And then there were 7

Years of marriage under our belts, that is.

I have often heard of the "7 year itch". Actually, I Googled it, and it is a very real thing!  Apparantly, after 7 years of marriage, couples tend to be too comfortable, too open, and not passionate enough. I would love to say that this does not hold true for my lovely husband and myself. Alas, it is TRUE that we are too comfortable, open, and the "ehem" priorities of our relationship are far different in this stage of life than they were in the beginning.

I guess my question is, then, how and why are we so happy?  We are comfortable with one another to a fault. The mystery is LONG gone. Paul is the one person in the world I can truly say absolutely ANYTHING to, and not worry about being judged. We talk about anything and everything, no holds barred, no matter how embarassing or ridiculous. My husband regluarly sees me in a less than lovely physical state (I have an at home uniform of jammies and greasy hair). That fiery, spicy, can't keep our hands off each other thing- long gone. In fact, as I hate to admit, some days I barely remember to hug my beloved, between work, dishes, laundry, cleaning, busy social lives, and parenting a toddler. Life just seems to get in the way. Ugh. Sounds miserable, right?

Not so much. I can honestly say that this is what I have come to realize IS true love, to us at least. Why did we get married in the first place? When we took our vows to one another, 7 years ago, we did not promise to keep things from one another, to not communicate, or to focus on the physical. We promised to listen, be supportive, communicate, have one another's back, and to be the best friend the other can ask for. We vowed to love one another through thick and thin, to work together in all we do, and to follow the same path and work as a team. We promised to do all we could to make a strong, lasting marriage and to raise a family, together, united as one.

Mission accomplished. I am blessed enough to have a marriage built on communication, teamwork, support, and a deep, lasting mutual respect and a true love for one another. To some, this may sound far from the exciting relationship all women seem to think they will end up with as young people.  And guess what? It IS far from it. It is what matters to us, though. We have truly come to place in our lives where are are happy, settled, and working together in just about all we do. We have honed our strenghts as a couple, and have leared a lot about ourselves and each other as we have shared this journey. How is that a bad thing?

With that being said, I am trying to do better on living up to my vows. There is a LOT of room for me to be a better wife, that is for sure. I need to make more of an effort to focus on my man (hard to do when you have a little one, but just as important as it ever was) and to take the time to nurture our relationship as a couple, and not just Leah's Mom and Dad. She is the most important, wonderful thing in our lives, but our marriage is just as important and special as she is.

I hope I can continue to try to be a better wife to my husband, cause he deserves it. He is kind, compassionate, patient beyond comprehsion, level headed (especially when I am not), hardworking, inspitrational, fun, and the most dedicated husband and father I know. Paul Fasse is my dream guy.

I am thankful for the fact that our relationship IS based on what really matters in life. So, on to year 8 we go, with what I can only describe as a bit of "itchiness".  And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Happy anniversary to the love of my life. I look forward to sharing a lifetime full of love with you.

Phrases

Leah has  recently started putting phrases together rather well. She has always been a talker, but now she is comminutcating more and more by putting her words together. We still hear a lot of babbling, of course, but more and more of what this little nugget is saying is starting to make sense.

Some favorite phrases:
Mommy shoe
Night Night baby
Night night Maisy
Bye Bye (whoever)
Hi (whoever)
No (insert whatever she is "no-ing" at the time
Go (whatever she wants to go at the moment)
Yummy Cheerio (or cheese, or yogurt, or fruit)
Please (whatever she wants at the momemt)

She is fun as ever!!! Being home and hearing just about everything that comes out of her sassy little mouth has been so much great. I love this age and all the learning that comes along with it. 

With a little help from my friends

Leah is getting more and more social as the months pass by (hmmm.... wonder where THAT came from),and she just loved other kids now. Good thing she has a bunch of pals to play with!  So far this summer, we have had a few fun  playdates with all our big and little friends. it has been so fabulous to have the time to  get all the kids together more. Quality time with pals is the best. I'm glad my girl agrees!

Leah loves TyTy!

BFF's- in matching outfits, of course.

Uncle Alex gives the kids tractor rides. Love!

The friends that share a cup stay together. Well, at least the germs do...

Violet and Leah, sharing the playhouse. Violet won the share award this time.  :)

Ooohhh... horsey

Leah's first horse ride. She was horrified beyond comprehension. I do not see a future in racing for her. 

All the munchkins this day!We need more boys.

LOVE!

When these three are16, we are in trouble. 

Jack is such a REBEL!!!

Beautiful Mama and beautiful babies

We age them chips to get them together. Mothers of the year.

I hope everyone else has had a wonderful start to summer, too!

Naked wader

We took the pool out on the first day both of us wee off school. Leah LOVED playing in it. She splashed, ran in circles,and washed her hair for an hour. It was just the start to what is already shaping up to be one fab summer!!

15 months

Darling Leah, at 15 months, you...

-Weigh in at 20 lbs, 14 ounces, and are 29 inches long. This puts you in the 19th (yay) and 45th, respectively. So far, you are long and skinny.  :)

-Have been walking for over a month now. You run in circles, giggle while you walk, fall on your cute bottom all the time, and really never crawl anymore. I am sad that your last tiny baby thing isgone, but I love this stage!

