Happy Anniversary Andrew!

So this post is definitely a little late, but nonetheless, Happy Anniversary Andrew!!! Five years... in some ways it seems like we have been married forever, but then I just say the word five, and think, "That isn't really that long!" ha No matter how long/short it truly has been, it has been without hesitation, AWESOME! I love my husband with a passion I didn't even know on our wedding day. He is an incredible man. Though we don't always agree on everything, I have always respected him and what he stands for.

We watched our wedding video one afternoon last week, and it was pretty amazing to consider all the things that have happened in our family and friend's lives over the last five years. As the camera was panning the bridal party and guests, I couldn't help but get a little teary eyed thinking about all the struggles and joys "we" have experienced: marriages of friends and sisters, births of friend's children, nieces and nephews; deaths of a grandmother, an aunt, a mother, and children; infertility, graduations, etc. I know all these things are common to life; but it was kind of overwhelming to "see" these things with hindsight on the faces of our loved ones. On a funny note though, Andrew asked Ceilidh whether she was at the wedding just to see what she would say. She told us "No, Graeme and I are in your belly." I think she thinks babies are in their mother's belly from the beginning, just waiting for their time to be born! HA

At the start of May, we generally start talking about our anniversary and Ceilidh's birthday pretty frequently as they are both during the month. Ceilidh was quite inquisitive this year about our anniversary and why we celebrate. She didn't quite understand why she didn't get to celebrate with us, so when she told us Friday morning that she wanted to take us out to lunch so she could celebrate too, we couldn't turn her down! ha On the way to Chick-fil-a, out of the blue Ceilidh says, "Mommy, its my pleasure to take you to lunch for your anniversary." HAHA She is one funny kiddo!

Thanks to two of my wonderful sister-in-laws, Andrew and I got to celebrate alone Friday evening. I seriously felt like I was going on my first date while I was getting ready. ha I was all nervous about what I was wearing, whether my shoes were going to work, etc. Unlike my first date though, I had a two year old following me around begging for makeup and helping me with my hair. I haven't felt very pretty the last 8 months, but sweet Ceilidh gave me the courage to put on my heels instead of sandals as she kept telling me, "You're so pretty mommy. I love your dress mommy. Can I wear your shoes?" Caitlin and Susanna came over at bedtime and Andrew took me to Carolina Crossroads at the Carolina Inn. I was super excited to eat there as they have AMAZING food, and Randy and Suzanne had hosted our rehearsal dinner there the night before the wedding. After a shrimp and grits appetizer, succulent scallops, and a delicious pork chop; we of course rounded the night off with a little Caribou. Without a Caribou trip on January 14th, 2004; there would have been no wedding and no five year anniversary to celebrate! ha As we drove down Franklin St., we saw a group of kids (I think sober surprisingly), doing the cha-cha slide on the sidewalk! Only in Chapel Hill!

It was a great day of celebrating! I wish our professional pictures were on my computer, but here are a few candids from that wonderful day in May, five years ago.

What a day!

So yesterday was a day to remember! As wonderful and amazing as Ceilidh is, she has been quite the handful recently. I have heard from many mothers that the "three's" can be a trying time, she is still in a transition of no napping, ie: sleep deprivation, and Graeme is getting more mobile and therefore in her space more. I think all of these things together have contributed to some behavior issues recently. In light of these trying days, I have been specifically praying for patience, grace, and laughter recently. I am so glad God bestowed those yesterday!

Ceilidh loves to help me clean, but I am nervous about her handling chemicals so I let her "clean" after I have wiped everything down. I also let her take the items of the counter and out of the shower before we clean. She must have gotten bored with all this, and decided to go play in our closet. I could hear her rummaging in my shoes, but started wondering what she was doing after a little while. After calling out to her, she runs into the bathroom COVERED with bubbles and thick lotion. I mean, literally from head to toe. She had it in her hair, her clothes, down her arms and legs, and was rubbing it furiously as she walked in with a huge grin. (She had gotten into the "guest amenities" basket; lotions/soaps/shampoos/conditioners) I was so shocked, my immediate response was, "What are you doing?!" Of course her grin fell to tears, and I felt like crap. Then all I could do was laugh. That just made her cry more. frown (If you had seen her, you would have laughed as well! ha) After an apology for raising my voice, and Daddy entering the scene with laughter as well; she lightened up a bit. She still didn't want me to take a picture though.... I really wanted to (ha!), but I didn't want to embarrass her more. She immediately went into the tub, but it took forever to scrub off the LAYERS of lotion, shampoo, and conditioner from her body.

