Uh oh...here he goes!

Luke has discovered the joy of crawling - not the good old commando crawl he has been suffering with over the last couple of months, dragging his entire body weight around by pulling forward on one arm....but the much faster and smoother style of crawling on hands and knees.  He is getting faster every day, and we are having to baby proof more every day!

His favourite toys to crawl towards?  The night light, the fan heater, the modem stick in the computer (he pulls it out all the time, disconnecting the internet and frustrating mummy!), the cat food bowl and of course any electrical cord he lays eyes on.

The other day he was very quiet, and I caught him making a slow yet steady crawl towards the cat food area.  He heard me coming behind him, turned around and cracked up laughing at me - I am sure he thought it was a big joke that he had been snapped!

Yesterday I took this photo of him stuck behind the chair - It took me a few moments to figure out where he had gone, and I nervously giggled as I searched every room for the baby I had apparently misplaced!  Of course, he hadn't gone far, he had just chased a ball through a gap and got himself a bit stuck.  hehe.

SNAPPED! Get away from that heater!

Luke has also recently discovered the delights of finger food, now that he is 9 months old and the proud owner of 4 beautiful little teeth, finger food is a wonderful way to keep him busy and happy.  He loves marmite sandwiches especially.  And I love that he can eat most of our dinners now with a wee bit of mashing.

The joys of a marmite sandwich

Snapped! Get back inside boy!

Of course, with this new found freedom of movement, comes the great lesson of gravity.  Luke tends to make a beeline for the door whenever he sees it open (probably a boy thing, dying to get outside and kick a ball around or something)....and since our back door is right off the main room, we have to be quite diligent in remembering to close the screen door so he doesn't crawl out.  Twice now, he has managed to get outside and then rolled down the 3 concrete steps to the bottom where we have been summoned by his wails of misery and disgust at the lack of his own disability to conquer the stairs.  One day Luke, one day.  Just take it slow my darling boy...you are growing up way too fast for your poor parents.

STOP PRESS!!!
Luke discovered a brand new trick today....the art of clapping.  He is very very proud of this one, and although he can't quite make noise, he takes great delight in managing to control his hands enough to bring them together repeatedly....no easy task for a 9 month old, it takes a lot of concentration.  But the way mummy and daddy carry on about it must make it worth doing again and again....

Rashes and Aches

On Friday I noticed that Luke had a bit of a rash.  Hmm...after being a normal mother and showing it to at least 4 other mothers for their expert opinions, we came to the conclusion that it disappeared when we stretched it so no worries, just one of those baby things. No doctors trip necessary, so I kept on working.  I thought it a little strange that Luke slept 3 hours solidly (great, got HEAPS of work done!), but when he woke up with a temperature of 38.9, I called the doctor anyway.  Hey, it was Friday, and I didn't want to worry all weekend of do a 4 hour trip to the emergency room at some stage just to find out it was 'viral'.
The nurse asked me a zillion measles related questions, making my mother radar go on full alert as I realised actually yes, he does have a runny nose as well...but she must have seen a glimpse of panic on my face and hurridly assured me "it could be measles...but let's not go there!"  The doctor waltzed in, in his normal "I-have-seen-this-a-million-times" way and checked mouth, eyes, ears, temp and rash.....what was the diagnosis?  You guessed it, viral.  The standard response for an unexplained rash and temperature in a child.  Typical.

At least we got lots of cuddles out of Luke on Saturday.  And his temp did drop overnight.  Not so cool was his decision that milk was dumb, and that sleeping was also dumb.  Baby was up all day.  And all night.  And my poor breastfeeding self had to suffer his rejection.

And after all this hard mothering work...how did I get rewarded?  By a healthy baby on the mend and grateful? Nope - the rash is still ever present. the baby still won't feed hardly at all....and now I AM SICK.  Grrr.

Thanks Luke.

Woke up on Sunday morning feeling sore all over,and with a splitting headache....a bit like I had spent all of Saturday gardening and bent over...except that would have been a bonus, because the gardens still need weeding desperately.  I didn't touch them, but feel so sore.  Not fair.

I managed to get through church (thank you God for taking over!), bouncing around singing songs and playing games with the kids.  Still had to get through the workshop luncheon I had organised after church though.  Just as it started, I got completely dizzy and light headed...whoa...hang in there Nikki!  A few big glasses of water, and I made it home after the event and collapsed on the bed.  And slept for an hour.

