7 YEARS

7 Years! 

It has been such an adventure being married to Ryan. We have had so much fun together. He continues to make me laugh everyday and I believe that is what has made our marriage so successful. Laughter is such a healer. Often times we have found ourselves just laughing through our trials just because that's the only thing we feel like we can do. Life is just so crazy sometimes! We've had 7 very busy years of marriage, between schooling and children, we haven't had many quiet moments. Trust me, we've had our moments (as all marriages/relationships do), but we have always put each other first. When we have come across decisions that need to be made, we always go to the Lord to seek for guidance. I am so thankful to be married to a faithful husband who loves our Savior just as much as I do. We are always seeking for ways to make our marriage, family, and home more spiritual and righteous. 

I am so grateful Ryan asked me to be his wife all those years ago. I get why people like to "renew their vows" because I would love to have another wedding now (no pinterest when we got married!) haha It sounds crazy, but if only I knew how much my love would grow for Ryan after the day we got married...we were so young and in love I don't think we really understood love until we experienced some hard trials together. Now, we are absolutely intertwined in love that our bond seems unbreakable. We are committed and devoted to each other. I just laugh because he truly is my best friend. So cheesy, but true, and absolutely necessary! 

People thought we were nuts having kids while in our undergrad and law school years. But let me tell you this, it feels dang good to say that we are in the next phase of our lives to just raise our children. The child bearing years are over, and we are excited to see what the next 7 years has for us. He has been such an incredible husband and father to our children. He is the best dad. Oh, how I wish you could all see him in action. He plays princess whenever the girls ask. He takes them on individual daddy/daughter dates frequently. He has such a strong bond with all of our children. They love him and trust him and sometimes I think they wish he stayed home with them during the day instead of me! Seriously, he would be a killer SAHD. We're always scheming for ways that we could both work from home so he would never have to leave. He always lets me sleep in on Saturday's. He is quick to say I'm Sorry even when it was completely my fault. He is absolutely my other half and I am so grateful to be able to go through this life with him by my side. plus, he's easy on the eyes ;-) 

Our anniversary was fun! It landed on a Sunday so we took a family picture after church and then went to the beach after everyone napped. Since we had such a fun birthday weekend the week before, we decided to keep it simple for our anniversary. Our children are our greatest success and it is such a blessing to be an eternal family.

So grateful for this beautiful family of mine!

Mama Is 29

This past week, I celebrated my 29th birthday. The last year in my twenties! Viiiiiiva 29!

I'm not going to lie, this birthday, I was in a shlump. I didn't want to celebrate. I was having lots of down thoughts on "where my life is" and "who am I really?" and "what have I accomplished?" so lame, huh? I have accomplished a lot, but still, I was comparing myself to others and just not feeling so great. And anyways, I've been so spoiled to have the last many birthday spent on vacation with family and able to have Ryan off of work to hang out with me! (2014 2013 2012 and 2011).

The night before (it being Sunday), we decided to have our bigger birthday dinner because Ryan wanted to make it for me and we had more time doing it on a Sunday instead of when he got off of work the next day. He made the best meal! Filet mignon (cooked perfectly!!), dijon potato puree, asparagus, and a pomegranate/balsamic reduction. It was to die for! Huge thanks to Chris Marcum for the recipe tips! Ryan is quite the cook when he has the time to be, and I realized that he needs to spend more time in the kitchen! What a fun meal. 

The day started out rough with many wake ups from Owen. He's going through a growth spurt and has been waking up 2-4 times a night for the past week. I have been exhausted. But Ryan popped out of bed and surprised me with a fresh waffle with fruit and whipped cream :-) He's the best. The girls got me some fancy new earrings and Ryan got me a keyboard! I can finally start playing the piano more consistently and get my talent back. I'm already gearing up to teach Brinley how to play.

The day was like any other day, laundry, making lunches, putting kids down for naps and quiet times, and cleaning bathrooms. So around 3pm, I snapped out of my funk and told Ryan we were going for dinner at the food trucks in downtown Stuart. I was hesitant to go, and even started texting Ryan to forget about it a few times when the kids were melting down over who knows what, but I am so glad we went. We had a fantastic time! And everyone was happy the entire time.

new nail polish

star fish earrings from the girls

It was extremely hot and humid, but the sun was behind clouds so at least the rays weren't beating down on us. There were at least 10 trucks to choose from and Ryan and I decided on this one truck that had grassfed beef and bacon jam. BACON JAM. Forget about it. It was a dream burger. I need to recreate it!! 

I am so lucky to have this beautiful family of mine. I didn't get pampered the way I have in past birthdays, but it is pretty amazing that in my 29th year of life, I created a human. That little Owie-bear is so special and I'd say, he was my biggest accomplishment this past year! 

OWEN: 3 months

OWEN!!!

This month, Owen gained many nicknames. I don't know why, but Owen is such a fun name to play around with. Oberto came from Uncle David while we were in North Carolina a few weeks ago. Who knows why, maybe a combo of my dad's name in spanish, Roberto (which we call him from time to time), but it all made us laugh throughout the week. Uncle David also called him Omega and Owi-wan, like Obi-wan.

Owen discovered his hands this month. It makes me laugh when I hear him slobbing and sucking on his fingers when we drive in the car or when it's super quiet in the house and the only noise is coming from him. He is so cute. He's always talking and sometimes yelling and even has started laughing too. But like Brinley, we also have to work to get him to laugh. Ellie was an easy one to get laughing. You just had to kiss her on her chubby neck and she would be giggling so hard. Owen loves talking with us at night. When Ryan comes home from work, Owen stares and smiles and coos at him forever! It's adorable. He knows his peeps and he loves us!

He is still the center of everyone's lives right now. If it's possible, both girls are more OBSESSED with him this month than last. The kiss him, hug him, talk to him, talk-sing to him ALL the time. It gets a biiiiiiiiit excessive at times, but I just can't help but smile when they love him up like that. He hates it when their hair tickles his face and definitely needs some space after too much loving.

His night sleeping habits aren't consistent, but he has been known to go days sleeping 6-7 hours at night. We usually try to put him down at 10pm. His most regular schedule is 10-4ish. 4-6am. 6-8am. And then he's up for the day. Sometimes though he quits sleeping that well and wakes up 4-5 times during the night to drive mama crazy. He is still nursing every 2-3 hours during the day and seems to be chunking up too! He is so long, so the mama milk has further to travel to fatten him up.

Owen, we love you. We love seeing you grow, and change, and develop. You are a DREAM.

Owen's Blessing

The day before we left to go back home, we celebrated Owen! We decided to continue our unorthodox tradition of having the baby blessing at the Briggs' home. It turned out to be the perfect decision.  Shortly after we arrived, we got everyone gathered and Ryan gave a beautiful blessing for our sweet baby Owen. He pronounced wonderful blessings for him throughout his life. We can already tell Owen is going to go and do great things. He is such a special addition to our family. We are grateful for everyone who was there to support us and definitely miss those that couldn't. 

my Mom found his outfit in Charleston and he seriously looked like a Prince George look-a-like! So dapper.

father and son

all the men in the circle

grandma's and aunties

Owen and cousin Zachary only 6 weeks apart!