-Say about 40 words! This puts you at 20-24 months in terms of your vocabulary. You seem to have a new word every few days.

- Fit in some 12 month, some18 month clothes now.

- Love other little people. You point to anyone smaller than a 5 year old, smile, and say "baby".

- Still eat like a champ. Some of your favorites right now are black beans, cheese, eggs, cheerios, turkey, edamame, yogurt, spaghetti, and any kind of fruit. You are a complete fruit a holic.

- Sleep 10-12 hours at night, with 2 naps during the day.

- Now have 14 teeth, 8 on the bottom, and 6on the top.

-Love to give kisses and hugs these days.A big wet smacker from you is the best ever. You also pet people and animals, and say "nice." Your sweet side is really coming out more and more.

- Adore playing outside! You love your playhouse, slide, and the grass. You are not so sure about the sprinkler yet, but will get there, I'm sure.

- Have a new favorite book that you keep bringing to us to read to you- "Llama Llama Red Pajama".  You like the rhymes, and babble along as we read it.

-Are getting pretty girly. You just love your baby.She gets rocked to sleep (the thrown on the floor), fed, (the thrown on the floor) and kissed (and thrown on the floor) all the time. You also love to help us dress yourself, bruch your hair, and carry your purse around.

- Adore bath time, books,  music, dancing, clapping, watching video of yourself, eating, drinking from a cup, walking, running, Maisy, making animal sounds, pointing to body parts, "talking" you your phone, screaming in delight and making a fort. You love your baby's bouncy seat, blocks, cup, books you can hold and turn pages, and stuffed animals.

- Have the cutest butt ever, and your long red locks are getting longer and longer, but curling up more and more. You have tight spiral curls in the back, and when I pull them out, your hair is about 3 inches long!

-  Have a few nicknames these days. We call you Noggy, LiLi, Cutie Patootie, Schmoop, Smush, and Schmatza (Papa calls you that).

-Are starting to become more of a toddler. You say "no no no" when you do not want something. We are working on manners, but so far, not so good! We will get there!

- Get enough kisses in a day to irritate your skin!  Your daddy and I still smother you with kisses all day long. You are beyond darling. We cherish you so much.

Summer has only just begun

We have already been having so much fun playing in the yard! Leah has a slide, a playhouse, a pool and a sprinkler, and all have been big hits so far. I am LOVING this toddler thing (I know, I know, people keep saying enjoy while it lasts cause it is about to get hard, but I am trying to enjoy it all)! 

A leaf for daddy

Blowing (read:eating) bubbles!

Chillin like a villian!

Little gardener!

LOVE.

Happy hour

Explorigng the grass

OK, this is BEYOND messed up and would not let her wear this in public, but COME ON.

Nonnie showing Leah the bugs.  :)

Here's to being reminded every day how precious the little things in life are! Leah has already done that so much for us. I can't WAIT for summertime!

Leah and Serena finally meet!

Somer and I (Morgan, too) finally got to introduce our baby girls this week!  Leah was all about little Miss Serena!  She kept pointing to her saying "baby baby baby night night". It was darling to see her actually love up on a baby.

Welcome to the crew, Serena! We love you!

I don't know?!

When Leah does not know how to answer a question, she says "I don't know?!" by putting her hands like this. So cute!  She does this about a million times a day. 

Blabbermouth (again, like mother, like daughter)

Leah is learning new words every day. We are LOVING this stage of parenthood! She is just so fun and interactive now.

Some new words:
Cheerio
Banana
Leah- every time she sees herself in the mirror or a picture now, she says her name.  :)
Nonnie (my mom)
Hi
Puppy
Book
She now says "Mommy" and "Daddy" the right way, too. Every time she says Mommy, my heart aches with love. We are blessed.

Our first family 5 K!

Paul and I have been looking for a tangible way to give back to the infertility community for a long time. Without http://www.fcionline.com/  and the fantastic Dr. Sipe and staff, our Leah might not be here. The doctors and nurses at this place are just incredible, and we are so thankful to them for helping us bring our little miracle to life. We were back at good old FCI last week, and as I was telling my doctor about how going through infertility has sparked a passion in me for the field, he told us about the upcoming Race for Families.
The goal of this race is to raise money to help families without infertility insurance cover the costs of the process. Without insurance, ONE CYCLE of  In Vitro can cause upwards of $20,000 (and it is not like you get a refund if you don't get pregnant). For many couples, it takes 2-3 cycles to even reach success (if they do), so you can imagine the amount of money these people sink into the hope of starting a family.
I am so thankful that we have incredible IF insurance. We were able to focus on attaining a healthy pregnancy, and not how we would pay for thousands in medical bills. In my opinion, everyone deserves at least that much. Going through infertility is so hard- why should it be any harder?

Thank you, Fertility Centers of Illinois!

To donate to our fundraising efforts, please visit our page:

http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/fasse/illraceforthefamily