Princess Stories

Sometimes I make up stories to tell my princess...this is James.

The Queen's 3 spells or how Pink became Popular

Once upon a time, a young princess lived in a white glitter castle atop the highest mountain in the realm. The princess just loved the color pink. Her dresses were pink, her lips were pink, and her her tower was pink. Even her eyes were pink, for you see, she was an albino princess.

One day her mother called her into her dressing room and dismissed all the servants. This usually happened before the princess was going to get a consequence, but today the queen swooped down and picked her up in a big hug and whispered in her ear: 

"It is time you started learning the magical power that comes with being a princess...today will be your first lesson!"

The princess' mommy clapped her hands and a magical door opened behind the mirror.  Together they stepped into her mother's special magic room where every morning, the queen got ready for the day and practiced her magic. Inside the queen looked more alive than ever...she beamed at her daughter. and the room seemed to visibly brighten. 

"Your first spell is this" the queen said and she smiled so big that the princess could hardly help herself. The Princess found herself also smiling in her mother's brightening room and as she smiled the room seemed to glow a little pink.

"Very good!" said the princess' mommy--this spell you can use whenever you want!

The princess wandered down the streets later that afternoon practicing her smile and even dared to go down the darker streets that made her uncomfortable. She looked at the scary parts and cast her happy spell and although nothing outside seemed to change, she was calmer and not quite so scared. 

The next day, the princess told her mommy all about the way the spell worked both on other people and on herself. The queen was delighted and whispered to the princess: 

"You are ready for your second Lesson!"  

As they were talking, a servant entered the room with a tray full of lunch and big glass pitcher of sparkling pink lemonade. 

"Why thank you!" said the Queen "you may set them right over by the win..."

But as the queen was speaking the servant tripped and sent the food flying! The lemonade launched in slow-motion out of the spinning glass pitcher and before anyone could blink, the pitcher shattered on the floor! Pink lemonade stained the carpet, the bedspread, and the queen's new dress. It was even in her hair! The food was ruined. The carpet was ruined, the queen's perfect hair was a matted pink mop. The poor servant looked up from the floor in frozen shock, his mouth wide. 

The queen went straight to the servant. "Are you hurt?" 

She reached down to help the servant up. 

"No your majesty, I am so sorry!" 

But the queen smiled and began picking up the glass shards of the pitcher 

"It could happen to anyone!" she said and used her first spell to perfection. The servant kept insisting that he would pick up the pieces and return quickly with a new lunch, but when the Queen was finished they were laughing together about the accident. As the servant left, the queen turned to her daughter and the princess knew: The second spell was kindness.

She left after lunch to go find her brother, but he was playing soccer with his friends. 

"You can't play!" they said "You're a girl!" 

The prince had obviously not yet learned any magic. The boys said some more mean things so the princess decided to just watch. Half way into the game, the prince's best friend kicked the ball and it sailed over the hedge and into the window of the princess' pink tower! All the boys stopped and looked at the small albino princess. 

"Don't worry! She said "I'll go get your ball and be back before you're water break is over!" When she arrived with the ball, the boys were amazed. 

"Why are you so nice after we wouldn't let you play?" 

"You weren't trying to be mean" said the Princess "It was just a misunderstanding--it could happen to anyone!" 

With that, the prince and his friends determined that the rules would be changed to allow princesses to play...and she did.

Early the next morning, her mother awoke her before the sun was up.

"Get on your riding clothes, Sweetheart. We're going to the dark forest." 

The princess was nervous, but as she hopped on the white stallion behind her mother, she felt safe and warm. She could smell the vanilla in her mother's hair and feel her graceful back relaxed and in command. The trees got closer together and the road turned into a trail. The branches thickened and she sun faded behind the rich canopy. before long not even the breeze could be felt and the princess had to smile her brightest smile to fend off the gloom. 

"Pink and green go well together" said her mother reassuringly. 

The horse stopped at the edge of a clearing and in the middle was a small stone cottage. At the door stood a wrinkled old woman, glaring at the princess. The cottage had a guard-dog tethered to the porch. The dog let out a low growl and strained at his rope. 

"A little young for this lesson, don't you think?" said the old woman. 

"I think you're being too easy on her" said the queen with a smile. 

"You can't come in, Princess!" said the bent woman at the cottage door, but the princess dismounted and cast her most radiant smile. "I haven't seen one like that since your mother first came." the old eyes twinkled and the cottage door cracked open with a creak. "Very well, said the crone, but do so at your own risk!" she glanced slyly at the snarling dog. 

