marriage

Yes. Always.

~ ceeceesparkles ~ Leave a comment

Eight years ago this evening, Craig took me to a park, walked me to a picnic table that was underneath an enormous balloon bouquet and handed me an Adventure Book that he’d written and created. We read it together, reminiscing on all of the adventures we’d gone on in our year of dating. At the end of the book, he’d wrote that he loved our adventures and wanted them to continue on forever.

On the last page, he asked me to marry him. YES YES YES. The best, most easy decision I’ve ever made is agreeing to marry my Craig. I am better, happier and lighter because of him.

One Great Guy

~ ceeceesparkles ~ Leave a comment

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Pregnancy, man. I am only barely exaggerating when I say that EVERYTHING HURTS this time around. Ok, so my arms are fine. But like – thats it. I. hurt.

I try so, so hard not to complain because there are people who would kill for this opportunity and I know what a precious blessing it is, so I really do try to focus on the good ad the amazing and not dwell so much on the less-fun side of pregnancy. But… can I just vent real quick? I promise it’ll be a quick little thing, k?

My pelvic pain is off the charts. I can’t even find words to explain the pain I feel but a good way to try is to say that it makes me cry on a daily basis, it takes me over 15 minutes to get out of bed (no joke) and sometimes it makes my legs/pelvis/hips go numb and tingly. Its quite something. My back always aches and throbs. My belly feels heavy and stretchy. My thighs have this dull, owie pain. Heartburn is of the devil – I despise it. Nausea is exhausting and gross and just gets really old after a while.

Ok. I’ll leave it at that. You get what I’m trying to say.

BUT NOW I have to say this:

I’m so, so, so grateful for Craig. I feel like there’s only so much a husband can do when his wife is pregnant to help her body out – but he helps in every way he can and I’m eternally thankful for him. He encourages me to vent it out and complain when I need to and he lets me talk to him freely about all the stuff happening in my body and how it feels. He is totally the reason I’m able to stay sane. He’s a good, good one.

Mushy Stuff

~ ceeceesparkles ~ Leave a comment

Happy Valentine’s Day!

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Do you like our most recent picture together? 

Craig and I don’t do anything special or fancy for Valentine’s Day, and truthfully that’s exactly what we both want. We like simple. We like home. Also we like not trying to get into a restaurant that the rest of the state is trying to get into at the same time, you know?

I’m very thankful for my every-day-Valentine. People say it a lot about their significant other, but I really did win the lottery when it comes to husbands. Craig is incredibly helpful in all things. He helps with housework, he helps with kids (diaper changes, cleaning up their messes, etc), he helps with my random projects and he helps me feel lighter and more sane and confident each and every day. He is the epitome of a family man. He works hard to support our family and when he’s back from work, he’s 100% dedicated to us. He makes our kids feel important and valued. He makes me feel understood and validated. He puts his little family first and he sees the importance of this little unit we have.

He is the funniest person I have ever met. His sense of humor is something I’ve grown to crave. He has a way of making me laugh harder than I ever have before. He is completely selfless. He takes care of me and our kids so well and he puts us first. He is insanely supportive, too. I feel so lifted up by him because whenever I have a new thing I want to try, endeavor I want to take, etc, he supports me fiercely.

Not a day goes by that I’m not thankful for this man – my best friend.

Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone, but especially my Wild Man.

 

7 Year Engaged-Aversary

~ ceeceesparkles ~ Leave a comment

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Seven years ago, on this very picnic table, I was asked a very important question and gave a one worded answer that changed my life for the better. I knew it was an incredible decision then, but I had no idea just how great saying ‘yes,’ would be on that day, August 17th, 2012.

Seven years ago today, Craig and I went to the eye doctor together and on our way home he told me he was going to take me back home because he needed to work out. This wasn’t anything out of the ordinary so I thought nothing of it. He dropped me off, I chatted with my family and a while later was laying on my couch, talking to my dad when Craig walked into my house and said, “Hey, come with me I want to show you something.”

We walked outside to see his mom on a 4-wheeler with a barrel with wheels attached behind it, the side cut open so Craig and I could ride in it. Craig and I squished into the barrel and his mom took us on a ride. I assumed this is what he was showing me! His family had this barrel/4-wheeler contraption for a while but I’d never been able to ride in it, so I thought he was excited for me to have my chance.

