P.S.

Spring, where are you?!?!?!?!?!!

Tired

My kid is wearing me out. He's skipped being a one year old and decided to just be a terrible two year old. He hits, he bites, he collapses on the floor in fits. He throws things. He hits the dogs. He finds ways to break stuff. I just want to tear my hear out and scream sometimes. And then he does something adorable and I think, "I want to clone you." *sigh* Being a parent is hard.

SNOW!

This snow is awesome. I don't have to shovel it (we have a guy that comes with his truck), I don't have to go to work in it (SNOW DAY!), and it's looking like it has great potential to make a snow man (Max's FIRST)!

I'm going to try to get some additional pictures up later of Max out in the snow!. It comes up to our knees in the back yard! CRAZY!

GROUND HOG DAY!!!!!

DJ 1: Okay, campers, rise and shine, and don't forget your booties cause it's cold out there today.
DJ 2.: It's cold out there every day. What is this, Miami Beach?
DJ 1.: Not hardly. And you know, you can expect hazardous travel later today with that, you know, that blizzard thing.
DJ 2: That blizzard thing. That blizzard thing. Oh, well, here's the report. The National Weather Service is calling for a big blizzard thing.
DJ 1: Yes, they are. But you know, there's another reason why today is especially exciting.
DJ 2: Especially cold!
DJ 1: Especially cold, okay, but the big question on everybody's lips--
DJ 2: On their chapped lips--
DJ 1: On their chapped lips, right: Do you think Phil is gonna come out and see his shadow?
DJ 2: Punxsutawney Phil!
DJ 1: Thats right, woodchuck chuckers, it's--
Together: Groundhog Day!

Quick Update

Just a quick post to update you on my last couple weeks....

Me:

• Kids at school are driving me crazy. I'm starting to think it's time for a job switch...or another maternity leave. Hahaha.
• Looking into a MA in Library Media Specialist. I think my dream job real is to be a school librarian. Now to find the time and money to complete this degree...
• Went and saw the infertility doctor a week ago. Our plan is to try an altered version of what worked to get Max. It will save us some money (almost a thousand dollars a month!) if it works. If it doesn't, we'll go back to the heavy hitting expensive method. The goal is to get pregnant within three months.
• Been going to the gym. I hate every minute of it. But I don't want to gain too much weight with a second pregnancy. I'm already back up to my biggest pants size. I refuse to go any higher.
• Reading a ton of fantasy books. Currently reading Evermore, a vampire book. Pretty good. Got it from my 14 year old sister. :)

Kendall

• Working crazy Urgent Care to pay for our fertility
• Enjoying being a partner in his practice and no longer an employee
• Also working out at the gym, but going at 5 AM (ICK!). He at least has a workout buddy though.

Max

• 14 months old
• Can't say any new words (I worry about this so much) but is babbling like crazy. The other day we were looking for his pacifier on the floor and I was calling out for it in a sing-song voice. He started imitating me. HILARIOUS.
• Lets go of the cart in the store and says "Wheeee!!!" if I do it first. Makes people in the store laugh.
• Still not walking without assistance. He will walk back and forth in the basement a million times with a cart or his little red car. He laughs while he does it.
• Likes "This Little Piggy". Is giggling by the third toe (This little piggy had roast beef.) and actively puts his toes back for each line.
• Won't say "Up" when he wants to be held (even though I say it every time I pick him up) but reaches out both arms and flexes his fingers. So stinkin' cute!
• We have created a goofball by teaching him to put everything on his head. We started doing it with stacking cups. Now HE does it with Mega Bloks, balls, his dinner plate, etc. and finds it HILARIOUS.

The New Year

I could post pictures of Christmas, but I already did that on Facebook. I could post pictures of NYE, but again, Facebook. So I'm just going to jump into my New Year's Resolutions. I went back to 2008 and looked at that year's resolutions. I didn't manage to have time for any at the beginning of this year...wonder why....

Kinda laughed when I read the old resolutions. I definitely accomplished a few....if you don't want to go back and read them, here are the ones i accomplished, even if it was in a nontraditional way...

#1- Having a baby. I vowed to have a baby by Christmas of 2008. Phew. Got that one done at the last minute.

#5- A new car. One that made me look like a rockstar. I managed to get myself a fully loaded SUV with personalized plates. Doesn't get more rockstar than that.... :)

#7- Reading 12 new trashy romance novels. Definitely accommplished that goal. Mary Balogh, thank you for your delicious series of books.

