The last time we did this - watch a movie just the two of us, was before Caleb was born.
We've got to do this more often.
Showing posts with label Marriage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Marriage. Show all posts
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Watching The Avengers
The last time we did this - watch a movie just the two of us, was before Caleb was born.
We've got to do this more often.
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Emotional Wreck
Today, I discovered a surefire way to turn yourself into an emotional wreck.
Step 1: Decide to wean your toddler (again).
Sitting at my desk tonight, I realized that this meant Caleb will no longer willingly snuggle with me when he wakes up in the morning, or when he goes down for his mid-day nap, or when he wakes up from that nap, or when he goes to bed each and every night. I also realized that I foolishly decided to attempt to wean him (again) on the eve of Mother's Day. I tried to remember the reasons I had for giving up this distinctly maternal responsibility and I couldn't come up with a single one.
Oh, and Caleb also just recently started asking for milk by taking my hand and pulling me all the way to his/my bed, pointing so I would lie down and pointing again at my shirt, requesting "dat?". It doesn't matter how far from the bed we are. We could be as far from the bedrooms as physically possible in the house and he'll still walk me all the way upstairs.
Suddenly, I want to undo all of Andrew's hard work and just let Caleb self-wean when he's ready but that would be such a slap across the face to Andrew. I'm so torn.
Step 2: Misplace your wedding ring.
For the first time ever I cannot, for the life of me, find my wedding ring. The moment I realized this, a wave of sheer panic, guilt and anxiety washed over me and I've been drowning in it ever since. It has consumed my thoughts and forced me to check each and every pocket of the same pair of jeans at various times throughout the day, despite being fruitless each and every time prior.
We have turned this house upside down looking for it. I even begged and pleaded with Andrew to sift through the garbage with me but we came up empty-handed. I don't know what to do now. How long would you keep searching until you admit defeat?
Step 1: Decide to wean your toddler (again).
Sitting at my desk tonight, I realized that this meant Caleb will no longer willingly snuggle with me when he wakes up in the morning, or when he goes down for his mid-day nap, or when he wakes up from that nap, or when he goes to bed each and every night. I also realized that I foolishly decided to attempt to wean him (again) on the eve of Mother's Day. I tried to remember the reasons I had for giving up this distinctly maternal responsibility and I couldn't come up with a single one.
Oh, and Caleb also just recently started asking for milk by taking my hand and pulling me all the way to his/my bed, pointing so I would lie down and pointing again at my shirt, requesting "dat?". It doesn't matter how far from the bed we are. We could be as far from the bedrooms as physically possible in the house and he'll still walk me all the way upstairs.
Suddenly, I want to undo all of Andrew's hard work and just let Caleb self-wean when he's ready but that would be such a slap across the face to Andrew. I'm so torn.
Step 2: Misplace your wedding ring.
For the first time ever I cannot, for the life of me, find my wedding ring. The moment I realized this, a wave of sheer panic, guilt and anxiety washed over me and I've been drowning in it ever since. It has consumed my thoughts and forced me to check each and every pocket of the same pair of jeans at various times throughout the day, despite being fruitless each and every time prior.
We have turned this house upside down looking for it. I even begged and pleaded with Andrew to sift through the garbage with me but we came up empty-handed. I don't know what to do now. How long would you keep searching until you admit defeat?
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Baby Abigail
From Pastor Ben:
Our dearest Abigail has gone to be with the Lord at 3:30am this morning. As a family, we were able to embrace her and kiss her and touch her for a few hours prior to her passing. We are filled with much grief and we don't know if it'll ever pass. Thank you for your prayers and we would appreciate your ongoing prayers for us.
Our dearest Abigail has gone to be with the Lord at 3:30am this morning. As a family, we were able to embrace her and kiss her and touch her for a few hours prior to her passing. We are filled with much grief and we don't know if it'll ever pass. Thank you for your prayers and we would appreciate your ongoing prayers for us.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Weekend Furniture Haul and Prayer Request
When moving to Australia, we figured we'd bring as little as we could and live on the bare minimum. I realize some people are able to do that, but to me that's not really living. It's surviving and we're only meant to be in survival mode for a little while before it starts getting taxing.
So this past weekend, we went to IKEA and other home furnishing stores to buy a few more pieces of furniture to help make our place feel a little more like home.
