Ten Plus One

Yesterday, Jason and I celebrated 11 years of marriage. How is it possible that we're old enough to have that many years behind us? Oh, right. I was a child bride.
This year, with the impending arrival of the child-who-won't-leave-my-womb, was a little more low key than last year's celebration.

Still, dinner and a movie and a quiet house without the girls was more than enough this year (thanks, grandparents!).

Happy anniversary to my best friend! Every year is better than the last. I love you!

Quite Possibly the Stupidest Injury of All Time

Last Friday, I mentioned to my mom that we were taking the girls to see the Naturals (the new minor league baseball team) that night. A little while later, she called me back and said "You know, I was thinking... Jason used to play baseball--has he ever thought of trying out for the Naturals?"
After I finished laughing hysterically, I told her that no, Jason had not considered trying out and hadn't played baseball in about 14 years.

The next night, we were playing outside with the girls, Aunt Ashley, Uncle Thad and Grandma Becky, when Jason (possibly inspired by the previous night's ball game?)picked up a plastic bat and ball. THWACK!!!

I heard the sound of plastic on plastic and, with my cat-like reflexes, turned and ducked. The line drive off my husband's oversized plastic bat hit me squarely on the left ear and my immediate reaction was to start crying because 1) I'm kind of a crybaby 2) It hurt really, really bad 3) I couldn't hear anything and 4) I was sort of mad.

After I quit crying, I examined my bright red ear and determined that the pain was coming from the inside. I couldn't hear, felt a lot of pressure and there was this weird ringing sound inside my head. I spent all weekend talking about it, just to make sure Jason felt sufficiently guilty. He did.

This morning I went to the doctor, as a precaution, since my ear is still hurting. You may be surprised to know that it's possible to rupture your ear drum with a Little Tikes plastic ball--well, if the ball is coming towards your ear at a rapid speed from about four feet away.

In addition to the ear drum rupture, my jaw is also swollen and slightly displaced. From a plastic ball, people! You really can't make this stuff up.

So now I've got ear drops, an anti-inflammatory for my jaw and two weeks of not washing my hair in the shower ahead of me. If you think I'm going to let this go easily, you're wrong. I intend to milk this for at least a few weeks of special treatment.

And as for the plastic bats and balls we have lying around here--I'm thinking of replacing them all with nerf balls.

Ten

It's hard to believe it's been ten years already. Ten years since we started our life together, still in college, two dollars in the checking account, and no idea what our future would look like.
We've grown so much. From college to grad school to first jobs to having kids. The things we've experienced together have shaped us, both indivually and as a couple.
We've had a lot of fun. A summer spent in Prague. Annual beach vacations. Ball games, travel, races and just hanging out together doing nothing at all.
We've added to our family. From two to three to four. It's amazing how Claire and Arden are the perfect fit for our family.
We've been blessed. Way more ups than downs. Far more laughter than tears. More joy than we could imagine.

Happy anniversary to my best friend! I love you!

Weekend In Review

This weekend was Jason's 31st birthday. On Friday, Claire and I made a strawberry cake (Claire cracked all three eggs by herself and Mommy fished the shells out with a fork) and wrapped Daddy's presents. Even though his birthday wasn't until Saturday, Claire couldn't wait for Jason to open his gift, so we cheated and let him open it a day early. Plus, since Claire told him what it was as soon as he walked in the door from work, waiting seemed kind of silly.

Look out, Ace of Cakes, my cake making skills will give you a run for your money.

On Saturday, we celebrated the big day by going to see the Razorbacks get beat by Kentucky. Don't think that Jason didn't take the loss personally, because he did. At least we had our BFFs in town to help soften the blow of the defeat.

Sunday, we went to Jason's mom's after Church to have a birthday lunch in Jason's honor (we like to draw our birthday celebrations out as long as humanly possible). No pictures from that, but trust me, Claire had a big time hanging with Jason's teenage cousins and Arden ran around like a wild child, scavenging food from whoever was nearby.

Monday, we went to the park with Claire's good buddy, Ian. They rode their bikes on the trail, played on the playground and had a picnic lunch (well, if you consider "lunch" a cheese stick and a juice box, because that's about all either one of them ate).

After naptime yesterday, Claire decided to dress-up as a rock star and put on a little show for us. If I can figure out how to upload (download?) the video of it, I'll try to put in on here later today. In the meantime, here's a picture of my future rock star.