Side note: We don't condone this behavior, but at this point what were we going to do about it, hence the laughter. We definitely discussed the appropriateness of the situation, or the lack thereof during the bath. She told us one of the bottles spilled while she was playing with them, so then she decided to open all of them. I mean perfect logic for a 3 year old, right? ha Oh, and if you want to come visit anytime soon, you might want to bring your own toiletries as all of our "guest amenities" are spilled out on our closet floor. On the bright side, our bedroom now smells like a Bath and Body works store!

So after our eventful afternoon, we decided to go to a baseball game. I enjoy live baseball games (NOT televised ones), and Carolina is historically a good team with a brand new stadium. Boshamer Stadium,aka "The Bosh" is beautiful! It is so nice now! I know this is such a mom thing, but they even have baby changing stations in the bathrooms! woot woot The Bosh gets serious points for that, as it is one of the only places on campus that does! The weather was perfect and Ceilidh had a blast.

When we walked in, she immediately saw the popcorn stand. She was hooked from this point on! ha Not only did she love the popcorn, but she loved screaming, "Go heels Go," at the top of her lungs every 2 minutes. We finally told her she had to wait until the "basketball player" as she called them, hit the ball. At one point, she was so overcome with pure excitement to be outside, allowed to be as loud as she wanted, and watching a game; that she started yelling "Go heels Go A, B, C, D, E, F, G, .....!" HA The crowd around us thought she was adorable of course, which just egged her on even more. Once she got tired of the game, she started running the stands, and then up and down the stairs. It was getting late and I was tired of chasing her, so we packed up and headed home. She was already asking when we were going back.


Ceilidh dancing to the batting songs (There were some good ones by the way! My personal fav was "All I do is win!")


Ceilidh took this picture by herself of "them" aka: the team














The stadium has regular boxes as well, but I thought these outdoor boxes were really neat! ha

Crazy similarities

The last couple of weeks, "similar" has been Ceilidh's favorite word. "That playground is similar to mine, That shirt is similar to mine," etc. HA So in honor of her new found word; take a look at these photos! Sometimes Ceilidh can't even tell the difference between herself and Graeme! ha

Happy Mother's Day (A little late! ha)

Yea, yea, I am a little late, but Happy Mother's Day! I have and know some pretty incredible mothers and I hope you all felt loved and celebrated! Just a few pictures of my "mothers," and the beautiful children that bestowed that title upon me! I am so thankful I have been given the opportunity to be Ceilidh and Graeme's mother.

Compilation of thoughts and photos

Since Andrew is finished with his first year of graduate school (woohoo!), there has been no studying in the evenings, hence no blogging. ha I have enjoyed getting to see my husband after 7:30pm again!! I am immensely proud of him. He has finished this semester with 3 H's (A+) and one P (A-B). We are enjoying having Andrew around so much!

With it being graduation weekend, there are cap and gowns and moving vans EVERYWHERE! I have been reminiscing about undergrad and looking forward to next year quite a bit the last couple of days. I have mixed feelings of joy and sadness thinking about next year. I really love the opportunities this area provides us, but I am also ready to feel "settled." Today, a family that we had gotten to know fairly well moved to Arizona. Little Ina was one of Ceilidh's best friends here at BH. We tried to see them a lot this week, and a bunch of us had a last-time play date at the playground this morning before their flight. I think today was the first day I have emotionally hurt for Ceilidh. I obviously have hurt for her during times of physical pain, but this was the first time I have seen her truly sad. We said goodbye at the elevators (they lived on our hall), and Ceilidh hung her head and was silent all the way to our door. She laid her head on my shoulder once we got in the house, and stayed pretty quiet for awhile. Every moving van we see, she asks if its Ina's truck. frown She asked me today if she would ever see Ina again. Ugh.... in reality probably not, but what do I say to this sad two year old. Oh the beauties of Facebook; the promise of pictures seemed to cheer her a little. A mother's love is pretty powerful- it is still blowing me away each day.

Sidenote: The few that read this blog probably realize this, but I want to publicly announce that we do not live in a dorm. ha We have been asked 4 times in the last 2 weeks if we have to move out for the summer. BH is essentially an apartment complex, just owned by the University. We have a year long lease, just like any apartment complex off campus.

I have neglected putting up some cute pictures recently as well. These are from babies, play dates, and dinner picnics.








A squirrel decided to eat dinner with us tonight, and Ceilidh thought it was hilarious to watch how fast his mouth was chewing. This is her imitating him! ha




Play date with Maddy and Stella at the Observation Deck at RDU


Playing in the hay at Maple View Farm with our lifegroup


A great friend and discipleship partner


This is what happens when I'm cooking! ha




BH Friends




Ceilidh and Ina




Meeting Baby Elam!