Happy 2nd Birthday Dozer!

Well, it is that time again - time to celebrate the birthday of our little boy Dozer. It is still hard to believe that it was two years ago that we found this little guy and even a year since his last birthday. Life has been so hectic over the past year, time has just flown. I remembered writing a lot last year for his birthday and you can find that post here.

I feel so blessed that I moved home almost 6 months ago and am able to see this little guy every day. No matter what, he seems to bring joy to me daily. He is still a momma's boy but does love his daddy too (I think that is mostly because he goes to work with Chris; daddy = rides in the truck). He just loves to go at all times. He will ride on anything that moves - lawn mower, 4 wheeler, motorcycle, car, truck, etc. He loves being outside and running the farm. He plays with his brother Boots and his sister Sammy (the cat). Although he loves to play hard, he still loves to cuddle up in the evenings to watch TV and snuggles real close when it is bed time.

There has never been anyone or anything as excited to see me daily as this little guy, sure knows how to make me feel loved. He follows me at all times and always wants a treat if you go anywhere near the kitchen. He truly brightens every day.

So happy birthday to our little fella! Here are a few pictures of him throughout the year.

Loving My Husband

There is a quote that I have been searching for all morning about how when you pick who to spend your life with to choose someone that you enjoy talking to because when you are old conversation is all that you have. I feel that Chris and I have this part of our relationship. I love talking to him. Every night over dinner we are talking non-stop, then we have devotion time which continues conversation. Last night we spent most of the evening visiting some family. Once we got home we sat down to do our devotion then stayed up past midnight just talking (totally losing track of time - we are losers and never stay up that late). So after eight years of dating I still love talking to this boy and we never run out of things to talk about!

Just thought I would share!

This and That

Nothing new or major to report, but a few developments.

~ We had a busy weekend like usual. I ran errands with my mother and sister Saturday and handled grocery shopping and cleaning the house. Saturday night we hosted a birthday party/dinner for Chris's dad. The nice and warmer weather has afforded us the opportunity to grill during the month of January. We had a nice visit. Sunday morning was church as usual. We are discussing family values and it is pretty interesting. Next Sunday starts with Chris's favorite verse about wives submitting themselves to their husbands who are the head of the house (he always forgets to read past that verse to find out what it says about husbands). Then we got home to do fence work. Chris is always wonderful about helping around the house so I headed outside to help him. Since the cows are gone, we are tearing down some old/rusty/torn barbed wire to make new cross fences in the field. We got several fences taken down, but the harder part is putting new stuff back up. We have gotten into the habit of having Sunday night dinners with my parents and that seems to be working well. Sunday was another day for a cookout.

~ My sister has made the official decision to move. She has lived in our home town her entire 26 years of existence and I cannot even imagine the fact that she will actually be gone. At the first of the year, her husband was transferred to Lincoln, NE for work. She decided to wait until the end of the school year so her oldest child didn't have to transfer mid year. This decision is heart breaking for myself and the rest of my family. We love Stacie and her three little boys tremendously. I will not give my opinion on her husband, but let's say I wouldn't support her to move down the street to be with him. That is a whole different issue though. I have been trying to spend as much time with Stac and the boys as I can because I know in a few short months they will be over 8 hours away from me.

~ We finally have some snow. It isn't a lot of snow, but it was enough to make my drive to Court this morning unpleasent. At our house this morning, it was fluffy snow, but when I got to work, the parking lot was like ice and I slid into the parking space. The highways were a mess and parts not cleared at all. I heard from other attorneys that even part of the Interstate 44 was closed. It has continued to spit snow all afternoon but no accumulation other than a light dusting.