When we got home, we spent a long time cleaning our balcony and putting some of the furniture together.
Now, we have a place to sit on our balcony! I'm so excited about this because one of the reasons I don't spend more time on the balcony is that I get so tired from standing and holding Caleb all the time. With a bench for us to rest on, we'll definitely be getting more fresh air.
It would have probably looked much better had we taken this during the day, but I couldn't wait. I love the pillows we found. They're so pouffy and bright! And only $13 each!
And ever since we arrived, we wanted a table for Nathan. We had a hard time finding one we liked and the only solid one at IKEA was a little more than we wanted to spend. Until this weekend. It had been put on clearance for half price so we snatched it up along with a few chairs for when Nathan has friends over.
Caleb wanted in on the action.
And the last piece we have for now is this chair for Nathan. We wanted to get the adult-sized one but couldn't justify the price. But this little chair was reasonable enough and since Nathan's reading a lot more now, we thought it would be nice for him to have a spot to sit.
He's absolutely in love with this chair. He's so lucky I can't fit into it, or we'd be fighting over it all the time.
* * * * * * * * * *
Please pray for the pastor of our new church and his family.
Pastor Ben's wife, Faith, had an emergency c-section yesterday and delivered their baby girl at 31 weeks. Baby Abigail has hydrops fetalis and is listed in critical condition with a very uncertain prognosis.
So you can pray more effectively, here are Pastor Ben's updates:
Update #1
Update #2
Update #3
So this past weekend, we went to IKEA and other home furnishing stores to buy a few more pieces of furniture to help make our place feel a little more like home.
When we got home, we spent a long time cleaning our balcony and putting some of the furniture together.
Now, we have a place to sit on our balcony! I'm so excited about this because one of the reasons I don't spend more time on the balcony is that I get so tired from standing and holding Caleb all the time. With a bench for us to rest on, we'll definitely be getting more fresh air.
It would have probably looked much better had we taken this during the day, but I couldn't wait. I love the pillows we found. They're so pouffy and bright! And only $13 each!
And ever since we arrived, we wanted a table for Nathan. We had a hard time finding one we liked and the only solid one at IKEA was a little more than we wanted to spend. Until this weekend. It had been put on clearance for half price so we snatched it up along with a few chairs for when Nathan has friends over.
Caleb wanted in on the action.
And the last piece we have for now is this chair for Nathan. We wanted to get the adult-sized one but couldn't justify the price. But this little chair was reasonable enough and since Nathan's reading a lot more now, we thought it would be nice for him to have a spot to sit.
He's absolutely in love with this chair. He's so lucky I can't fit into it, or we'd be fighting over it all the time.
Please pray for the pastor of our new church and his family.
Pastor Ben's wife, Faith, had an emergency c-section yesterday and delivered their baby girl at 31 weeks. Baby Abigail has hydrops fetalis and is listed in critical condition with a very uncertain prognosis.
So you can pray more effectively, here are Pastor Ben's updates:
Update #1
Update #2
Update #3
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Love Is
Our wedding wasn't perfect, but it was definitely filled with beautiful moments. These are the memories I like to look back on when I think about our wedding.
Also check out Andrew's take on our day.
* * * * * * * * * *
On a beautiful Saturday morning in Downtown Toronto, our guests filtered into the church. It was the same church my parents had gotten married in, the same church I had grown up in. It meant a lot to me to get married at the same church.
As our guests settled in, Andrew and I arrived separately and on time. Despite the logistics not working out smoothly enough for us to begin exactly at 11am, it is important to us that we arrived on time. Piano music filled the air as Andrew's cousin played and it was time to begin. We were so lucky to have so many talented friends and family members help out with parts of the wedding. That made it so much more personal.
When it was time for us to head down the aisle, the cutest couple led the way. After working through a bit of nerves, Nathan made his way to the front with his friend, Allyson. It's hard to believe he was only two and a half at the time. He sat so still throughout the entire wedding.
Soon enough, it was my turn. With my dad at my side, we started down the aisle. And somewhere along the way, he decided it would be most appropriate to add a little hop to his step. Our pastor commented that it must have been because he was truly happy. I'd agree with that.
