Vino?

So this past week has been cray-ze. As in please pass the vino, crazy. We decided to put our house on the market. Yay! Except the place has to be spotless and not so much like a house one empty juice box away from being featured on Hoarders. I'm exaggerating, but anyone who has done this will agree, preparing and showing a home with little kids is a nightmare. Speaking of anyone who has done this....there are two other families at our little school who are also selling their home. One sold with the first showing, the other has had six showings and three offers. Needless to say I'm staring at them with my mouth hanging open in amazement. How to people really get this lucky?

Both kiddos are now officially back in school. This allows me to have some sanity quiet time during the mornings. Where I hold the couch hostage for an hour or so and then head over to basically any place with boots and bags am really productive.

Honestly it is taking some time to get used to it. I don't really have a baby at home any more. Which reminds me... After 4 years, Ava Elise got a haircut. She did not get the pixie cut she asked for, but did get a whopping inch and a half hacked off her waist long hair. She did really well and it didn't hurt like shots, almost lost mom of the year award with that story.

Marriage Math

Five years ago the Indianapolis Star ran a small piece on marriage. The focus was my family. Five couples, my grandmother and her 4 siblings, had all celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. At that time there had been a total of 280 years of marriage between the five couples. My Grandparents celebrated their 61st anniversary this month and as this weekend approaches we will be celebrating another union. These upcoming nuptials had me thinking about what the marriage total is for the family that my grandparents grew.

Bud and Mary Ann Wildrick 1950
Eddie and Eileen Wildrick 1972
Don and Julie Reckelhoff 1992
Randy and Donna Breeden 1987
Eric and Lisa Wildrick 1981
Mark and Terri Canfield 1986
Adam and Shelly Wildrick 2008
Travis and Beth Dieckmann 2005
Brandon and Heather Holman 2011
And soon to be Brandon and Hilary Moy August 20th 2011
Grand Total.....207 years

I'm not sure what has made these marriages work. I know that when I watch my grandparents I see love that seems unimaginable. I see magic, cheesy but true. I see the way my parents and my Aunts and Uncles look at each other. Oh I've seen them bicker, but I've also seen them tear up the dance floor, hold each other up in hard times, and laugh like children. I see honest love that spills out to everyone surrounding them.
Friends of ours said the other night, "Seems all you guys do is go to weddings". I smiled. I've got a big family. I can only hope there are many more marriages and wedding anniversaries in the future. I pray that the love, commitment, and hard work I see in my grandparent's marriage aren’t lost in the next generation.

A New First

Big things are happening here! Today is Wyatt's first day of Kindergarten. I cannot believe my little boy is starting real school. Today is his first step into a new world. A world where he will learn, laugh, fall, fly, struggle, and succeed. I will be there, for now I'm still needed for breakfast, for hugs, for help, for encouragement, for discipline and for all things Momma. One day sooner than I'd like I won't be needed for as much. Hopefully I'll still be wanted and I can only dream that I'll still be cool. This morning when I dropped him off I thought for a moment that tears would come. Of course not from Wyatt who seemed nervous but excited. I was worried I would cry, I saw the other mom's with their tissue. But I reminded myself...God did not give Wyatt to me. He is simply letting me borrow him. I wasn't given a baby that I could hold forever. Today I'm trying to enjoy. I'm trying to make sure this is a day that I won't forget. Time will tell if this is a day that Wyatt will remember. I'm remembering my first day of kindergarten. I'm remembering my momma making me stand still and smile for pictures just like I'm doing with my children. I'm remembering the times my dad told me I'd spoil Wyatt if I held him too much. I'm remembering rocking Wyatt in our worn recliner literally all day long anyway. I'm remembering the small things, that are making these new big moments less bittersweet.

One day my bed could be empty....

I wake up this morning.....early. Both kids are in bed with us. Ava Elise right in the middle, Wyatt at the foot, Travis on his side of the bed, and me hanging off the edge of the bed with zero covers. This is starting to become the normal way I am awaken from a deep and much needed sleep. I practically fall out of the bed trying not to kick Wyatt or disturb Ava Elise and Travis. For a slight moment I'm jealous, even the dog on her bed laying on her back looks so peaceful. The moment is so brief I can barely remember it. I move myself to the couch, for the fourth time this week and listen....my house is quiet and my family is peaceful. I find myself very thankful and quickly fall back asleep. I wake up a couple of hours later when everybody else in the house is waking up and starting their day. Travis tells me he has already talked with the kids once again about sleeping in their own bed. A conversation that might as well be on replay throughout the last 4 years.
I don't tell Travis, but our moments of being jealous for a good nights sleep in our bed without a battle for blankets or sparring for space are so silly. I reminded myself this morning, when my patience was short and my caffeine level high, that what I have should be cherished. I know that my life isn't the ideal for everyone, but it's my ideal and I'm so grateful for the little things....like being sleepless in a crowded bed with the people I cherish most in the world.