The Wonderful Month Of August!

I love The Wonderful Month Of August because it's FULL of celebrations:
August 2nd:  Our wedding anniversary!  Jim, can you believe 5 years have gone by since we stood outside in the pouring rain & said "I do"?  Kyle was only 4 years old!!
Our lives together have been blessed in so many ways, with our beautiful children being our biggest blessings of all. We have a strong, solid marriage that's surrounded by love, trust & communication.
Over the years we've watched many people struggle in their marriages, often times ending it with divorce.  We've watched them get lazy & give up.  I feel so lucky & happy that our marriage is not one that is full of struggles.  Everything we do, every decision & sacrifice we make, is for our children & each other.  The ground we stand on is solid but it's not something that we take for granted, rather it's something that we cherish.
Our first 5 years of marriage have passed by incredibly fast, probably because we've been so busy raising our little family but also because loving & caring for each other is effortless.  It comes as easy & as natural as breathing  and I pray, with all my heart, that it always will.

August 9th:  Savannah's birthday!  Our 'baby' will celebrate her 2nd birthday this year!!  From the moment she was born she has hit every milestone early - from walking at 9 months to talking at 12 months.  When I reflect back on the past two years with her it's easy to see that she wasn't a 'baby' for very long.
Like Bella she has a strong personality.  She has an incredible stubborn streak running through her veins & she's definitely no stranger to temper tantrums.  Sharing is not one of her strong points, but I've decided that it's not a strong point in ANY child, no matter what their age is.  Our biggest issue with her right now is that she is a screamer...and an incredibly loud one at that.
She loves books & will spend hours sitting on the floor looking at the pictures.  She also loves to tag along with Kyle & Bella and wants nothing more than to be a part of whatever it is they're doing!  Kyle is great with her - he speaks to her in a soft, kind manner.  If she's upset over something he's quick to try to calm her down.  Bella, on the other hand, tends to butt heads with her on a fairly constant basis.  Their personalities are very similar & they're both territorial.  They're at the same 'play' level, but they have zero tolerance for each other.   I'm hoping that come this time next year they'll be the best of friends, especially since they tend to share a lot of the same interests already.  Soon we will be moving Savannah into Bella's room - good luck to us, right?

The rest of August is crammed with birthday celebrations of various family & friends.  There are so many, infact, that I can't keep the dates straight anymore!  Carole, Me, Jim, Mike, Ed, Lynn, Julie, Matthew, Melissa, Todd, Alana and SO many more!!  Soon we'll be adding another name to the August birthday list, too -- as we anxiously await the arrival of John & Kimmy's daughter Kaylie - who was due in July!  Also, Mike & Joan + Ed & Sandy have wedding anniversaries in August, too!    It's the busiest month of the year for us - and I LOVE it!!!