We were driven to a nearby park, we got out and then Craig’s mom drove away. I was a little confused, but I didn’t mind the thought of now being stranded at a park with my boyfriend. We walked around for a minute and then he lead me deeper into the park. Pretty quickly I spotted a picnic table with an enormous bouquet of colorful balloons tied to the middle of it and we kept walking towards it. In all honesty, I thought the balloons were for a kids birthday and I was worried we looked suspicious walking towards some kids awesome birthday setup. But quickly I realized the setup was actually for me.

On the table, there was a blue box with the Up house on it. Craig had me open it up, and inside was our very own Adventure Book (like from the movie, Up – my favorite movie – especially at the time). The book was magical. Craig had made it and highlighted our adventures we’d gone on in our past year of dating with lots of special write-ups and messages to me. The last page is one that still gives me goosebumps. It said we’d been on many adventures together and he didn’t want them to stop. The last line said my name and, “will you marry me?”

“AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!” Is what I was saying on the inside, but on the outside I just started giggling and hid my face behind the book, trying to sort out if I was going to burst into tears or start screaming. (The tears won).

Craig knelt down in front of me and pulled out a box with a beautiful ring inside and asked me to marry him, to which I very happily said, “YES!!”

Best. Decision. Ever.

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My Wild Man

~ ceeceesparkles ~ 2 Comments

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Today is Craig’s Birthday!! 

I can’t think of anyone who deserves to be celebrated more than this guy. I mean, really, he should be celebrated daily, but I’m glad that today, he’s the center of attention. I love this guy and am truly in awe, quite often, about just how lucky I got in marrying him and living life with him. He is the best of the best. The cream of the crop.

He is the husband of my dreams and then some. He is so supportive, always has my back and understands me in ways I don’t even understand myself. I really think he can read my mind, too. I feel so comfortable with him. He is my safe place. He is my happy place. He makes me laugh harder than anyone else has ever been able to do. He is a great shoulder to cry on. He has amazing advice, a tremendous listening ear and he doesn’t forget things I’ve told him, even if it was years earlier. He has a heart of gold. He is helpful and recognizes that marriage and parenthood is an equal thing. He has never made me feel unimportant, un-special or less valued. In fact, he constantly is building me up. He’s my greatest cheerleader. He makes me believe I can accomplish all my wild dreams I’m too nervous to believe in myself. He calms my anxious heart. He doesn’t judge all my worries. He genuinely cares for me and puts me before himself. He treats me like a queen and loves me fiercely. I’m proud to be his wife. He is the grandest human being earth will ever know.

He is the best dad in the world. Just ask our boys. Our kids will forever know just how valued, important and special they are, because Craig lets them know this daily. He encourages our kids to be exactly who they are and to be proud of it. He is proud of them and never lets them forget. When he’s home and the boys are awake, you better bet that he’s down on the floor playing dinosaurs, Avengers or cars with the boys – just making their day. He is a hands on dad. He changes diapers. He gives baths. He picks good outfits. He knows their schedules. He knows their stats. He knows their favorite foods and the ones they hate. He knows their personalities and how to work with them in the best ways. He loves them and not only tells them that, but he shows them that. He teaches them through example, how to be a good helper, how to be respectful and kind and how to be a friend to everyone – no matter what. He is a super-dad and my kids are the luckiest little ones ever to be his child.

Happy Birthday, Craig! I hope your day is magical and wonderful. I love you to infinity and beyond.

Happy Anniversary, Us!

~ ceeceesparkles ~ 3 Comments

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Today is our anniversary! Six whole years of wonderful, exciting marriage! Happy Anniversary to my Wild Man.

We don’t do anything big on anniversaries. We are happiest when we stay in, so tonight we’re planning on just that. We are going to grab food from somewhere yummy then enjoy spending the evening with our boys and each other. It probably sounds like nothing special, but I am so excited.

We were married on November 1st, 2012 in the Mount Timpanogos Temple. There was such perfect weather on that day and the whole day was so smooth sailing, lucky and honestly, relaxing. Everything felt right and good and happy. It was an amazing day. I had no idea just how incredible our future would be together. As I look at our life today, with our sweet boys in our cute little home in the little town we hoped we’d move back to someday, I get really excited for that newly married couple I see in that picture up top. Their future is so bright. Our future is still so bright.

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Happy Anniversary, honey buns. I love you to infinity and beyond.

