Balancing Act

On Monday, I thought I was going to lose it. 
I had been experiencing on and off flu symptoms all day and Jack was a teething hot mess. 
It was John's night off and I really wanted to honor that. So I pushed through, let him do his thing, and made dinner. 
Jack screaming, pasta sauce bubbling everywhere... one.giant.mess. 
John could tell, things were getting ugly. 
It's like the more I freak out the more calm he is. Leaving us, somehow, in perfect balance. 
Right when I think I can't take it any longer, my husband swoops in like a beacon of calm.
He had Jack laughing and happy in 2 seconds flat& we somehow made it through a family dinner.
When Jack was bathed, in bed, with a bottle,and the kitchen was clean, and I was miserably sprawled on the couch-I couldn't help but feel lucky.
Even though I was fighting waves of nausea, I still felt really lucky. 
Not everyone has a partner like mine. Not everyone has someone there to help. 
John and I each have our days. Days where we are off,when things just are not going our way. Usually the other is always there to step in and bring us to a balancing point. 
Parenting is truly a team sport... heck, life is a team sport.I'm so grateful that John is on my side!

Friday's Letters

Dear Sushi, I love you forever. I think I consumed my body weight in your delicious glory last night. I have been doing SO good all week (minus that oopsy piece of pizza at the zoo!) but all of that went down the drain when a giant platter of heaven was put in front of my face during the MIL's birthday dinner. I don't even feel guilty about it for two seconds. 
Dear Husband, The "I Told You So" moment last night was so very satisfying. A Japanese steak house DOES imply hibachi - You tried to get on your Asian high horse with me and I was having none of it! When we walked into the restaurant last night and there were hibachi grills all around I about died with "right"ness. Thankfully we were able to "salvage the situation" and sit on the none hibachi side. Your mistake ended in a delicious meal- double win! I love you so much sweetheart!
Dear Home, We are staying in you all weekend. Yup, that's right, no lake house... we are actually looking forward to a weekend of us three. John I'm sure will be doing NOTHING but reading his new book and playing on his new IPAD (spoiled boy). I hope to do a lot of relaxing and maybe hit up the sidewalk sales in our downtown :)
Dear Bubba, You are going to be walking any day. Those teeny tiny accidental steps that you took on Monday are no longer to be claimed as "accidental". And that walker toy you stole from Allie's house?! That thing is putting you over the edge of joy and happiness. 

I hope everyone has a truly fantastic weekend!! 

Night "Off"

I love my husband.
And alllllll of you know I love my Bubba.
BUT (yes, there is a but) the craziness of a baby filled day can become mind-numbing, tiring, & downright draining at times. 
No, this is not a post that is me complaining about motherhood. 
I love that I have gotten to spend every day with Jack his first year of life.I am SO blessed that my husband is hardworking enough for me to be at home. 
BUT (yes, I am getting back to the "but") It would be a lie if I didn't say I was counting down the minutes seconds until John walks through the door at the end of the day.
When John gets home it's like a church choir sings and I finally get a break some help!Problem is, John is walking through the door after a hard & long day at work.Guess who is also looking forward to some "relaxation" once he gets home?!BINGO.
This was leading to some, ahem, problems. We both felt like we deserved to kick up our feet at the end of the day, but there are still THREE WHOLE HOURS before Bubba goes to sleep.I swear the hours between 5 and 8 are the longest...
Solution you ask?! We each picked ONE night a week to be our night "off".
What does this entail?
Well when it's your "off" night. You get to lay on the couch & watch what you want on TV.You don't have to make dinner and you DEFINITELY don't have to clean up. You don't have to make bottles, give Jack a bath, or chase after him before bed. 
This may seem kind of drastic. But honestly, it makes the other 5 nights of the week TEN TIMES better!Why?
John and I are much more willing to be a team. It's easier to help one another when you know you get one night a week to breath. That one night is guilt free because you know the other has one too. 
I want to make John's night off relaxing because I know he will do the same for me in return. Honestly, things around here have been A LOT better since we started this new "routine". 

Sorry if I'm rambling, but I thought this was worth sharing. We are new at this parenting thing.We are also new at this MARRIED thing. 
This is what is working for us right now.And when I go to school in the fall?It's all going to change again!
Mostly we are learning, time and time again-Marriage, parenthood, relationships in general are all about flexibility & mutual respect.Among other things of course...

The Weekend of John

We are home! 

Bubba and I had a fantastic 10 day hiatus from real life at my parents & were so happy to have John join us for a long weekend on Thursday night.
You may recall that my birthday was the day before Mother's Day.Well, John's birthday was the SAME DAY as Father's Day this year.Some may say we get a bum deal because it's all clumped into one - but I say having a WHOLE weekend dedicated to you is pretty great :)
John's weekend was spent at the lake. Saturday was cloudy and threatened rain & storms,but we didn't let it stop us from hanging out on the dock, drinks in hand, and lots of friends!

So my husband is recently OBSESSED with golfing.
It's a new hobby for him so we decided to gather all of our lake friends at the closest golf course!
Unfortunately the weather had other things in mind...
We ended up at a local bar for drinks, appies, & Keno while we waited out the rain.

