Happy New Year, 2011

Do you know, that THIS year, will be 10 years that my sweet husband and I have been together?

Amazing and awesome, I know!

We have had such grand adventures, and while it feels like we just met not long ago, at the same time it seems as though we have been together forever. It is a wonderful feeling to have.

And this year, we will welcome our third son, our little Champ, into the world, for that I am SO very excited.

I've got the nursery pretty much done, and the bassinet is patiently waiting by our bed with a few outfits I am debating as his coming home gear.

100 more days and he will be here. It is getting really exciting now that we all (the boys included) can sit and watch my belly move. Little Dude and JR get a huge kick out of feeling their brother move around. I am so excited to see them all play together; our three little musketeers.

We were lame for New Years, and spent most of the day either working (me) or doing construction in our basement for the new pantry (Bill). And by the time we go the kids all settled and into bed after watching "Despicable Me" (awesome movie, by the way) we realized our cable box wasn't working.

So we sat up and talked about years past and years to come, and ended up going to bed right before midnight.

While not at all exciting, at the same time, I think it was one of my favorite New Years.

Though it does figure that I tried unplugging and plugging in the cable box ONE LAST TIME this morning before heading over to Time Warner Cable and demanding a new box, and it started up like nothing was ever wrong. Even though we had plugged and unplugged it a zillion times throughout the weekend. Now I am debating if I want to still go get another box, or just skip it and go with the working box, since that would mean not having to take everyone out with me. Hmmmm.

I hope everyone had a safe, peaceful, wonderful New Years, and enjoy the year to come.

Goodbye, 2009

I really can't believe 2009 went by as quickly as it did. It seems like the bigger the boys get, the faster time passes.

I'm looking forward to tonight; My sister is coming over to cook and drink mimosas and Bill comes home for a weekend visit (and after that he will only be gone 15 days-THEN back for good! YAY!)

In 2010 Little Dude is finally old enough to participate in the community's children spring activities and I am really excited about that. I love our community-there are tons of cheap park and rec events (when I say cheap, like 5 dollars a kid, adults free kind of thing) like sports camps geared to 3 year olds, hiking adventures (even a pirate treasure hunt! ),craft events, and all kinds of other things that sound so fun.

And this year, in the fall, Little Dude will start preschool. I'm excited and sad, all at the same time-and it is still 8 months away! I know, I'm a nut. He is going to have so much fun, but I'll still be sad to see the "official" transformation from baby to preschool kid. It just doesn't seem possible that much time has gone by already. Didn't he just come home from the hospital?

I'm also hoping this year to catch up with a lot of local friends and get more play dates going. Now that we are back and I am feeling more settled AND since Bill will be back home starting Jan. 16, I think I can keep up with trying to do some kind of weekly playdate thing with different groups of mom friends. And I still need to make it to the Durham Children's museum-it is supposed to be awesome! Bill remembers going as a kid, so it would be fun to share that with the boys now.

Yes, 2009 was rough. Too much traveling back and forth, not being settled, flying solo as a parent and trying to keep up with work-I'm exhausted.

2010 though, I'm so super excited about. It is going to be great because we will be together, in our home, close to friends and family. There isn't much more you can ask for than that.


Happy New Years!!!

My Goal for 2010

I have run out of excuses for being tired and always behind. See, I used to blame the kids-they take so much time, I can't keep up with the laundry!

But in all honesty, they really don't take up tons of time, like in the beginning. Little Dude can talk now, in complete sentences, so there is no guess work on what he wants when, and JR is not far behind, already uttering words of his own and using sign language. They can do tons of things for themselves now, and Little Dude even helps me put away his own laundry while I put away JR's. I don't spent time chopping up food into itty bitty pieces anymore, or pureeing baby food. Little Dude goes potty on his own and even washes his hands with his foam soap. Everyone sleeps through the night.

They play beautifully together. In fact, right now, they are playing with the train table, and have been doing so for the last 20 minutes or so.

And what have I been doing? Checking email. Browsing blogs. Looking out the window. Wasting time.

So, I have decided for my New Year's resolution, I am going to make goals for each day and GET THEM DONE. No more laundry piling up because "I was too busy with the kids", no more sitting around just watching the kids when I have laundry, dishes, vacuuming, and WORK to get done.

And while I will still steal moments of just watching my boys play, I need to tear myself away and be a little more productive when these moments turn into minutes, into half hours. Even take some of that time left AFTER cleaning up messes (that would be amazing, eh?) to plan some fun crafts for the kids. That would be much better than the mindless nothingness I usually do.

And perhaps instead of working my job late at night while everyone else sleeps, I could be more productive and do it in the early am or even during nap time, instead of napping myself.

So, that is my goal for the New Year-what is yours?

The Last Day

Even though New Year's is happy, I do always get a little sad at the start of the Last Day of the Old Year. Yea, I am sentimental. I spent this morning working quietly while the children slept, sipping my coffee, and every so often, letting my thoughts slip to memories of the past year.

All in all, it has been a most wonderful and blessed year, and perhaps that is why I feel super sad to see it go, while still happy for what is to come.

My second son was born, and though it was a bit of a scary, spur of the moment-we have to induce you now-a month early birth, JR has been doing great. Now you wouldn't even know that he was a preemie and just under 6 pounds at birth.

My first son introduced me to his friend, the water monster, that seems to live in our bathroom. He has also welcomed us into the fun world of toddlerhood, which though trying, is oh so fun to experience.

I lost my baby weight! Though having baby weight was a good excuse for my otherwise flabby body...perhaps I will continue to use that. Can you still say you have baby weight when your kids are 7? Hmmm....

We moved with my husband's job to Alabama. But even though I am sad to have left our friends and activities back in NC, we are so blessed that Bill has a job, that we can afford to stay together with an apartment here in AL and still keep our home in NC for the future day we get to go back (hopefully sometime in mid '09).

I started using cloth diapers and LOVE them. Every time I do a load of laundry I feel like I am saving trash from a landfill AND saving us money. That makes it really motivating to do the laundry now.

Part of my resolution this year will be to focus on all the good things in my life and to not stress over the "bad" that happens. There is just so much that is good in my life that I feel the need to really reflect on the past year and try hard to carry that reflection into the New Year, because no matter what awaits us in the future, we have so much to be thankful for, and I never want to forget that.

And for the other part of my resolution? Well, I guess I could always say "get in shape", that is, if I ever find the time to go running....