How We Found Out #2

~ ceeceesparkles ~ Leave a comment

Quite a while ago I posted about how I found out I was pregnant with H and how I told Wild Man. You can read that story here if you’d like. I figured it was only fair that I also share the story of this baby, as well. Just a heads up – much like the story of H – this is not anything exciting or cutesy. Apparently I turn incredibly uncreative when it comes to giant life changes like this.

We didn’t get pregnant immediately when we were trying for H. So when we had settled on a timeline for when we would start trying for baby #2 I wasn’t holding my breath for it to happen very fast (for the record, Wild Man had a very different attitude about this). So when we hadn’t been trying long like…at all…I was both hopeful and skeptical. No way it happened this fast this time. Nope. Regardless of my negative attitude, I couldn’t quit thinking about the pregnancy test sitting in the box under our bathroom counter.

One day Wild Man had just got home from work and we were all at the table eating dinner. I wasn’t even a day late for my period yet but I had been thinking about it all day. Somehow I just felt pregnant even though it made no sense. There was only one way to confirm my suspicion, though. I decided the next morning I would take a test because rumor has it, you get the clearest results when you take pregnancy tests in the morning.

Never mind. The longer we sat at dinner the more impatient I got. I knew I was pregnant and I just needed that little stick to tell me I wasn’t crazy. I got up from the dinner table and just said I needed to use the restroom but didn’t explain what I was doing. When you take a pregnancy test you’re typically instructed to lay the test on the counter for 2 minutes (or so) and check back on it. But I wasn’t about to wait 2 minutes. As soon as the test began I sat and watched it. I watched the test go from blank to…positive. I was right. I was pregnant.

I said a quick prayer of thanks, had my moment, cleaned up then ran out to our kitchen and stood right next to Wild Man and said, “Want to see something cool?” Then I handed him the test. (my cute, creative announcements are back at it!) We were both so excited! We told H he was going to be a big brother then Wild Man talked to my stomach for a minute. The rest of the day was just full of that pure elation you feel after seeing that positive sign – and to be honest we’ve been riding that high since and now we are this close to meeting this sweet baby!!

This is just for me to remember.. We were almost 4 weeks when I found out..

xoxo

ceeceesparkles

5 Years!

~ ceeceesparkles ~ Leave a comment

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Five years ago today in the Mount Timpanogos Temple I was married, sealed for time and all eternity to my sweet, selfless husband. Five years has flown by and I really feel like I’ve known this great man for my whole life. Its hard to think of a time when he wasn’t in the picture. We dated a year (our first date was Nov. 4) before getting married and I can truly say that these six years of knowing Wild Man have been the best of my life. Of course the first few years are a lot of learning about each other and figuring out how to make two people one functional couple, but even the harder times were great times.

Often times Wild Man will say, “we make a good team!” or, “we’re the greatest team ever assembled.” A lot of times when I hear that I just laugh and smile, but when I sit here and really think about those two phrases, he’s right! We are not perfect, but we really are a good team and we work hard at our marriage and in our family and I think that work shows off and pays off.

Wild Man is my rock and my sanity. He’s my best friend, my closest ally and my confidant. He’s my cheerleader, my biggest supporter, he’s my fellow dreamer and the person who can perk me up the fastest. I’m eternally grateful that he is eternally mine.

Happy fifth anniversary, Wild Man! Every day I am grateful for you and for the love you have for me.

xoxo

ceeceesparkles

I’m Still Glad I Said Yes

~ ceeceesparkles ~ 2 Comments

Five years ago today Wild Man asked me to marry him. I wrote about how he popped the question last year which you can read here if you’re interested. I don’t know if its weird to really celebrate the day that you got engaged, but I like to. Its not like we have a full on celebration – heck we hardly do anything special for our wedding anniversaries, typically, but I still like to talk about it. Because saying yes to marrying someone and agreeing to being sealed to them for time and ALL eternity (if you’re LDS) is a really big, life changing deal!

I have always been a hopeless romanic. I’m actually a little embarrassed about it because I was so pathetically in love with the ideal of being in love and in a forever love that people were probably so annoyed with me. The hopeless romantic stuff has changed since getting married because its no longer something I am wishing for and dreaming about – I’m living it! But as dorky and cliche as it sounds, I never could have imagined a marriage like the one I have. It really is so good. Better than I could have ever written about when I would write imaginary blog/journal posts about my imaginary marriage (heck yes i was that girl).