And didn't feel any better at the end of my nap.  Just had a sore throat to add to my list of ailments.  I wonder if this is why Luke won't feed?  Poor thing.

We were all meant to go out that evening, but I just couldn't bring myself to leave the house.  At least Marty was able to take the girls out to homegroup while we "rested" (meaning while I fed and bathed Luke then collapsed on the couch hot and cold with family sitcoms on).

Lets hope Luke and mummy feel better tomorrow....I really do need to weed those gardens....

Entering the school world

I always wondered what it would be like when my kids got to school age.  Would I be the mother who was in tears the first day?  Would I be the mother who drops her child off at the gate and never steps into the classroom?  What would the teachers be like? Would they welcome parent help? Would they be nice to my precious children? How would they know that Jaimee can't cross her legs because she had hip surgery? Would they remember to tell her when routines change drastically so she doesn't freak out?  Would the kids bully her? Would she make a friend?  What if someone teases her?

.....As you can probably guess, It turns out that I am THAT mother...

Yep, the one who walks her child into the class every day by the hand and helps her pop her things in her locker.  The one who waits and talks to the teacher daily before and after school.  The one who loves to help in the classroom every week (I actually TOLD the teacher when I would be helping rather then wait to be asked),  The one who asks about extra homework challenges and ways to teach concepts at home.  Pretty much a teachers worst nightmare probably!!!

I think the problem stems from being a trained early childhood teacher.  We are taught, and we practice, the importance of parent-teacher communication and partnership.  Of course, with a baby, this is super important - the child can't tell us if they slept well last night or didn't eat their breakfast.  We NEED to talk to the parents constantly, and they need us to tell them about their child's day for the same reason.  So when Jaimee started school, I quickly realised that this is NOT the case in a school world.  The teachers don't have the time (or expectation) to talk to parents for 10 minutes every day about their little darling child.  In fact, after helping in the classroom, I realise that the teachers are lucky to get 10 minutes with each child individually - let alone the parents!  So I am slowly adjusting to this different approach to 'teaching'..one that is worlds apart from my experience as a teacher, and its been a bit of a learning curve for me.

Jaimee's teacher is adjusting to me too...poor lady probably didn't know what hit her when she landed me as a parent.  Jaimee is in a very small school of only 6 classrooms and 140 kids (Y1-8).  It is lovely.  All the staff know Jaimee by name...her favourite staff member is the lovely office man who always has the time to talk to her!  All the staff know me too of course.  I am sure you can just picture me sitting in the staff room having a coffee and gleaning loads of information about everything!  The other parents have figured me out, they all come to me if they need to know something that is happening.

So yes....I am THAT mum.  The one who is very involved, perhaps too much so....but hey, thats me.
And Jaimee LOVES it when I help, the teacher told me today that she thinks I am a marvellous mother and teacher...and the principal has asked me to talk to the board about recommendations I have.  So I will embrace this new emerging 'school mum syndrome' and run with it gleefully.  To many school years to come....and just you wait for my first parent/teacher interview....

The Art of Communication.

Disclaimer: Yes, I did ask Marty's permission before writing this blog!!!

Some of you might be aware that Marty and I are currently partaking in a marriage course.  Of course, this is something that I signed us up for, and Marty found himself at (somewhat baffled at how he got roped into being there).  Although we would like to think that we have a pretty good marriage, I am aware that there is always opportunity for improving and growing a good thing to make it even better.  That's what athletes do to improve their game, and I figure that our marriage is a pretty important game.  So we rocked on up to our first night on "the marriage course" last week.  Last week we had a good giggle as we discovered new things (and not so new things) about each other....but this weeks session was a biggie - "The Art of Communication".  

Poor Marty.  As most of you reading this know, my husband is not a talker.  That would be my role in the relationship.  As my mother would say "When Marty talks, you listen - because he only talks when he has something to say".  Well, according to that idea, Marty mustn't have a lot to say.  And he would agree with that.  Talking is not his strong point.  This picture about sums up a conversation with Marty: 

Tonight we had to take turns at talking and listening. This was not an easy task for either of us.  Marty may not be a talker, but I am the first to admit that I am a chronic interrupter and am prone to going off on tangents about my own fascinating life as soon as the poor talker pauses to take a breath.  Not the greatest of traits I admit, and one that I am attempting to fix (NOT easy for a talker to do).   Sadly, like many people, I spend about 17 seconds (apparently that is a statistic) listening, and the rest of the time thinking about what I am going to say next.  A bit like this:

When I considered tonight the people who I think actually make me feel listened to and heard, it was quite an eye opener.  For starters, I know I say too much that is of no value at all to anyone, just ramblings about myself (like this blog really) and I am not a good listener myself, so people probably don't bother taking the time to have a proper conversation with me that often.  Secondly, the very few people that I could think of that are good listeners, are those that I highly respect and value in my life.  I want to be like them.  This is something I am going to put more effort into...I want to be a better friend.

