5 Whole Years

As of Friday, Ray and I have been married for 5 whole years! I just wanted to brag on him and his spectacular gift giving skills. So for each anniversary there are traditional gifts to give and for year five it is something wooden. This isn't really something we always do but Ray went with that and got me the coolest wooden jewelry box. He hand engraved our tattoo on the inside with a wood burner thing. Then on the bottom he put the date and "5 years." This is probably my favorite gift he's ever given me just because of the thought and meaning behind it. He's kinda awesome at giving gifts.

These past five years have been the most incredible yet challenging of my life. I never thought I could love somebody the way I love Ray. He is such a wonderful husband and provider for me. It's so amazing how God has shown me His love and grace through my husband. While he is definitely not perfect, Ray is perfect for me and I thank God for him all the time. Love wins with us.

Nearly Normal

Me at 21 weeks.

I am fully aware of the rediculous amount of time it has been since I posted last. Sorry to those of you who have checked our blog hoping for updates on the baby situation. Hopefully some pictures will make up for my lack previous info. But really I was beyond sick for many many moons and had no desire to type or stand up or eat really do anything. The ship started a slow turn around at about 19 weeks and I feel like the sailing will be smoother from here on out (at least when it comes to barfing). All those pregnancy books and websites were full of crap about when one is supposed to start feeling better. I had waited for week 14 with baited breath just knowing that I'd wake up that day feeling all glowy and wonderful. Nope, not so. Everyone is different, I guess. We are at week 22 and I almost lost my breakfast this morning but I held on and the rest of today has been fine which is a drastic improvement. While being sick is totally the pits, it's absolutely incredible to feel movement and life growing in my belly. It's like I have a little friend with me all the time! Now on to the big news that most probably know but I'm going to make a dramatic announcement for those who dont.

We found out the sex of the baby a few weeks ago.

And

IT'S

A

BOY!!!

Poor little guy will probably not appreciate his junk being posted on the internet before he's even born but I can't help it! It's in ultrasound form anyway so it's not really real. :) It may be hard to tell so I'll explain. The picture is a slice so those are his two thighs and it cuts them off at the knee; and there is a little white arrow pointing to his boy parts in between. That is an umbilical cord in the background (he's not freakishly endowed).

In other news, we have chosen a name for the little guy. We're gonna call him Owen Foster Malouf! I picked out the first name and Ray picked out his middle name. I love it so much! We can't wait to meet him. I'll leave you with one more picture of his sweet face.

Here’s an update for you. Monica's pregnant.

Yep, you read that right. Monica and I found out on January 31st that we’ll be having a baby. We went to the doctor today and found out that she’s due on September 13th. That’s only another 244 days. She’s really excited about being “huge and pregnant” in the middle of the summer (that’s what she said). So, this means no trip to Scotland this summer, but that’s okay with us. We’re both ready to move into the next stage of our lives together, with child(ren). Maybe there’ll be more than one. Haha.

As Monica gets further along in the pregnancy, I’m sure that she’ll keep everyone updated on how things are progressing. At this point we don’t care if we have a boy or girl – we just want the baby to be healthy. Please keep Monica in your prayers. She hates being nauseous.

So, here’s to 2010.

The Ink

So Ray and I are getting tattooed tonight and I'm so excited. We are getting the phrase, love wins. on our wrists in typewriter font. This is significant to us in a few ways: when we were dating, Ray put a bumper sticker on my car that says love wins so that's been something we've said to each other for a long time. So in spite of all the fights, the hard times, fear of the unknown, all of the disappointment, ultimately love wins with us. It always will. There is also the significance that Christ's love has won us over. It's just many-fold and I like it.
Hopefully I can get some cool pictures of them and post here soon.

Fall Jewels

I was inspired by the colors of my favorite season last week and had to incorporate them into a necklace. I hope it gets you excited for colder weather and the changing leaves.

-Monica

Just three words.

How would you like to be described in just three (3) words? Wouldn't you want the words to be meaningful? I would. At our life group this week, we played a game similar to the "newly-wed" game where each husband had to describe his wife using just three words. I choose the following words to describe Monica: creative, passionate and adventurous. Did I do her any justice? Not really, because she's also beautiful, loving, hilarious, strong-willed (stubborn) and just an amazing woman.

So, how would you want to be described?

Okay, so it's been a while...

It's been a while since you've last heard from me, so here's a pretty quick overview of what's been going on with TwoMaloufs...

1. We went through Financial Peace University and can now say, "WE'RE DEBT FREE!"
2. We recently went to Denver on a mini-vacation. It was fun.
3. Monica started working at the Gap, in addition to cutting hair, playing music and making jewelry. Check out her latest creations by visiting her joint-venture etsy store.
4. I bought Monica a 1980 Vespa moped that she wanted. It's pretty rad.
5. I was recently promoted at work. I'm excited about the changes that are taking place.
6. We've added Lenny to our family. He's a cream labradoodle and should be about the same size as Karley.
7. Oh yeah, since we don't have cable anymore we've become addicted to the TV series "24." We've just finished seasons 1 & 2 and we're currently on season 3.

Here are a few pictures of the pups and the hot rod.