On Being Sick, Las Vegas, and My Best Friend

I can't believe it is the second half of September! The days are flying by but as I look out of our windows and see the yellow leaves beautifully radiant against the blue sky I am grateful for the change in season.

I have not yet written about Joe and I's little trip to Las Vegas, and afraid that the days will continue to fly and the memories fade, I wanted to jot them down here. We had not been away together, except for one quick night, since our children have joined us! The dreamer that I am, I'd literally been scouting out places for us to visit for over a year. We were going to celebrate both our 30th birthdays and our anniversary with the trip! However, with no holiday time for Joe and very busy grandparent babysitters, we settled for a quick but wonderful trip to Las Vegas. Personally, I'd been feeling so tired that I just wanted to eat breakfast in bed and sit by a nice pool sipping something tropical. 

As you see, I DID get breakfast in bed!

We also spent some wonderful time in the pool!

That week both of our children and Joe had a stomach virus. As always seems to happen, I didn't get it. I think that I am so stubborn that I refuse to get sick when my dear ones need me. The rule is though, as soon as you can get sick because no one is depending on you, you do! So, as soon as our flight took off I found myself wrapped around the plane toilet wishing that there was a cold floor to lay my feverish head on. I had to laugh and cry, knowing that we had budgeted so hard and planned so much for this trip and now here I was feeling so terribly!

I've read so many articles that say "my spouse is not my best friend," the point being that your spousal relationship is different from a friend relationship, and that you need both. This has always irked me a little, because in our case Joe is absolutely my best friend. I have many dear DEAR friends, but if I have a free night I want to be with Joe, if I have a suffering I want to share it with him, if there is adventure to be had, I cannot imagine it without him. I think that over the years this has actually protected our marriage, because neither of us has someone else who we would go to and talk about our problems. We go on dates, and conflict resolve over beer and chicken wings....and when the conflict is resolved we chink our glasses and have some fun. I digress, although in my mind it all makes sense.... (and not to tell anyone who has a spouse that isn't their best friend that my way is better, either, just different!)

It would have felt like a terrible tragedy to me if Las Vegas was meant to be a romantic getaway alone. When one has a stomach bug there is not much romance happening. However, as I sat there on the plane with my eyes closed praying that I would not have to use the bag Joe was holding open for me I actually laughed. "This is marriage", I thought, "rolling with the punches, making good times out of the tough, looking back with fondness over a moment that felt so hard you thought it might break you." While our room was beautifully luxurious with a bath big enough for two, the pool sprawling, the food tantalizing, the entertainment worth the dream, what sticks out to me is that somehow the reality always ends up trumping the fantasy. This is not what I would expect, considering that the fantasy is always, on paper, so wonderful. We adventured, and saw Vegas, and made the best of feeling only OK, but really the best time of the trip was sitting on our king sized bed in cuddly robes (well me, not him!), just being together. He is my dearest love and also my dearest friend, and it makes everything feel so easy as long as he is there. If I'm being entirely honest of course I would have chosen to not have the flu on our trip, but all things considered it was entirely wonderful. 

Anyhow, a few pictures from our time...

A cheesy throwback to our honeymoon, where we took pictures by the real Eiffel Tower!

Espresso at 10 pm? When you kiddos won't have you up at the crack of dawn, why not? Staying awake before seeing Cirque du Soleil

Joe was so amazed that he could smoke indoors that he asked me to take a picture of this moment

The view from our dinner table, it actually was very beautiful!

Thank you for reading, I close quickly to deal with my dearest ones who covered their little bodies with greasy nivea cream earlier today and desperately need bathtub time. Ah, reality!

With love,

Just Dropping In....

We have a whiteboard on our fridge that I use as a to-do list holder and a blog idea gathering place. Ideas that I want to capture and write about in this space are quickly jotted down in the midst of the hustle, as so often the best ideas emerge in a moment of domestic grace. The white-board is now overflowing with borders full of stories and thoughts I want to share and yet.....our summer has been so full, so blessed, so challenging....basically we have really been living and this poor space has remained neglected. Alas! C'est la vie! We are blessed!

Still, I don't want  to forget the glory of these days in all of their simplicity. I don't want to forget the wonder of my children at these specific ages and stag
es, nor the way I've marvelled at our marriage and what it is now after these 5 years that passed in a blink.