When we got to the front of the church, it was time for the handoff. When your dad chooses not to shake your almost-husband's hand and instead opts to hug him instead, you know there's something good going on there. That's genuine approval, people.
The ceremony followed and somewhere along the line I was married to this handsome devil.
We grabbed some Timmy's for lunch and in between rain storms, took some wedding pictures then headed to the reception hall.
In between the courses, 2 dress changes and obligatory wedding games, we had speeches delivered by our siblings and our fathers. Each speech that was said that night, (well, maybe with the exception of one) was so heartfelt and thoughtful. My personal favourite had to be my dad's though, because a speech with humour, sentiment and song? Well, you can't get much better than that!
At the end of the night, when only a few guests remained, our DJ asked everyone to circle around us for our last dance. The song was "Your Song", the Ewan McGregor version (anyone else here love Moulin Rouge?) and everyone sang along.
I'll never forget how perfect it was.
Professional photos courtesy of Jon and Terry Photographers
Thursday, April 28, 2011
We Do!
I've always been a bit of a closet fan of everything royal. It's a bit of an on-again-off-again relationship. I'm not interested enough to keep running tabs of who's who and who's doing what, but I do enjoy reading about royalty ever so often. There's so much history and culture, oh and mystery. Everyone loves a bit of mystery.
Anyway, all this talk about Prince William and Kate's wedding has me intrigued by royalty again so to celebrate along with Will and Kate, I thought it might be fun to look back on my own wedding.
I mean, it has been almost 3 years since Andrew and I got married. Three years. Plenty of time to get over the little details that didn't go according to plan right?
So let's journey back to August 2, 2008 and take a look at some of the details, shall we?
Guest lists
Who invites everyone their family has known since they were born? We do!
I love that so many people could come and share in our wedding day with us.
The problem with having a large wedding with 350-odd guests is that chances are, you won't know at least half the people attending, if not more. And if you don't know someone, chances are, someone else will want you to meet them. While I would have loved to spend more personal time with my guests, I didn't envision spending so much time meeting and greeting individuals.
If I had the chance to do it again, I think I'd limit the guest list and have a smaller, more intimate affair. That, or have a separate venue to meet these people before/after the wedding.
Photography
Who wishes they had a bigger and better vision? We do!
It's not that our pictures are absolutely atrocious. No, actually our pictures turned out pretty well. But it could have been so much more if I hadn't spent all my time admiring other people's wedding photos than planning out my own. Let's just leave it at that.
Flowers
Who gives the bridal party's flowers to the ushers? We do!
I had carefully chosen my flowers to be a combination of orchids and roses. For the guys, I'd have orchids for the bridal party and roses for the ushers. Somehow, that got lost in the mix and Andrew ended up with a single rose in his boutonniere and my ushers ended up with the orchids. I went a little bridezilla (silently) after realizing this mix-up but no one else noticed.
Ahh well, whatever. It's not like Andrew ended up with a sprig of fern or something.
The First Dance
Who dances themselves into the corner of the dance floor? We do!
There was no way I was going to high school dance, shuffle side to side in circles for a full 3:33 minutes with 300+ pairs of eyes watching us, so Andrew and I took dance lessons. At least it would give our guests a little bit of entertainment. And entertain we did. We rumba-ed up and down the long dance floor, past each of our guests so they would each get a nice glimpse. Don't you hate when you're stuck in a corner and you can't even see the couple, never mind when they actually start doing something and guests flock up to the floor to get a good picture. Well, we made sure to make our way up and down the long, long dance floor. Then, we danced ourselves into a corner.
It wasn't meant to be that way. Our dance instructor obviously had a lot of faith in our skill despite only having 3-4 lessons. Or maybe she had a grand vision and expected us to step up to the plate. Either way, our faux departure and grand return to the middle of the floor didn't play out as it was supposed to. I don't think our guests really noticed, well, maybe except for the couple who ballroom-danced the night away afterwards. They might have noticed.
Cake
Who has cake left over, enough for a year's worth of celebrations? We do!
Not only did we have cake left over, we literally had enough cake to pull a little out of the freezer for just about every birthday/anniversary/other celebration our family had for the entire year afterwards.
