Three

[February 17th 2015] (Good heavens, this is embarrassing. I never published this post! Happy reading...8 months late!)

Three years. 1,095 days. Three whole years. Three years of wearing his ring and sharing his name. One thousand(+) days of being married, and I still feel like I won the marriage lottery. He is my very best friend and the perfect teammate.  I'm so lucky we're stuck together for all of eternity.

Our first date, I think (so sue me, I'm like the worst at sentimental. I always forget to remember the good stuff. First kiss? No recollection of the actual date. First "I love you"? Ummm... pass. Thank goodness JR is equally as forgetful.) was putting up Christmas for my Grandma and watching Christmas movies with her afterward. And then as we watched something brimming till bursting with Christmas cheer, I remember him being very concerned about my feet staying warm. I love that about him.

We make a pretty great team. We have the same goals and big dreams, and we are always on the same page. One of us is sometimes a paragraph ahead or behind, but it doesn't take long to get right back in sync. And if the page thing is ever too far off, we can always, always find a way to figure it out. That is something else I love about JR. He is the best at processing situations and finding solutions. And our relationship is his very top priority every time.

Happy Anniversary, JR Sandoval! My goodness I love you!

The First Year

One whole three-hundred-sixty-five-day-year. One year for Michael means six teeth, 9-month shorts cause he's too skinny for his real size, baby signing "please", "milk", "more", "all done", "food", and folding his arms for prayers all day long. He, at one point or another in his one-year existence, has said; "mom", "dad", "Ted", "Nan-nan" (Karen), "Pa" (grandpa), "Na-na" (grandma), "Bah" (ball, bum, book, bye, a number of "B" words, really), "bye-bye", "hi", and "hello".

He loves talking on the phone, reading books, trucks, brushes, his shoes, the pool, going on walks, helping dad take Ted out, everything about dad, being chased, hiding, walking, Ted, Maelyn and Tylie.

His favorite food is green beans and he loves strawberries and oranges. He is still mostly bald, although it's more of a patchy mullet these days. The "party in the back" tends to curl -sometimes- and it's pretty adorable. His lips are still to die for.

Michael Blake (little Migalito, as his father calls him) is a busy boy. He's curious and gets himself stuck a lot.

We don't have a lot of trouble with nap time or bedtime. He is a great sleeper and isn't too picky about what he'll eat. Michael is a joy to have in our home. His laugh is the greatest, and I think he gives the very best open-mouthed kisses in the whole wide world. I love his cuddles and it is so much fun to watch him try to communicate. Teaching him about the world and being able to witness him discover life is genuinely priceless.

Here's a year in pictures...