Thank God for teenage lake friends -
about 12 helpful hands piled over to our lake house to watch Bubba!
It was so fun to celebrate without worrying about Jack, we knew he was in good hands!

The golf gods were OBVIOUSLY shining down on us, because the weather cleared.

It was a gorgeous night and we had a blast golfing.

Yours truly even played!

I haven't played since high school, 

but my country club lessons helped me to not embarrass myself too badly :)

After golf we gathered back at the lake house for a late dinner, presents, & homemade carrot cake!Unfortunately, after a few too many drinks on the course... I forgot to take pictures :(
Sunday we celebrated Father's Day! We made the dad's our traditional construction paper crowns, made a big breakfast - and let them be kings for the day!
This involved them reading & watching golf,while my mom, sister, Bubba, & I soaked up some sun :) 

Oh yeah... and John made me go tubing with him.
I HATE tubing.

Now we are back to the daily grind.
Sun kissed, sleepy, and resting up until we meet the lake again on the 4th :)

I am so thankful that my husband was born 26 years ago.
He is my best friend, my rock, my whole heart!

He is also the best father to Jack - he is everything I could hope for in a parenting partner and more!
I am so blessed to have him in my life -
THANKS HONEY! I LOVE YOU :)

Friday's Letters

Dear Relaxing Mornings, I love you. Dear Delicious Summer Meals, I love you too. Dear Earth's Best Teething Biscuits, I DO NOT LOVE YOU. We gave one of you to Bubba during  a walk and it was the messiest most disgusting situation to date. Dear Jack, you have been absolutely spoiled by your grandma this week. THREE new pairs of shoes! You're new little nikes are to die for. You look so grown up! Dear Husband, I am so excited to celebrate your birthday/father's day this weekend! I am so happy that you were born and feel so blessed to have you as my husband and the father to our baby :) 

I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend - I will be back on Monday with a re-cap on "The Weekend of John"

Did You Know That My Husband is a Ninja?

Okay not really... but he is 25% Japanese and we like to embrace the Asian roots as often as possible. 

Lets hope I stay married after posting this...

To be fair - my mom & dad bought all of their adult children footy pj's for Christmas this year...

If you were a part of our Christmas Eve traditions you would know that about 10 bottles of red wine were consumed along with various other cocktails before these pictures were taken.

Anyways...

I though that I might share some stuff with you about that guy that appears in lots of my pictures (you know, the one that isn't Bubba.)

There is a lot more to my husband than the ability to be overly dramatic when I've been taking, in his opinion, too many pictures. 

So here it is, 

John 101

He is as loyal as they come. A friend of John is a lucky person. He gives everyone the benefit of the doubt, is slow to judge, and has your back no matter what. 

He is actually a pretty sentimental guy. He likes to make every memory special and likes things to be just perfect. If he gets it in his head that something should be a certain way- well then, that is the way it has to be! For example, the standard "jumping" picture with his groomsmen...

via

He has been fatherly since before Jack was around. Our nicknames with my roommates in college were "Mom & Dad". on Sunday mornings he would always make a big breakfast (And a BIG mess) for everyone while I made a fruit salad/served up the goods.

These fatherly tendencies only got worse while I was pregnant...

I'm glad he had practice with us crazy ladies because he is a FANTASTIC father.

Jack is the first baby he has ever really held... he was a natural right away!

He does thoughtful things like grow a "playoff beard" in my last month of pregnancy cause I think it looks hot... 

He also dry heaves every time he changes a poopy diaper or gets spit up on... whimp!

I find this habit hilarious and laugh every time I hear him gagging in Jack's nursery.

He is actually a REALLY good dancer. I mean, his Dougie OBVIOUSLY did it for me :)

He can mean mug like you would not believe.

He may grumble about it, but he is ALWAYS willing to to do favors for me. If it is a stop at the store on the way home from work, a Diet Coke run at 10pm, or even just holding my stuff while I take a quick picture or 10... he always likes to help a wifey out :)

He was a swimmer in high school, he still holds records at his school 10 years later... But the only time I ever see him in the water he's doing this:

He also told everyone that his Asian skin doesn't burn... he lied. 

He has lots of nicknames with my friends: Mookie, Dad, J Shigs... but probably the most famous is Justin Bieber. This is due to his famed Justin Bieber costume Halloween 2010 - you may have seen it here, but in case you haven't:

it led to our friends doing things like this...

Can't you see the resemblance?! 

He is the BIGGEST Sparty fan you will ever find. I love that tailgating/football games/Spartan pride will be a family tradition that lasts forever!

These are just a few things about my husband. Mostly, I just love him and thought he deserved a little extra attention on this blog of mine :) 

Babe - we have come a long way in this crazy relationship of ours! I love you more today than I did yesterday!

 Look how drunk young we look in our very first picture together - 

I love you John Shigeru!

UPDATE (2/27): I decided that this was my fav post of the week and linked up with Miss Aunie :)