The princess didn't know what to do and looked up at her mother. The queen dismounted and smiled at the princess. The princess would have to do it on her own. 

She walked closer to the dog and saw him gnashing his frothy mouth at her. The rope held him back, biting into his neck. The princess approached and held her smile. she spoke kind words to the animal and came right up to him. Gently, she held her hand to his fur and eased him back towards the door. When there was enough slack, the princess reached for the rope and loosened the collar to set the dog free.  Determining that the princess was a friend, the snarling stopped and the dog licked the princess with a pink tongue. The princess stepped into the cottage. 

Inside was a single fire in the middle of the room and a boiling black cauldron.

"Look into the cauldron" said the old lady and the princess did. 

Inside the water, the princess saw a beautiful version of herself, all grown and powerful. She looked very much like her mother, regal and bright but with her own kind of glow. It was definitely her older self. 

Her mother joined them in the cottage and explained "This is you before you came to us, and after you are old and die, this will be you again." 

The princess didn't quite understand, but as the old lady drew nearer, she saw another reflection in the cauldron of a beautiful woman, strong and quick, with twinkling eyes--the younger version of the old woman, and yet the same person. 

"In the cauldren is your true self" said the Queen "And all of us are very much alike." 

As the princess grew she remembered the third lesson--the lesson of not only who she was, but the lesson of who all people are--she often would see old, crippled, or hurting people who had been disfigured or mis-shapen by life, but always, she remembered the cauldren and saw them for who they truly were. It made her other magic unstoppable and as she practiced she became beloved by all and a force of the most potent good. Before long many little girls wanted to become princesses and despite all the girls having different colored eyes, the favorite color for all the girls in the kingdom was almost always pink.

Why 1-year-olds fail at capitalism

It’s getting to be time for Easter and that may mean learning about the Resurrection right? Well, sure, but first, there are Easter eggs. X-man, who already loves anything he can throw, has been introduced to Easter eggs in an attempt to prepare him for this, his first participatory traditional competition.

We got the plastic eggs, hid them in the living-room, and told him the rules.
“Ball!” he says and throws it on the ground, cracking the plastic and spilling 2 marshmallows and 2 raisins. There were treats inside?! Now the game is on.

The only problem is that he sits down and opens up each egg and eats whatever is in it before searching for another. The other kids are gonna get all the eggs for sure. Alicia and I caught ourselves in a debate later that week –do we train him to just pile them all in the basket by filling the practice eggs with rocks or do we simply take them from him when he finds each one and basket it ourselves?

Then it struck me…the act of hoarding and selfishness is made possible by ownership.

Ownership is a concept that young children don’t get naturally.
What they see is in front of them and they take it and eat it or play with it and are genuinely surprised when they are told that’s “wrong” or “bad.” Furthermore, what others see and take without rental agreement is perfectly fine to a small child, provided that small child doesn’t see and want the same item.
Take what you want. Use what you need. Leave the rest.
Children live a very pure and immediate version of the law of consecration.

What if we lived like that? All of us…

I thought of my opened garage and my freezer full of my favorite sausage links. What if a stranger just came up and took it out and ate it…well that would be ok. I could eat their steak. Except it wouldn’t be their steak.

It would be no-one’s steak.

Would I care? Yes, but I would care less if I had a year’s supply of food in my a basement.

Did Jesus own anything?

That question may be irrelevant. He maintained a higher perspective of what was important. If a man were to come and ask bread, I could give him all the stuff in my fridge --mayb--except the leftover Thai dish.

Lame Mindset, James.

What if he ate all my sausages?

I felt threatened at the thought and made a note to myself to renew my NRA membership.

But then I tried--for a split second--to imagine I had a whole year’s supply downstairs. If I did, I wouldn’t feel threatened at losing my favorite sausages or in fact everything in my fridge. I would have the luxury to live according to a different mindset.

The irony is that if I own more, I care less about ownership.

I have often wondered about the seeming disjointedness in the scriptures—especially how Jesus’ sermons seem to skip from one unrelated topic to another without finishing the point. But the points are circumscribed into one great whole—the mind of God, also called mysteries of God. Like that time in Luke, he tells the parable of ownership and stewardship. He that hath been given 10 talents passes them on to those who need it immediately (money-changers) and it returns unto him. He shall be given even more while he that hoards the small talent he ‘owns’ for fear of losing it, ironically loses it.

Then Jesus skips right to the instruction to go take some other person’s unused donkey and get it ready for him to ride. Odd? Maybe not.

