9 years

Quiet Sunday evening, bone-tired (what a strange expression...)

It's been a really busy weekend -- yesterday we had 3 kids for 9 hours & today I helped host a bridal shower. More on both of those later, but right now I need to catch up on events from a couple weeks ago!

May 22nd was our ninth wedding anniversary.

That special day was photographed by Jim Garner, who I wanted so badly for our wedding that we planned the date around him (I found him from my friend Jessica's wedding). It was by far the most expensive part of our wedding and we have over 900 gorgeous, fun photos to show for it. Sidenote: this was right before the digital revolution, so all our wedding photos are 35mm, which I am looking forward to transferring to digital soon! Since 2004, Jim has become a world-renowned photographer, making him pretty much financially unobtainable for future photo sessions. Last summer my friends Katie & Rob (whose wedding was also photographed by Jim) saw a Living Social deal for an affordable photo shoot with Jim. Being generally wonderful people, they gifted the deal to us for our arriving baby! I waited for the perfect time to use it...after the baby acne was gone, once Blake could sit up, etc. As timing would have it, we ended up booking the shoot on our wedding anniversary.

We showed up on the 22nd with a few photos from our wedding & new baby in tow. Jim got a kick out of it, exclaiming multiple times about how he couldn't believe it was 9 years ago today!

Sometimes I can't believe it's been 9 years. We've done a lot in that time & have gone through changes.  There have been glorious, easy times & really, really tough times. This 10th year of marriage is a big one, as we raise our son together & learn & grow in parenting & in our relationship. The joys, struggles & growth of the past 9 years has helped prepare us for this & the transition to parents has been fairly smooth for both of us. Obviously Blake being a relatively easy baby is a big help, but I also credit the work & communication we have poured into our relationship for more than a decade (we've been together almost 13 years!). I'm really proud of us & have so much joy for the little family we have built. Number 9 & 19 have always been my numbers -- here's to celebrating 9 years & to the future ahead of us!