BUT I am not the only one in our marriage who struggles with the art of communication though.  Marty admits that he is not so good at filtering out distractions and actually focusing on the conversation at hand.  He is wired a bit like this:

....Possibly this is a coping mechanism for the poor man in a household dominated by females.  This reminds me of a snipet of our conversation last week at this course actually.  I was sharing with my lovely darling husband about how I would like to have more undivided attention from Marty, more focused attention....when he piped up....looking at the speaker on the roof thoughtfully...."I think this is a James Bond song....yes....yes I am sure it is....now what movie is this from...."

                                                             

I rest my case.  

Gosh.  How on earth have we managed to get through 9 years of marriage like this?!  In our defense, we do have our strong points - we have (semi regular) weekly 'date nights', we 'hang out' a lot together..and I think we are good at discussing the things that really matter...

...but possibly not so good at listening just for the sake of being there for the other person - with no agenda to fix the problem, give opinions on the matter or sweep the issues away...but just to listen and be there for them.

This marriage course is turning out to be quite the eye opener!

http://www.themarriagecourse.org.nz/marriage/index.htm

Art Deco Picnic Fun

Sunday was the annual "Great Gastby Picnic" that we always attend with mum.  It is part of the Art Deco celebration week that is held here in the Hawkes Bay, and is always heaps of fun.  The picnic is free, you just come along with your picnic gear (and for many that means tablecloths, best silverware and platters of goodies)and get dressed up, and enjoy the atmosphere of the 1930s.

The kids love that the whole family get to dress up...lots of people hire or have their own very awesome costumes, but we tend to make do with whatever we can throw together from our own wardrobe, combined with a few cheap accessories collected over the years.  I was a rebel this year by wearing evening wear during the day (I just couldn't find anything to wear!) while the rest of my family went traditional.  I decided that I was the film star mum from the 30s!!

Kisses for Granny

Of course, the food is always delicious (thanks to combining efforts with a group) and I just love walking around people gazing.  There is always lots of bands playing traditional music, different displays from the era, a zillion vintage cars parked up and a whole variety of people dressed up in every kind of "art deco" outfit you can think of - I talked to one "bride and groom" dressed in full costume who had been posing for photos outside their gazebo for the last THREE HOURS!

Our Group!

The air show was spectacular over the beach this year - Luke was totally transfixed watching the war helicopter in particular, which went so close and low that you could feel it in your whole body. When the war planes come that low and fast over the beach where we are standing, you just expect a line of gunfire to come at you because it is like something out of a movie.

The annual family photo

All picnicked out!!!

We had a great day, and completely tired out the kiddies!  Till next year.....

Nikki, This is your life!

So what did I get up to this week?

Saturday was Kates birthday party.  All year she has been asking for a party at the "water park" (Cornwall Park has a kids splash pad) and we figured February was a pretty good month to have a park party - especially after a very unpleasant birthday party last year pregnant on the hottest day of summer (36 in the SHADE!). Of course, I hadn't counted on having the worst summer EVER.  It rained.  So we had 16 kids and 16 adults crammed into our little house on a rainy day...you can only imagine the chaos.  Actually, I'm just impressed that none of the rasberry fizzy spilled on the carpet.  The party was 2 hours long, it took about another 3 hours to get the house back to normal!!

Sunday - well, you already read that blog.  No need to go back there.

Monday was one of my last working days at Rascals, and as per usual I was running late to work.  Dropping the girls off and then getting to work on time at 8.45am would seem a pretty achievable goal, and every Monday I get tricked into thinking I am going to be sweet...until the girls remind me that I haven't brushed their hair or I discover Luke has poos just as I pick him up to leave.  I spent the day juggling a 9 month old (first day, not a bottle or breast in sight - never a good combination) and my own sweet boy who wouldn't sleep longer then a 20 minute stretch, so woke up all the other kids with his protests.  Love.

