I'm not crazy!

I was talking to my downstairs neighbor the other day and she asked if everything was okay with Brice. "Fine," I replied. As fine as they can be with a two year old. She went on to say that last Sunday, early afternoon, her husband came out of the office and said he could hear Brice upstairs. "Wow, poor Danielle," he said. Yes, I remember it well. We had just returned from church and Brice had one bee or another in his bonnet and was throwing one heck of a fit. Nothing out of the ordinary for him. It was so loud that the light fixture in the downstairs office was shaking!
I should have been embarrassed. Mortified.
I was elated. I felt justified. I've been telling people how Brice has these tantrums--not everyday, but just about--that just blow your eardrums. He screams uncontrollably. He thrashes. He wails. He goes completely over the edge and can't calm down. Sometimes Seth and I can talk him down from the ledge. Sometimes we can maintain our calm and let him scream it out (it can take as little as 15 minutes, or can go on for over an hour). Sometimes we jump off the cliff with him and we all end up screaming and crying.
This has been going on for over a year. We are tired. Someday this will change, people tell us. Sometimes we believe them.
But in the meantime, it's nice to have other people taste the madness and tell us we're not crazy.

Four years!!!

Four years ago today we took the plunge in Grand Rapids and got hitched. It's been the busiest, craziest, happiest four years of my life. Herewith, our marriage in numbers:

Two cities (NYC and Chicago)
Three homes
Two water leaks
One lawsuit (more on that at some point)
Two babies
Eight months of screaming (the kids that is)
Three jobs
Four strollers
Four carseats

Lots of traveling
Lots of visiting
Lots of family
Lots of meeting
Lots of leaving

Lots of Love

Happy Anniversary, baby!