The Lord hath need of it.

What then of Easter?

Imagine the feast of fun we would have if each time we found an egg, we showed it to each other, sat down and gorged on the delicious chocolate before hunting for another. Let all the kids eat as much as they want, right on the spot! All would be fed, glee-filled, and ecstatic!
There would be no egg-counting, no divvying or fairness.
Those who rush from egg to egg imagining they are getting more glee than anyone else, let them do what they want. They have less actual fun than that brilliant toddler who sits for 20 minutes and gleefully sucks every last bit of chocolate from the foil of a single egg.

And that is the magic of Easter – not in what we get for free (an eternal resurrected body filled with glory), but the freedom that comes from the fresh perspective:

suddenly, we do not own a thing, yet will be given all the Father hath – not to hoard for ourselves or gloat over, but to enjoy if we simply give it away.

And because I have only a month’s supply of food, I felt too threatened until now to even consider the possibility of ownership being a liability.

So honey, let’s start building up our stores and renew our child-like concepts of ownership.
Does anyone want some delicious sausages?

ho ho ho

thanksgiving @ farmers

the whole gang

before they went to church and we drove back to WA

darling picture of the X-man
he was a little bit of a handful in the non-babyproofed house

night games! these crazies played out in the dark and cold (Lauren even had an injury) and they loved it!

our boys before Thanksgiving dinner

Xander's first Thanksgiving

our 6 month old

To celebrate Xander's 1/2 birthday (really our Nation's Independence) we went camping for 3 nights. Xander slept better in the tent then he had been at home. Yeah, his sleep has been a huge change in the past couple months. He wakes up now once around 5am for some milk then back to sleep for a couple hours. But there have been many nights were he as waking a couple times for food and at least once where it was 4 times!!!! Not ok! Last week we started letting him cry it out if he woke before 4:30 or so, the first cry session lasted about 40 minutes :( He is doing better and doesn't cry long if he wakes up at all before the morning snack time.

I wrote the above weeks ago, now today is our last day with a 6 month old. Xander is well into 17lbs. he is growing and happy and so much fun. His sleep is still an issue (mostly for me it doesn't bother anyone else especially not the X-man himself, he gets fed at least once in the night). He is generally super smiley and way easy going. He eats real food and loves it, he started to get mad at us last week when the food ran out or we took something away from him. He sits up pretty well and can get around the living room by rolling and scooting backwards. We love our big boy!!!

remember father's day?

James is the best daddy for our sons! He loves them SO much and they, all 3, adore him. James is all boy so he is perfect dad for boys. While Xander and I were in Utah last month James and the big brothers put their allowance together and bought a couple new sets of legos and spent the weekend putting them together. He loves to rough house with them (all 3) and wrestle, they build sand castles and get dirty outside, and they all love cartoons and video games (even X-man loves his screen time). As boy as they all are James is also raising little gentlemen, he tells them I'm the princess and shows by word and example how to treat me. He is a great teacher and thanks to him our children will be every emotionally healthy. I feel so blessed to have James for the daddy of my kids. I chose well.

before Church we ate breakfast together, baked french toast and sausage

my parents and our friend Jared Heiner came over for dinner, French dip sandwiches and tapioca for dessert

look at the way the baby looks at his daddy!

blogging again

I wish I blogged more. I read other people's blog and think about posting on my own blog and then never do it. That's lame. I'm going to do better.

Something has been on my mind for over a month now. I was visiting a friend in Utah (see my Utah trip should definitely be on this blog) and he was holding Xander and said said to me, "Look at you living your dream!" Wow. That's right. I am living my dream. I always wanted to be a wife and a mother and now I am doing it. Wow. That's cool. After I left him I spent more time thinking about this dream of mine I'm living:

Is this how I saw myself as a wife? Am I the kind of wife I want to be?

What was I like as a mommy in my dream? Am I there?

What can I do better?

What should I change or improve?

Is there anything I need to eliminate?



I kind of think about this often, I feel so blessed to have a family and I want to make sure I am making the most of it. I'm aware how fast time goes and before I know it we'll be empty-nesters. The other day the house was extremely messy, having not really unpacked from a camping trip, being busy teaching summer school for 3 days and feeling lazy. I thought is this my dream? Is this how I saw my living room looking in my dream? Is this how imagined feeling? NO. I don't want a messy house, I don't want to feel annoyed about it all of the time. I got my bum in gear and slowly (feeding and kissing the boys in my life take a lot of time) things are getting back in order.

