Happy V-Day!

So, everyone knows that last Monday was Valentine's Day. It's a silly holiday if you ask me...very commercial. But, I suppose there's nothing wrong with showing that special someone how much you love them...except that you should probably be doing that every day of the year. Nonetheless, we celebrate Valentine's Day and take advantage of the grandparents' offer of childcare. The hubs and I enjoyed a night out!

I really have to give Darren credit. I did not expect him to remember Valentine's Day. Not that he isn't thoughtful or loving, he just doesn't pay special attention to the calendar. I think the first time he realized that the big day was approaching was when we were watching the Valentine's episode of Modern Family. If you've never watched this show, you are seriously missing out. It is the funniest show on TV. Either way, I digress. During the episode, Darren asks, "When is Valentine's Day?" My reply, "Monday, what have you got planned for us?"

<<<insert awkward silence>>>

The next few days, he brought the day up and dropped several hints. He told me the girls were staying with his parents and we were going out. He really wanted to tell me where we were going, but he displayed great restraint. At one point he said, "I really want to tell you where we are eating because I want to make sure you'll like it." What a guy, right? I informed him that as long as it was not Italian food, I would be happy.

Fast forward to Monday, I'm at work, the girls are having fun with the grandparents in Cashion. Around lunch time, my thoughtful husband shows up at my office with this lovely bouquet:

Pretty, awesome...he hand-delivered my flowers on Valentine's Day. What a guy. The Friday before, he tried to throw me off his trail by saying, "Don't expect flowers on Monday, every florist in Norman is fully booked." How clever and sneaky.

That evening we jump in the car and head to a mystery restaurant. Much to my surprise and delight, we end up here:

For those of you who attended our wedding shindig a little over 3 and a half years ago might recognize The Skirvin Hotel. Darren made reservations for us at The Park Avenue Grill located in the lobby of the hotel. Fancy right? He actually did research to find a nice restaurant for us to enjoy our V-Day and thought this would be nice since this is where we had our wedding reception. How thoughtful!

The ambiance was perfect, they company was great, the food was delicious. It was a lovely evening. I am one lucky gal to have a husband who goes to so much trouble for little ol' me.

Girls! Girls! Girls!

So, it's no secret now, we are having our third girl come June. What is also not a secret is the fact that we were hoping for a boy. There I said it, we wanted a boy. Who could blame us? We already have two beautiful girls, now we need a boy. Let me rephrase that, DARREN needs a boy. He is way outnumbered in our house!

Those of you who were around when we found out we were expecting twins 3 1/2 years ago know that I often said, "I'll take two boys, would prefer a boy and a girl, but absolutely do not want two girls!" Well, you know the end to that story. Now, here we are, years later, with the two most precious baby girls we could ever ask for. I cannot imagine my life without them. I would not trade them for the world. They are both so unique and precious that I could just eat them up. Don't get me wrong, they are frustrating at times, but I imagine I would feel that way no matter their gender! I am saying all of this to remind myself that this precious little ear of corn (according to WhatToExpect.com) in my belly will be just as amazing and unique as the first two. I CANNOT WAIT TO MEET HER! Hopefully she'll have a name by June.

The most frequent comment I hear from people is "Awww, you're having another girl...you're not going to keep trying until you get a boy, ARE YOU?!" As if that would be a bad thing. I'm not trying to position myself to star in my own reality show on TLC, but I do think we might be interested in trying one more time to get that boy. Did I just say that? Yes, yes I did, we will likely be parents of 4 when it's all said and done. Mark my words though, we will stop at four! Assuming we don't have twins again...yikes!

The second most frequent comment/question is "Are you sure it's only one baby, this time? It must be a much easier pregnancy this time around!" Well...as far as we can tell it's only one and it is absolutely not easier this time around...so far. The nausea with this one was horrendous! Awful! Unbearable! I have had the worst headaches. Now, I imagine that once I enter the latter stages of my pregnancy, this one will be a lot easier than being as big as a house with Fred Flintstone feet. Of course, there's no guarantee that I won't be as big as a house and my feet won't be swollen but, it's got to be better than it was with twins! I'm not holding my breath, though, let's just hope this kid doesn't grow to be 13 pounds...I'll settle for a nice 8 pound-er.

Well, that's all for now. My next task is trying to plan/save for the three weddings we'll have to pay for in 20-ish years. More fun stories to come!

Introductions

Well...it turns out coming up with your first blog post is pretty easy. It's the second and subsequent ones that are giving me fits. I have to think of a topic worthy of posting...so how about making some introductions? Chances are if you're reading this, you know a tiny bit about me, maybe more. Here's a little more about my precious family.

That's my husband Darren, on the right, before he was my husband, circa 2006. We look so young! Anywho...

Darren grew up in Cashion, America, population 600. He has an older brother and his parents have been married for 30+ years. He played 3 sports in high school (basketball, baseball, and football-there weren't that many in his school so the athletic ones had to play every sport!) and also said he was in the band. I find it kind of hard to believe he was a band nerd, though! :)

Just a tiny bit about me: I grew up in Muskogee (yes, like the song). I have two "little" brothers. I lovingly call them little even though neither are little any longer. My parents have been married for 29 years. I played softball all my life, mostly because it was fun, kept me in shape, and gave me awesome tan lines in the summer!

Darren and I met in 2005 when we were both working at Chili's. We started out as friends and, after a few months, it developed into more. After I left Chili's for a "real" job, we started getting serious. We were engaged by early 2006 and married in June 2007. Ten and a half months later, we welcomed these two precious creatures into our lives:

Born 1 minute apart on April 30, 2008. Lyla (on the left) weighed 6 pounds 6 ounces, Natalee (on the right) weighed 6 pounds 10 ounces. As you can imagine, they completely changed our lives...for the better!

Meet Lyla (aka Lyla Bear). My tiny, blue-eyed, blonde headed, ball of energy. Her favorite color is pink. She has frequent mood swings. One minute she's smiling, singing, and twirling around the living room. The next minute, she is mischievously trying to steal her sister's blocks. She is the spitting image of her father and my mother-in-law tells me she acts just like he did when he was younger. She has also inherited some of his finer qualities. For example, she will talk to anyone and immediately make friends. Those of you who know me realize that she didn't inherit those qualities from me!

Meet Natalee. My quiet, sweet, thoughtful and even tempered baby girl. Her favorite color is purple. This girl will give you some of the craziest looks. She has the most interesting sense of humor and is extremely caring and thoughtful. She rarely misses a meal and doesn't whine even 20% as much as her older sister. My mom & dad tell me that she is exactly like I was when I was little. I have a very hard time seeing myself in her, but I believe it. She is very slow to warm up to strangers (sounds like someone I know!), but once she does she really is the sweetest little thing.

Meet Baby GIRL number 3. She has yet to be named and we are looking for suggestions. Seriously, she may just have to be called "Bub", as Natalee calls her or "Wywa" as Lyla would call her. We are so excited and nervous to welcome our THIRD baby. Holy moley, we are going to have three girls...Lord help us!

That's all I've got for now...more adventures to come!