Six years of us

This past Saturday, August 17, marked six years of marriage for us. This anniversary was wildly different for us for lots of reasons (hello, baby boy!) When I look back on the last year of our marriage, there was so much that was hard and good, and the impetus for growth.

This year brought so many changes to our life, not the least of these being the arrival of our sweet Cooper. On our last anniversary, I wrote that that year was the most fun of our marriage yet. This year was the most growth-filled as of yet. We became midwesterners again we became parents.

I can't begin to say how much I love Nicholas and how wonderful it is to see him as a dad. He loves our little boy so fiercely and wonderfully. Our anniversary weekend was filled with time with Cooper and some solo mom and dad time.

On Saturday morning, Nicholas woke up before we did and he held Cooper while I slept in a bit. We had bacon and leftover gf waffles and special coffee, made in the aeropress. And then all three of us sat together on the couch, watching movies, and Cooper fell asleep in Nicholas' arms. (Is there anything sweeter??)

In the afternoon, we had fika (after too long of a hiatus!) of choco-mint snappers (made gluten-free) and another round of coffee. I brought out my red tray to carry the treats into Cooper's room, since we spend a lot of time there as a family. And he was happy to be in the bouncer while we had our coffee and cookies.

That evening, my sister-in-law, Katelyn, came over to watch Cooper so we could have our first date with just the two of us. He wore the same shirt as he did on our last anniversary and I wore my Klein dress. I got to knit in the car, and we went out for dinner, including flatbread and burgers and a blackberry lemonade to share. During dinner, we checked the weather a few times, relieved when the rain held, so that we could go mini-golfing! It had been a decade since either of us had played putt-putt, so it was so fun to do something entirely trivial and little bit competitive. He beat me 50-59, but we did both get a hole in one. And then we came home to our baby boy, who did so good, even when he didn't love drinking milk from a bottle.

Sunday morning brought severe thunderstorms, so we stayed home and had another mellow day, as a family. Both days, I had some time to knit on my two current projects, which was so nice. The entire weekend was mellow and a bit ordinary, but ordinary in the best way. Quality time, with my boys and time to rest and just be together.

What I want to remember about our life together, right now:

Waking up early with Nicholas every day, tip-toeing around so as to not wake Cooper, getting his breakfast and lunch ready, admiring a sleeping baby in the bassinet
Nicholas taking Cooper on a "boys only" walk most days when he gets home from work
Our go-to breakfasts: baked PB oatmeal, hard "boiled" eggs, made in the IP with toast
Our favorite suppers: chicken enchiladas, sweet potato shepherd's pie, "bowl meals" with roasted veggies, fried eggs, roasted potatoes of some kind and a protein
Family walks in the evening
How Nicholas is the best at calming down a fussy baby, knowing just how to hold him
The way Nicholas loves me and Cooper

I love life right now, as different as it is from our anniversary last year. Such a full and thankful heart. Thank you, God.

And here are some of my favorite pictures of us from the last year of our marriage: