life this side of three.

When I was growing up, it seemed that Moms with kids three and older, had it going on. It seemed that by that point, they knew what was going on and could handle any situation thrown their way.

Strangely enough, when my baby turned three, I didn't feel at all that way.

Most days she hands me at least two situations where I scratch my head and wonder what the hell just happened. She says things that I swear an eight year old shouldn't say, and she knows things that even I don't know.

It's sort of ridiculous.

When she goes to bed at night, I literally collapse because my brain is absolutely throbbing from the mental tests she has put me through the day.

Those Moms I watched growing up? I am so sorry for not cutting you any slack. I should've bought you a drink.

Then there's the older side of a three year old. The side that I absolutely, positively cannot get enough of.

This little 3 1/2 foot creature that resides in my house is the funniest person I've ever met. From shouting out "you're doggone right!" at the most inopportune times, to making up completely off the wall songs, I spend a good portion of my day in hysterics. Sometimes that's not a good thing; like when I'm trying my hardest to discipline her but she's pulling out one of her jokes and for the love of all that is holy, I give in and laugh every time.
the day she turned threeShe's funny. She knows it. I swear she thinks it's a weapon.

She's also smart. As a whip.

She was moved up to 3K early and she is loving that fact. At least once daily we hear "I'm in 3K now because I'm 3. And because I'm smart!". Humility will be something we work on later.

But I love her confidence. I love when she blurts out "I'm funny!" when we tell her she's not (this is usually in reference to the fact that she already thinks humor can get her out of everything). I love that she already knows what she's good at. She's good at funny. I secretly hope she always is.
cupcakes for breakfast on her birthdayShe's still a fan of music and more often than not is asking me to "turn it up!" or squealing "I just love this song!".

She's still cautious in situations she's not sure of tending to stick between my legs on those occasions, but it doesn't take her long to warm up. And when she does? there won't be a stranger in the room because she'll quickly let you know who she is followed by at least ten minutes where she'll tell you as many words as she can get in before you leave.

She's a talker that one.

My drives home with her are filled with stories of what her little friends did at school and almost daily I laugh to myself when I remember how I used to do the same thing. Growing up it frustrated me to no end that my Mom would tell me "Megan, I don't know any of these people" but now, well I feel the same. Though I let her tell the stories anyway. The mantra "all the things she's telling you are big things to her" runs through my head as I nod along and just try to keep up with what Sophia, Collin, and Eden did today.

I never can keep up.
The words come a mile a minute and I try to remind myself to soak it in because I know she won't always talk to me like this. I'm not perfect though. There are times she and I have to separate because we're no longer bringing the good out in each other. It happens.

She's my sidekick. She's my heart and soul. She can also be a pain in my neck. But truthfully, I wouldn't have it any other way.

And the days where we've butted heads all day and ended on a bad note, well, those disappear when I sneak into her room and look at those baby cheeks (one of the last bits of baby on her) with those long eyelashes resting on them and those sweet, chubby hands curled underneath. She's so, so cool.

Life this side of three is tiring, but good grief it's also all sorts of awesome.

wordless wednesday

A few shots from the rest of our time in Myrtle Beach the other weekend...

s & k get hitched part 3: the wedding & reception

...you can find parts 1 & 2 here and here.

We all got the the wedding venue just in time to take a few pictures before the guests started showing up. Pretty soon, it was just about go time.

The wedding was stunning. It was moving. The flower girls did excellent. They even managed to stay up front the entire ceremony. My brother choked up. It was the sweetest thing. I am just so thrilled that they took the time to have this celebration with all their family and friends. It really was such a special day.

Then it was time for the reception. Which wan an absolute blast. There was tons of dancing (especially by K's great granddad), tons of laughter, tons of photos in the photobooths and tons of drinks. It was such a great party. It was so fun to just relax with friends and family that we don't get to see much. It was the perfect party.

So much fun. I need people to get married every weekend. It's just so fun.

s & k get hitched part 2: getting ready

Kiki and I had to get up far too early (especially after the previous night's shenanigans..) to help her Mom set up the venue for the big day. Or course we got out there to find that none of the vendors were on time so we set up as much as we could before leaving detailed instructions of what needed to be done when we went back to get ready.

K had set it up that both the lady doing our hair and the lady doing our makeup were coming to the pool house to meet us. So we laid out a spread of snacks and mimosas and set up for a big 'ol girls day.

