Yes, I know.

I've got to be real. The wait for baby #2 is tough. I'm such a planner and so you'd think that going through infertility and adoption would prepare me for tossing my plans way out the window. More than anything, I know God's plan is way bigger and more beautiful than mine. I can not imagine Declan not in our lives. Declan is the direct result of MY plans failing and God's plan for our future PREVAILING. So, it's been proven in the past. I've already gone through this. Trust, and God will blow my mind with blessing.

Yet, my heart still aches. There are babies and pregnancies everywhere. And it's not that I'm not thrilled for those who's families are expanding. It's just that I still fail to understand why it's so hard for us to expand. We are good people. We love the Lord, love each other, love our families. We're established and thriving in life. Then when I come back from my pity party the same thing in me arises: "yes, I know." I know there's a plan for me. For our future child. For our family of however many. I know God has it all figured out and I need to trust. I need to ground myself in the contentment of our current world: our happy family of 3. So blessed. Just need a knock on the head to remember it sometimes.

Mahoney Adventures

This year marked 26 years of Mark's family and two others getting away for a long weekend and invading Mahoney.State.Park. Boy, has it changed! My first time out was pre-dating (ya know, the "we're just best friends" stage of things) 11 years ago. We sat around in sweats, played games ate junk and relaxed and morphed in to slugs. This was the pattern year after year until Declan and his screaming lungs joined us at 4 weeks old. He had a (so far undiagnosed) milk protein intolerance that made him, well, not-so-pleasant to be around. That year was a blur.

The next year was fun but it was hard to do anything but try to keep a busy 1 year old from getting in to all things un-childproofed (which was the entire cabin). Last year was more of the same with a super active 2 year old where most activities were a bit too old for him yet. This year was da bomb! Yes, I busted out some 90s slang. But, it was. Loved loved loved it! Declan had an absolutely blast and is still asking to go out to "howne-ee". It was 70 degrees and sunny every day (amen) and so there were loads of outdoor activity. We covered a lot of ground: climbing the tower, indoor play place, paddle boating, fishing, craft making, made up out door games (including a giant branch...don't ask), etc. The little man pretty much melted in to a pile of exhausted by night time. Which was good considering we all 3 shared a room.

Several activities listed above were done with just Mark while I got to snuggle my week old nephew, Soren, and log some good Kindle time. Bliss, I tell ya.

 Showing off his leather stamped bracelet (arm band to Decs). If you run in to us ever this week, he's still wearing it on his upper arm. What a fashionista.

 How are these boys so old already?

 First time fishing with daddy.

 Declan loves his new cousin Soren (and his grandma)!

 Ipad with Grandpa. I remember my bother-in-law showing me his ipod 10 years ago. I was like "whaaaaat"...it seemed SO high tech. :)

Wordless Wednesday

"big" zoo

We live less than an hour from the fabulous Henry.Doorly zoo in Omaha. Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, we haven't ever taken the little man. It's been too hot, Decs has been too much of a busy body, one of us has been too sick, blah blah blah. Well, this last Thursday we had slotted the day for our annual Mahoney.State.Park trip so we stole another family member's idea and tacked the zoo on to the beginning of our long weekend away from home.

Let me just say that there is no way we'll ever halfway recreate the experience we had. Not only was it the first time for Declan to see some amazing exhibits (there's nothing like a million "wows" and curiosities) but there was NO ONE there. Seriously--we had several "are they closing this place down early??" moments. Apparently 2pm on a Thursday is the exact time to have the zoo to yourself.

So, to conclude my ramblings, it was fabulous. Declan was in awe, we were loving it and it couldn't have been more fun for our little family. 

testing...testing..

Sometimes when your mama is a photographer, you get volunteered to test out a photo shoot concept. Sunday's was a "splish splash" shoot. I don't think Decs minded a bit.

No way!

Several people have told me that when they turned 30 the lines started to appear and joints started to ache. I'm in the best shape of my life so I shrugged those comments off UNTIL this picture from today punched me in the face.