Today I'm feeling like the woman in my dreams. Laundry is going (although in my dreams I had a maid. All my dreams can't come true. Life isn't that perfect), the house smells like banana chocolate muffins, Xander is happy and well fed rolling all over the vacuumed-just-yesterday floor. I am happy. I feel so blessed.

Thoughts to ponder:

Are you living the life you wanted for yourself?

Is there anything you can change to more fully make your dreams come true?

a few pictures of us

The little man wore his swim trunks for the first time- he loves the hot tub

He can now role from back to stomach and get his arms out from under him

He always finds his "star lollipop" when he plays in his exersaucer

Aidan is now a BIG first grader!

The little Manager

mother's day

I love being a mom, I knew I would. I've been a mother all my life, I was called "mini-mom" when I was younger cause I loved the babies (I always holding other people's babies). I am blessed that I get to be a step-mom, I love that. It isn't much different than being a "real" mom, the boys just aren't here all of the time, so it's kind of like I'm a part-time-mom. I am so happy that I get to be Xander's mommy, what a treat. He is so amazing, I just love the little guy.

Smiley Xander, look how round his face is getting!

Thanks for making me a full-time-mom!

Mother's Day 2011 was perfect. I wasn't feeling well so we stayed home from Church. It was a lazy day with the first part spent in bed, sleeping, eating (James made me a delicious breakfast!), feeding the baby and kissing him and the daddy. I have such a great husband, he helps me be such a good mom! In the afternoon we called James' Mom on the way to see my own. We went a little early to my parents so my mom could play with Xander, they even took a short nap together. All of the husbands made dinner: ham, amazing potatoes, salad and brussel sprouts. Dad even made gluten-free cookies for dessert. All of the husbands also bought the moms a gift certificate at this Chinese foot massage place! What an exciting surprise. James and I took a walk with Xander and the girls. Everyone passed around the babies, it's so fun to hold Henry, he's just so tiny and sweet. I loved mother's day and can't wait for next year!

Leah helped James, these 2 are such good buddies

on our walk, mostly Xander was pushed in his stroller but at the end he got to ride with the big kids

can't sleep

I can't sleep. Don't really know why, it's pretty annoying though. James is asleep, Xander is asleep (and will want me to be awake with him in just a few hours). I should definitely be asleep. But since I can't sleep I decided to have some fun with my honey. James is a pretty solid sleeper, but from time to time he talks in his sleep and ask try to converse with him and ask questions to try to get him to tell mw more. Tonight is the first time I just started asking him random questions while he was asleep, I might have to try it more in the future. Good times. It makes being the only one awake in the house almost worth it.


A: What are you doing?
J: Just watching the sunset
A: Who you watching it with?
J: Myself

A: What are you doing now?
J: Waiting
A: Waiting for what?
J: (Shrugs shoulders) the trophy truck to come by
A: The trophy truck, huh? What does the trophy truck have?
J: Trophies. Duh!
A: (laughs) that was a dumb question I guess

A: What you chewing on?
J: A piece of plastic
A: A piece of plastic? Why are you chewing on a piece of plastic?
J: Cause it was in my mouth
A: Why don’t you chew on something else?
J: It’s not in my mouth

A: I love you sweetie. Do you love me?
J: Yes
A: What do you love about me?
J: Your wridheh fitd inthe wat r
A: What?
J: Your wrists fit in the water
A: Wow, I’m glad they do, that’s a good thing


Love you sweetheart!

4 months old

We love our very smiley 4 month old Xander. He is so much fun, we are so grateful he came to our family. He is growing and doing very well, the Dr. was extremely pleased. He weighs 13 lbs. 8.5 oz now (well, last week at his check up) and is 24 1/2 inches long. He is still a little on the smaller side, 25-50th percentile.

He is super easy going, he wakes up crying or at least fussing in the morning around 7am, after he eats he is in such a great mood. About an hour later he is ready for a long nap in the swing. He sleeps for close to 3 hours, wakes up fussy, eats and plays for a couple hours. This cycle continues for the rest of the day although his longest nap is the morning one. He only gets fussy when he's hungry, if we're feeding him and take his milk away to burp him he gets MAD at us, but it's kind of funny.

Still has poop explosions, but I don't feel there is much to do about that. We just always make sure to have a change of clothes for him. He also still spits up A LOT, I can't wait until that decreases. Even though he smiles all of the time he still barely laughs. Sometimes I can get some good giggles from him, but most of the time when we tickle him he acts like we're hurting him. He loves other kids, his brothers and cousins. He definitely knows that we are his mom and dad and that makes us so HAPPY! He is nursing better, although it seems like I don't always have enough milk for him, but no big deal I just make him a bottle and he gladly eats that.

