King of our hearts

Daddy helping Jenni get her medicine.

Daddy and Grace making a dinosaur puzzle together.

Jenni making a sticky glue mess.

Daddy putting up a new light in the dining room. A super clearance I found at Lowe's.

Grace reading to Jenni for nap time.

For about three weeks now the girls have been sick. I think they are finally done with it all and are getting back to themselves, they don't listen, they want to argue with me, they don't want to go to bed on time....yep, they are getting back to normal! :) Because the girls have been sick for so long and I have not had a moment to look at a calender for the long term, just what is happening for the next day. I had completely forgotten that my husband's BIG, HUGE, GIGANTIC birthday is this weekend (tomorrow actually) he is going to be 30!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, I married a younger man, not a real surprise when you look at my dating history (they were all younger then me, except one). When I met Ryan he was a baby, 19 actually, I was 22. We met when I was going to MSU, he was working at a lumber yard. I had a boyfriend already, he was single. I met him while I was visiting my mom for a weekend, he had his friend hit on me for him. I would not at all say it was love at first sight for me. I thought he was cute, but again, I had a boyfriend. We exchanged phone numbers, I was just being nice, I was not going to call him. Well, he called me and I remember talking on the phone with him for HOURS!! Literally until the sun came up, I didn't have class the next day, so it was no big deal for me, but Ryan had to work in the morning. We carried on for a while on the phone talks, I eventually ended it with my boyfriend and moved to Adrian, the rest as they say, is history.

My husband is my best friend, he is my rock, we are like peanut butter and jelly. Whatever Ryan is, I feel like I am the opposite and that is how we work. I am optimistic, he is a total pessimist. I can stay in bed all day and watch a movie, he has to be doing something or he is bored. I like to stay home, he likes to go out. I love camping, he hates sleeping in a tent. We just mesh!

He is a wonderful dad, a hard worker, a wonderful addition to my family! He is the money maker, the plumber, the electrician, the diaper changer, the car mechanic, a good friend, and a teacher, just to name a few things. He loves his girls like its nobody's business, he wants to provide them with everything they need and want. He is amazing to me, and I love that we really work as a team, he encourages me to live my dreams and go into photography, while I help him with is work and give marketing, sales, and dealing with grumpy customers advice.
He really puts 100% into everything he does, and he does everything so amazingly well.

While I know that sometimes I take him for granted, and I forget to say Thank you, I always make sure he knows he is needed and loved by his three girls. He is always hugged and kissed and most definitely he is the king of our hearts. Happy 30th Birthday Ryan!!!

NEVER clean

Jenn showing her attitude.

If she could take this everywhere, she would!

Passed out, still not feeling 100%

Our new pets, now she wants a pink cat!

Well, we got to go outside FINALLY!!!!! I know that I should NOT have taken them out, but I just couldn't resist, the girls were wanting to go out and the sun was happy!!!! Grace is still not 100% nor is Jenni, but maybe the sun would help them feel a little better. We got Grace all signed up to play soccer, and she got her first pet, fish! She picked out what fish she wanted and she then named them. The fish are called Megan, Jessica, Sparky, and Tiny. She knows which one is which, and she can even here them call for her when they are hungry. I know, she is totally excited, but I can't help but laugh like a fool when I hear to say "Mom, I heard my fish call me, they need to eat."

My stress as a mom is starting to soar as we enter the nice weather months, so much stuff going on, and not a lot of time to get things done. I have felt so overwhelmed lately and I just can't seem to shake the anxiety of it all. I have to make grocery lists, and do the shopping, pay the bills, make dinners and lunches and breakfasts, do laundry, change diapers, give baths, brush hair and teeth, make sure we have diapers and wipes. Not to mention watch the clocks to make sure we actually eat, sleep and play at the right times through the day. There is so much more stuff that I have to schedule and then remember when I scheduled it all. Screw time to clean up the mess and the house! Life as a mom is so much more then I ever really realized, my house is pretty much NEVER clean, but my kids are thoroughly read to every day, and to me that is my priority. Having a clean house is really not that important, but playing with them while I still can and while they still like me, that is a big deal to me. When I am away from the girls I feel guilty, I tend to have a overly high sense of guilt that I should be home, home and taking care of my kids. I try to remember that I need a night off, or even just a few hours away, that it will make me and them feel a little better. Sometimes it works, most times, I just stress myself out about missing them. UGH! Thank God for girlfriends who make me realize that I am not crazy, just normal!

Picture Shortage, Sorry

Grace has a black eye.

Grace and Jenn holding hands, so Grace can get her eye drops in.

I LOVE this!

First, sorry for lack of pictures. Second, I still love you for reading my garbley gook. The week started out with a trip to the doctors for Grace. She came home with a ear infection and a double eye infection. I never even heard of an eye infection, for future reference that means that instead of snot coming out of her nose, it is coming our of her eyes. Gross I know! Wednesday we visited the doctor again, this time with Jennifer, she too has a ear infection and a sinus infection. Hold on, it gets better.
Because I have been worried and concentrating on the girls and getting them back to healthy, I let myself go. I ignored my aches and pains, but at night I could feel it all over, I don't think I really slept for 3 days. So this morning I spent searching for a doctor to go to for myself. I was so frustrated and exhausted of not feeling well I finally just went home and started crying in Ryan's arms, I just wanted to feel better. Mid afternoon, my doctor came through and I was in and out of the office in 10 minutes, but she did yell at me for not coming in more. I have medicine, I can breath out of my nose, and I have the BEST doctor ever!!! It turns out I have a combo of ears, sinus and throat. Life is good in the Henry house, or should I say life is germy!!
I usually will not get meds if I don't think it is necessary. I will allow a few days to fight off the sickness and it usually works. The girls are a whole different story, they are little, I just want them out of pain so they can be happy!! I wait as long as I can before I take them in, but pain is just not on my wish list for them.
It's amazing how Mom's push through pain to get the job done. I will not lie, we didn't eat very healthy, I didn't do normal nightly baths, but they were loved and given what they needed and wanted. It was one week that was painful, but I am ever great full to have two beautiful and now healthy girls! I am a blessed and happy mom!

A Wonderful Weekend

I had a wonderful weekend with my family. My little (yet WAY taller then me) brother, his wife and my nephew came down for a weekend visit to play with me, the girls and my mom, Ryan had to work all weekend. We made plans to go to a train museum down near Cincinnati, OH. After my sister in law (sil) and I talked about it together we were dreading the 4 hour, one way, drive time. We talked to my bro and decided to reschedule the train museum for a different weekend, where we will be booking hotel rooms!!
We then made plans to stay local and visit the science museum in Toledo (Imagination Station) for Saturday. We had a blast!! We played with water, building blocks, paper airplanes, and they had a fun house, which made all the adults sick : ) We then ordered pizza, had a few adult beverages and had a great fun night. Sunday we got up for the day and went to have a short but good visit with Gammie. The kids found her dog's cage and thought it made a great fort.
Other then the bad parts of the weekend, Grace having a total melt down when it was time to leave the museum, and the fact that she was sick, I had a blast!
I miss my brother, sil and nephew a lot, I wish I could see them more, but time does not always play in our favor. I am happy still that when the kids get together, they start playing right where they left off the last time they saw each other. To see more pictures, plus MY FAVORITE of the weekend, go here. I hope the kids remember these times as much as I will!!!!!!

A week of growing up

Daddy working on his truck!

Hello, I am Jenni, look at me and my shoes!

Goodbye!

My big girl on the potty, Holy Cow!!!

Grace was invited to her first Preschool friend Birthday party, while I never actually saw her (running around the whole time) I actually caught Jenn stopped in one place!

This week has been a little bit on the edge for me. Jennifer actually went PeePee on the potty, I literally was just telling Ryan that she is starting to dress herself and that she will be following that up with potty training pretty soon. I had no idea it was going to be this soon!!!

Grace is loving Preschool and I am so glad that we got her into her program, she has a best friend and a lot of other friends too. She even brings home art projects some of her friends have made for her. She is loving school, and I love that!! This week we had to sign her up for Pre-K for next year, I am already having anxiety over it because she will be gone all day long. Yes, Jenni and I will get lots of private time, but this is a HUGE step for me and I am sad and happy and totally anxious.

In other news I got a flash for my camera and a fancy pair of shoes for a wedding we are going to in April. The flash, I have wanted for a long time and I am going to be using it while I photography a wedding (my first wedding) in June, I hope to use it more often and learn to use it so I can further advance my photos, the real photos, not the ones of my weekly adventures. The shoes however, I took back to the store. : ( Sad I know, but I just will never wear them again and my Mommy-self just cannot rationalize with the Cheryl-self buying shoes that are totally impractical to my life. Call my crazy, I know I "deserve" them as my Mother and Ryan told me, but I just can't bring myself to wear these shoes when I know that I will hardly ever wear them again. Instead I am going to get a different pair of shoes, still fancy and fun, just not so high and ones that I know I will wear again! I hate having two me's inside my head!!!

The shoes I gave up! So cute!