5 Year Anniversary!

 Sounds the trumpets and let the fireworks fly…David and I are celebrating FIVE years of marriage today!  That’s right my friends, this glorious day five years ago we woke up and embarked upon a day where our lives changed forever. 

 

Here is a step back to the past for all you family and friends that were in attendance and for new friends to get a peek into our magical event.

 

It was the most beautiful summer day in Okoboji, Iowa…with the exception of the humidity but I like to forget about that part.  The morning was stress free allowing plenty of time for getting dolled up and doing photographs of the wedding party. 



 

 

 

 



 We were married in the church that my grandparents attended while they lived in the area.  I’ll never forget my dad walking me down the aisle and how I had to wait until the piano hit a certain part of the song before I could move.  I was soaking it all in.

 

 
 After our vows were said, we went outside and were greeted by the Spirit Lake Fire Department.  This was my surprise to David as I thought it would be neat to have some photos of us taken with the truck. 

Finally, it was time to relax and enjoy our friends and family that were in attendance.  The wedding party took a ride to my parent’s house on the lake where we boarded the boat for our ride across West Lake to the reception at Gull Point State Park.  That boat ride will forever live in my memory as one of my favorite life moments.

 

 

Alas, we made it to the reception for a wonderful meal, memorable toasts, and a night of reminiscing and dancing with our guests.  Each moment of that day was perfect and I would do every single second of it all over again if I could!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have a happy weekend. 

Getting Personal - Hormones and Hair

Alright, it’s time to get personal here.  Do you remember my post this past winter regarding my hair loss and incorporating Biotin into my routine?  Well, I’m here to do a follow-up on the hot mess that is my hair.  Men, if you’re reading – you may want to sit this one out. 

A little background info for you if you missed my previous posts; I have hypothyroidism.  I was diagnosed shortly before I became pregnant with Tessa.  Talk about a crazy time in my life when you take into account the hormone issues with this disease and then jumble on top of it all the ups and downs you experience during pregnancy.  You could say that those first few months being pregnant were a complete joy.  I hope you could sense the sarcasm there.  I was a very-very-very sick pregnant lady for almost seven months of that pregnancy.  Not fun.  I had imagined being pregnant for years and couldn’t wait for all the body changes, the glowing skin, beautiful nails, and mostly the thick hair as mine is so fine and thin to begin with.  As it turns out, the worst part of it all wasn’t the physical sickness I endured but the body image associated with loosing so much of my hair.  I look back at a photo I have from that Christmas (which I want to destroy so there is no way I would ever consider posting it) and it’s horrific to see how my hair was completely gone in the front, particularly on my left side.
 

After delivering Tessa and getting my hormones grounded, along with medication and regular checks for my thyroid, my hair grew back in and finally started looking as it should.  Fortunately, I didn’t experience any of these issues while I was pregnant with Brady.  My physicians made sure to stay on top of monitoring my thyroid levels and adjusting dosages as necessary. 

Then last January happened…I got off of all synthetic hormones, a personal choice, to let me body control and regulate itself as it was made to do.  Boy oh boy was that a rough month of emotion; just ask my husband.  I experienced more mood swings and definitely noticed more physical changes associated with my cycle.  And here we went again with the biggest side effect being hair loss.  I never in a million years thought that I would suffer this issue by discontinuing hormone.  I had made an appointment with my physician because I was completely convinced that I was sick with something else.  God bless me, I wasn’t and unfortunately only time could fix this problem.  She also recommended a specific dose of Biotin that I implemented right away. 

 

Here we are six months later and I am happy to report that my body is on its own predictable schedule, I feel amazing and don’t have cyclic mood swings, and most importantly my hair is growing back in!  I still look silly when I have my hair in a ponytail, which is every night, but at least I know I am on the mend.

Gosh, it’s tough being a woman!

Weekend Rewind - Mommy Edition

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.  I have good intentions of posting a re-cap on Monday mornings of what we did, but time seems to get away from me as we get back into the swing of things. 

Friday night we took the kids to the hot air balloon festival located about 45 minutes from our house.  We attended last year for the first time and had met my cousin and her family there as well.  We all enjoyed ourselves so we decided to meet up again this year.  There are bouncy houses and activities for the kids, tons of food vendors, drink for the adults, live music, and of course the balloons.  The best part is that is it held over a huge field so it never feels crowded and there is always a place to park your lawn chairs and/or blankets in the grass.  This year was just as much fun as last, although a little more hot and humid, but we had a great time.

I Promise They Had Fun

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday night was daddy’s only time home with us so I did my best to make Saturday and Sunday exciting for the kids.  First thing in the morning, we made a trek to our town’s little park.  I had Brady in the stroller but big girl Tess wanted to ride her bike there and back.  She did a great job staying on the side of the road and stopping at each block to “look both ways.”  The weather was insanely hot and humid already by 10am so we weren’t out too long. 

After lunch and naps, I packed the kids in the car and we headed to town.  We have a membership at an aquatic center and because of that we gain access to other pools and centers across town.  I decided to change it up and we ventured to a new pool for the afternoon. 

Trying To "Wash Hands"

Needing Sisters Help

I love these photos of the kids.  They were so excited to go swimming.  To say they love the water would be an understatement! 

Tess was cuddling with Brady and asking if he wanted to swim with her, and just like that she took off for the pool!

Tessa & Her "Jimmy Arm"

 He tried so hard to keep up with her, but those little legs just aren’t fast enough yet.

That evening we had a quick dinner and spent our remaining few hours outside playing with the neighbors. 

The kids were so exhausted from our full day of fun on Saturday that they both slept until 8:30am!  It was so nice to have some morning time for myself and enjoy a quiet cup of coffee.  Our daily adventures were a little less exciting on Sunday because we were all a bit tired of being out in the heat.  However, we did venture to an indoor playground for a little bit, ran some errands in town, and stopped by the fire station for a quick visit to see daddy.  Later that night, Tess helped me cook dinner and it was a hit!  I’ll share the recipe on the blog here soon.

We have a pretty low-key week over here.  We are planning a couple trips to the pool, a visit to the library, and some fun evenings at the house.  A perfect week indeed.