The big news this month is that Xander's best little cousin was born on May 2nd. Welcome Henry Lewis Nyland! We are so excited he is finally here, it will be so fun to watch these 2 little ones grow up together. I love that we get to live so close to a lot of our family, we feel so blessed.

Q is for Queen

This is James posting - Alicia suggested I be a "guest blogger" some time ago and while I've been putting it off, this past week put me over the top.

When Alicia and I were just dating, I knew she was a princess and tried to treat her like she deserved.

Let's not get carried away though—there’s no "yes, your highness!" and "Right away, your majesty!" There's no royal turn-down service and to be honest, sometimes it's all I can do to remember to open her door for her. But let's be honest--she's something amazing and deep down, I know it.

So what happens when the princess grows up? That's right--she becomes a Queen.

This past week we have had the boys for Spring Break. I’m working full time and going to school full time also. So guess who gets to take over? The Princess. Let me tell you—it’s no small task. But Alicia understands how important this time is to me and after all, it’s Alicia: Overachiever Extraordinaire.

The Challenge:

• 2 competitive boys


• adjusting to dad’s house


• love stick swords and poking eyes out.


• Special talents: collecting bugs, spreading glorious mud, acquiring wild pets, and getting the upper hand.


• No video-games


• No TV


• No corporal punishment


• Oh yeah—and each comes with a hidden stash of candy

But wait—there’s more— how about a 3-month-old-baby, still nursing, with thrush, and she has to work one of the mornings and leave her charmingly inept prince in charge of the troops & castle while he works from home.

Princess work?

The Results:

• Each night one of us got to pick out our favorite dinner and she bought, prepared, and served it to us.


• She also fed the missionaries.


• She decided Grey could throw a party for his friends at our house on Friday and “was so cool!”


• The house stayed pretty much orderly throughout.


• The boys both had 1-on-1 time with each of us.


• Baby’s still happy and growing.


• She spent time teaching Aidan how to read


• We had a PHENOMENAL date night.


• She managed to let me sleep in till 10:00am on Saturday.


• Sunday, while I was at meetings, she got all 3 boys to church early and delivered a home-made hot sausage egg McMuffin…with cheese. Melting, dripping, cheddar cheese


• Both boys wrote in their journals and posted on this blog (their own words).


• We dyed Easter Eggs


• Family trip to Arena Sports for free!


• Cousin sleepover where the kids stayed up late partying in a tent built in our living room


• Not a single complaint about the 4 taquito-fed minnow guests which lived rent-free in her Tupperware

The background in this picture is not lost on me.

We joked after the boys left about how surprisingly well everything had gone. It wasn’t till then that I realized that all of this had been done with an amazing amount of grace.

In many of the fairy tales I love, there is a theme of the prince growing up to face his kingdom duties. Usually the luxury-laden royal child resists the royal responsibility and seeks adventure or escape, but in the very best of these tales, the prince or princess rises up and takes on the duties of the kingdom –often with grace and elegance.

When we got engaged, I hoped I had chosen a Quality princess. Alicia got this big “Q” for our wedding party and it hangs in our entry-way. I love that her last name is Quigley now and that she helps govern our little Quigley kingdom. I’m a bit proud of our Quigley name and love that she bought (and painted) the “Q”. But the more I know her, see her work, and the way she carries herself, I the more I realize that in our house, Q is for Queen.

Thanks for an awesome spring break, Darling.

from Aidan

The first time I saw Xander was in the hospital. When he came out he was so cute. I loved him. He had a cute face. I loved holding him. He was 0 months old and now he is 3 months old. Now, he smiles really cute. I like to play with him. I like changing his diaper and picking out his clothes. Sometimes he crys and it makes me sad, I try to help him not cry; I put his binky in his mouth. He has very long naps. I like when he wakes up so he can play with me. I like when he gets on my bed with me. I am so excited to see him when I come to Dad and Alicia's house. He is so happy when I am here.

I was so happy to see my new baby brother

I was really happy when I picked out his clothes

from Greyson

The last couple of months have been super exciting and fun! We had a new person from heaven come and be a family member to us. His name is Xander G. Quigley. He's so cute and I am so happy to help him and be his older brother!

Although he does spit up alot--sometimes all over his face.