Wild Man and I have built a really solid marriage. We are coming up on 5 years of marriage now and 6 years of knowing each other and I’m actually really proud of us. We have a really good thing going and I feel like its only going up, even when there are rocky days and hard times. Every week we try and assess our life, our communication, our mental health and wellbeing and it immensely helps us grow as a partnership. We are able to resolve disagreements quickly, I feel like we genuinely are good at hearing the other person out and respecting the others opinions and compromising. We have an amazing, happy relationship and in result we have an amazing, happy marriage.

*of course it is not perfect – i’m not trying to imply that – we are far from perfect, i’m just focusing on the good stuff right now because anniversary!*

We have one sweet, sweet son who is 20 months old and our greatest accomplishment and biggest source of joy. He has brought us even closer together. He’s challenged us in ways nothing else could have and its helped us strengthen our marriage. I am pregnant with our second child and I know that this little boy will do the same thing for our marriage and teach us things as a couple that only he could do. I’m excited to face it all head-on with Wild Man.

I’m so grateful for Wild Man. I honestly wouldn’t be who I am if I didn’t know him and have his constant example and support in my life. I’m thankful that he took a chance on his weird stalker (haha because thats basically what i was – seriously!) and that he liked me enough to put a ring on my finger! He’s an amazing man with a heart of gold and the biggest most selfless, caring person I know. I’m the luckiest girl in the world to be married to him.

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Happy Engaged-iversary, Wild Man! I love you to infinity and beyond.

xoxo

ceeceesparkles

My Guy

~ ceeceesparkles ~ 1 Comment

I can’t remember if it was right before or right after I got married, but I do remember having a conversation with one of my sisters in law and she had mentioned that she believed wives never show enough gratitude for all their husbands do for them and their families. Even though I felt like I knew Wild Man really well and knew the sacrifices he made and hard work he put into things I never really forgot her saying this.

We have been married for over four years now and I still have that phrase run through my mind pretty regularly and the more I think about it, the more I, too, believe it. Wild Man, from the second I met him, has been one of the most selfless individuals I’ve ever known. Very rarely does he put himself first, and when he does its only because I had to talk him into it. He is so concerned about the happiness and well-being of others that he will bend over backwards one thousand times in order to help lighten someones load, make their lives a little easier and leave a smile on their face.

Being his wife, I feel like I get extra special treatment from him. I have seen him work so hard and put countless hours into something I mentioned I’d like or want done around the house in passing. He makes my dreams a reality and he does so without having to be asked and without hesitation. If he knows something is on my mind he takes the time out of his busy day to sit with me and talk it out. If he knows I have had a busy or stressful day and didn’t get all I wanted to done around the house, when he gets home from work (after having a busy, tiring day himself) before he does anything for himself he does the housework I wasn’t able to get to. He always thanks me for what I do with our son, the house, our family, etc. Then there is his relationship with H. Since bringing H into this world, Wild Man has made so many big life changes, has made some hard decisions and has taken on a lot – all for the benefit of our family and the security and well-being of our son and future children. Every single night I’m shocked that with everything Wild Man on his plate he always makes the time to spend quality time with his son. Its not just throwing a ball here and there and giving him the occasional kiss on the cheek – he spends real, quality time with H. He gets down on the floor and plays with all his toys, helps him work on his new tricks, reads books to him, watches shows with him, feeds him and so much more. As cliche as it sounds, there is honestly no time when Wild Man looks more attractive to me than when he is being a hands on father.

There is so, so much more he does out of the goodness of his big, kind heart for us and I really am very grateful. But I definitely don’t express my gratitude to him near enough. Women get a lot of credit for all they do, but why do the men get passed up? I am hoping this year to make sure I change this. Wild Man is freaking awesome. He does everything and goes above and beyond and without him I’d be an anxious mess and the house and our family life would be a disaster. He truly is my rock, my sanity and my best friend and I AM SO THANKFUL FOR HIM. I know typing that in caps and making it bold is an insanely small gesture and is quite insignificant (will he even read this post? who knows) but I am going to do better at making sure he never forgets how valued he is in our family and how fortunate H and I are to have him at the head of our household.

Thanks, Wild Man for being you. For loving us. And for being the greatest example. Love you!

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xoxo

ceeceesparkles