Beau's Birthday

I had a feeling Beau's birthday was going to be a good day when the three of us, Beau, Cruz, and I, woke up at 5:30 to the sound of the "Everything is Awesome" song from the Lego Movie.  We were piled in our bed when the alarm sounded from the living room, Beau's high hoped attempt to get up and work out, and the familiar song sent Cruz into a fit of giggles.  On any other day, this very early alarm could have just as well been met with groans and mumbles, and in all honesty, that was my first reaction; however, today we chose giggles, and then coffee and more coffee. I always wish I could wake up with a tenth of the energy my children wake up with, however, mornings like this one make me realize a lot of it is attitude.

  
Wednesday was Beau's birthday.  I love planning sweet surprises on his birthday for many reasons.  It's the beginning of summertime and our spirits seem to soar this time of year.  I'm also home with the babies and spend my days soaking up the simplicity of a shorter to-do list and reestablished routines.  I also love the opportunity to involve the littles in surprising and giving to others, sometimes even more than showering them with things.  To see the grin on Cruz's face as he walked into the Farm Bureau office carrying the Spider-Man balloon he picked out especially for Daddy, or the excitement he felt as we hid on the steps and yelled surprise when Beau got home from work, reminded me how important it is to celebrate the people we love, and show them the happiness that comes from making others feel special.

     

All morning, Cruz and I prepared a day of celebration to honor the man we love so much.  While Mila was napping, we sprawled out on the driveway and painted a mural to hang on the door of the house.  Cruz helped me bake my first double layer birthday cake.  We wrapped his present and I scribed for Cruz as he told me what he wanted his card to say.  And around lunch, we picked out some balloons (Spider-Man, of course) and attached them to his favorite candies, and left to surprise him at work.  Although it's always a little chaotic with Cruz wanting to try out the Culligan water tank and play with Daddy's office supplies, Beau LOVES when we visit him at work.  We took him for tacos, both kids were so well-behaved, and Beau was so proud.

Wednesday night, we kept it simple.  Greeted Beau with his mural when he got home from work.  Blew out candles and enjoyed cake with fresh Hanson's ice cream.  And our favorite birthday tradition - opening up a special present picked out especially by Cruz.  Yes, every year, Cruz and I make a special trip to The Dollar Store to pick out a present for Beau.  This was the first year he truly got what the mission was and he had full reign to purchase whatever he chose.  This year, he picked out a plastic tub of dinosaurs, some Cheeze-Its and Pringles (both with pictures of Spider-Man on the package), a 4th of July pinwheel, some Transformers stickers, and my favorite, a Sympathy card because, "it has a pretty waterfall on it."  He wandered the aisles for a good hour, saying, "follow me, Mommy, I will lead the way," and referring to the aisles as "paths."  At one point, he turned and pointed to a display of laundry detergent, all Vanna White-like, and said in all his genuineness, "Maybe he would like some wotion, Mommy?"  He decided on the dinosaurs instead and was so excited to give him the gifts.

I loved today so much, loved making the day special for our leading man, and love carrying out these simple traditions with this family of mine.  There's just something about watching your husband blow out his birthday candles with a baby in each arm to make you really stop and smile at where we're at.  These are the good days - licking the frosting off the beaters, bringing the kids to daddy's office, and waking up much too early with a little person in between us in bed, giggles and all.

Happy pictures from our day. 

   

Happiness is...

...a perfect spring breeze and an afternoon of play and planting in our backyard.  A baby girl dressed in bib overalls, resting on my hip, watching her brother swing from a tree.  We tickle the bottom of his feet every time he swings near.  He giggles.  She smiles.  Back and forth, back and forth, I feel the breeze on my face and am reminded how blessed I am to raise them.

...hanging outside with my boy before bedtime.  Both barefoot, both chasing the sun as we put away plastic baseball bats and give our garden one last drink of water.  I spot him on our deck, nonchalantly humming the words to Pharrell, looking like a boss in my over-sized sun hat.  We twirl in circles and make up the words as we go.  Then, I let him sit on my lap as I drive the car into the garage.  He says, "This. Is. Awesome!" and honks the horn three times before I drag him out.

...new summertime bedtime rituals.  A quick march in the tub to clean our feet.  Forgoing pajama pants to sleep in superhero undies.  Ceiling fans and open windows and a family piled in hungry caterpillar sheets to read superhero books from the "candle" (Kindle).  Kisses and Pete the Cat snuggled under tiny, suntanned arms.  That refreshed, fulfilled, and exhausted feeling of summertime.    

A New Beginning

Last Friday night, we grabbed a beer and a bite to eat at La Calle Latin American Bistro on College Hill.  I bounced Mila on my lap and sunk my teeth into the Tango, a burger topped with smoked gouda and a special, homemade chimichurri sauce.  Cruz danced to the salsa music that played in the background and we ended the night licking Hanson's ice cream cones from the swivel chairs at the bar.  It was another perfect night outside and I could feel summer begin to set in my bones.  

After strapping Cruz in his seat and hopping behind the wheel, I opened the windows and let the warm, still air fill our car.  The kids were calm in the backseat and Beau and I made small talk as we approached the familiar stoplight at Greehill and Hudson.  It was past the kids' bedtime, but just as the light switched from red to green, I spontaneously hit the accelerator and turned off my turning signal.

"How about a little detour."

As soon as we unstrapped Cruz from the car, he began running ahead of us. A boy in his element, he immediately started picking up rocks, kicking at the dirt, and jumping over holes.  Mila was content in Beau's arms, her face and bright blue eyes all lit up as the sun had just begun to set, casting this golden hue over everything in sight.  All of a sudden, Beau yelled for Cruz to stop.  We turned left and walked another fifty yards in the dirt tracks before he stopped, turned a full circle, looked at me, and smiled.

"This is it.  This is where our house will be."

I didn't expect to feel so much in that moment, but I think I will remember it as one of those special, unplanned times when life just kind of comes full circle before your very eyes.  We were standing on our very own lot, on a street that will soon hold the pages of our next chapter.  We've been carefully planning and dreaming about this new house we will build for a long time and to stand on the land where it will all come to life made it feel so real.  For a year,  we've been patiently waiting for the land to be ready, providing me lots of time to think and then overthink our decisions and desires for our future.  I've went back and forth not only on what I wanted in a house, but more importantly, what I want to invest in our home.  But as I circled that plot, watched Cruz dance around in the dirt and dreamed about Mila learning to walk on the pitter patter of new floors, I felt so much peace with it all.  It's not the house, though, that matters, but that I have the three of them with me along the way.  For they are my home.  

We are just a few weeks shy of breaking ground on our new digs.  It will be my farmhouse bungalow, sans chickens, with butcher block counter tops, main floor laundry, and lots of windows to let in all the light.  It's going to be an exciting year, one with lots of decisions and I'm sure lots of tests of patience as we decide where to put outlets and what kind of roof we want.  I can now correctly identify whether every house in town has a hip or gable roof. :)

All excitement aside, I want to remember that I am typing this post with a physical ache and lump in my throat just thinking about saying goodbye to this home of ours.  I struggle with change and I become attached to things and places that hold great sentiment to me.  And this gingerbread house of ours holds the greatest stories of my life.  This is where I became a wife and a mama, where we painted walls and transformed spaces, nursed babies in the middle of the night and read countless stories before bed.  Every crack and crevice of this place is us and there is something profoundly permanent about that.  To give this piece of us to someone else is going to be difficult for me.

The stories, though, they're coming with us.  They'll find their way in frames placed upon bookshelves or in 'remember when' stories we tell at the dinner table.  They'll tell a rich part of our family's history, those days of raising babies and gardens, cooking dinner in our handcrafted kitchen, and yes, even sharing our tiny little bathroom.  I will even miss the bathroom. 

P.S. If you know of someone who may be interested in our home, we'll be on the market later this fall.  We hope to find a family who loves it as much as we do.     

Pictures of our special night surveying our soon-to-be neighborhood...

No, the dog is not foreshadowing into our future, even though I'm pretty sure he would've come home with us we would have let him! 

Happy Birthday...

...to my baby daddy.  Thanks for being Mila's serenade when she's sad, Cruz's hero without a cape, and my happily ever after.  We love you!

22/52

"a portrait of each of my children, once each week, in 2014"

Cruz: This guy finished his third season of soccer shots last Tuesday.  He's learned so much from Coach Marty and earned a shiny medal after scoring a goal.  I like watching him concentrate as he dribbles, but like watching him attempt his jumping jacks before practice starts even more.  Twelve little people trying to move their arms and legs at the same time makes for one hilarious stretch!

Mila:  This is Mila lately, on her tummy and blowing bubbles.  She's at that interesting stage where she is no longer content laying on the floor under her farm mat and rolls over seconds after being on her back.  She's strong and interested in her new view, but grows frustrated pretty fast and already seems like she wants to move.  I suspect she'll be an early crawler - she wants to keep up with her brother!  

Ten Years Ago...

...he picked me up in his black, Ford F-150, drove the half block to my house on 22nd and Campus, completely unaware that there were three girls peeking through the blinds in Kara's room to get a good look.  I was nervous, but excited, and will never forget the smile on his face as I met him by the front door.  We laughed so much that night and we both walked away from our first date knowing we had found something really special.

Three years later, on the exact anniversary of our very first date, we were husband and wife.  We've spent ten June 2nds together, some drinking mojitos on the beaches of Mexico, one eating anniversary cake and ripping out the kitchen in our new home, and today, mixing rice cereal for a hungry baby whilst wearing a fireman costume and attempting to get our three year son to understand that he cannot take his pants off in our backyard.  Our beach today was a Lightning McQueen swimming pool, our mojitos half warm glasses of lemonade.  We've doubled in size in the last ten years, and I adore this family of ours more than I can put into words.  Sometimes, because I think I'm too tired to put anything into words!  

Happy Anniversary to my Beau.  Here's to spending a forever's worth of June 2nds.  I can't wait to see what the next ten years look like.

For fun, I got out my external hard-drive and found pictures of the two of us, on or very close to June 2nd for ten years.  I can't believe how much we (and my hair color) have changed!

2004...two babies

2005...we traveled to North Carolina with Beau's brother.  It was our one-year anniversary and Beau thought he'd be romantic and pay a bike taxi guy to take us on a late night tour of Charlotte.  I was so embarrassed. 

2006...a couple of engaged kids in our favorite city. 

2007...wedding bells

2008...I will never forget this night.  We had an anniversary dinner on the deck because we had just ripped out our kitchen.  I felt so clueless, yet so grown up all at the same time.   

2009...an unforgettable vacation during the swine flu epidemic.  We practically had this resort to ourselves, as well as our own personal photographer, Ernesto.  He was the resort photographer and he was bored!

2010...6 months pregnant, on our way to see Shrek the Third. 

2011...oddly enough, I don't remember much of what we did this year.  I guess we had another distraction. :)

2012...back to Mexico. 

2013...last year.  Lumineers in Minneapolis and a new baby sprout in my belly.

2014...and today.  Mom and Dad came and watched the kiddos and Beau and I enjoyed a date night.  Dinner on the patio at Cu with my favorite lobster bisque, a glass of wine at Luna, and some mules and darts at Harry's Five and Dime on Main Street.  I love dating this man of mine, and love this wild life we've gotten ourselves into.  I am so thankful for our little infinity.

This is more like it...

To be continued...