On top of that, my cake was not made by the person who had promised to make it, and not designed according to my specific, yet simple instructions that did not include misplaced ribbons and floral toppers. And of course, we all know bad things come in threes, right? Right. Well, apparently, whoever is in charge of enforcing this rule couldn't think of anything else to do so my cake was dropped, leaving a notable dent in the side.
Speeches
Who leaves preparing the wedding speech to the very. last. possible. second?
... {crickets}
Let's not talk about it.
Come back tomorrow when I'll have put away my negativity hat, take a look at the bigger picture and tell you all about the things I absolutely loved about my wedding, aside from the part where I married Andrew. That part's a given.
I'm linking up with Three Lil Princesses for the Royal Wedding Meme. Come join the fun.
Anyway, all this talk about Prince William and Kate's wedding has me intrigued by royalty again so to celebrate along with Will and Kate, I thought it might be fun to look back on my own wedding.
I mean, it has been almost 3 years since Andrew and I got married. Three years. Plenty of time to get over the little details that didn't go according to plan right?
So let's journey back to August 2, 2008 and take a look at some of the details, shall we?
Guest lists
Who invites everyone their family has known since they were born? We do!
I love that so many people could come and share in our wedding day with us.
The problem with having a large wedding with 350-odd guests is that chances are, you won't know at least half the people attending, if not more. And if you don't know someone, chances are, someone else will want you to meet them. While I would have loved to spend more personal time with my guests, I didn't envision spending so much time meeting and greeting individuals.
If I had the chance to do it again, I think I'd limit the guest list and have a smaller, more intimate affair. That, or have a separate venue to meet these people before/after the wedding.
Photography
Who wishes they had a bigger and better vision? We do!
It's not that our pictures are absolutely atrocious. No, actually our pictures turned out pretty well. But it could have been so much more if I hadn't spent all my time admiring other people's wedding photos than planning out my own. Let's just leave it at that.
Flowers
Who gives the bridal party's flowers to the ushers? We do!
I had carefully chosen my flowers to be a combination of orchids and roses. For the guys, I'd have orchids for the bridal party and roses for the ushers. Somehow, that got lost in the mix and Andrew ended up with a single rose in his boutonniere and my ushers ended up with the orchids. I went a little bridezilla (silently) after realizing this mix-up but no one else noticed.
Ahh well, whatever. It's not like Andrew ended up with a sprig of fern or something.
The First Dance
Who dances themselves into the corner of the dance floor? We do!
There was no way I was going to high school dance, shuffle side to side in circles for a full 3:33 minutes with 300+ pairs of eyes watching us, so Andrew and I took dance lessons. At least it would give our guests a little bit of entertainment. And entertain we did. We rumba-ed up and down the long dance floor, past each of our guests so they would each get a nice glimpse. Don't you hate when you're stuck in a corner and you can't even see the couple, never mind when they actually start doing something and guests flock up to the floor to get a good picture. Well, we made sure to make our way up and down the long, long dance floor. Then, we danced ourselves into a corner.
It wasn't meant to be that way. Our dance instructor obviously had a lot of faith in our skill despite only having 3-4 lessons. Or maybe she had a grand vision and expected us to step up to the plate. Either way, our faux departure and grand return to the middle of the floor didn't play out as it was supposed to. I don't think our guests really noticed, well, maybe except for the couple who ballroom-danced the night away afterwards. They might have noticed.
Cake
Who has cake left over, enough for a year's worth of celebrations? We do!
Not only did we have cake left over, we literally had enough cake to pull a little out of the freezer for just about every birthday/anniversary/other celebration our family had for the entire year afterwards.
On top of that, my cake was not made by the person who had promised to make it, and not designed according to my specific, yet simple instructions that did not include misplaced ribbons and floral toppers. And of course, we all know bad things come in threes, right? Right. Well, apparently, whoever is in charge of enforcing this rule couldn't think of anything else to do so my cake was dropped, leaving a notable dent in the side.
Speeches
Who leaves preparing the wedding speech to the very. last. possible. second?
... {crickets}
Let's not talk about it.
Come back tomorrow when I'll have put away my negativity hat, take a look at the bigger picture and tell you all about the things I absolutely loved about my wedding, aside from the part where I married Andrew. That part's a given.
I'm linking up with Three Lil Princesses for the Royal Wedding Meme. Come join the fun.
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