Life with Carson - By Michael

Being a dad is hard...

Its not the waking up all night to help calm the fussy baby.  Its not the dirty diapers, spit-up, or the crying.  The hard part about being a dad is loving someone that i just met 7 days ago already more than anyone i've ever known.  Carson is the center of my world.  Everyone told me how my life would change after having a baby, it is certainly has, but not in the way i expected.  I now am terrified of crazy drivers on the road, influenza, or Sara or I falling down the stairs while holding him.  Before, these fears wouldn't have made my top 10 and now simple things like these are keeping me up at night.  I also can't seem to watch any of the sappy holiday family commercials on TV now without getting a bit choked up.  I am excited to see how my life and attitudes change over the next several years as I feel I have already changed so drastically.  Finally I will agree with everyone that being a father is hard....But I would not change it for anything in the world!

Carson and Daddy, 1 week old

Turning 31

All right, here is the shot of Michael with his cake for his 31st birthday!  I was sneaky and made the birthday cake when he wasn't home and snuck it over to our Bible study leader's house early yesterday. Michael had no idea he was getting a little surprise birthday celebration last night. :-)

Happy Birthday!  And man, I did good on that cake...yummy!

Happy Birthday Michael! (2013)

Michael doesn't have a milestone birthday this year, but it is to me for some reason.  My hubby turned 31 today.  And I don't know what has changed, but I had to think through his past birthdays and just reminisce, because something in our relationship has changed.  It has deepened into something that I can't even describe.  But I am going to try.

I met Michael when he was 25.  On his 26th birthday, we made cake and went out to Sushi.  I kind of liked you then...

Michael at 26 

We got married that next year and were married for 5 months before your 27th birthday.  I just got you a couple gifts and let you eat cake for breakfast.  I thought I loved you then. 

When you turned 28, we were still living in Fort Collins and I was in my last year of my Masters.  I made you cinnamon rolls with purple icing (for K-state) and had purchased tickets to a K-state vs Colorado football game. And I thought I loved you then...

Michael at 28

For your 29th birthday, we took a vacation to Hawaii.  I have had so many adventures with you!  And I thought I loved you then...

The big 3-0 came and we went to Kansas to celebrate.  Of course we had to make the traditional cake and take you to another K-state game!  Fun family times.  And I thought I loved you then...

Michael at 30, not much has changed... :-)

I don't have a picture for his 31st yet, because he had to leave the house so early this morning.

But this birthday babe, I realize all along I had no idea what love really felt like.  How can you love someone so much more in so many years?  People joke about not being in the honeymoon stage, what stage was that?  Because the love I feel for you right now has 100 fold surpassed the love I felt for you during our honeymoon.  I feel like these last several months I have learned what real love is, and it scares me, because the love I feel for you has become so fierce and so deep.  Yes, God comes first, but I understand His love for us so much more now as I feel this new love for you.  You are an amazing man, Michael.  I can't believe how lucky I am to have met you and married you.  I am so excited about all the birthdays to come that I get to share with you.  Happy birthday!!  And...I love you!

Dinosaurs!

Michael and I went to the Museum of Ancient Life last night. They have a deal right now for August, $2 Tuesdays. So of course tons of kids and families were there for that deal. So busy!  But fun. :-)

My Honey

I love this man!  We had to stop for a treat after our stand up paddle-board excursion on Saturday morning (more on this later).  If you have never had Hawaiian shaved ice...get some!

Father's Day 2013

Since Michael gave me flowers for Mother's Day, I wanted to do something special for him, even though technically we aren't parents yet.  We went camping in Yellowstone over the weekend, so I gave Michael this little gift before we left. 

I was so excited when I found that onesie!  We call the baby "peanut", so it was just too perfect.  If you can't read the onesie, it has a picture of two elephants, one is a baby and underneath it the caption is "daddy's little peanut."

I hope that this pregnancy and baby becomes more real for Michael now that I am starting to show more and our big doctor's appointment is getting closer (mid pregnancy ultrasound).  Michael hasn't gotten to see the baby yet, he has only gotten to hear the heartbeat.

But shout out to our Father's out there!  We love you guys and we wouldn't be here without you!

My first Mother's Day

A lot of people made a big deal on Sunday about how it was my first Mother's Day. Some people called, others gave me cards, it was so sweet!

I hadn't even put two and two together. Although I am expecting now, I don't feel like I am a mom, but maybe you never actually "feel like a mom."  I don't know, but I will let you know next year. :-)

Anyway, my amazing husband sent me these flowers for Mother's Day, and I cried. I love you to Michael, I'm so glad to be in this with you!

Packing

Our house is a maze of boxes and random stuff that needs to go in boxes.  I can't believe how quickly time has gone since we decided to make this move and promotion.  

