Ten

Brad and I have been married ten years today. TEN YEARS! I am so grateful to God for Brad. I have to say it has been the best ten years of my life. I think I love Brad more today than the day I married him. I didn't know that was possible but it is. We have grown up together and I have to say I am so proud of us. When you announce at 18 you are going to get married...Well, let’s just say it is not as celebrated as it would be if you were 28. I think some never thought we would make it ten years. But we never doubted our love…you might say that was because we were 19 and dumb but whatever it was it worked for us. :) I still to this day think we can make it through anything. As most of us know marriage is not easy! I have no clue who said this but I have heard the secret of marriage is that you never fall out of love at the same time. I think that is so true! I am not sure I have ever fallen out of love with Brad but, there have been times that I have looked at Brad and thought “where the hell is my husband and when will he be back.” :) I also have to say marrying your best friend is not a bad idea. I can't believe it has been ten years!

Happy 10th Anniversary Brad!

Our Little Cubbie

Braden had his Awana award ceremony tonight. He has completed his first year of cubbies. He has grown so much over the last eight months. We are so proud of him!

My Hubby

I have to say that I have the most amazing husband. He has been working so hard lately. He is up before the sun and home right before it goes down. He is so exhausted when he gets home. When he walks in the door he has two little people yelling Daddy! The amazing part about him is he ALWAYS picks them up and starts playing with them. Tonight he was playing hide and seek and tag before reading them stories and putting them to bed. He is an unbelievable father and I couldn't ask for a better husband. At the end of the month we will celebrate our 10 year anniversary and 14 years together. I pray we will have many more years to share with each other.

~Jenn~

Zoo

It was a PERFECT day to go to the Zoo today! It was 75 degrees and beautiful. Shawn and his girls joined us. Braden and Bree loved having Avery and Addison to run around with. Here are some pictures of our day.

Paci

I wanted to give you all an update on Bree and her Paci...

Bree has been doing very well with only having her beloved friend at nap time and bed time. The first day was hard! I was so surprised the next day when she was ok with leaving paci in her crib. She still has moments where she wants "Paci" for comfort. We also have a "lovie" (her purple blanket) so we give her that and she seems to be ok.

So as I was putting her down today for her nap...I gave her paci...well three paci's, one for her mouth and one for each hand. She was so cute...she was saying "more paci's" I said you have three paci's you are good. Her come back was "no...just four paci's" she said this while holding up 4 fingers! Where does she get this stuff from :)

Here are some pictures with her best friend Paci....

~Jenn~

Four Generations

One love my Dad and I share is the love for the rodeo. As a teenager my Dad and I would go every year. The past two years we have added a couple people to our tradition... Braden and my Grandpa Hoffman (who has been out from Ohio). Four generations of Hoffman's all enjoying the rodeo.

Well...not sure how much Braden enjoys the rodeo. He likes watching the cowboys and the horses but after about a hour he is about done... as you can see it the picture below. He was falling asleep about a hour into it... poor little guy. We have been dropping naps latley due to him not being able to sleep at night. The best part of the rodeo for Braden is the new cowboy hat he gets every year. He loves the dirt and all the rocks he finds. This year he keep asking me if he would see any robots. :) The one thing Braden doesn't lack is imagination. Most of the time Braden is in his own little world of robots...at the rodeo, awanas, the mall, the grocery store, church, doctors, post office, bank and anywhere else you can think of.

I hope Braden and/or Bree will love the rodeo and it will be something we can do for years to come. Bree will be going to her first rodeo in September! We didn't leave her totally out today. Papa (my Dad) got her her very first cowgirl hat. She loves it! Here are some pictures of our day.

Growing Up

This week has been a big week for Bree in the learning to be a Big Girl department. Some big girl changes have been welcomed and enjoyed and others have been met with lots of sadness and tears. Let me start with the happy changes :)

Bree has always had her toys out in the living room mostly so Brad and I could keep a eye on her. We never have trusted her to play in her room alone. Lately she has been taking toys in her room and playing. I would watch her without her seeing me...she would be so sweet talking to her babies and reading books. So this week I took her glider chair out of her room and moved in some of her toys. She is in HEAVEN!


Now for the not so fun changes for Bree. We have noticed that Bree has been talking with a lisp...not that big of a deal... she is only 22 months and we thought it was kind of cute. Well, the other day Brad had said "I wonder if she talks with a lisp because of the paci." It really got me thinking. The more I thought about it I realized for being almost two Bree did have the paci throughout the day more than she should. We didn't know what to do...I couldn't bear the thought of making her go cold turkey when I hadn't limited the paci use like I had with Braden. So we decided to start with the cut backs, and after a few months of that go cold turkey. So today was the first full day of only having paci at nap and bed time. Let's just say it hasn't gone well. It has been hard for Bree but also hard for Mommy. We have had many tears today (both Bree and Mommy). When she is begging for a paci it is so hard to tell her no. Below are some pictures I took today of Bree trying to climb to get her box of paci's (paci's are in the pink box). One of the biggest struggles I have as a Mom is teaching the kids how to be independent. Independent children is a Mother's main goal. You want to know that when you are gone your child will be able to take care of themselves. The struggle for me, and I think all moms, is when you see your child struggle in life you want to run to them and make it all better. But sometimes you know that's not what's best for them. Let's hope tomorrow will be a better day :)




So as much as I am happy to see Bree grow and become a "Big Girl" it is also sad for me. I miss my baby girl.

I wish God would let us keep them babies for just a little longer. With paci's on the way out and diapers right behind them, I see my beautiful baby girl growing into a beautiful big girl.





~Jenn~