#8- Go through at least half of the boxes in our storage area and get rid of stuff. Well, the basement flooded in June and pretty much took care of that half on it's own. The other half got sorted and organized courtsey of our Gorilla shelves and a garage sale.

#10- Being grateful for the things I already have. I'm still working on this one. But I feel that since Max, this one is a lot easier to handle.

If I had to pick a resolution from 2009, even if it wasn't official, it would have been being a good mom to Max. And I'm confident I accomplished that. Just today he picked me over daddy. Hahaha.

So here are my resolutions for 2010....

1. Have baby #2. We are officially going back to the doctor on January 15th. We hopefully have a plan and accomplish the first step of this by June. If not, I will try to be patient and remember how wonderful baby #1 is. As I said to Kendall, "You get what you pay for." Our 20,000 dollar baby is AMAZING. Hope if the second one is "cheaper" we don't get bit in the butt for that statement. Hahaha.

2. Lose weight. It seems cliche, but I want to lose weight, even while trying to have a baby. I am hoping to be able to exercise during a pregnancy, something I wasn't allowed to do the first time around.

3. Start a master's degree in School Library Media Specialist. The more and more time I spend in the library with my kids, the more I realize, this is what I should be doing. I'm tired of being judged by the test results my students produce in 3 hours on one day at the end of the year. I really just want to connect with kids on a topic I'm passionate about- reading. I have these grandios ideas about things I could do as a school librarian. Wright State has a program. I'm in the process of getting more info about it.

4. Redecorating several rooms in the house. Our bathroom and bedroom, the powder room, and Max's big boy room. My brother is going to come down the last week of January to paint, so this one SHOULD get done. :)

5. Read 12 fantasy books. It's my favorite new genre. I've already read one for January and am working on book number 2.

6. Spend less money. I am trying to streamline what we really need. We're thinking of trying the Magic Jack for our home phone. It will save us money on a land line. And also thinking of getting rid of some of our cable package. We don't use all of it now that we have Max. Why continue paying for something we hardly ever use? We also currently pay for 3 movies at a time from Netflix. We really only need one at a time. Just in these three items I think I can save us 100 dollars a month. That's 1200 for the year!

7. Be a better friend. I get so consumed with my own life I neglect my friends. I don't call, I don't write. I suck. I'm going to try to be better about this.

8. Ride my bike 15 miles. This was a goal in 2008. If I am physically allowed to, I want to do this. We even bought a bike trailer for Max. We started practicing riding in it with his bike helmet this fall. This summer, I totally want to ride long distance.

9. Go to church more. I need to be a good example for Max. While I don't believe you HAVE to go to church to talk to God or celebrate him, I think Max should learn the importance of community. Plus, there are several different organizations through St. Patrick's that would allow us to meet new people in the area. And we need more of those people.

10. Take a kick ass vacation. Suggestions?

7 Years!

Kendall and I celebrated our 7 year wedding anniversary t his Monday. Even though I've been sick (for two weeks!) and had no voice, we still got a babysitter and went out to dinner. We tried a new place in town called Kents. They wood fire their steaks and are the only place in Troy that offers both choice and prime cuts of meat. Being the steak connoisseurs that we are, we wanted to take this place for a spin. Let me say, we were NOT disappointed.

The steak was DELICIOUS and cooked exactly to specification, the twice bake potato had an amazing cheese crust, and the appetizer that we chose had fried zucchini, portobello mushrooms and ravioli that were to die for. I was stuffed! Our bill came to about 80 dollars with tip, so it's definitely a place for special occasions and not for casual dining.

After dinner we headed to downtown Troy and strolled hand in hand around the town square. We took a self portrait in front of the Christmas tree in the middle of the driving circle. I think this will become a new tradition for us as we took once there last year, just 6 days after Max was born.

Which led us to talking about how we can't believe our baby is 1. Time sure does fly. Kendall is such an amazing father and husband and I'm so grateful to have found such a hard working, dedicated, loving man. We know so many people who are already divorced and I am glad that we work so hard to make our relationship strong. It takes some fighting and swallowing of our pride sometimes, but overall, we make things good. I look forward to continuing the celebration. And hoping that next year we are also celebrating the birth of another child. Keep your fingers crossed that we can make that happen!