Busy-ness and babies!

Wow, it has been forever since my last post!
We have been quite busy.

We did Halloween with my sister and her husband, who came into town. Days of kids and costumes and nights laughing by the fire were priceless,

We celebrated Avery's 3rd birthday with 50 or 60 people...that was exciting!

We had eight trees cut down. It's all part of the plan to have an eventual backyard, not a forest.

School and all of its functions are in full swing.

And we welcomed the newest Dunets, baby Angelo Jeremiah, born November 15, to my brother and his wife. We can't wait to meet him!

Defining moments, part 2

Okay, this one's going to be a bit cheesy...

But today is the 12th anniversary of defining moment #2 (see #1 in an earlier post).

On October 26, 2007, I was in church, home from college for fall break.
There was a new "most eligible bachelor" at the church, and several people were waiting for me to meet him. I was a nervous wreck. My mom had already approached him to let him know that she had a 19-year-old daughter, and that she would like for him to "be her son-in-law." (no joke...) I had seen him over the summer with his parents and thought he was an acquaintance's husband. Thought he was really cute, but taken. When I found out he wasn't, and that he knew I was available, I was intrigued, to say the least.
I sang that Sunday. Just about wet my pants with anxiety, knowing he was out there, watching. Knowing that after service, our appointed meeting was inevitable.
There we were, in the center aisle of the church, a small crowd to the rear of the sanctuary, observing. We shook hands, our eyes locked, our faces couldn't stop smiling.

I knew it.
This was it.
This was the last boyfriend I'd ever meet.

He asked if I could go out after the evening service.
My response: "Definitely!"

Friendly's for milkshakes. Me in a plane the next morning, back to school.
Three weeks and several letters and emails later, I was driving back home for good.

And the rest is history.

I will never forget that first moment. I will never forget exactly what was going through my mind as I looked into his face for the first time. Wow, his eyes are SO blue!
Now I look into those same beautiful blue eyes each day, both on his face and on the faces of my sons, and my heart skips, thinking about that first time I saw them...

Success

A follow up to the "Indecisive" post about Greg's birthday.
It was great. We went to a great little mediterranean place that just opened up around here. Aside from our waitress messing up our order, it was spectacular. My flounder, topped with mouth-watering crab, roasted red peppers, capers, and lemon butter sauce, served with fennel and potatoes, was to DIE for! I could blog about it for hours...
Poor Greg ordered a filet and ended up with a salad...I won't even go there...not all "mature" fine dining waitresses actually know what they're doing.
His gift, a wedding ring, was too big and too "diamondy", but we exchanged it for a really cool band.
And a night out together,
...............ahhh....................

These are the days...

A big reason for my blog is to journal these special, child-rearing years so that I will remember them.

However, the deeper I go into mothering five children, the more I understand that I will PROBABLY look back on these "little kid" years and just THANK GOD that I survived them.

Defining moments, part 1

I know it's completely cliche, but it's true that there are certain moments that are so special, so incredible, that they mark your soul forever.
I hope to dig deep, realize exactly which moments were the most defining in my life, and post them. (They will not be in chronological or in order of significance.)

Number one: (Well, really 1-5, but let's say number one)




The 30 seconds after each of my kids were born. It's so unbelievable how many emotions rush through your heart during that first moment you hear them cry, see their face, feel their soft, silk-covered down comforter skin. Tears, every time. I don't think I could hold back crying even if I'd given birth 20 times.
It's like your body goes through this painful, mind-wrenching journey, and at the end of it you are thrown into the most emotional seconds you'll ever know. Like a crazy, twisting waterslide that shoots you into ice cold water. Amazing.

Indecisive

I guess it's always been this way. I'm a people pleaser. And I suppose a bit discontented. Rarely just content to live in the moment, always looking forward to something. So I'm always afraid I'll make a bad decision and wish I had chosen differently.
I'm realizing this again today. Greg's birthday is Tuesday, and I'm taking him out tonight. He doesn't know. Sitter and everything. Date night doesn't happen all that often around here, so I want it to be good. Do we stay around here? Go downtown?
I just wish I could hire someone to be my secretary. "Make reservations somewhere, get his gift..."
(Speaking of his gift, it's a big one, but I nearly hyperventilated due to indecision shopping for it!)

I'll let you know how it goes...

If I only knew...

If you've followed my blog at all, you know that Avery keeps life...well, interesting. Here's an old video I found (shot in the summer of 2008). Notice that 18-month old Avery's biggest concern when she sees the camera is to shout, "Cheese!"
(Go to the bottom of this page and pause my playlist so that you can hear the video)