Liliana Joy, our eldest, our tenacious and feisty darling, our emotionally perceptive and incredibly imaginative daughter. What a summer this has been for you! You've grown like a sweet little weed, both physically and intellectually. I stand watching you sleep and marvel over this tall little girl with pierced ears who was once my 6.5 lb peanut. Similarly I marvel at you when you stomp away and yell that "I don't like you, I don't want you," or embarrass me in public with your crossed arms and pout.  'They' warned me the day would come when your daddy and I weren't all you needed in the world, but I didn't want to hear it. You start school this September. Again, I cannot imagine such a day has come. This summer you have absolutely amazed us with your athleticism. Whether it has been tenaciously hiking up mountains, running around our golf course, or morphing into a little fish during your swimming lessons, I shake my head and my heart swells with joy to see you SO HAPPY and so challenged.  You are such a good big sister to Judah, so tender and so deliberate in your inclusion of him. He literally worships the ground you walk on! 

You have a sweet love for Jesus and just now I am starting to search a little harder for resources to teach you more about our faith. You have a very real devotion to St. Michael the Archangel and find much comfort at night from faith in his protection. I smile to see the faith of a child, for whom Jesus is just so real and the concept of faith is so natural. We yearn to foster a faith and a deep love in you of what is good, true, and beautiful. I wonder aloud to your daddy how we will accomplish this as we send you off to school. I worry (because I worry always) about all that you'll be exposed to, but your solid-as-a-rock father reminds me that we work very hard to prepare you to be a light.  Oh how we love you!

Canmore, a perfect place for a hiking fairy princess church-goer....

Such a sweet sister, a tender moment captured

***melt***

I love capturing these moments when they don't know I see them....look at those beautiful earrings :)

Judah David, you are so, so darling! You are our incredibly determined, intelligent, musical, temper-filled, sensual and affectionate sweetheart. Because the many months after your birth were so difficult for me and such a blur, I look at you now and just want to snatch you to my heart. Something about a sweet boy's love for his mama, you just love me so much. You have had such a happy summer. You fell in love with your Nonna and Papa who were visiting from Texas and are at the perfect age to remember them with much nostalgia. You just loved every moment with them! You are at that magical age where you are simultaneously a little boy and baby, both so so needy and so desiring independence. I just weaned you which was very sad for me and very dramatic for you, but you were truly addicted and I never got any sleep with your acrobatic nursing so, alas, another chapter closes. However, with each chapter closing a new one opens and new for you is that your daddy is the coolest person in the whole world. You are absolutely OBSESSED with motorcycles, helicopters, and balls of any sort. You've developed so much over this summer, from your vocabulary explosion, to your physical ability, to your overnight self-toilet-training! There was something magical about watching you learn how to jump on the trampoline. One day you couldn't leave the ground, and the next you were flying. Hearing you laugh as you took in the new experience made my heart want to explode. Your daddy and I face the challenge of balancing your extreme attachment to me with our need to be united and your need to learn that you aren't the centre of the universe. We will get there, I hope! You absolutely adore your sister. She is quite literally foremost on your mind at all times. We melt over the fact that whenever we offer you anything your first concern is that Liliana is also considered and taken care of. What a little gentleman you already are. Oh, how we love you!

Look at that tall slender little boy! 

His first haircut, which he was very solemn for!
I was afraid his curls would disappear but thank goodness they are still here!

Playing "house"...best buds!

 (singing for mama in a whisper at the optometrist)

I have much to write about my Love Joseph and the celebration of our 5th wedding anniversary, complete with stomach flu on the airplane and how the reality with all of its messiness is so much better than the fantasy. 

Alas, reality calls and dinner must be prepared. It is meet the teacher night at Liliana's preschool (GULP!). As always, with prayers and much love,

Our Own Lil' Puppy Dog

Because I don't want to forget....

He is in the most darling phase where he absolutely adores his big sister. The days have been so hot he spends most of them in his underwear, walking around the house calling out "Weeedeeee" (Lily) or "Ryyyyyraaaa" (Lyla). Truly, truly he is like the world's most adorable little puppy dog, 2 steps behind his big sister and imitating everything she does.

Conversely, she is so caring! I stumbled upon them yesterday planting flowers. She had equipped them both with sand shovels. They had picked flowers from my pots and killed them by transplanted them into the dirt. There he was, crouched next to her, imitating her every move. There they were, covered in dirt from head to toe and so satisfied with their good work. I couldn't be angry, I could only melt and praise their beautiful gardening.

An oldie but goodie, she cares so much for him!

"Take me with you, Ryra!"

A scene from yesterday's play...
"don't bother us mama! We are having a slumber party!"

Judah thinks that everything Liliana does is so wonderful and so funny! He would follow her to the moon if he could. These are the little things that fill my hear to overflowing. How blessed we are!

With love on this Monday,