Looking Back on 2008 and Forward to 2009!

As seems to be the story for so many people, 2008 wasn't the easiest year for us. We had to adjust to the loss of my income after my job was cut in November 2007. It has not been easy, but God definitely answered my prayer that I would not have to put my kids back in daycare when the opportunity arose for me to start one of my own! It's been a venture that has had many ups and downs in itself, but I hope that this year the business continues to grow. (And along with it, I pray that means so many people who have been out of work are able to find the jobs they so desperately need!)

But at the same time, what a fabulous year it was... a whole year of firsts for Jackson. I can hardly believe he's one already! It amazes me how he's picked up so quickly on so many things. Maybe there's just such an age difference in my kids that I don't remember, but it seems that he's talking and comprehending things so much earlier than the other kids did. His favorite words are "done", "poop" (I know, I know...) and "CAY-TIN!" (Caitlin). He aims any remote he finds at the TV, puts phones to his ear and says "Hi, DADA!" (and is the master of the redial button), and he loves puzzles and his ring stacker. He LOVES the stairs, unfortunately. He's gone from toddling along the couch to taking a few cautious steps to being brave enough to try walking almost anywhere he wants to go. Crawling is still is favorite means of transportation, he goes from 0 to 60 in no time on his hands & knees! But it won't be long now until he's running through the house with the other kids.

2009 is going to be a big year for the other kids as well. Brayden will go to kindergarten this fall, and at the same time, Chelsie goes to jr. high. I can't believe it. Caitlin moves to the "other side" of the elementary, where the 4th, 5th & 6th graders are. She's pretty excited about that.

I've set some goals for myself for 2008 as well.

1. Find new ways to make/save money so I can continue to stay home with the boys.

2. More organization in running my daycare.

3. Find more time for the little things... playing on the floor with the kids, board games, reading bedtime stories, etc. Also, more one-on-one time with each of them.

4. Be more patient and try to see the good in people/situations.

5. Spend more time taking care of myself, and with my husband and with my friends.

Here's to a happy & healthy 2009!

Christmas 2008

Hopefully this post should just about bring me up to date! Whew!

We had an awesome Christmas this year.

My dad and step-mom came over on the Saturday before Christmas, and we had sandwiches & appetizers. We did our gift exchange, and then watched Deck the Halls.

The Pickering family Christmas (Jeremy's mom's family) was here at our house this year. Wow, was it crazy! You think you have plenty of space until you try to cram that many people in it! But all in all, other than my failed first attempt at making stuffing, it went great. We even arranged for Santa to come after dinner and kick off the gift exchange. Very cool! The older girls were mostly unimpressed (although Caitlin sat on Santa's lap for a very long time and later told me she yanked on his beard to see if it was real), but the boys (Brayden and cousins Skyler & Clayton) loved it. The little ones, Jackson and Dacia, were pretty much down right freaked out. Baby Taylor didn't care one way or the other.

On Christmas Eve, Jeremy's mom and step-dad came over for breakfast. We spent the afternoon at his dad's, and that evening had dinner with that whole side of the family there. Jackson was not feeling well, and we came home after he threw up.

Christmas morning, Jackson was the first one up. (No surprise there!). He was pretty drowsy while I nursed him, but after I passed him off to Jeremy so I could take a potty break, he woke up enough to notice the Elmo chair Santa had left in the other room. He made a bee-line straight for it, passing up everything else on his way, then just stared at the tree in awe. Probably one of my favorite memories from this Christmas. Last year he was so tiny (6 days old) on Christmas, that this year really felt like his first one.

My grandparents came for lunch, bearing Grandpa's famous lasagna, garlic bread & salad. My brother and his sweet fiancee were able to make it for lunch and stayed to visit for a little while before heading out to her family Christmas.

That evening, we invited my dad down to see what the kids had gotten and to have dinner with us since my step-mom was out of town with her family and he was home alone.

Jeremy has been off since Dec. 19, and returns to work this Monday. It's been so nice to just be able to kick back and relax these last couple weeks. No worries about early bedtimes, putting gas in the car for him to burn going to work, and just spending time together here at home. I'm almost sad to see an end to it all, but school starting up again on Tuesday sure will be nice! Chelsie starts basketball when she goes back, then it's swimming, volleyball and softball... so there definitely won't be many relaxing lazy days again for awhile!

Finally, pictures of the big DOUBLE BIRTHDAY BASH!

Thanks to a couple friends, I've discovered Shutterfly Studio. LOVE IT!! (Thanks, Mindy & Alayna!)

I sat up playing with it tonight, even though I've felt terrible today and really should just go to bed. (Gah, I sound like such a whiner... someone call Whine-1-1, I need a WAAHHHH-mbulance!). Here are the five collages I made of their birthday party, and also the party invites I made on scrapblog.com, one of my other FAVORITE websites!

