3 years ago.

Three years ago today I married the most amazing man I know, for the second time! (Our first was at the court house and neither of us consider that our "real" wedding or anniversary, though I make Craig celebrate both :) )

Nothing about our time dating was traditional, like meeting on a blind date neither of us wanted to be on, almost getting married on our Vegas trip just 5 months into our relationship, or getting officially engaged just six months after we met. And the location wasn't any different; a private park inside a truck yard surrounded by props from the original King Kong movie!

Our Ceremony was short and simple, with a few minor mistakes. Like how Craig put my ring on the wrong finger, or how I forgot both my veil and my bouquet. But being able to look back and laugh about those few mistakes make our day even more special to us. The Reception was filled with food, cake, horseshoes and dancing, lasting well into the night. Our first and last dance were classics, though not typical wedding songs, Louis Armstrong's "A Kiss to Build a Dream on" and The Ink Spot's "I don't want to set the world on fire". We of course had to include songs like Cake's "Love you Madly", Marty Robbins "El Paso", which also have meaning to us (apparently I'm an evil Mexican woman who will be the downfall of Craig ;) ) Even our wedding night wasn't traditional, a few poker games after the reception and then when we did make it home, realizing we left our house key in Colton's backpack!

Here are some of my favorite photos of the day.

Look how young Craig looks here! Believe it or not, he was actually 22!

Zermino Park

Trying to get my ring off so I could put it on the correct hand :)

This is my absolute favorite photo from that day!

Eventually I'm going to blow it up and hang it over our bed.

Mama, where are you?

Usually I have no problem letting the girls cry-it-out to get to sleep, this is just how we've always done it once they started fighting bedtime. But within the last few weeks Evelyn has found a way to make me feel like the worst mama ever! On nights where she isn't ready to go to sleep when 7:30 (or lately 8) rolls around, she cries "Mama, are youuu? are youuu?" Some nights I cave and go in and get her because I hate how guilty she makes me feel, though she's a smart cookie and I'm sure she knows what card she's playing.

Lately both the girls have become pros at trying to get their way, either by pretending they don't hear us when we tell them something, sneaking around, or trying to guilt trip someone into getting their way. Aubrey's new thing is saying people don't love her! I have NO idea where she got it from but boy does it sting! Every time she says "because you don't love me?" I feel like I've just been slapped! Craig things she uses love in place of like, either way I'm really hoping this is just a faze and it'll be over in a few weeks!

Thank you Max and Ruby...

The things Aubrey picks up amaze me! I was putting Aubrey in her car seat the other day and she was telling me about how she wanted to be a Ballerina so she could do this (holding her hands above her head) and do a Pirouette. I asked her where she learned about Pirouettes and she told me "From Ruby". You might remember Max and Ruby from here.

Then today after I got Evvy dressed in a new outfit, I asked Aubrey how she looked and she replied "She looks marvelous! Again another thing she learned from Max and Ruby.

Potty Training and Life

Apparently Evelyn is letting me know that not only is she ready, but she's not even going to wait for me to initiate it! I wasn't in a hurry to start PT Evvy since it seems like we just went through all that with Aubrey and I needed a break from all the trips to the bathroom. But Evelyn has made it clear that she has other ideas, the past 3 days have been filled with trips to the potty! While we've only been successful a few times, the fact that she is so eager to be out of diapers is great. I think this will be soo much easier than with Aubrey because Evvy talks so much more than Aubrey did at this age. Evvy has always thought that she should be able to do everything Aubrey does and I guess this is no different! Hopefully we will soon be completely diaper free, well until we have another baby that is :)




As for other things around here, Craig got certified in a portion of the plant, so he can now fill in as an Operator and make operator pay when doing so. He was certified for about 3 weeks before they had him fill in as a night operator! While I hate that he has to work nights (I hate being home at night by myself) the addition pay he makes as an operator plus the night pay is a blessing! We'll be able to pay off our credit cards much faster. His schedule will be a week on nights, a week off, a week on days, a week off, and it'll start all over. This will last until he get a bid job, which can take years for him to get! Thankfully Craig is way more experienced than his co-workers (Exxon likes to hire inexperienced people so they can train them to their standards) so hopefully he'll have a better chance of getting a bid job sooner.




His first week on nights was tough, the girls had a hard time adjusting to it, and I had a hard time falling asleep at a decent hour so we were all cranky, but we survived. Craig has a hard time sleeping during the day because our loft style room allows for a lot of light so He's been sleeping in our closet, poor thing, plus it gets soo hot up there! I'm going out tonight to get him a sleep mask so that should help with the light.




He only had 4 days off instead of a week since he's working overtime on a shutdown, so he went back to work Sunday night and while I wish he was here with us he's definitely being paid well to work on his off hitch. He gets 12 hours of time and a half as a night operator + drive pay! Again a huge blessing for us!

Talking up a storm

Like I mentioned in my last post, Evvybug is talk so much more. It seems like every day she's learning new words, and is even pronouncing them correctly! Just last night we were reading a Disney book and she shouted "Princess!" I was so impressed, she talks almost as much as Aubrey does now, and probably 5x as much as Aubrey did at Evvy's age.





Just last week I was getting Evvy out of the car and she started whining. I asked her "why are you whining? You're not a baby, are you?" As soon as I said it I realized it was a silly thing to say since she is a baby and she responded with "No!" I thought it was cute and made me realize that while I still think of her as a baby she definitely is not. I love that she talks enough for us to have conversations, I regularly ask her questions and she answers them! It definitely is a new experience since Aubrey hardly ever talked at this age.

VC Fair

Here are some pictures from our day at the VC fair!



Can you tell Craig was ready to go home :)
I love the pictures with Smoky. I have one with Aubrey the first year she went, I love to see the comparisons! 2010
2008
I needed one with Evvy too!

Grandma Rose's Retirement Party

All of Craig's Dad's Family (minus Chris) got together yesterday for Grandma Rose's Retirement Party. After a few extensions at OST she finally told them they couldn't keep her anymore ;) and retired to pursue her traveling. Here are some pics of the day, including a group photo!

Kory and Lexie

Aunt Steph playing with Lexie
A ride in the wagon

The Cake

Rose's Family Tree

Group photo, take one... Take two...