opps...belated independence day!!!

(does it count as late as long as i post in the same month as the actual holiday?)

i have to document this holiday, because at three months old, E will never remember this first 4th of July.  this was probably one of my favorite holidays growing up.  the 4th always meant HOT weather, the lake, BBQ's, swimming in the pool, and shooting off fire-crackers.  i also can remember being so excited when my dad said we were going to get firecrackers.  now, with a baby, it brings thoughts of loud bangs, booms, and whistles that will wake my kid up.  am i a scrooge or what?!  E actually did fine, to my dismay, but when at 11:30pm fire-crackers were still going off, R and I were annoyed.  i think it constitutes annoyed when your husband puts a post of FB asking who the "d-bags were shooting off mortars".  making friends right and left, huh?  he's like sarah palin, momma grizzly bear, when it comes to little e.  love him.

i feel like a party pooper writing this blog, but it's true.  i was trying to think back to when i turned into a dud, and it occurred to me... i've kinda always been a dud.  1. my sister preferred to take my childhood BF to Bell's to ride the rides because i was a chicken (that's you Sheena). 2. in college i didn't want to wear my sorority sweatshirt into a bar for fear of being disrespectful... my BFF called me out on it, leading to a messy fight, but we have since reconciled (thanks Katie).  3. i now am not a fan of fireworks.  there's a lot more stories of tara-the-lame, but in an effort to save my self from belittling, i'll stop there. :)  guess i need to fun it up, or my kid will think i'm lame.  it does make me feel a little better that my husband's friends referred to him as "grandpa" in college... two-peas-in-a-pod. two-lame-peas-in-a-pod.

Anywho, back to the 4th- we started off festivities on Friday, my parents came into town.  since they live 4 hours away, they are like kids in a candy store when they come visit, and my kid is the candy.  it's so sweet how much they dote on her.  she loves it already.  the cooing has since turned into odd sounds of happiness and she really wanted to tell my mom something the entire time she was here.  probably things about my parenting style :)  i'm getting sold out by an infant.

Friday we lounged and had drinks on the deck with our neighbors and ordered our traditional Minsky's pizza.  a great way to end the week.  Saturday we lounged some more,  ate breakfast burritos, and watched the casey anthony BS, i mean trial. R and my dad tried to win BIG at the casino, but no such luck.  Sunday we grilled out with our neighbors and my parents, and Monday i took pics of the fireworks pre-11:30pm.  E was already asleep, but thanks to our neighbors, brennan and luke, i got some good shots to show her.  all in all it was a lazy independence day at our house.  Here's some pics of E's first 4th:

tara

three months already

i'm writing this post as i watch Marley and Me with ryan, while glancing at the baby monitor often.  it seems like yesterday we were at our 37 week visit when the doctor thought E was too small and needing to make her grand entrance sooner rather than later.  friday march 25th was a day like none we've ever experienced.

three months later we are learning her likes and dislikes... dislikes are easier to figure out.  we've noticed she is following her hands all over the place.  she tries to help hold her bottle, she smiles every time one of us looks at her, and we have broken every 'rule' out there for raising kids.  i like the help she gives me during feedings, i love the smiles, and i enjoy breaking the 'rules'.  we are pretty sure she's going to grow up happy and healthy, so we don't care if she somehow figures out that she wants to suck her thumb or sleep in our bed (a king size bed is in our near future, i feel it in my bones).  we will however draw the line with bad attitudes, selfishness, and lying.  in our book, that's makes us pretty good parents.

a few more milestones:

1. the hands thing :)
2. she's wearing size 1 diapers
3. she's fitting into her 3 month clothes
4. she's getting used to the car seat
5. she likes her swing...when she's tired

a few 'rules' we've broken:

1. we let her suck her hands
2. she still sleeps in her pack-n-play in our room
3. we've also let her sleep in our bed... and we like it!
4. finally, we let her watch TV... should this be under milestones?  haha

now here are some pictures of our little 3 month old-

she loves t.v.

PS- Marley and Me has successfully made me cry like a small child that has lost her favorite toy.

PSS- actually, both of us are crying... this is a super sad ending that we knew was coming and we are still sobbing.

count 'em, 3 years! that's 21 in dog years.

and what an uber fantastic three years it's been!  June 21, 2008 i married my sugar-daddy... i mean, my dreamboat!  i thought it took me forever to find someone like ryan... and now time is whizzing by us.  i hope to be the little old(er) lady sharing about our 50+ years of marriage someday.  i bet blogs will have changed by then.

anyway,  here's the story of us... a love story-

once upon at time, in the land of aggies, God's country, stillwater, OK, a romance blossomed.  WAIT... i am leaving out the best part of the story... you see the story actually starts back in high school. i played basketball for a high school power house {go redskins}, and ryan caught a glimpse of his wifey-to-be when my team dominated his school's girls team.  (he told me years later that he knew who i was in high school... stalker, j/k).  he had no idea then, but i'd steal his heart in four short years as seniors in college.  now fast forward 1 year, katie and i are causing some mayhem at a date party {sorry, john somebody for affixing a hula girl to your tv permanently}.  we even knocked on several doors in the fraternity and introduced ourselves... ryan's door was one of those. (again, he remembered me...i didn't really recall shaking his hand that night...oops). still we didn't make a connection.  again, fast forward another three years, i had just returned from a student exchange program, and ryan was pursuing an internship in tulsa during the spring of our senior year.  kelly, katie, and i moved into a duplex next to ryan and all his friends.  since ryan was off being responsible, i had to scope him out in pictures at his friends' house.  even asking who was that strapping blond gentleman.  finally, we meet!  in the driveway of my next door neighbor.  fireworks went off... okay, just kidding, but i did think he was {like totally} cute!  that semester we go to date parties together, hang out and talk on his roof, and he kissed me, then... we graduate and move thousands of miles away from each other.  not what you were expecting?  well, that's what happened.  i chalk it up to him being shy and me unsure of how he felt.  he says i was the hard one to read and he wasn't waiting around. ok, i added the part about him not waiting around.  but anyways,  he takes a job in Houston, then KC, and i go to grad school, then move to OR. before i left for OR i call ryan.  i knew he'd be so proud of me for landing a great job.  one summer evening, i picked him up at his parents house, we drive to sonic for a 'drink'.  we talked a lot about what we hoped for in life after college.   back in his parent's driveway, i asked why we didn't work out.  bold huh? i really just wanted him to know i was still {REALLY} interested in him.  he seemed unsure of a long distance thing, and he was about to get of my car, then he turned back around and planted one on me...and the rest is history.  we did the long distance thing for a year, although, there were some rough patches along the way and some "hate email" got sent (from me... he's too sweet to do that).  but now we are happily married with one perfect little girl and two doggies.  every morning i wake up to an amazing life.  i realize everyday how great i have it.

Here's some pics of our journey together:

the engagement:

the wedding:

this hand shake sealed the marriage! 

i wonder what the rest of life will bring our way... great things I'm sure.  Happy 3rd Anniversary to my better half!  I'll keep you around for another, oh say, 100 years.  Here's to making it that long and not being senile.  Love you Mr. Burger! 

Tara