 

Well, helllooooo CROW'S FEET!

Yikes.

It's just "character" right? ;)

30 Feels Good

On the 4th of this month I said sayonara to my 20s. I have never felt so loved and celebrated! Last weekend my husband gathered both sides of our family to celebrate [my dad's famous] fajita style. It was fab. Earlier that week my girlfriends took me to my favorite little place to eat too much, Lazlos. Such fun.

Never too old for party hats, right?

 My bestie and shindig organizer:

 

I very much look forward to this next season of life. I feel like my 20s was such a time of change and self discovery and I'm ready to coast along for awhile. Don't get me wrong, I love certain change (hello!! can't wait to be a new mama again!) but feel good at where I am and where I'm going. Cheers to getting older!

Goooo Biiig Red! Go Big Red!

Is there anything better than a football Saturday? We headed down to Memorial Stadium with 85,000 others to cheer on the Huskers this afternoon. It was chilly but so worth it (and nothing a little Runza and Vals couldn't cure).

 The student section concocted a balloon rainbow. 

soccer star

After a little searching, I found a micro soccer league that allows 3 year olds to play. It happens to be in a nearby city (only about a 25-30 minute drive from our house). Being the soccer mom that I can't wait to be and having the budding soccer star that can't wait to play, we make the drive. Last Saturday was Declan's first game. I was so proud of my little man. Oh, and can I mention 3 and 4 year olds playing soccer is adorbs?

 

Papa & Nana came to cheer him on!

Can't wait to cheer my little star on! Go team blue!

19. Check.

Declan rocked it at the dentist today. Such a brave little trooper. Thankfully all 19 teeth are accounted for and we got a "good job" on the brushing because his pearly whites were plaque-less. So glad Decs loves his bi-yearly visits because I've seen kids that don't. Tonight while we were praying and thanking God for people he is grateful for, Declan put "Dr. Marty" at the top of his list.

Our dentist office has a train theme and they fully commit to it. The waiting room has a huge train and train tracks along the top of the wall with a child heighted button that gets pushed all.day.long. Appointment reminders come in the form of a ticket for the train. So cute. Declan got a sticker that said "my teeth were just washed, wait to eat/drink until 2:15" (due to the fluoride treatment). He showed it off to everyone while we were running errands. We'll also receive a hand written card from his dentist in the next week or so with a picture of Declan (that they took this afternoon). Great touch. Did I mention we love it there?!

Weekend Roundup

We had such a fun filled weekend. Mark swept me off to Omaha for a quick overnight birthday celebration. We stayed in the Old.Market and walked to a yum-o restaurant where we settled in outside for a relaxed dinner. Mother Nature had other plans and our food was packed up and we were nudged out due to an incoming storm. The skies indeed opened up 10 minutes later and we made it back to our hotel with minimal near death lightening strikes. 

Oh, I love this man. We had an absolutely blast eating takeout on our hotel bed, watching an overpriced movie, sleeping in, and over indulging in a hot breakfast. The day rounded out cheering on the Huskers as they made their Big 10 debut. Football season (i.e. Fall) is my favorite time of year. Go Big Red!! Can't wait to inhale college football for the next few months. Deckers rocking his Husker support:

Today I got spoiled all over the place. I turned the big 3-0 and couldn't be happier to welcome a new, fresh, exciting decade. Bring it on! My mom took me for a fab pedi and I came home deliriously refreshed because I thought it'd be a good time to sort through all of Declan's clothes (I'm going to consign some at a huge sale coming up). I quickly realized I have a serious problem buying clothes. In my defense, several totes are from him as an itty bit bit. As he got older, I knew his style and sizes better and the redonculous amounts I bought per season greatly decreased. Yikes, regardless. 

So happy Marky Mark is home tomorrow. Looking to do a big cleaning and then chillax again. Did I mention it's low 70s with no humidity and sunshine? God smiling down, people. God smiling down.