If you have ever been in our basement, you will have probably sat on the tan couch we had down there.  Well, it was quite the ordeal to get that couch into the basement.  It may have involved an argument, some not so nice words, and a chunk out of our wall.

Let's just say it was a tight fit, but Michael persevered.

On that note, it means that the couch was not coming out of there, unless it was in pieces.  

So that is just what Michael did.  And yes, that is a Milwaukee Sawzall, cutting our couch in half. 

Michael had a good time.  So FYI, if you ever need to saw a couch in half, or quarters, or whatever, you can use a sawzall.

Michael's Fishing Post

Graduation

All right!! I have a huge backlog of photos and so much to share, but we'll just have to take it one step at a time. I already announced our big move back to Colorado and I'll talk more about that later, but right now I'm going to talk about my graduation.

Well, mostly just show you some pics to prove that it happened. 

Okay, whoever didn't tell me my hat was crooked is going to get it!!!

Waiting in line

Me and Miriam, my classmate for the last two years in grad school.

Just FYI. 

The pics with me and the family are on the way.

Cinco De Mayo

 Cinco de Mayo, have you ever wondered what it is? I have, and just in case you have no idea why avocados, salsa, tortillas, tequila, and limes are all on sale, here is why.

Cinco De Mayo commemorates the day that the Mexican forces defeated the French army in the Battle of Puebla. The Mexican militia only had about 4500 soldiers compared to the 6500 soldiers in the French army. They were severely outnumbered but managed to beat the French in that Battle. The French did come back with 30,000 more troops a year later, but Cinco De Mayo specifically celebrates that Battle in Puebla when General Ingnacio Zaragoza Seguin and his poorly equipped patriots stopped the much larger, well outfitted French army from marching on to Mexico City.

So that is why Cinco De Mayo is commemorated with food, drinks, and celebrating. Who doesn't like to celebrate when the underdog wins at a crucial point. As for Michael and I, we love that avocados are on sale and it provides an excuse to enjoy a margarita after a long day of work. :-)

Margaritas!

Tostada night!

All information about Cinco de Mayo was gleaned from http://www.mexonline.com/cinco-de-mayo.htm.

Hayden, Fernan, and Coeur d'Alene Lake

Saturday was awesome. It was sunny, and gorgeous, and Michael had a three day weekend. What did we do you ask, what we always do...Bike!

We biked around Hayden Lake, north of Coeur d'Alene a ways. It's a beautiful ride. And it is about 32miles round trip so a good leg stretcher. 

Michael charging a hill

This lake isn't even half the size of Coeur d'Alene!

Look at the scenery!

Hayden Lake is quite small. I mean, it seems huge to me, from Colorado's tiny lakes, but in comparison to the Lake by Sandpoint, or Coeur d'Alene Lake, it is just a pond! I can't wait for water sports this summer! And Michael is getting an itch to fish.

Mentioning fishing, thats what we decided to do Saturday afternoon. I first convinced Michael we needed an after ride snack of frozen yogurt and then we take him to the surrounding lakes and look for a good spot to fish.

Fernan Lake, looking for a good fishing spot

Well, the first lake we went to is very close to Coeur d'alene, called Fernan Lake. It was just kind of fishing off the side of the road, and no real "fishing spots" as Michael said, so we kept looking.

We came around the west side of Coeur d'Alene lake into beauty bay ( I know you all really have no idea where that is, but it is over by the trail called Mineral Ridge, which I posted of earlier, you look over into beauty bay on that hike). We had to crawl down an extremely steep hill to get to said perfect "fishing spot" (ahh, the joys of having an adrenaline craving husband)...

Extremely steep hill from the road, not fun to go up, more fun to come down

But we got to the perfect spot.

Coeur dAlene Lake, specifically Beauty Bay

Michael didn't catch any fish, but he got to relax and get his line wet

It was the perfect Saturday. Exercise, frozen yogurt, relaxation in the sun by a lake. Yep, pretty cool.

First Dinner

Yesterday night was the first dinner cooked in our new place. I wanted it to be a nice dinner and hopefully special and memorable. Michael had worked yesterday from 5am-2pm so he was wiped out and I felt so proud of him as we sat down around our card table for dinner. He has only worked one day but he is working hard. The 5am mornings are not forever, they are only for the next week and half while he is doing a store reset (Don't ask me what that means :-).

Anyway:

I made oven fried chicken, green beans, and cheddar biscuits. It all turned out great! We love the biscuits from Red Lobster and I think I finally have come up with a recipe that may even be better than theirs! I'm not sure how long the card table will last. I kind of want a real table to eat at, but we'll see. That was our first home cooked meal in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.