Happy Anniversary!

This is only three weeks late, but here's a pic of me and Rob on our third wedding anniversary. Seriously, is it only the third?? It feels like we've been married forever! Our anniversary was on August 20 and it was the day before I had to return to work. Cody and I had one last lake trip with my mom and sister. Rob had to work kind of late so we just hung out close to home and went to dinner at the Red Lobster. It's a funny story because Red Lobster is not one of the restaurants that we visit often, but this was the second time in three weeks that we went to RL! While we were on vacation in Ohio we also went to RL. I picked Rob up at the airport in Cleveland only to find that although he made it to Cleveland, his bags and golf clubs had not. So we stayed relatively close to the airport (thank God I knew my way around) and we ended up at RL. We ate dinner at the bar, watched the Indians game on TV and had a great conversation with another couple also eating dinner at the bar. Anyway, we liked what we had for dinner in Ohio so much that we were looking forward to the same dinner! Both times we were out without the Code-man! Thanks Spleeve and Steph for watching him so we could have a couple hours without him. It was definitely an anniversary to be thankful for since it was only four days after his wreck. We had so much to be thankful for and a lot of things to talk about.

My life has changed so much in the last six years because of Rob and I am so thankful for all of it. I've never felt so free to be myself with anyone else and that is probably the one thing that I love the most. Many of you who know me well know that I'm a total dork and let me tell you, I think I have gotten worse! I never feel that he is going to judge me because I jump up at a commercial and start to bust out a cheer routine from high school because the song on the commercial was one that we used to have a routine to! Or on any given Saturday, Sunday, or any other random day, when I'm yelling at the TV during the Notre Dame or Cleveland Browns football game, or during an Indians playoff game (that was last year, we have no hope this year) when you can usually hear me out in the yard! And the other thing that I love most is that he is just as big a dork as I am. I can't tell you some of the silly stuff he has done because it would forever ruin his reputation, but it makes me love him even more.

Another reason I love him so much is because he is such a great dad. I know, I know, everyone says their husband is a great dad, but Rob REALLY is great! Let's just say that I really LOVE my sleep. My husband has gotten up with Cody in the middle of the night easily more than I have. I think I have learned to tune out Cody's nightime fussing through the monitor, but that's because I know that Dada will take care of him.

One last reason that love him so much is that he is not ever afraid to be himself. He is that same person no matter who he is around and he never apologizes for being who he is. I really wish that I were more like him. I think that sometimes I care WAY TOO much what someone else is going to think about me and I forget to just have fun. I'm trying to learn from him!

One more thing that I love (okay this really is the last) is that nobody ever tells him no. He is never afraid to do anything, even if I am! I am such a rule follower and am always afraid of getting in trouble and it is so much fun to go places with him because he will do anything! Did I tell you that we went to the Nascar race in Fontana and got to the infield without having any tickets? Okay, that's a story for the next post. I also still have to post Ohio pics, I know!

Anyway, Robbie, I love you so much! I am so thankful for you and Cody and the life we share! Happy third anniversary!

First Day Back!

Well, since he's not in school yet, we can't call it "first day of school". Cody and I took this pic on August 25, which was my first day back to school with the kids. I figured I should take a pic of Cody so that we have something to look back upon and compare to when he starts school!

He does great with Debe at daycare. He loves all of the kids there. We include them in our prayers every night! He is especially happy these days since we are carpooling with one of my co-workers whose daughter also goes to Debe's house. Every morning Cody is SO excited to see Natalia and especially Augie!

Also, I just wanted to mention that Rob is doing better after his wreck. He had some short-term memory loss for a while. I think he "lost" his wallet four times in two days! He still has a nagging, on-going headache and is powering through the ibuprofen! Everytime the word "racecar" is mentioned, Cody is sure to point out, "Dada crash!" I know that Rob will race again. Believe it or not, I want him to race again. It's something that he loves; he gets to spend time with his friends and especially his dad, and it's something that he is good at! I think we're both still a little afraid since his wreck, but I know that he's fiercely competitive and I know that he won't be satisfied until he has gotten back in that car. And I will be there when he gets back on the track! I might be hyperventilating, but I'll be there! :)

Thanks be to God!

This isn't really the post that I thought would be the first after vacation. Yes, I'm definitely slacking on that one, but I will get to it.

