all dressed up...

a birthday present.  and a good reason to wear a new dress!

my hubby was getting all dressed up.  

and getting promoted.  to Lieutenant Commander.  i am so proud of him.  it's the first time it wasn't an automatic promotion...  someone had to pick him!  and i love the ceremony.  military occasions always make me so thankful for what our servicemembers do!

someone has to put on the new shoulder boards (which tell his rank), as he was no longer "in uniform" for his new rank.  so, he chose the kids!  (i did it at his last promotion, and he and my mom did it for me once!)

the whole fam... looking directly in to the sun!

and then we celebrated 8 years of marriage!  eight years...  we met on march 3rd, and got married sept 3rd.  it was a fun and whirlwind courtship and it's been even more fun since then!  i always tell him that we REALLY didn't know each other that well, and we have spent so much time since then getting to know each other.  and i couldn't be more thankful!

i was thinking the other day about life before david.  and relationships before david.  and i realized (again) how perfect he is for me!  at the promotion, one of the guys said "you put up with him that long?".  i laughed, but quickly responded that i was just thankful he has put up with me for this long!!!  and it's true... especially through four pregnancies, where i don't want to cook or clean, and can barely lift my head off a pillow!  

we were talking the other day about how we have changed in eight years, and our expectations.  i realized that i had expectations and realized that my expectations were so far off.  and reality is SO MUCH BETTER!  (i told david the other night, i had this dream of eating ice cream in bed while watching tv.  cause isn't that what they do in the movies?  but, we both laughed.  and i told him that i realized over the last 8 years that it's such a silly "dream".  i mean...  i would have to get up and brush my teeth.  which would defeat the whole "eating in bed" thing.  and the dirty bowls/ice cream containers/spoons.)

anyway, all that to say, the last eight years have been so much fun!  five houses.  two two month stays with my parents.  three babies and one on the way.  one major deployment.  two small "aways".  three states.  

life.  i am thankful for the time we have had.  and i can't wait for the rest of it.