Jamaica-Me-Crazy

The last month has been a lot of fun, a little trying, and a whole giant pile of CRAZY.

Chris and I spent 7 days in . b e a u t i f u l . Jamaica, where - if possible - I fell even further in love with him. We traveled there for a wedding/vacation combination with a few of our closest friends, and I dare say we spent more time "honeymooning" than the bride and groom. NO, not that kind of honeymooning. The gross lovey-dovey "let's hold hands and walk on the beach and lay in a hammock and snorkel and spend an entire day in bed with the windows open so we can hear the ocean" honeymooning. It was fantastic. And not once did I get tired of his sweet, sweet face.

Since returning home, we've had his babies kiddos for almost 3 full weeks :) I will be the first to admit that I was not ready to leave the happy bubble of the islands, but I sure did miss those goobers! This is the most time I've been able to spend with them day in and day out, and I'm happy to report that I've only had one crushing YoureNotMyMom-style comment. However, it was the first one I'd ever received, so don't be shocked when I say there were tears on my end. On the bright side, it has lead to something that may have been lacking before: trust. For the first time, I think our oldest child has realized that if I am forced to tell her what to do, it's not because I'm a mean ol' step-whatsit; but it's because I love her. This is probably one of those daunting, annoying, necessary evils for a 10 year old girl. I know that when I was ten, I wasn't much into affection, love, or kind words from anyone except cute boys and my mom. Imagine my joy and surprise when, post argument, I got my first ten year old hug, my first ten year old kiss on the cheek, and my first ten year old, "Can't you just live with us? We miss you when you're gone at night" moments. They were pretty special, to say the least.

Step-parenting (co-parenting? girlfriend-parenting? Have we decided on a term for this yet?) is hard. It's a little touch and go. It's a lot of trial and error. But I say again, it is the most rewarding thing I have yet to experience. I will never be able to fully appreciate all of the hard work Chris has done in raising these little firecrackers, and I don't think I will ever be able to thank him enough for it. But I have been reading "The Five Love Languages," and I plan to speak his language every chance I get.

This weekend we are supposed to be taking our first family trip to my family's lake house, 3 hours away, with limited video game capabilities, no cable, and 20 crazy strangers (I love my family more than you will ever know - but trust me, we are insane). I'm both terrified and immensley looking forward to some amazing memories.

And fireworks, for our little firecrackers.