6 years

Yesterday Gabe and I celebrated our 6 year anniversary. Our wedding day seems forever ago-- in a good way! I feel blessed to have what feels like my perfect match. :)

Maggie love

I realized I haven't really written about what Maggie is like these days. Most of you know that as a very young baby she could be rather unpredictable. She had these crying spells in the evenings where she was inconsolable, she was a swing addict, and she was pretty poor sleeper. Well, almost exactly around 4 months things changed dramatically--not that she was ever that bad--but she became such a sweet, compliant baby! She just goes with the flow no matter what. She's happy pretty much all the time and your guaranteed a smile if you smile at her. I absolutely adore her sweet personality.

It's hard to believe she's 6 and a half months old already. I've actually gotten kind of sentimental about it lately! Being my second, I know that the future holds many tantrums, battles of will and not as many cuddles so I think I'm cherishing the "baby days" more this time around instead of always looking forward to the next stage. By the way, Maggie is pretty much sitting up now. She still topples over a good bit but she's about there.

I was telling Gabe just last night how much I love having 2 kids. It was a hard adjustment at first, and those first 3 or 4 months after Maggie was born were pretty rough at times. Having a newborn is hard no matter what, but add in there having an independent, strong-willed toddler and it can get interesting. Plus, it was wintertime...definitely NOT the best time to have a baby! And, we were still adjusting to being here in IL and not really knowing anyone. Having virtually no help with 1 kid is manageable, but having 2 kids....well, it just makes me wish I had a little outside help sometimes. Anyways-- all that to say that I fell like things have come full circle now. I feel well adjusted to life with 2 kids. Not to say I don't have my hands full and have those moments where I feel as if I'm going to lose my mind, but I'm in a good place now and enjoying my 2 girls.

Spring visits

Sorry about my absence from the blog world...not that I was really missed all that much (boo-hoo!). In my love-hate relationship with blogging, I am currently residing in the "hate" stage. But, none the less, here I am posting because I was inspired by a visit from family this past week.

I love having visitors, especially when it's family. Gabe's twin sisters Amanda and Aubrey (and her husband Justin and their 2 boys) drove out from PA. Boy oh boy did Mia have fun with Drew who is her junior by only 6 days. Their favorite activity was to "take a walk" around the house while holding hands. Too cute. We got to do our fair bit of hanging out (MarioKart anyone?) and Chicago sight-seeing. I've included some pictures of their visit. Isn't that a nice family photo of Aubrey, Justin and the kids? Such sweet, cooperative children. Now compare that to our family picture! And that's the best of several taken! Ha! ;)