We tried so hard to get the little ones to pass out and take a nap, but they were NOT having it. They wanted to be right in the thick of things; getting their nails did and hair curled. No lie, it was actually kind of sweet and I know it made their days being included with the "big girls".

Getting dressed at the house had a few other perks as well. K's grandma was able to meet us there and was able to help K get dressed which I know meant a lot to the two of them as well as K's Mom.

Eventually it was time to get ready, well after a million more pictures because, well, duh.

Then it was time to get dressed... and K was absolutely stunning.

Finally it was time to head over to the venue. So we packed all the girls up and headed on over....

eight.

Eight years ago I married my best friend.

Never could I have imagined what would come after that day.

In eight years babe, we've experienced some of the highest highs and some of the darkest lows. It hasn't always been easy or sunshiney but we made it. And there's no one else I would have rather had by my side.

Eight years ago I had no idea that our life would include multiple job changes, homes in 3 different states, a struggle to start a family, and a beautiful daughter who has completed our lives.

I couldn't have planned this life if I tried. It's better than anything I could have ever asked for. You made it that way.

Babe I love you more today than yesterday. You are still the funniest person I know. You still know how to push my buttons better than anyone else. And you still give me butterflies.

I love you. Happy Anniversary babe.

s & k get hitched: part 1

My brother and sister in law got married last year in a simple, sweet ceremony in the park. It was between deployments and moves and baby and was low key and sweet and quite simply, perfect.

However, they both wanted a big wedding. A big celebration of sorts to show all their friends and family a good time and to have everyone celebrate them as they became a family. So on the one year anniversary date of their wedding, this past Saturday, they renewed their vows in front of family and friends. And it was perfect.

Mr. P drove down to Charleston the day before for some work stuff so he was planning on meeting us down there Friday. BG and I were meeting my aunt and Papa Friday morning to head to the beach in time for the rehearsal. Only, as usual, my work day became a complete cluster and we ended up leaving Florence way later than we intended. Fortunately the little gave us a bit of a break in that she slept most of the way down there allowing for zero stops. Praise.

When we got to town, we had to make a mad dash to change clothes and make it over to the Rehearsal. Only we didn't because as per the norm, everybody in my family was late. They will all be late to their own funeral. Mark my words.

Once everyone got there, it was rehearsal time.
It was hot, but everyone was in fantastic spirits. They couldn't have a funner group of people to surround themselves with and we girls laughed the whole time we were there as we caught up and made new friends. It was such a relaxed atmosphere even in the midst of the stress of getting things set up. Which thankfully took no time at all.

After the rehearsal, we all headed back over to Kiki's parents' house for dinner and drinks. Family quickly joined us and it became this loud affair with so much laughter. Kids were running around playing, drinks were flowing, amazing view of the beach; quite simply, I never wanted to leave.

We girls all spent the night in the pool house at Kiki's parents' house. Only as we sat there talking and drinking a bit, we realized we had completely forgotten to go pick up the flowers earlier. Which lead to the five of us mad dashing it across town, in our pajamas, to pick them up. Thank goodness for Mother's Day weekend which had the florists still up and hard at work.

K wanted to go straight home, but the rest of us kidnapped her and drug her to a local bar (yes, in our pajamas) for a few drinks and a low key "bachelorette party". It was so fun. Those girls are a riot.

We finally made it back to the house only to find the boys had shown back up too. So of course we all stayed up way too late playing games, shooting the breeze, and yes, having a few cocktails. Finally at 1, K and I called it a night and dipped out for bed. There's no telling what time the rest of the crew died out.

The next morning dawned bright and early with K's Mom busting into the pool house looking for help to go to the venue to set up. But that's for another day :)

real life.

I have a million things that somehow have to be done in a very short amount of time. This weekend is one of my biggest events at work and I won't even be here. Nice right?

So not only am I trying to pull off my biggest weekend of the year, I'm trying to pull everything together for my little family to go out of town and be in a wedding this weekend. To say I'm stressed out would be an understatement of epic proportions.

How about a bit of real life?

For Easter I wanted one decent family picture. One.

Not too bad except for Mr. P and those blasted glasses. These are about as good as you get with the little these days but I decided we had to try again without those glasses. So we did.

Some day these family pictures will be funny right?!