2009

Just enjoyed my last greasy hamburger of the year. Hopefully of next year too (really must get in shape). Its weird to think back on this year and all of the craziness that has gone along with it. Our whole world has shifted in one way or another. Beginning with T getting laid off on New Years Day. Nice, right? He was out of work for two weeks and it felt like he was out for at least a year. Considering the economy was at its worst in many years, he got a job fairly quickly. Even though it wasn't ideal, he went back to work for his old boss in a new city as a trainer for Darden. More specifically Olive Garden. Sounds nice right? In the end though he basically got paid a little bit more to wait tables, which is, luckily enough, something he is enormously good at. Then this summer, he took a job with Terminix as an inspector. He really likes it and the hours will be much more ideal. For now, he is working both as a favor but coming mid January he will be weaning OG off of his help.

During the time T was out of work, we found out we were expecting a new little addition. Surprise! It was such a mix of utter excitement and total freak out. No more Christmas champagne for us! Once T got started at OG though, things settled in and we began to really get excited about a new little man. I had another easy pregnancy with much less morning sickness this time. Things progressed at the time feeling like a crawling pace but as I look back, it seems like it took no time at all. Then little K was born and spent three days in the NICU. Scary. We fell so hard for that little man the second he was born and every second we spent worrying seemed like an hour. Thank heavens he is healthy and perfect now. He is so beautiful and really adds a different element to our lives. He is so expressive and vocal. It amazes me how different he is from his brother sometimes and others he reminds me so much of D its uncanny. Such a sweet little guy that loves to chat.

My big boy, D, has grown so much too. He is talking more and more every day. He knows where all of his body parts are, knows every animal name and sound you can throw at him (even penguin and its hilarious), and has figured out how so many things work. He loves to play and learn. He follows directions which has been SO helpful. He started two day preschool (no, not daycare). LOVES to play with his friends and asks for them by name when we go somewhere that they usually play together at. Has has developed his infatuation with dinosaurs too which is so stinkin' cute. He even knows what some of them are by sight and can point them out in his books. They all say roar though. In case you were curious. He was just almost sixteen months old when we found out we were expecting his brother and we spent so much time worrying and wondering what he would do and think when K was born. He has been such an awesome big brother. He loves K so much. He worries about him and asks first thing every morning where K is and then runs to check on him. He has been great about playing gently and being patient. A dream brother.

Things got a little hairy when I reached the end of my pregnancy with K. T was working two jobs and was (is) never home. I was hugely pregnant, in the heat of summer, with a two year old to care for (and chase). Then when K was born and we were released to go home, T went right back to work and I got right to packing. We moved to a bigger apartment when he was two weeks old. Talk about crazy. It took my mother and I four full days to move all the little stuff over to the new place and a friends husband and T about an hour to move the rest. Sound fair? Because it wasn't. Ok, maybe it was since he was working his tail end off. Nearly wore me completely out though and I spent the next month laying on the couch doing nothing.

All this and no vacation makes a girl go nuts and this is only the big stuff. It doesn't take into account the rotating flat tires, the only having one car half the year, or the myriad of other bumps in the road this year. Its been a pretty good year. Not the best by a long shot. Very stressful I guess is the way I would describe it best. Next year we are gonna have fun. If it drives us all nuts trying. We need a break as a family to just let loose and get into things. Next up: My list for the next year. Stay tuned.