Poehlman Family: 18 month old twins and 9 years of marriage.

Nathan and I, in the very beginning.

July 22nd, 2000 Nathan and I were married. Nothing even close to big, hardly any plans were made. I had thought about wearing a beautiful white dress... nope. Jon was less then 2 months old and shopping for a dress was not fun. As I was out with my mom her best friend Jonnie and her daughter Sarah I made the executive decision that we were all wearing jeans. So instead of trying on wedding dresses and tux's, I bought jeans. As I look back I would have not changed anything!! I love the fact that we all wore jeans.. well except for Mason, I wasn't strong enough to say no to khaki's... I guess that, I would have changed. It was my wedding, I think I should have been able to choose what he wore... oh well. I should have Nate wear jeans to his wedding this next year :-) okay TOTALLY kidding, but I have to laugh!!
9 years later and amazingly strong. Those first couple years were SO incredibly hard... We just barely made it. But we did. We learned so much, how to argue, how to be friends, how to be parents, how to be the only one that matters to the other. Nathan is my very best friend, I couldn't imagine not being married to that person. He knows me in and out and there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that he loves me. He loves all of me. He's seen me at my absolute worst, when no one should ever see me. I can also say the same for him. I love him with all of me, even on those days when he drives me crazy and all I want to do is throw things at him, I can still say "I love you".
I love our time now.. Our date nights, our long nights--fussy/sick babies or even a flood :-)... I can't wait till we can travel... I can't imagine traveling with anyone else. I can't imagine my life without him.
We are such a team. My weakness's are his strengths and vice versa. Our kids are amazing because of our work. Our dedication and our love for our family is what makes our world turn.
I know so many people that have married after us and been divorced... It's so sad and I have no answer to "how do you make it work"... Marriage is hard.
So next year is the big TEN!! We're going to have a massively large blow-out party. We'll have a huge invitation list and hope that everyone can celebrate our love with us.
We have a babysitter Saturday night and will probably do dinner. Not sure what else. It doesn't seem to matter what else we do, it's so nice just to hang out with my best friend. Just driving around like teenagers again.
Nathan and I taken a couple months ago...

Yesterday the twins turned 18 months. SERIOUSLY 18 months???
Jacob-- better known to all of us as Jake, or Jakey.
What a funny kid he is! Routine is definitely his best friend. He's my cuddler, my sensitive boy. He loves his back scratched and head rubbed. He's so stinken ticklish and has the best laugh ever! Jake always has something in his hands, always. He gets possessive about things and will NOT let them go unless something better is up for grabs. For instance, he's gone to bed the last 2 nights with a cup and spoon... why? Because that's what he wants. Neither Nate or I have dared take it away from him... He loves food, but every day is different. I think his favorite is meat... Or those cheese puff things from Gerber. He also loves raisins. His vocab... Uh (pause) ohhhh, dada, hi, hi don (jon), ma (more), beh (bye), ap (apple). He knows the signs for eat and more and uses them often :-) He loves to push things, pull things and take things apart. He loves to put things in boxes or cups. He's also a great helper! He helps put his toys away, and Aly's too, even if she's in the middle of playing :-) He loves his sister, but still doesn't "play" with her. He wants to do what she's doing. He is such a cool kid. He can sit with one toy for a very long time and just play.

Alyssa -- also known as Aly, little pickle, Al mals.
Sweet Aly is just a flippen doll! She's tough as nails! The girl can take a huge tumble and walk away with a smile. She has absolutely NO FEAR... She'll take on any slide, any toy, any set of stairs. She also LOVES water. The girl can not stay away from it! She's been known to just stand in the sprinkler. She's so little but so extremely flexible. She's escaped her crib a couple times, by lifting her leg (over her head) to get out. She LOVES to be thrown around, and flipped. She loves to climb on everything... I came into the living room the other day and she was on my computer next to my desk trying to climb up... She also loves to stand on the coffee table... She is a RUNNER! The girl can run MILES around Jake. Aly is way too smart :-) She has a huge vocab... gabba gabba is her newest word (thanks Yo Gabba Gabba!) She also says dada, momma, apple, up, eat, jakey, jon, bite, night night (with no t at the end), eek eek (kitty)... She also LOVES to read. I can't sit in the playroom without her bringing me books to read. She points out the mice, nose's, ears, eyes, mouths, apples, birds, trees, and dogs in all the books. She's a big screamer... She has this really high pitched scream when she gets excited, it's too cute. She loves to eat as well and is pretty easy. She'll eat almost anything. Her favorite has to be mandarin oranges. She could eat her weight in those! She loves her brother.. When he cries she'll walk over and pat him on the head and say "it's okay Jakey"... She pats Ethan on the tummy and does the same. They both are really into giving Ethan his bottle and it's cute till they try to stick it in his nose or his eyes... She still has her paci and it still has no name. She can't sleep without it.
My how time flies... I love this age, I'll miss it when it's gone.