Tuesday.  What did I do Tuesday?  Oh yes...the teacher incident.  I made the mistake of asking Jaimee's teacher for advice on teaching her addition skills.  The teacher suggested that I leave that to school.  I ended up writing an email to the teacher on the importance of parent partnership and then spent the evening holding off tears because that is the way I react with any confrontation.  Yep, even an email that I initiated and the teacher hadn't even responded too.  I worked myself into quite a state, panicking that she would now hate me and would treat my child like scum.  What had I done?!

Wednesday I parent helped.  Teacher was fine.  I loved hearing the whole class read me their books one by one (as I secretly ranked them against my own genius who was reading at a level above some of the older ones in the class).  Later in the day, as I madly rushed around baking and vacuuming, It dawned on me that it was very silent in Kate's room where she was playing.  As I got closer, I realised the door was shut.  Any mother knows that silence + a shut door = UH OH.  I pushed the door open and peered in....no sign of Kate.  Where was she?  And then I found her, fast asleep in her new little pop up tent with her dolls. This the child who hasn't had a day sleep since she was 2.  Although I knew full well that if I let her sleep, she would be up all night...I did it anyway.  No way was I going to give up time with BOTH the kids sleeping!!  I sat down and watched the end of Mrs Doubtfire.  Bliss.

Thursday.  After a hectic day at work, I picked the girls up and headed home for my weekly coffee date with Vicki-Lee.  Gosh, that was chaos.  While we attempted to have adult conversation and coffee I cleaned out the rabbit cage, unpacked the girls bags, got up and down again and again to sort out numerous fights and fed hungry children (including Luke, who has this nasty habit of pulling himself off the breast to turn around and grin at the guests, leaving me rather undignified and exposed every 30 seconds).  So much for adult time.  Good grief!

On Thursday evening, we left Gramps in charge and headed out to embark on the first session of a 7 week marriage course.  No, our marriage is not in any trouble.  But we like to maintain it by servicing it once in a while with some good healthy communication and discussion.  It was really fun, and we had a good giggle as we individually answered questions and then compared our answers.  During a discussion about the importance of undivided attention, Marty realises that the background music they are playing is from James Bond, and sits there telling me which movie he thinks it is from.  Sigh.  Men.  Ah well, he is not a talker naturally so did very well on the whole!

Friday would be today.  The curriculum I had been waiting on for 3 weeks at work FINALLY arrived, and I spent a very frantic day getting the lesson for Sunday ready as well as checking it over for the term ahead and preparing it.  Whew.  After hamburgers for tea, we had our weekly faithbox session with the kids.  While I was reading and explaining about how we are all important parts of God's body and all had special roles to fulful, both girls put up their hands to ask questions.




  "Yes Kate?"
"I want icecream for pudding"
"No, but anyway, we are doing faithbox time now...what Jaimee?"
"God made everything"
"Yes darling, he did .."

Marty and I have finished off the evening on a TV marathon, trying desperately to clear the MySky of some of the 25 shows we taped through the week on series link (yes, i counted them the other day - 25!!!!).  Didn't quite get through them all, and we are out so much at the moment with bible study, meetings, golf and marriage course we probably never will - but on the up side, we never have to watch liveTV so can always fast forward the ads.

 So there is a week in my life.  I hope it was entertaining.  Tomorrow it all begins again, so I am off to bed!

A lesson learnt...hopefully

This afternoon, Marty and I were attempting to have a nice Sunday lunch of waffles together after church.  We were deciding where to take the girls out on their scooters today to make the most of the sunshine before the weather turns again.

I say ATTEMPTING to have a nice Sunday lunch together, because the girls were grumpy and tired.  First Kate had a meltdown because she couldn't wear her new black shoes when we go for a scooter ride, then Jaimee whined and whinged because she decided that Kate's new scooter is SO much cooler then her one.  Never mind that Jaimee has a Barbie one and Kate's is plain black with pink trims...Kate has a scooter that is brand new and the handlebars go higher then Jaimee's one, so apparantly it trumps.

After sitting down, taking one bite of waffle and having to get straight back up again, still chewing, to sort out yet another argument, we had both had enough.  The last straw came when the girls were both yelling at each other to get out of the way as they tried to swing/play in the same place at the same time.  I threatened to cancel our trip out, and then Marty made them both come inside and sat them in separate corners of the lounge, still in tears (the girls, not Marty).

