Can you hear the wedding bells?

Soooo...I'm getting married on Saturday!!! We had planned to be married in May 2017 but circumstances changed and we moved it up. 

(Let's get the bad news out so we can focus on the fun stuff.) My fiance's mother was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer about a month ago. We couldn't possibly imagine getting married without her there so we made the easy decision to move it up. 

So with three weeks to go, we started planning a new, much smaller wedding. Amazingly, everything has come together so quickly and relatively easily. I think it's all meant to be this way. We got permission to be married on the campus where we both work. We found the perfect spot under a Willow tree, next to a stream, with a beautiful wrought iron bridge in the background. We will be surrounded by our closest family and friends and then we have rented out our favorite Mexican restaurant for an intimate linner (not a typo...we'll have it from 2-5pm so somewhere in the middle of lunch and dinner). 

I found my dress several months ago at a place near my mom's (about 4 hours from me) and planned to go back in January for the first fitting but when I called to explain the situation, the woman immediately promised to have it ready in time. I went down two weekends ago for the fitting and my mom will bring it up for me when she comes for the wedding. It's a little nerve wracking to not have a second fitting but I trust the woman. She's amazing at what she does and I have complete faith. 

We were able to secure the same photographer too! I fell in love with the photos from this company and signed contracts with them for May several months ago. I can't believe they had this weekend open, but like I said, it's meant to be! 

My girls planned to come up this summer to do dress shopping but were able to find an amazing dress on Amazon for $20 in the matter of hours!! They are the color I wanted and are an awesome Audrey Hepburn style! 

We had a few issues finding an officiant (everyone is on vacation!) but we finally nailed that down last week. She's a friend of the family and has been so flexible and amazing! 

We went shopping on Monday and found the perfect wedding bands in the matter of a few hours! We'll have to wait for them to be sized until after but that's a small price to pay. 

So really, everything has worked out so wonderfully! The whole reasoning behind this is heartbreaking and excruciating to think about but we are all focusing on the good that is happening and enjoying the time with his mom as much as possible. I'm incredibly excited to marry my best friend sooner than expected! Bud and Babe are excited too! 

So Saturday, July 30 is the day! Can you hear those wedding bells? I can and I'm smiling like a fool!!! 

Lily

Gettin' Hitched!

You guys!!! I’m engaged!!! LC proposed to me AND the kids on Monday and it was the most adorable thing! He started out by asking us to all go into our fancy living room. He then told the kids that he had a question to ask me but that he needed them to say yes too because if we all did then we’d be a family forever. I immediately started crying (happy tears, of course!). He had me unwrap the outer box and open up the ring box so I could see the little picture of us he stuck in there (so cute!). Then he took the box from my hand, got down on his knee and asked if I would marry him. Through my blubbering, I said yes and the kids started jumping around in happiness and we all hugged. LC made sure the kids knew my tears were happy tears and we all hugged again. He slipped the ring on my finger and I had to wipe away the tears to get a good look at it. It’s absolutely perfect! Simple and elegant! I couldn’t have picked out a better one if I tried and the fact that he never asked me a question about my preferences and just knew what would be right makes it a thousand times better!

The kids were both so excited but Bud was left speechless. He just kept smiling and hugging us both and I could tell he was just as excited as we were! It was adorable! He idolizes LC so he was just beside himself with joy. I don’t think Babe fully understood what was happening but our excitement made her excited.

Everything was perfect! Everything is perfect! Life is so, so good!

#happy

It's so sparkly!

Lily

The Schedule

It's been super duper long since I last posted but after a couple of "Schedule" posts from friends, I felt compelled to save my daily schedule as a reminder of what A Day in the Life looks like right now. So for posterity sake, here's our typical schedule during the week...

On mornings that my ex has the kids, he drops them off to me before he goes to work (he has to be there at 6:00am). The bracketed text is for those days - it rotates every week, either MRF or TW.

[5:15 - get a text saying they are in the driveway

5:15-5:20ish - go down and take Babe out of his arms while he puts Bud down. Bud walks himself up and I carry Babe up. She can never fall back asleep so I put her movie on for her. Surprisingly, Bud falls back asleep almost every time

5:20ish - crawl back into bed and be super anxious about my alarm going off in 20 minutes]

5:40 - Alarm goes off 

6:05 - finally give in, turn off alarm for the 4th time, get out of bed

6:05-6:25 - shower, dress, prep breakfast and other quick chores (e.g., putting away last night's pots and pans)

6:25 - wake up Bud and send him downstairs with his clothes for the day and his book (currently the 5th book in Rick Riordan's Heros of Olympus series) to put in his back pack

6:27 - wake up babe and carry her and her clothes downstairs

6:30 - after they decide what they want (cereal or waffles), I make it for them and start making their lunches. Get their lunches into the back packs and make sure everything is arranged and ready for them. 