~ We are loving our couple's devotion book. In November, we bought this book:

We bought the 365 day version (which I guess this year we are shorted a day). We have a Bible verse and reading daily and then we are assigned weekly dares to better our marriage. I cheated and read ahead on some of the dares just to see what it coming. Some are actions to do, some are areas to talk about, etc. A few of them we have already done or they are things already implemented into our household. It is a fun experience anyway. We are loving it! We typically do our devotions immediately after dinner. We always have dinner together and always eat in the kitchen and not in front of the TV. It is a good tradition we started and frankly dinner time/devotion time and talking with my hubby is my favorite part of the day.

~ Our pups are turning two shortly. Dozer will in just a few weeks and Boots will in about a month. Where did the time go?

~ Since it is a typical question I get asked on a daily basis, married life is great. We are loving every minute of it. I do feel like I have been married for far longer than I really have, but maybe part of that is that Chris and I were together so long before getting married and the only thing that changed is actually moving in together. Everything just seems to work so it is a stressfree life most of the time.

~ We are starting to do some car shopping for me. I currently drive a 2 door Grand Am. Its been a good car (I've had it since 2005 - all through college and law school), but I need more room. We are looking into SUVs now. We are mindful that whatever we decide to buy now will be what we have when we start a family (still a couple of years out, or that's the plan anyway) so we want to buy something with babies in mind. I did over my break test drive a couple of vehicles, but we still aren't entirely sure what we want. We know we want something with either 4-wheel or all-wheel drive and at least a 6 cylinder, but other than that we aren't too picky. I don't need a lot of crazy features though I would like bluetooth connectivity to my cell phone. Do you have an SUV that you love and would recommend?

I think that it is for updates today. Work is just about over and I will head home to a crock pot of roast (cannot wait). Hope you all are having a wonderful day!

Update

As I sit in my office during lunch break, I realized that I hadn't been so good at updating my blog. Christmas came and went as usual. We had 6 separate family Christmas celebrations and we each had a work party as well. Talk about a hectic few days. I made 6 dozen cookies in one day in addition to the many other items of food. We had good times with our families, but Chris and I agree that since the passing of our three grandfathers and my one grandmother, things just are not the same. I know the true reason for the season of Christmas and knowing that keeps in the holiday spirit most of the time. I do have a feeling though that all around holiday cheer will not return until we have kids. We just go through the motions now and enjoy the time with family.

My work closes the week between Christmas and New Years. It is a great opportunity for me to get done the extras that I need to. This year included numerous trips to the vet with three different animals and errands. I didn't get as much deep cleaning done as I wanted to, but spending time with my family was so worth it.

New Years Eve for us was low key. We aren't really drinkers or partiers. Plus we attend an early sesson of church (8 am). We went to the home of Chris's cousin Jackie and her husband. A few other cousins showed up. We ate and visited for hours. It was a great night. We hadn't planned to stay out til midnight, but time got away from us. We shared our midnight kisses and headed home. Things like that make me jealous of Chris. He grew up with numerous cousins around his age. There are always people to hang out with and everyone gets along. I am enjoying those relationships now.

Looking back on 2011 makes my head hurt. I cannot even believe all that we went through and survived without killing each other. Between graduation, studying for the bar, getting married and beginning practice, 2011 was the biggest year of my life. I often wonder how I did it all (and I worked all during that time) and maintained Dean's list status, had a beautiful and stress free wedding, and actually passed the bar. I owe Chris a lot of credit. He has always been wonderfully supportive to my dreams and goals in life.

This week has been hectic with the week off. I feel like I am finally to the point of being caught up, with work. Home could still use little work. I do not dust nearly as often as a should. But with Chris's job, 2 dogs and living on a dirt road, I could dust every day and it wouldn't be often enough. No big resolutions or changes in the Upton house for 2012. We have started doing daily devotions. We do a couple's one called "Love Dare" which seems wonderful so far. Then we each have a separate individual devotion. Although it is only day 6, we have not missed a day yet. I think it is good for us.

As the phone continues to ring during my lunch, I suppose that is a sign I need to get off the internet and get back to the papers on my desk. Hope 2012 has started wonderfully for all of you!