Jackson's First Birthday

Wow, I feel like I can finally sit back and breathe a little! What a crazy couple weeks it's been!

Jackson's first birthday was the 19th. We'd had his party the Saturday before, so it was a pretty low-key day. School was cancelled that day, so we had daycare kids around to help us "celebrate".

Chelsie water-painted with the kids, and even helped Jack make his first painting.

Since Brayden's birthday celebration at school got snowed-out on his birthday, and his make-up birthday was also cancelled, we put the cupcakes to good use celebrating Jackson's birthday. Unfortunately he wasn't feeling well and slept through the festivities.

Here's my big boys on Jack's big day:

This is where I admit to being a total cheeseball. I was very, very tempted to wake him up at exactly 6:26 to hold him at the exact minute he turned a year old, but I fought off my inner dork and let the poor baby sleep. I could not, however, deny my shutterbug addiction and couldn't pass up the photo op.

Here's Jack ringing in the beginning of his second year:

When he finally woke up, I gave him the blanket I made him.

Then we headed out for a birthday dinner at McDonald's (Brayden's choice). We let Jackson have his first cheeseburger, but he wasn't very interested after the first couple bites. Poor little guy was just not feeling well.

And that was Jackson's big day. Happy Birthday, sweet boy!

Sometime soon I will get around to the big Christmas post!

Brayden's Fifth Birthday!

I meant to post last night, but I was so tired!

Brayden was pretty disappointed yesterday that North Vermillion cancelled school, meaning his preschool was closed as well. He was supposed to take in cupcakes and be the "birthday boy".

We tried our best to make it up to him. For breakfast, I made him his favorite... pancakes & sausage. Mickey Mouse for Brayden, and I even concocted an Elmo for Jackson.

After breakfast, the kids headed upstairs to play and I worked on my birthday project for Jackson.

For lunch we made mini-pizzas, which I thought Brayden would really enjoy.

Nope, he was in a mood.

He went and pouted in the recliner and fell asleep.

Caitlin enjoyed it, though.

When Brayden finally woke up, guess what he thought was the greatest thing ever? Yep, the little pizzas we saved him from lunch.

For dinner, Brayden got to pick the menu. So we had crescent dogs, corn casserole, macaroni & cheese and chocolate pudding. Yeah, I know... gross. But the little guy was happy.

It's so hard to believe that he's five. I can still remember the day he was born like it was yesterday. I'm having a really hard time wrapping my head around him going to kindergarten in the fall.

Happy Birthday, Little Buddy!

One of "Those" Days

For the time only being shortly after 9 a.m., I sure am exhausted!

Jackson has been getting up in the middle of the night to play. Or he'll crawl over to the TV and start pushing buttons on the DVD player, then look at me like, "Um, hello, Elmo is in that little box... let him out, would ya?"

Last night he got up around 1:30, and the last thing I remember was Rosie O'Donnell singing something about rainbows and holes in her shoes at 3:45. At 5 a.m. I found myself passed out on the couch and Jackson doing the same on the floor.

We knew there would be a 2-hour delay for school this morning, but I got up shortly after 7 anyway to make puppy chow for the girls' class Christmas parties today.

I just head toward the kitchen when Jackson wakes up. Chelsie says she'll get him, so I go about my business. A few minutes later, Chelsie yells that he's wet up to his nipples and there's a puddle on the couch.

In the pantry I found both boxes of Chex I had bought specifically for this purpose to have about a cup of cereal each in them. Jeremy strikes again. Luckily, I had a box of Crispix in the back of the pantry, so each girl is just going to have to take a less than full bag of puppy chow and Mommy doesn't get any leftovers. Probably better that way.

I can't find the lid for my giant Tupperware bowl, so I try to cover it in foil as I shake the powdered sugar on the cereal. A giant white cloud arises from the bowl and settles on everything within sneezing distance.

Meanwhile, Brayden is on the couch absolutely HOWLING that he wants me to help him put together the puzzles he got yesterday for his birthday. Turning five has certainly done a number on that boy's behavior, and I've already told him that Santa leaves gift receipts and Wal-Mart takes returns from the North Pole.

Finally I get a moment to sit down and make a grocery list for this weekend's Christmas dinner with Jeremy's family. The girls are cleaning up the mess from the puppy chow. Jackson senses the lapse in security and dumps an entire glass of ice water on himself, the floor, and the recliner. Now *he's* howling because he's cold, wet, and I'm yelling something about a moment's peace.

And the day has only begun.

We have liftoff!

I've wanted to start blogging for awhile, and did a myspace blog during my last pregnancy. Today I finally got the motivation to get going. It seems that the kids are growing so fast and I want to have a place to journal everything, so I never forget.