6:45 - 6:55 - force them to take their last bites of breakfast and corral them (literally) into the bathroom to get dressed and brush teeth. 

6:55 - assist the kids getting their winter gear and back packs on. 

7:00-7:15ish - If it's cold out, we wait for the bus inside. This requires me to keep my eyes on the corner that we can just barely see from our front window. (This is because if we aren't outside the driver will often just drive right by. Anxiety is high when it's cold.) As soon as I see the bus I send them running outside. Sometimes we are fooled by the "fake bus" (aka. some random charter bus, probably a senior citizen or disability service) and they come back inside to wait for the real bus. Then we see the real bus coming a couple minutes later and off they go to school. 

7:15ish-7:30 - eat my own breakfast while checking Facebook and Instagram, if I have time I finish up any leftover chores, brush my teeth, and add my extra layer of clothes (it's always cold in my office so I require two layers to avoid frostbite). 

7:30-7:40 - start my car, then go back upstairs to say goodbye to LC (the jerk gets to sleep in. Being a D1 coach has many advantages). Grudgingly, I get back out of bed and head to work.

8:00-4:30 - working hard for my money. This includes using my lunch hour to do homework. (This is my last semester!! CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!!)

On nights I have the kids: 

4:30-5:00 - I pick them up from my ex. On Monday's, Babe has dance so I meet them there. The other days I pick them up from his house.

5:00 - Go to the store to buy stuff for dinner, or if a miracle has happened and I prepared in advance, head home to make it. (Rarely have I planned in advance. I know I should but it doesn't happen.)

5:00-5:30 - Make dinner while the kids do their homework and/or play. Minecraft for Bud, dolls for Babe

6:00ish-7:30 - (if I'm on the ball we can eat by 6 but more often it's later than that) Eat dinner, clean up from dinner.

7:15-8:00 - the kids play before I tell them to get in the shower and ready for bed. They mostly shower on their own but I have to rinse the shampoo and conditioner out of Babe's hair. Bud usually likes me to be in the bathroom when he's showering but I usually slip out to finish up the dishes or other chores.

8:00-8:15 - Have the kids call their dad to say goodnight. Then LC and I take the kids upstairs, get their movie playing and set the sleep timer (Yes, I realize this qualifies me for every Bad Mom award but it's the only way they stay in bed. #tryingtosurvive). Hugs and kisses all around and then we head back downstairs.

8:15-10:00 - do homework, watch tv/hang out with LC. Invariably, one or both of the kids comes down and says they can't sleep. Sometimes they get a dose of melatonin to help, other times they are clearly stalling and they get sent back up, reminding them of relaxation techniques to fall asleep. 

10:00-10:30 - get ready for bed, climb in and play on my phone until I can't keep my eyelids open (usually not a long process), toss out my contacts and zonk out.

On nights I don't have the kids:

4:45-6:00 - Arrive home, sometimes start dinner, other times we eat leftovers or go out.

6:00-10:00 - do homework, watch tv/hang out with LC.

On Thursday's LC and I play in a volleyball league about 40 minutes away. Nights with the kids I have a babysitter stay with them while we go (my cousin who goes to a local college...I hate that this is her last semester!). We play anywhere between 6:00-9:00 so her responsibilities change depending on our game time. She might need to feed them dinner or just needs to sit in the house and do homework while they sleep.

Currently, I'm LC's guinea pig for his jump training regiment. (To see if his training works for everyone or just him.) This means I do a leg work out every Tuesday and Friday. It only takes about 15 minutes so it's not that intrusive and we do it whenever we can fit it in...sometimes before the kids go to bed, sometimes after. I'm trying to do other stuff too but it usually isn't that consistent. 

Weekends are always crazy, with the kids or without. If we don't have the kids, we spend Sunday afternoon/evening with LC's family and play pick up volleyball from 7:00-9:00. If we do have the kids, LC heads off around 3:00 and me and the kids stay back. LC's hometown is a 1/2 hour away so volleyball until 9:00 with them isn't feasible. We usually have a relaxing afternoon of game playing and enjoying each other's company. After they go to bed I take advantage of the time and get lots of homework done until LC gets back. 

You'll notice that nowhere in this schedule do I include getting laundry done. That's bc my awesome boyfriend gave me the gift of doing the laundry for 33 weeks for my 33rd birthday. Holla! 

So that's what our days look like for now. I'll try to do another one in the warmer weather since that changes the whole game.

Lily