Rob had a race last night and thirty laps into the fifty lap race, as he was running in either 4th or 5th place, he had the most horrific accident that I've ever seen in person. He came out of turn 4, on the inside of another race car. The other driver essentially turned left on him and Rob's right front tire caught the other car's left front tire. This caused Rob's car to be launched over the top of the other car and it started to barrel roll. He hit the wall on the front stretch, bounced off (still rolling) and continued to roll as he slid across the asphalt into the infield in the center of the track. His car was still moving forward and then it finally stopped. It was crushed and Rob didn't put his door net down to indicate that he was okay. I saw the whole thing and as he was launched into the air and until he got out of the car, all I could do was scream, "Oh my God! Oh my God!" I know that my God heard my anguished scream because Rob did get out of the car on his own. He is okay, but we went to the hospital last night to make sure he got checked out because he blacked out and did not remember parts of the crash. I want to thank our friends who were there with me and took care of Cody when all I could do was pray that my husband wouldn't be killed. I've never been so scared before when he was in a wreck. I am thankful that he and his crew spend so much time and effort making sure that the car is in the best shape it can be in. Yes, the car is totalled, but all of the safety features did their job. The halo, or roll cage, has a crack in it so I know that it hit hard. I also want to thank Spleeve and Steph for watching Cody when we went to the hospital. It is such a blessing to have friends who will drop everything to come to our rescue. Spleeve came over to our house so that Cody could go to sleep in his own bed. Thank you!

Before we went to the hospital (because it wasn't life threatening), Rob came home to take a shower and I put Cody to bed. Before he got in the shower he was telling me what happened as I hadn't had a chance to talk with him one on one yet. He went through the story and said that while he was rolling over he saw a blinding flash of white light and at that point, he thought he was going to die. So I say, thank you God for not taking my husband and Cody's father yet. I guess He just knew that I wouldn't be able to go on without him. If you pray, please thank God again for me and my family. I would appreciate it. Peace to you all!

Goin' on Vacation!

Yea! Cody and I leave for Ohio in the morning. By the way, it's 11:24 pm and I'm not done packing , but I'm blogging! Did I mention that we leave the house at 5:30 am? What is wrong with me? I know, I know, I am the Queen of Procrastinators! We'll see you next week with lots of pics... we'll have chili dogs at Netty's, hang out in Lake Eric, do our annual bar crawl at Put-in-Bay... see you soon!!!

Cody's new game

So my son has finally figured out just how much fun it is to dump all of the toys out of his little toy basket all over the floor! And he realized he's still small enough that he can sit in the basket! I didn't get a picture of him trying to stand on his head in the basket- I was laughing too hard!

Fun at Shauna's house!

On Tuesday night, Cody and I were lucky enough to be able to get together with two of my best friends, Jenni and Shauna, and Shauna's adorable daughter, Makayla. We had such a great time catching up! The best part was that since we were at Shauna's house, the kids could run around and play and we got to sit and chat with minimal interuptions. Okay, I had to put Cody in time out like three times! It was really great because we don't get a chance to get together all that often and it was so much fun watching Cody and Makayla play together. He is such a boy and she is all girl! She wants to hug on him and hold his hand and he wants nothing to do with that! However, he does love Makayla's doll stroller! He loves pushing that thing around! I guess he figures that since it has four wheels it must be some kind of car! I actually remembered to take some of Cody's toys and apparently he thinks that he's supposed to put his truck in the stroller!

What can I say?
Here's Jenni with both of the kids. I tend to think of two crazy toddlers as being the ultimate form of birth control, but Jenni loved it! She put up with Cody running and dive bombing her, trying to tickle her, jumping all over her and more! And this was at the end of the night! Jen, you're going to be such an awesome mom one day! Thanks for putting up with my out of control son! He is pretty hysterical though! "Hey bebe!" Shauna (and Omar), thanks for having us over! Dinner was delicious and, as usual, Cody and I had a blast! When are we doing this again? P.S. Happy Belated Birthday Pick! Lots of love! <>

Oh so "Wicked"!

This past weekend, I finally did what so many of you have already done... I finally saw "Wicked" in LA at the Pantages Theatre. It was awesome! I've never really been into "The Wizard of Oz", in fact, I've never seen the movie, but I loved the show! Stephanie was good enough to take me as her date, although she still can't believe Spleeve (her husband) didn't want to go! We had a great time!

We had a crazy adventure at the McDonald's on Hollywood Blvd. It's on the corner of Hollywood and Highland and it's nearly impossible to find parking on a Saturday. So, I just jumped out, crossed the street (as Steph drove off down the street to try and find somewhere to turn around), went in to Mickey D's and placed our order in the busiest McDonald's I've ever been in! It was out of control! They were very quick and in about 10 minutes (waiting in line AND getting food) I was out the door into Steph's car which was waiting (parked illegally) ever so close! We were still early to the show so that Steph had time to shop for "Wicked" merchandise... and did she ever! :) I had a wonderful time and can't wait for the next show!