My life in sweatpants...

The past week has been tough on me...

I have been a little more of an emotional train wreck than normal:)  First, last Saturday I was down and out with strep throat.  That was HORRIBLE!  I couldn't swallow, breathe, could barely sit up.  I hate being sick, because I really don't get a chance to lie in bed and recover.  Daniel wasn't much help either.  He kept bringing me a screaming baby to feed, let the kids make the BIGGEST mess EVER!  He kept the older two outside, but there was so much that I needed to be done inside, that it just made me even more pissed that I was sick, but still had to empty the dishwasher, and do laundry.

My husband makes me so happy in a million different ways....BUT, helping out around the house is not one of them.  Sometimes I wish I could just let the toys and crap pile up, so he would trip over something in the middle of the night or he would see what would happen if I just let it all go.  I am so not designed to just let things go...I can't stand it when the kids take out more than one toy at a time.  I sometimes feel like I am the meanest mommy in the world because I want them to clean up, so I hide toys and put things away just so I don't have to do all the cleaning up.  Jake drives me INSANE!!!  Seriously, INSANE.  All he does is DUMP toys.  And, it drives me nuts!  Daniel doesn't care, he can be surrounded by toys and trash and it doesn't bother him...is it because he knows I can't stand it and I will not let it sit and fester.  I think I clean up toys about 50% of my day with the kids.  It is these days that I cannot wait to get back to work.

Another thing that is hard is that Daniel didn't even ask if I was okay last weekend.  He didn't come in to check on me to see if I needed anything.  Is my husband the only one who does this?  Is there some sensitivity training that he can attend or a normal husband that can talk some sense into him?  He finished the toilet paper in our bathroom, and I asked him to get some more and he made me feel like I was asking him to move a mountain.  I mean, seriously....and then he only brings ONE freaking roll, when our dispenser holds 5.  I mean, I just look at that as lazy!  Maybe he should have gone to military school.  Ugh...So, needless to say, I was  pretty much in tears all of Sunday and the majority of Monday.  And, then he doesn't want to talk about anything, and he definitely doesn't want to talk about anything in front of the kids...well, sorry, he isn't really helping me in that department either.  Lately, all he does is come home from work, eat dinner and then pass out on the recliner.  I can't remember the last time he went to bed in our bed.  This is NOT normal and I hate it.  So, he basically knows that I will make dinner, clean up dinner, bathe the kids and put them to bed all while trying to breastfeed a new baby...I mean, I know that I can handle a lot, but I thought this was a partnership.  Needless to say I had a meltdown on him on Sunday and Monday.  And, I am up half the night with Emma - either feeding her, changing her, making sure she is warm.

So, now I am trying to simplify my life by getting rid of the toys and crap that I don't need.  This is so hard for me...but hopefully my girlfriend Ellen or my friend Jen (who cleans my house) will be able to help me in the near future.

Anyway, that was my week this past week.  I actually put on jeans on Wednesday for Emma's newborn photo shoot and on Thursday to visit my coworkers.  But, the rest of the time I am running late and barely hanging on - dressed in sweatpants.  I should rename my blog - My Life in Sweats...because that is what I am usually dressed in.

Superbowl is this weekend.  I am rooting for the Giants.  I am starting Weight Watchers on Monday.  I have to find our scale so I can start weighing myself.  I would like to be back down to my lifetime weight by the time I go back to work.  I think I have 12 pounds to go...

I think my parents and I are going to help be each other's motivators.  It is easier to do it with someone, and Daniel will just lose weight by eating the dinners I cook.  Should be interesting!

Have a great weekend....sorry about the Debbie Downer post...but I needed to get somethings off my chest.

