Monday, December 31, 2012

Goodbye, 2012!

This year was a great year! I can't look back on it and think of any awful times or extended periods of frustrations. It was a year of mostly awesome health for us all, if you exclude Bailey's constant ear issues. It was also a year of new beginnings with our family compete! This was the first year since '06 that I wasn't either pregnant or welcoming a new baby. It's been nice to have not have make any new adjustments or changes! I also think I fell more in love with my husband and daughters this year! I'm so blessed:)

Next year (wow, weird to say, since it's tomorrow!), I know we will have more adjustments. Adrienne will start Pre-K and I will most likely be starting the nursing program in the Fall... I applied and have the grades to get in but I'm not promised a spot. I just keep telling myself to take it one day at a time. My days of worrying about every little detail really, really need to end! :)

I'm looking forward to spending tonight with my husband, who surprisingly is OFF for the next 2 days! We'll be having a few family members over and John promised the girls they can stay up until midnight. It should be lots of fun!

Here's to making 2013 the best year yet!!

Sunday, December 30, 2012

iPhone Ap for Blogger??!

Someone (Ashley, I think??) told me about the Blogger app a while back and I forgot about it! I'm so glad I finally checked it out! It makes uploading pictures and writing short updates a lot easier. Hooray! So, without further adieu, here is an updated picture of my beauties! :) Man, that was easy!

Saturday, December 29, 2012

Merry (Belated) Christmas!

The past month has been a whirlwind... When you combine my birthday (December 2nd), John's birthday (December 9th), finishing up classes (that ended on December 18th), school concerts and parties for Brooke and then everything that comes with Christmas, you have a hectic schedule. I love Christmas and am sad to see it go but it hasn't been so bad unwinding for these past few days!

So , what's new?? Let me think! I finished out the semester with 2 A+'s, an A and one B+, giving me a GPA of 3.7. I'm pretty gosh darn proud of myself! I really learned a lot and I enjoyed my classes. I will be starting my winter break chemistry class in a few days and I'm a little nervous about it. It's online and I have NO chemistry knowledge whatsoever so I'll have to figure a lot out on my own. It's also one semester worth of chemistry packed into 3 weeks. Wish me luck! I really need an A in that class so it ups the ante quite a bit.

The girls are all doing pretty well! I volunteered in Brooke's class before Christmas break and her teacher and I chatted for a while. She told me that Brooke is "absolutely perfect at school" and that she "wishes she had a classroom full of kids like her. " What mama wouldn't be beaming with pride?? Brooke has also become quite good at reading and spelling. She's actually better at spelling words out and writing them than reading them but she does well in both areas. As for Adrienne, she has been having constant urinary tract infections on and off for about a year now. The doctors have been testing her kidneys and tried all sorts of things but it just keeps happening. I feel bad for the poor girl! Other than that, she is doing great, though! She finally learned how to spell her name and she's proud. Then there's Bailey... She's hilarious and silly but if you make her mad, she will throw a temper tantrum like you've never seen. She's my moody girl, for sure. Her language has improved greatly since her ear surgery and she has started speaking in 2-3 word sentences. It's so exciting!

Christmas was really great this year! John had to work all night long on Christmas Eve so he came home on Christmas morning just in time for breakfast and to open presents. We then went to spend time with my parents, his grandma, and then his parents. He did this all on NO sleep and he didn't so much as complain about being tired once. My husband is an amazing man! I'm not even exaggerating:) The girls got piles and piles of clothes and toys and movies and activities. It was a sight to behold when we emptied the contents of our van in the house. We are so blessed to have so many that love us and want to do nice things for us.

The best part of Christmas, in my opinion, was the day after... We were hit with a big storm and got about a foot of snow. So the 5 of us spent 2 days cooped up in the house and we organized all the toys, watched some movies, played some new games, and just relaxed. It was very low key and just what we needed after being so incredibly busy. Speaking of snow, we got another 8 inches today. Blek! We were supposed to get a dusting at first, then they changed it to 1-3 inches and then, about an hour before it stopped snowing they changed it to 5-8. Lol. Gotta love it!

The horrible Sandy Hook tragedy has taken an incredible toll on me, as a mother. I have been a bit obsessed with it and I have become familiar with the names of the children who died, along with their parents and siblings. I can't get them out of my mind and I have felt this awful pit in my stomach since it happened. A pit for my own children and wondering how I'm ever supposed to feel secure letting them go ANYWHERE. And a pit for those families who lost such beautiful children. I have literally had to cut myself off from reading about it and looking at the pictures because I was saddened so deeply and in such a fog. How will those parents ever feel "normal" again?

I think that about sums the last month up! The next few months are my least favorite of the year.. The dark, freezing and gloomy months of winter where all you want is Spring. We will survive, right? We always do!  Until next time...