10 Years

 Today marks ten years of marriage for me and Corey!

I have never regretted our super small wedding! 

And we have more than made up for our small honeymoon. :)

On our first anniversary I was five months pregnant with Katie.

And now on our tenth we have a seven week old newborn.

I could have never ever understood the overwhelming joy that I have experienced in spending these ten years as a wife to Corey.  The family we established ten years ago has grown into a home filled with lots of laughs and the love of three wonderful children.

10 happy years!

Life is nowhere near what I thought it would be...it is SO MUCH BETTER!

I love you, Corey!

Looking forward to many more years together!

Noah turns 7!

 We celebrated Noah's 7th birthday...almost two weeks ago! oops!!

 Our first ever homemade birthday cake...a double doozie.  Not nearly as good as the one his Nana made for me, but it was pretty good. :)

 Goofing around, waiting on....

 the Happy Birthday song complete with sombrero.

And of course, lots of good gifts!

He enjoyed a great birthday and has been playing with all of his gifts a lot!

He also enjoyed spending some birthday money on Amazon.com (we are teaching him that you can get better prices and don't have to go out to the store! ha ha!) and he loved getting the packages in the mail.  

 I can't believe my littlest boy...up until recently the "baby" has turned 7 years old!

Tune in tomorrow for another very special post and celebration. :)

1st Day of School

 School is officially in session!

We started on Friday, July 1st, after taking a spring/summer break from the week before Easter until now.

Above:  Katie on her first day of 3rd grade.

Below: silly pose

 They are sporting their official school uniform: pajamas.

Below: Noah on his first day of second grade.

The day went very smoothly, in spite of breaks to tend to Ruby.

She slept for the first long session of reading for our history/geography and Bible time.

The first week will be mostly review, getting their brains warmed back up to math especially.

We started on a Friday because I had planned to the first week of July and with Monday already being a holiday it made sense to just go ahead and get a first day in with time to break again right before the rest of the first week which we will start on Tuesday, after the 4th.

It was a huge relief to get some structure back in our day.  The kids I know were better off with some tasks and work to do rather than just sitting around being bored.

I can't believe how big they are.  This is our 5th year of having school at home. 

It was funny to look at Ruby throughout the day and know that she will always be schooled at home.  That is the plan anyway.  When Katie and Noah were newborns, we had no idea that we would homeschool.  It's quite different looking at her and having the peace of knowing she will be with us when her time comes as well! :)

Play time

 Staying awake to play some during the day!

 Noah and Katie both watching over nearby. :)

6 weeks old tomorrow! 

On Katie and Noah's first day of school 2011/2012 (2nd and 3rd grades!)

Such hard work.....

The mirror is very fascinating...or the person in it maybe!?

She is so much fun!

And she finally got to hit the rings and toys to make them move.  

Not on purpose, but she enjoyed the results!

June 20th!

 WOW! Ruby is already a month old!  Almost...in about an hour and ten minutes. :)  Like everything else after you are a grown up time has seemed to crawl and fly.  I am really enjoying every single minute.  Ruby seems to enjoy herself also.....

 Noah loves her and asks to hold her often.

 Katie is the entertainer.  Though last night she asked to go play instead of entertaining her while dinner was being prepared.  Oh well...

 She is the cutest thing ! Everyone in the house agrees!

 She loves sitting with us at the table at dinner...the bouncy seat on the floor wasn't cutting it.  So, thanks to a gift from Memaw and Grandaddy, we got this booster high chair that attaches to a regular chair.  We are five around the table now and it is awesome! I thought of taking this photo last night after I pulled the chair over near to where I was making pancakes for dinner.  She was getting really impatient for her own dinner, so no smiles in that shot, ha ha.

Katie made this sign for me to take her one month photo. Right on cue this morning, Ruby started really cooing and responding to our talking to her.  She has been very attentive since birth, and also smiling, but today she really has seemed to be talking back regularly with sounds and smiles.

She is sleeping great!  I usually get at least one 4-5 hour stretch of sleep each night.  Then she settles down easily for another 3-4 hours.  No complaints here!

All these photos were taken with my phone.  I also took the same photos with the better camera but they are still on the memory stick.  One day we will get them off and I'll post some better shots. 

We have another milestone this week, Noah is turning seven!  

A Month!

 My blog has been neglected over the last month.  With good reason.... So much has happened including saying goodbye to two families of friends....the Freemans who are (once again) relocated with the military.

 The stairsteps out of order.....ages 6, 7, 5, and 8. Oops, Canaan had his birthday, so now they are 6, 8, 5, 8, left to right. We will miss seeing them on a weekly basis!  Also the Welch family who have permanently relocated to North Carolina! We will miss them too!!!!
Katie and Noah both had end of the year recitals...Noah for his Science combo class, Katie for Zoology, and Katie had a play that she worked on with her drama class.  Her play was the week after Ruby was born.  Thankful for friends who helped us out with all the rehearsals, etc that were going on at a very busy time!

 OH and we finally became a family of five with Ruby's much awaited arrival on May 20th!

We've been adjusting very well!

Number three has been the easiest baby of all! It could be that we are much more relaxed or that she is just a good baby.  Or maybe because of the age difference between the last two.  Katie and Noah are a huge help...with Ruby and with doing some of the chores around the house. It may also have something to do with the fact that Ruby sleeps at least 4 hours at a time at night and many times up to 6.  I realize that is subject to change at moment's notice though, I will enjoy it as long as I can! It has definitely helped in these first few weeks of recovery.  Speaking of, I am recovering very well also.  Feeling totally normal already!

The complete birth story is posted on the baby blog, but I will be posting here from now on.  Back to the regular family blog. 

We will be getting ready to start school in July.  I wasn't sure I would be ready to start early again, but it turns out, I am!  I know that it will be easier now than when she gets older, so may as well get to marking off those 180 days again!  I can't believe I have a 2nd and 3rd grader!  Our supplies are all bought and ready, I just need to get the first nine weeks planned out.  I had hoped to get that done before Ruby was born, but I didn't.

I am motivated to get going on the planning.

So that's what has been going on with us...

Guess who was born today?!?!?!?!?!?!

31 years ago?!?!?

Corey! My husband!

Guess who seems to be in no hurry to arrive, for her due date, Daddy's birthday, or any other special event?

That would be Ruby.....

Needless to say I had no special plans for Corey's birthday today since...um... I thought we would be busy with a newborn and just get pizza takeout.  So what did we do? Pizza takeout...at work with Dad!

 Ben's special gift for Corey.  A 5 second "face touch."  Ben hates to have his face touched...lots of back story....brothers confuse me.

 Father and son

 The family.  Sorry I'm looking rough.  I need more makeup on.

Corey and I have had pre baby hair rebellion.

 Father and daughter...

Individual Ben and Jerry's ice cream cups. Following Mellow Mushroom takeout.

Happy Birthday Corey!

Hopefully my gift won't be too much later in arriving......