Also all the holidays have been awesome! Spring break has been exciting! We had to choose our favorite meal that we would make on different days of the week. (Mine is Shrimp alfredo!)

On Friday we had a big party with my friends and made pizzas',we played games and one of them was hide and go seek in the dark!

All in all I think/know that these have been some pretty exciting months!

a name and a blessing

The last week of March Xander was blessed in our ward by James. He was given the name Alexander Gordon Quigley. I was reading back in my journal the other day and in September I had written that we liked that name. I can't remember at all how we came up with Xander, maybe I heard it somewhere (I use to text James' names whenever I heard them at gymnastics or swim lessons of the kids I nannied, in books, or at the grocery store). We thought Xander was cool and James likes that the name is long enough that when Xander's old enough if he wants to go by Alex or even Alexander he can (I hope that he'll always be called Xander!). When we found our we were pregnant I told James if our baby was a boy I wanted his middle name to be Gordon. All of the boys in our family have family names that are also prophet names and the name Gordon fit: after of course President Gordon B. Hinkley and it's also my dad's middle name.

Bruce Gordon and Alexander Gordon (one day old)

our beloved Prophet (he feels like a grandfather to us)

one of the all time best pictures of little Xander

outfit: Dressed in White booties: made by Janean Carter

we have a 3 month old

3 months old

smiling at Grandma Karen

big brother Aidan picked out his outfit

I knew it would go by fast, but this is ridiculous. Time has sped up and I'm not sure if I like it. But, I do love having a 3 month old. I love when Xander was brand new, he was so little and precious and fell asleep on me every time I held him...but, it was a lot of work. These days life are still hard at times, but I think we are getting the hang of things. I felt that by 12 weeks we finally getting a hang of it (I didn't expect it to take that long). I feel so blessed for every day and I try to cherish these times because he is growing up so fast.

Here is what our 3 month old is up to:

• 
  
  Xander sleeps at least 8 hours at night and numerous 1-3 hour naps through the day


• 
  
  He is pretty good at nursing, it has been a LONG, hard road, but he is a trooper and each day we (both) get better at it


• 
  
  He loves to suck on his fingers, fists, arms, anything he can find


• 
  
  He takes naps in the swing (but our blessed swing broke and this week his nap time have struggled a bit)


• 
  
  He falls to sleep for the night on his own, I think it's smart how he knows it's night and time for a longer sleep (he might be a genius!)


• 
  
  He has thrush, and has for months, we can't get rid of it


• 
  
  He has a darling dimple on his left cheek, his smile is too die for, sometimes when he smiles he even does this cute shy look where he puts his head down


• 
  
  He knows his brothers and loves the attention he gets from them, they adore him


• 
  
  Xander-mander has to wear a swaddle in his car seat or he'll cry the whole time, very occasionally he can go a short distance without freaking out, he also wears the swaddle to sleep


• 
  
  He has a pretty consistent eat, play, sleep daily routine


• 
  
  He takes a bottle and always has, but that allows us to have a babysitter every week and that is AMAZING (we love our date night)


• 
  
  Now the gross stuff, he spits up a lot and it's nasty and he only poops every couple days and it is usually a big deal and requires all that he is wearing to soak in the sink


• 
  
  Xander spends his day getting loved, kissed, and adored...we all love this special little guy

smiles

After weeks of Xander just staring at us we finally got some smiles:

smiling at Dad

Wow! And his smiles make it all worth it. Xander's smiles are DARLING, they brighten our home. We are so happy to have the little man in our family.

2 years

2 years ago today we were married. It feels longer, not in a bad way, but it feels like we've always been together sort of way. Lindsay asked me if it's been what I thought it would be like and my answer is that it has been better. Cheese. There was the initial getting used to living with someone and learning how to be a partner, but those really weren't even hard lessons to learn. Being married is different than being single, obviously. I love this not-so-new life of mine. I picked a fabulous person to be married to. James is perfect for me! He is very patient and gentle with me and my weaknesses. He is humble with his own. He teaches me daily about serving, loving and becoming a better person. He is the best cheerleader a girl can have. Having a happy, successful marriage is extremely important to him and he is willing to do what it takes, even the hard stuff. Before I was married I worried some about being a good wife, I knew a little about being a mom, but as for a wife that was super new to me. I am proud to say that I am a great wife, it suits me. Being married to James is one thing I know for sure I was meant to do in this life. It is my passion. I love to make him happy and love to be on the receiving end of his love. Life is wonderful. I am so blessed.