Celebrating 7 Years! ♡

We celebrated our 7th Wedding Anniversary on December 27th! ♡ We can't believe it's been 7 years since we said "I do." While lots has changed in the past 7 years, our love & commitment to each other has remained steady and strong.

Our anniversary date was slightly less than ideal this year. Jacob went to Meme's house, and Lydia came with us since she will not take a bottle, yet. Our "date" involved shopping for a new oven range (ours died two days before Christmas), an unexpected dead car battery, and leaving a restaurant because of a screaming baby. Not exactly romantic, or even very fun, but that's life right now, and there's nobody I'd rather share the good and the bad with than Scottie!

During the first years of our marriage love was easy. We had nothing but time and attention for each other. I'm not saying we were the perfect married couple or that we didn't experience typical newlywed struggles, because we certainly weren't and we definitely did. But we were young and blissfully in love. ♡

However, after seven years of marriage, I think true, lasting love is more accurately reflected in where we are now. Don't get me wrong. I'm not discrediting our young love, because it was genuine. But over the years we've faced situations that have molded, stretched, and refined our relationship. I'm sure as the years go on our love for each other will continue to grow and evolve as we do, and for a marriage to last, I think it has to. These seven years have given us some invaluable insight to love and marriage...

●Love is messy. Last year on our 6th anniversary, Jacob and I had a stomach virus. As I sat rocking our sick baby, Scott cleaned up chucks of vomit from the carpet and scrubbed them from beloved stuffed animals, without complaining or gagging. I remember thinking I'd never felt more in love with him than I did in that moment.

●Love is a partnership. We're partners in everything. Disagreements and arguments don't end with a winner and a loser. We either win together or lose together.

●Love is showing each other kindness and giving each other grace, even when frustrations reach a boiling point. (This one is hard for me!)

●Love willingly bears burdens. A strong marriage isn't always comprised of two strong people. We take turns being strong when the other is weak.

●Love is facing a scary, uncertain situation together and making the decision to fully trust in God's provision. Uncertainties can strengthen our faith, as well as our relationship.

●Love makes sacrifices. Sometimes these sacrifices are huge, like putting a dream on hold, so your spouse can pursue his/hers. Other times these sacrifices are small, like offering to get up with the baby in the middle of the night. Regardless, love puts your partner's needs above your own.

●Love is a choice, not a feeling. Even when we sometimes struggle to like each other, we are always committed to loving each other. ♡

Seven years down and forever to go...

Lydia is 2 Months Old!

Lydia turned 2 months old on Saturday, January 9th! She continues to be such a snuggly, happy baby! As the weeks pass, I feel like we're starting to see more and more glimpses of her sweet little personality.

At 2 Months
Lydia...

●Weighs 10 pounds and 13 ounces (50th percentile)
●Measures 23 inches long (85th percentile)
●Smiles ALL the time!
●Often sleeps 5 - 7 hour stretches at night!
●Has started batting at toys dangling in front of her
●Turns her head when she hears a noise or voice, especially mommy & daddy's voices
●Still refuses a paci and bottle (sometimes takes a few sucks from a bottle, but not more than 1/2 ounce...sigh)
●Loves to watch and smile at her big brother
●HATES her car seat and SCREAMS nonstop while in it. We actually avoid going places because of it.
●Coos and "talks"
●Enjoys being on her back and looking at fans during awake time.
●People always comment on how alert she is!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the Badens!

Celebrating Christmas as sleep deprived parents of a newborn & toddler was certainly a different experience! It was tempting to not put as much effort into our Christmas traditions, and while we did scale back, we still wanted to make the holiday special for Jacob and our little family. I think we did just that!

We spent a stormy Christmas Eve at Meme's house. Jacob had fun playing with Uncle Andrew and watching some fire truck excitement across the street. At one point during the day, when nobody was watching him, he decided to open a present!

That evening we enjoyed the delicious appetizers and dinner made by Meme, and Jacob and the pups opened presents from her.

It was late when we got home, but we still put out cookies for Santa and carrots for his reindeer. Jacob couldn't get over how big the carrots were, and he wanted to feed them to the reindeer decorations in the neighbor's yard! Before bed, Scott read the Christmas Story and The Night Before Christmas to Jacob under the tree.

The kids slept in on Christmas morning after being up so late the night before. Jacob actually slept in until 10 am!!! We kept waiting and waiting for him to wake up! When he finally did, he was excited to see that Santa and Papa had come! He had fun opening presents, specifically ripping off the wrapping paper!

Uncle Andrew, Uncle Thomas, and Aunt Ryan joined us later in the morning. We exchanged gifts and Thomas and Ryan made a delicious dinner. Our oven ranged croaked earlier in the week, so we had to be creative with dinner prep! Luckily, my neighbor was incredibly kind to let us use her oven!

After everyone went home, we drove around our neighborhood looking at all the Christmas lights. It was a fun way to end our first Christmas as a family of four!

Bradley and Baden Family Christmas Celebrations

This past weekend was full of fun Christmas celebrations! On Saturday we headed to Aunt Laura and Uncle Al's house in Weaverville for the Bradley Family Christmas gathering. It was great to see our aunts, uncles, and cousins, as well as introduce Lydia to the family! Jacob had so much fun playing in Grandma & Grandaddy's RV, raking leaves, and playing with Cousin Will's legos. He was really sad when it was time to go home!

On Sunday, Grandma, Grandaddy, Uncle Craig, & Aunt Lori came to our house for our Baden Family celebration. Grandma brought some yummy appetizers, and we exchanged gifts. Jacob opened a present or two, but was mainly interested in wearing a Lego bag on his head, which he was pretending was a race car helmet.

The previous weekend was also really fun, because Papa spent the day with us on Friday. He played outside with Jacob all morning. They went to the park and played in Papa's truck, of course! Then Papa got Lydia to sleep during Jacob's nap, so I was able to rest and work on a Christmas project.

Then we made yummy Christmas cookies with Meme the next day. Jacob was really excited about the icing, as well as using a butter knife to ice the cookies! For as long as I can remember, we've made these cookies at Christmas. It's fun to continue the tradition with Jacob.

Jacob has suddenly fallen in love with his baby sister! ♡ Last week he climbed up in my lap while I was holding her, and said, "Hey, Wydia." Then he nuzzled her face and kissed her cheek! It was the sweetest thing I've ever seen! Since then, he's been hugging, kissing, holding, and talking to her nonstop! He loves to help me by bringing me her diapers and burp cloths. It took him a little while, but we knew he'd come around! He's also been mimicking infant care with Monkey, which is super cute! He changes Monkey's diaper, feeds/burps, and rocks him throughout the day. Occasionally, Monkey has to be put in time-out for not listening or for jumping on the couch!

We've also continued to have successful outings. We've been doing some Christmas errands, and even had an impromptu lunch out! I nurse Lydia in the car before we head home from wherever we are and Jacob loves sitting up front while I do. Yesterday, Lydia had a dirty diaper that went up her back and into her outfit, which I didn't realize until I started to change her...on my lap...in the front seat of the car! They keep things interesting for me!

Lydia has been super smiley lately!