5 year anniversary

Our 5 year wedding anniversary is this Friday!!!  Every year, Daniel and I, do the traditional wedding gifts for each other. 
1st year - Paper - I got Daniel tickets to a Redskins game, he got me a card and diamond earrings (which also was my push present for having Elli).
2nd year - Cotton - I gave Daniel a cotton Redskins hat and a jersey, Daniel got me a Lacoste shirt that only fit after I lost all the weight last year.
3rd year - Leather - I got Daniel leather slippers and a wallet, I can't remember what he got me, he might have skipped this year and gotten me a gift card (which I will gladly accept any day of the year:)
4th year - Fruit and Flowers - I got Daniel a candied apple (he loves these) and a dozen Georgetown cupcakes (they come with fondant flowers on top of them, so I thought I was clever).  Daniel got me flowers and I don't remember if anything else.  It is really the thought that counts in these gifts, and the time spent...I know that Daniel isn't into it as much as I am.
5th year - Wood - I have been thinking about what to get Daniel for a while.  I try and keep the gifts reasonably priced and I hope he will like what I got him...we'll see.  I keep reminding him how many days left he has to shop - he is totally a last minute shopper and usually just gets a gift card. 

So, reflecting back on our 5 years of wedded bliss - I have been more happy than sad, more pregnant than not, and more in love now than I was 5 years ago.  We have danced so much in our kitchen with the kids.  Our house, although we have lived here for almost 3 years still needs a lot of work, but we are so happy.  I am so grateful that I met Daniel.  I truly believe that God brought him to me and I couldn't imagine my life without him. 

Daniel and I met on February 6, 2004.  I had just moved back to the East Coast in December and started my shore duty at USNA in January.  It was a rainy Friday night, I was flying out of BWI to Tampa to visit Emily for Gasparilla.  I DO NOT LIKE TO FLY - is the understatement of the century.  I am truly afraid of the plane plummeting into the ground or even worse into the water.  So, when I got to the airport, I headed straight to the Southwest bar.  It was an L-shaped bar, I sat on the corner and Daniel was a seat away from me.  I started talking to an older man and Daniel will say that he tried to chime into our conversation, but I don't remember that.  Once the old man left a younger guy took his seat and I started talking to Daniel and this other guy, I decided to buy shots.  Daniel asked for Tuaca...but we are at an airport bar, he got Tequilla.  We were on the same flight to Tampa.  He was going to Gasparilla too to meet up with some friends.  It was time to board our flight.  We both were in the same seating area, I asked him if he would carry my bag and he gave me a smart ass comment like, "well, if they ask me if I packed your bag, I'm not going to say so."  I told him to just tell them that you are my boyfriend;)  He was cute. 

Little did I know at the time that this was going to be the best flight of my life! 

We sat together, he paid the flight attendants to keep the beers coming.  Somehow we exchanged numbers on the plane and THANK GOODNESS we did!   I don't remember a lot of the plane ride - especially getting off the plane, but luckily Emily picked me up.  I, apparently, met Shireen and Micki that night...which sadly I don't remember.  Emily took me straight home because her, Kristen and I had to be on a boat at 7am.  Daniel went out and tried to call me that night, so I gave him the same courtesy and called him at 6:30 in the morning:)  Neither of us answered our phones.  We both did different events on Saturday, mostly involving beads, drinks, boats and floats!  Somehow later in the day, I got a message from him that said they were going to Jared's or something like that.  I left Emily and braved the hike, by myself, to find Daniel.  It was fate, because I found him.  I saw him and the first thing he did was pick me up, and then we kissed.  Then he said, "you want to dance?"  I had found my dream man, and his dancing abilities only made him so much more attractive.  I was in love!  We spent the rest of the night talking, walking, making out...I spent the night at his hotel...Emily picked me up in the morning and I think I told her that I met the one! 

Daniel flew back to MD on Sunday, and I didn't fly back until Monday morning.  We spoke on the phone after we left each other on Sunday and agreed to have a date on Monday night.  I was going to cook for him and we would just hang out.  Needless to say, we haven't spent that much time apart since.  I am so thankful for him.  He makes me want to be a better wife, mother and partner everyday. 

I wish I liked being pregnant because we would have more kids...4 is good for now, right???  Maybe I'll consider 5...maybe...

So, that is our story...I love it!!!