"What now?" I whispered to Marty over their cries.  "I haven't thought that far ahead" he replied under his voice.  He walked over to start a lecture, but I beckoned him back to me in the kitchen.  "I reckon we should role play and show them how ugly they are when they act like that" I suggested.  He sat down in the lounge, and I took a seat opposite him.

I explained to the girls that we were very disappointed with their ugly behaviour, that it makes us both feel sad and God too, to see them treating each other like that.  I warned them that mummy and daddy were going to show them what they look like and sound like when they fight.  Marty grabbed Kate's new toy and I snatched it off him.

Well, I think the neighbours may have been on the verge of ringing the police to hear us! We really went to town - after all, our girls have given us some great tips on how to argue.   We were both yelling at each other to "GIVE IT BACK, IT's MINE...BUT I WANT WANT, ITS NOT FAIR" as we struggled with the toy.  I fell to the ground in dramatic sobs "I NEVER get a turn, EVER.  You are SO MEAN".

Meanwhile, the girls watched on from their corners in stunned silence.  Their eyes got bigger and bigger as they listened to mummy and daddy fight (we don't raise our voices to each other normally, so this was all a bit new and scary).  As we sat back down, we turned to the girls to gauge their reaction.

 Jaimee had put her hands over her ears and burst into tears as we sat down.   Kate quickly followed.  I looked at Marty and said "Umm...I think they got the idea", and we each gathered an upset little girl into our laps.  We asked them how they felt when they heard that (sad) and agreed that we felt really sad when we hear them fighting too.   We were able to talk about how mummy and daddy were not listening to each other, we were both just yelling and being grumpy and thinking about what we wanted first.  We encouraged them to think about each other, to listen and to try and TALK to each other and find a way that they could both be happy when they don't agree.

It was perhaps a bit of a dramatic way to teach them this lesson, but it was certainly impacting!  I hope they don't forget it.  As I type this, I can hear them attempting to sort out a situation over a book.  I wonder how long it will take before the tears and yelling resume.....and whether we will get to go for our scooter ride or not!

A birthday tale

Whisking up cupcakes for daycare

 Birthdays are big deals for kids, from the moment they have said goodbye to the last sticky faced guest, they are  considering who might make next years cut for the invite list.  This list chops and changes over the year, but is never forgotten.  Being invited to a birthday party at 4 is akin to being nominated for an academy award.  Our girls are checking the calendar daily to see how close their big day is, and they can  both recite the family birthday order (and do several times a week): "mummy then kate then daddy then luke.."

telling me who each cupcake is for...

 So when Kate turned 4 yesterday, it was a pretty big moment for our middle child.  She got the limelight for a day, although Jaimee tried very very hard to make it all about her.  From the moment our beaming big 4 year old came quietly into our room in the morning with a shy grin on her face (I-can't-believe-its-actually-my-birthday-today), our 5 year old was a mess.  With loud wails and lots of tears streaming, Jaimee announced at the top of her voice "I....I....I....I'm Jealooooouuuuuuusssss", before stomping loudly away.   The girls are so so ultra close, they normally do everything together, and birthday's can be quite a rude shock in their world.  How dare they have SEPARATE birthdays? How rude and inconvienient for the other child!  Poor Kate had to put up with this all day.  From packing up the treats for daycare (more wails that she wanted to go to daycare too) to opening presents (sniffing - "can i pass them to Kate") - Jaimee had to announce her jealous streak. Sigh.  At least she can name her emotions...

Luckily, Kate is used to her dramatic big sister, and didn't let it worry her one bit.  She had a fabulous day, strutting around with a massive HAPPY BIRTHDAY ribbon pinned to her chest for all to see.  Carrying on a tradition from when I was young, the birthday girl got to choose what we had for dinner.   I remember asking for scalloped potatoes with lamb chops.  My kids are much smarter - why didn't I consider asking for McDonalds as a child?!

This morning we had a bit of a situation on our hands.  As I was dressing Luke, Kate came in holding a pair of crisp white leggings and asked if she could please wear them to daycare as she couldn't find a pair in her daycare drawer.

I told her to go look for her older white leggings, I was sure they were in the drawer.  Kate burst into tears.  With tears streaming down her cheeks, she came back into the room with the correct pair of leggings.  "I don't want to wear these ones" she sobbed to me.   Being an adult, I had no idea what the problem was - they were both white leggings right?!

