Anniversary...Celebrations. Picture-y Post

I'll get back to my conclusions on my last post...But right now I'm just excited.

My husband and I will be celebrating our 5th anniversary this week. And since the girls are napping, and it's snowy and blustery outside...I thought I'd take some time to look back. This doesn't have much to do with Motherhood, and yet it has everything to do with it.

It's been a crazy five years.

We've grown so much, I don't even recognize us.

At the close of this 5th year I'm feeling so grateful. Overwhelmed by God's grace. Excited.

We haven't really done much to celebrate our other anniversaries...Sometimes we went out to eat or to a movie...Some years we stayed in and had $5 wine (erm, excuse me "wine drink") , peanut M&M's, and a movie we'd both enjoy (yup we sure know how to celebrate).

Our first anniversary Ryan gave me a beautiful ring.

Hubby got me a new camera (Nikon s4000) for my Birthday/Christmas/Anniversary present ...I was able to take REAL close up shot of my rings, some thing I never got in our wedding pictures.

The middle ring is our 1st anniversary ring.

He gave it to me to remind me that we made it through that horrible year, we can make it through a lifetime together. Not that we were ever on the verge of ending it, not even a thought in our mind. But we had faced a lot of tragedy, disappointment, frustration, and chaos that first year. And we came out on the other side, more one.

Heading out to celebrate our First Anniversary, 2006

Our Second Anniversary... Well a few hours past, checked into the hospital having Roo Girl.

So excited to meet our girl.

This isn't technically taken on our third anniversary... It was taken the week Friendly was conceived! For our actual anniversary I was pregnant with Friendly and I was in bed the entire day with morning sickness. SO we all spent the day in bed with watching movies and I spent a lot of time nursing Roo.

Our 4th anniversary, blurry picture. Heading out on a quick date...We didn't want to leave Friendly (then 3 mos) for too long.

Out for our Birthdays...I'm sure there will be official anniversary pictures...But these will do.

A picture only a husband would take...

Self portrait.

So what are we doing to celebrate this year? We're taking the day off. Lord willing (and blessing, please Lord?), it will be the first day in 1,094 days that we haven't had the kid(s) we will be heading out as soon as we can (hopefully by 8a.m.), going to breakfast, hopefully visiting our favorite places and walking around (parks and neighborhoods), going and getting some thing warm to drink and then heading to see a matinee movie... After the movie we will be calling a hotel (where we have reservations) and see if our room is available. Yup, we're getting a room. At the same hotel where we spent our wedding night. We're going to go there and spend the afternoon, the room'll have a jacuzzi and I plan on taking advantage of that. We'll watch movies, eat take out for dinner and just BE together. Living with family we pretty much have 0 privacy and having special time alone doesn't happen. It just really doesn't...Some one is always walking through our date time in the family room. It's been really challenging. We're going to go away for the day...Then sometime after dinner time we'll go pick up the girls, bring them back for some "Sesame Chicken/Chinese food" (Roo's FAVORITE) and take them swimming in the indoor pool...Let them take a bath in the giant jacuzzi tub, and then tucking them in for the night.

We would have loved to go away for the night, alone. But Friendly is not night weaned yet and we've never left Roo for the night before either (though she did spend a few nights in Nana's room when Friendly was born). This will be wonderful. We'll wake up on New Years Eve- Roo's Birthday! Eat a special yummy breakfast, watch cartoons in our room and take them swimming again before we get ready to check out and go home and celebrate Roo's Birthday together...Baking Cake (I got a Giant Cupcake Silicone Baking pan for my Birthday), taking Roo out for a special Birthday meal (perhaps) or maybe just to Build a Bear: we'll see how she's doing that day.

See why I'm excited?

It sounds just too perfect. I am so excited.

And for another post: I can't believe Roo is going to be 3 on Friday. How did that happen?

It sounds so perfect I'm scared to hope that it will all work out that way.

Our precious girls.

Roo Girl in her Christmas outfit.

She LOVES to play with "coins". I can't believe how she's grown...More on that later.

Merry Belated Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours!!!