Cotton Anniversary!

I'm not sure how many people are aware of the custom of exchanging particular gifts on various wedding anniversaries. I actually love this idea, and to know more about it, I recently researched how it all came to be! Here's a very quick history lesson... Dating back to medieval times, milestone anniversaries were celebrated by giving couples (particularly the wife) specific types of materials - silver on the 25th, gold on the 50th. Later, Victorians added diamonds to the list, and celebrating anniversaries with specific materials became more popular. In the 20th century, more anniversaries were recognized with themed-gifts, and now there is a list of items that span 1-100 years of marriage! It makes sense that a traditional first anniversary gift is paper. Why? Because it's pure, clean, blank. It tears easily, and it's inexpensive - of very little value. As time goes on, each traditional wedding gift gets stronger and more valuable - just as the marriage and relationship does. The strength and quality of the marriage is mirrored in the traditional gift associated with it, and personally, I like this idea.

Last year, Sam and I celebrated our "paper" anniversary by exchanging cards and other "paper gifts." He gave me a gift certificate for a massage - printed on our home computer paper. And, I gave him a digital scrapbook wrapped in toilet paper! :) It was a DVD documenting each week of our first year. This year is our 2nd wedding anniversary, and the traditional gift for year 2 is cotton. So many choices on what to do this year! We've been talking about getting a king-size bed for a long time. Sam made me promise not to get any gifts this year because he wanted our gift to each other to be a new king-size bed. Lots of cotton opportunities there - new bedspread, pillows, sheets, etc! Unfortunately, I had already bought his anniversary gift, and I was pretty sure Banner had gotten a gift for us, too! ;) But, I "played along" and didn't get us anything.

Saturday of Labor Day weekend, Sam and I went to make our big purchase! Although Banner cried the entire time we experimented with and tried out different mattresses, we eventually made a decision. We spent the rest of the afternoon running all over the area trying to find bedding we liked - a new duvet and cover, decor, etc. LOTS of cotton for our new bedroom! :) On Sunday, we packed a bag for us and a bag for Banner. He would be spending the night with Grandma and Papa for the first time by himself, and we would be going back to our mini-moon location at the Gaylord Texan for 24 hours by ourselves. I was reluctant to leave Banner - stalling as I said my goodbyes - but once I was in the car and we were on the road - it was awesome! I loved having time with Sam just the two of us again. I missed my baby, and we talked about Banner a lot - but it was also great to have other talks, walks, treats, and time together. One important thing that I got to enjoy again was a semi-schedule! I knew what time we'd be going to dinner, that we'd go to the pool afterward, that we could sleep in a little, and that we'd have brunch before we left the hotel. Living each day with Banner without knowing when I'll be woken up, what time he'll want to eat or nap, etc - it gets a little unnerving for my Type A personality. So, Sam promised me we could have a lose schedule, and honestly, just knowing I could have a schedule made me not really care about it anymore! I was so much more flexible about my time just knowing it was MY time, OUR time. So, it was kind of nice to be away from Baby Boy - except for the fact that there was a baby in the room next to ours, and we heard him all night and all morning! Luckily, it wasn't our baby, and we didn't have to do a damn thing about it - except tolerate the crying, which we've become empathic to and not annoyed by (kind of!).

Here are some pictures of us during our anniversary celebration at Gaylord.

Here is Sam enjoying his glass of wine - and mine! I told the waiter twice that I didn't want any (not a drinker), but he poured one anyway, so Sam got to enjoy both of them.

This is us after a night of full, uninterrupted sleep! :) Can you tell how rested we look?

 

On Monday, we enjoyed a brunch before leaving to get Banner from Grandma and Papa's house. He had done a great job sleeping 11 hours through the night ... he's on a roll lately!  Our anniversary celebration continued on Tuesday... the king bed arrived during the day. Banner and I set it up (okay, Banner did his part by sleeping and letting me have some time to prepare it all) so that it would be ready for Sam when he got home from work. It looked great! We still need to get a headboard, but that's for another day...

Tuesday night, we put Banner to bed before making our stir-fry dinner. As we sat down to eat, look what we found at our dining room table!

 

Banner had bought us some of the towels on our wedding registry! Such a sweet, caring, giving boy we have! :)

Also, on my chair was a sweet card and my favorite candy from Sam... (OTL: One True Love)

 

And, here's a picture of us before dinner... the baby monitor is clipped to my t-shirt, making it pull my collar - I was afraid I wouldn't hear Banner, so ... you do what you have to, right?

 

After we cleaned up from dinner, I had one more trick up my sleeve! On the couch waiting for Sam was a bag of cotton balls. Inside, there was a special treat...

 

I have been secretly working on a second year DVD, documenting each week of our year together. Sam was really surprised; he had mentioned wanting to have a DVD for each anniversary after the surprise last year, so I did another one. He thought I had forgotten or wouldn't have time (which I really didn't, but thank God for nap times!). This video was very well-received, and we watched it twice. There were tears and smiles and a strong recognition that we spend our time well - with friends, with family, with each other. It was quite a year to remember... pregnancy, Banner's birth, and opening a whole new chapter of our relationship as we learn to parent together. It was a year of worry and anxiety but of joy and elation. Mom finished her radiation treatments, we Raced for a Cure, we celebrated birthdays and graduations, we welcomed many new family members, and we had lots of snow days together! There were sleepless nights, tiring days, nauseous mornings, and exhausted evenings... but in the end, we became a family of three! And, what a wonderful family it is - I just love this life with Sam and with Banner and all of our extended family and friends. It's a life to be so thankful for, and I truly am every single day! Our day ended in a perfect way: As Sam and I got into our king-size bed at the same exact time, and as we listened to Banner breathing in his pack-n-play, we held each other and appreciated this past year and how much we love each other. We may have only been married for two years now, but we've been best friends for about 15, and our relationship has stood the test of time, distance, stress, and change.

Happy Cotton Anniversary, Sam! Here's to many more! I can't wait to see what this year brings, and I can't wait to see what our LEATHER anniversary will entail! :) I love you!