Wrong.

After more tears and coaxing (and finally, firmly telling her she must wear the older ones to daycare) I managed to get out of her what the problem was - the older leggings  had the number 3 on them....and the newer leggings clearly state a proud number 4 on the tag!  No way could she wear number 3, she is a big 4 year old now!!  I melted....she was in such a state over this, it was quite cute how she had thought the whole thing through.

My beautiful 4 year old

A big cuddle, a bit of explaining and assuring that mummy certainly does not wear the number 30 clothes, and Jaimee still wears lots of number 4 clothes.....and Kate was able to put on the older leggings without fear of suddenly turning back into a little 3 year old.

Now, If only the weather report is completely wrong so that we can have her party tomorrow at the park rather then host 15 preschoolers in my house.....all will be right with the world!

Celebrating with family and friends

 So I am now officially 30.  And you know what?  I love being 30! 30 feels so right.  I kept telling people at my birthday dinner that I felt like I was a "real mummy" now.   It just seems the right age to reflect where I am right now in my life - so so happily married and settled, with 3 adorable small children and I am even looking better then ever I reckon.

Of course, when I said that lots of my slightly older friends giggled at me - they think 30 is young!  But I assured them that I don't actually feel like they are "older" then me at all, they are my friends and my peers - but I feel like I can join their awesomeness status slightly by reaching this next decade of my life, even if they are a decade ahead of me still!




I had such a wonderful evening celebrating with 50 of my friends and family. I felt warm fuzzys all over as I 'worked the room'! There is nothing quite so wonderful as looking around a room that is jam packed of people who are all there for you, to be with you and to celebrate with you.  I loved that everywhere I turned, I was greeted with a smile and a warm conversation.  Over the last few years, I seem to have managed to collect myself the most AMAZING people in my life - the kind of friends that are so genuine and caring that I would be grateful to have just a handful of them in my life...yet somehow I got way more than my share of these people!

Me and my girls

My friend Rach did my hair for me, so I did Jaimee's similar

The original plan had been to have a huge dance party - I had booked a hall and invited about 180 people along, but I didn't realise that I had picked a long weekend in wedding season, and many people couldn't make it.  So I put off the dance until next year, when we plan on doing a huge shindig for our 10 year wedding anniversary - I would rather have a full dance floor, so that was ok by me!  Dinner was yummy and we had the whole restaurant to ourselves.  The kids were on their best behaviour and I didn't have to deal with them once.  Luke didn't sleep or feed, but he was quite happy being cuddled.

working the room!

 I decided that since I wasn't having a dance, we needed some form of entertainment, so I took along a few photo albums from before I got married.  Everyone had a good giggle checking out my perm and big glasses and seeing some of my life events for the first time.  I got lots of comments on how like me my children are, and how young my parents look (this bodes very well for me in the future - the pretty young waitress said she hopes she looks like me at 30...awwww)

In a nutshell here's a little of what happened over the last 10 years: I have got married, I got a degree, I moved regions, we purchased 2 houses, had 3 children, and collected 6 pets.  So I am really looking forward to seeing what God brings me in the next 10 years - the last 10 have been so exciting!

family

A full restaurant of great people

Chatting with friends and mentors

Me and my mum

With my best friend Vicki-Lee

Now and Then

 9 years ago I married the most wonderful man.....

 ...and look at us now!  

Marty, I love how you write me love letters, you hang out with me nearly every weekend and evening, and I love the way you still check me out more than 10 years after meeting me.

I love the way you take care of our family finances, you support me working part time and  how you wake me up with breakfast every morning.

I love that you do the dishes - even when you cooked dinner, you have bathed the kids since the day they were born and you are in charge of the bedtime routine every night.

I love the way you play board games with our children, get up to them in the night and change the nappies without a thought. 

You are sensitive, you are caring, you are loving and you are my rock.  I couldn't imagine a life without you in it Marty.  You make me feel beautiful and special.  You are an amazing father and husband.

 I miss you when you are not with me, and when we are together everything is ok. I want to do everything with you by my side, because if you are not there than it just feels wrong. I have adored the last 9 years of married life...and this is only the beginning babe! There is so much more to come, and I can't wait.  

2003...

...2012

Happy Wedding Anniversary Marty....from your Princess

(thanks Anna for the picture concept, and Mum for taking the photos)