2009

I have been thinking about last year quite a bit, almost with a bit of humor. 2009 was kind of a crazy year...I have divided it into 3 sections: "the beginning," "the middle,' and "the end." I know, not very original but it works.

Part 1: "The Beginning" aka A BLUR

This name has a few different meanings. Obviously one meaning is that it's the beginning of the new year. It's kind of refreshing to put a year behind you and start fresh, I always love this time of year. Well, the beginning of 2009 also brought with it the beginning of a pregnancy-and one like I've never had before. I was SO sick ALL the time for the beginning of this pregnancy. I felt so bad for my girls, we pretty much just lounged around our little apartment all day every day. The beginning of 2009 is kind of a blur to me because of this. It makes me kind of sad too, I think back to how much I missed because I felt so sick. We didn't get out and play much, I sent Steve and the girls to church alone quite a bit. I didn't get out and play very much either. This part of the year I don't remember very well other than feeling pukey all the time. I was glad to put this part of the year behind me!

Part 2: "The Middle" aka The Fun

This was a great part of the year. The morning sickness was behind me. I felt like I had come back to life-literally! Steve was in the process of looking for a new job knowing that his office was going to be closed down by the end of the year. Even though we had that stress hanging over our heads I was never too worried about it. I knew that it was all going to work out. (I'm sure Steve didn't feel quite the same as I did) This peace I felt about the job let me enjoy the summer (other than how HOT I felt all the time. I tried to get out more with the girls; go to parks, museums, out to play with cousins, trying to soak up as much fun time with them as I could before the baby came. The middle of the year really was great! By the end of this middle section Steve had accepted a new job with Chatham and we were going to be moving across the country. This was something exciting to me and something that I looked forward to. We even flew across the country for a very successful house hunting trip. It was the longest I had ever been away from my girls. I missed them, but it was kind of nice to get away for a few days without having to worry about diaper bags, buckling kids in their car seats, etc. All in all, "The middle" was a great time!

Part 3: "The End" aka The CRAZY

Well, I can pinpont an exact time that this part began. Labor Day weekend-we moved out of our apartment in to Steve's parent's basement and all of our belongings we boxed up and moved out. It took the girls a few weeks to acclimate to different beds, different toys, etc. This caused some tantrums, some sad nights, etc. for the girls. But we did fine. What could be better than waking up to grandma and grandpa every morning!!! After a month of living there it was time to welcome our little Jason into our lives. Of course, this added to the craziness! The middle of the night feedings, Steve finishing up his last little bit at Merrill Lynch, trying to figure out how to be a mom of 3 kids and take care of their needs when 2 out of 3 kids were crying all at once. It definitely took some time to get used to (in fact I'm still trying to figure all that out :)

A few weeks after Jason was born Steve went to the doc because he was having some really bad reflux and was in pain and couldn't eat more than once a day without getting sick. The doc wanted to do an endoscopy to see how extensive the damage was. Well, with this procedure came the revelation that he has Celiac Disease. And with this revelation came a HUGE lifestyle change for us. This was going to affect us in SO many ways-obviously in what he eats but also in our meal planning, our meals as a family, eating out, being prepared for lunches at work, social events-not everyone serves gluten free meals!, having proper food on hand, food storage, and many other ways. We were in for some BIG changes!!!

Then near the end of October Steve and his brother Matt and nephew Ryan loaded up in our car and headed for Pennsylvania. So now the kids were without their daddy for a few weeks-they did NOT enjoy this! Emma threw tantrums EVERY night before bed. We had moved up to my parent's home by this point since Steve was gone and his parents were out of the country for a few weeks. I needed some help and my parents were gracious enough to give it to me!

Also during this time Steve bought our house-a move across the country, a new job, and buying a new home + being away from his family-I'm not sure how he came out of this year sane! That's a lot to take in in just a few weeks time! (not to mention a new baby just a few weeks earlier!)

Finally in November we all took the trip across the country to our new home! New baby, new home, new state, new job, new everything-EXCPET toys! and bunkbed! The kids were SO thrilled to see their old things-it was like a big sigh of relief to them to see their old stuff.

Things were finally starting to calm down-could this be the end of the crazy? Of course not! This is when "the volcanoes" started to erupt! Jason and his spitting up-WOW! who knew a kid could spit up so much?!? Well, December started out for us with a trip to the ER and an extended stay in the lovely AI duPont Children's hospital in Delaware-not to mention a little surgery on my sweet little 2 month old! To add to the craziness we were away from our families and didn't know what to do with our girls...luckily we are members of the most wonderful organization in the whole wide world! The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints!!! We weren't left without for the whole time Jason was in the hospital. It got a little hectic running the girls to a ward member's, running to the hospital, Steve and I switching off shifts to be with the girls or Jason, but we survived.

The last of the craziness was good craziness-Christmastime! I love this time of year and all the craziness that goes with it! The shopping, the decorations, the music, the excitement of two little girls that can't stand the long wait before Christmas...it was great!

So as I reflect back on last year I wonder how we all survived it-especially Part 3! But we did and it was wonderful! I hope 2010 is filled with just as many adventures-but maybe we could spread them out a little more than just 3 months! But in all seriousness, I put this down here in my blog to remember what a great year it was-with all the ups and downs and the good and bad. And it will be a good reminder to me that I have such a strong family, if we can survive part 3 unscathed we can do anything as long as we do it together!