a tantrum.  We take the child, dump him in the lady's cart, and say, "Great, maybe YOU can do a better job."

Real mothers know that it's okay to eat cold pizza for breakfast.
Real mothers admit it is easier to fail at this job than to succeed.

If parenting is the box of raisin bran, then real mothers know the ratio of flakes to fun is severely imbalanced.  For every moment that your child confides in you, or tell you he loves you, or does something unprompted to protect his brother or sister that you happen to witness, there are many more moments of chaos, error and self-doubt. 

Real mothers may not speak the heresy, but they sometimes secretly wish they'd chosen something for breakfast other than this endless cereal.

Real mothers worry that other mothers will find that magic ring, whereas they'll be looking for ages.

Rest easy, real mothers. 

The very fact that you worry about being a good mom means that you already are one."

(Jodi Piccoult-House Rules)