WELLNESS PLAN

That is what I need. A wellness plan for our family. I am home from work sick again today. I have a horrible sinus/cold thing. Everything hurts and it stinks. I or someone else in this house has been sick every month since sometime last fall. It is beyond frustrating. If the boys get sick I stay home with them, then I get sick and miss more work because I am sick. It is a horrible cycle. Not only do I get sick, but I seem to catch whatever they have and get ten times more sick than they did. I don't know if it is because I am older, pregnant, or my immune system just stinks. Regardless, things have to change.

Yesterday I posted on FB that I am looking for ideas for ways to keep my family well. I know families out there have different wellness plans they follow (diet, vitamin routines, etc.) and I want to know what other families are doing to stay well. I seriously feel like we are more sickly than most families. The idea that we have another baby on the way makes this even more stressful. Another baby means another body for the illness to jump to and more days of recovery for our family. It also means another little person going out in the world and picking up germs to bring back to the rest of us.

So although my lack of posting recently probably means I have all of two readers left, I would like some feedback from any moms out there about what I can do to keep my family well. Grayson already takes and multivitamin and I take my prenatal vitamins. We keep the house clean and I am sure to sanitize with Lysol and Clorox Wipes anytime someone gets sick. What else do I need to be doing?

P.S. I got another old post edited and posted. Check out "From The Mouths of Babes" in August.

OLD POSTS- UPDATED

I have twelve, yes twelve, draft posts in my archive folder. I am slowing going through to edit them and get them posted. There is a lot of important memories in those archives I want on our blog. Anyway, so far I have the six oldest posted. They go from April (Grayson turning 3) to a big announcement in August.

I am not delusional enough to think that anyone is on the edge of their computer chair waiting to read what we have been doing since February. I just wanted to make sure that anyone interested knew they were there.

BACK TO BLOGGIN

Hi Strangers! I know I have been completely MIA for a long time. Too long. I have very much missed blogging. Most everyone that I knew read regularly has inquired over the last several months about my lack of blogging and a few people that I didn't know read even asked. Here is the quick and dirty. We got busy. Yeah, real busy. We had some big vacations, some big illnesses, a new pregnancy (more on that later), some struggles with my business, a big office move, and more. All of that was on top of the general business of being a family with two working parents and two very small boys. I know that sounds like a stinky excuse. Seriously, life got pretty overwhelming there for a while. To be honest, it still is on some days. However, I need to blog. I love writing about what is going on in our family. I would blog if not a single person in the world ever read it. We went on our annual family vacation to Topsail a couple of weeks ago. I always treat that as my second new year. That basically means that I use the time away to evaluate where our family is, what has been going on with us in the last year, and what areas of our life and family could use some attention. You know, a little self reflection and some time talking with God. Some time spent listening to what God would like to be doing in my life. The ultimate result is that I come home feeling motivated to keep moving forward and with some new goals. I determined then that I must make it a priority to get back to blogging. That is not that only priority rearranging I did, but that is all for another post. This post is to simply say, I'm BAAAACK. Why today? Well, we are all home sick. Yep, all four of us even Justin. That is just the way things have been lately. It is always something. I do have some archived posts that I began over the last several months that I will go back, edit, and then post. They will post with the original date they should have posted, but for the two people who might still read this blog I will let you all know when those archived posts go up just in case you care.

FROM THE MOUTHS OF BABES

My oldest son says some of the cutest things. He is seriously hysterical. The best part is that he has no idea he is so funny. He says things in complete seriousness that are off the charts funny. For a long time I have been wanting to do a weekly post to outline all of the funny things that happen in our house (most of which are things that Grayson says) Since I can't seem to get around to doing a regular post for now I will just post of some the top rated funnies so that I don't forget them before he is old enough for me to embarrass him.

As we are leaving dinner one night I need to pull out of the parking lot rather quickly (but safely) to get in front of the traffic that is approaching. I tell the boys in the back, "Hold on to what ya got! We are going!" To this Grayson replies rather frantically "Mommy, I got nothing in my hands right now!"

I was sick a few weeks ago (big surprise) and I had no voice. My mom was keeping the boys and told Grayson I had a frog in my throat. When I get home and go to give Grayson a hug he says very seriously, "Mommy is that frog gonna jump out and on my froat (throat)?"

We are very particular about making sure Grayson doesn't touch things when we are in a public restroom. A while ago Justin took Grayson to the potty while we were out shopping t0 a pretty crowded restroom. Justin reminds Grayson not to touch anything. Rather loudly Grayson asks, "Daddy, can I touch myself?" We tell him to put his hands on his stomach or knees while in a public restroom to avoid having him grab the dirty toilet. Justin, knowing that the men in the other stalls could hear tried to ignore the question (big mistake). Naturally Grayson shouts louder, "Daddy! Can I touch myself? So Justin quietly replies, "Yes Grayson, you can." Grayson then asks very loudly, "Can I touch myself all over my body?" HA!

Grayson has a female friend at school. We will call her "E". Grayson likes to pretend to talk on the phone to his friends. On one occasion he was pretending to talk to "E". I hear him say, "Hey E! What are you doin right now? Uh-huh. I like your cute butt." What?!?!? Where did he even hear that?!?!?

And last but not least, my personal favorite that is not funny but just shows how wonderful the heart of my oldest son is. . .

Grayson crawled into my lap today, looks up at me and says, "Mommy, you are my best friend."

Heaven! Absolute heaven!!!

OH BOYS!

We are very happy to announce that we will be welcoming another boy to our family in January. Yep, that's right we are having another baby and yes we know it is going to be a boy because I am already over 16 weeks. We do typically share the news of a new pregnancy pretty early on, but this one was a little different. We told our family and close friends around the 8 week mark, but decided to keep this pregnancy private from Facebook and the blog world for a little bit longer.

We kept our new baby hush for a bit longer for a few reasons. One, this baby was a very wonderful surprise and we just needed some time for the news to sink in. Two, I have a lot going on at work and needed to get some things headed in a better direction before I announced a new pregnancy. Third, and probably the biggest reason, was that this pregnancy has been so very different from the others with some nervous moments at the very beginning. I was shocked to find out I was pregnant in the midst of some spotting that I was certain was my "friend" arriving. I had not spotted with any other pregnancy and it made me worry. Then when I went in for my first ultrasound the baby was measuring much smaller than I felt he should be. Having been through a loss before, I was pretty terrified. I just really didn't want to get super excited and then lose another baby. It is hard not to get super excited when everyone around you is happy and excited for you. So, we decided to keep the news a little quiet for a bit longer than we have in the past.

Now things are going very well. The spotting stopped around week 6. The beginning of my pregnancy was actually very much like the pregnancy with the twins. I was very tired and very sick (the sickness is still going strong). In fact, it was so similar that I was a little surprised there weren't two babies in there. By week 10 the baby was measuring right on track and the due date of January 25th was set in stone. That is my dad's birthday so I was pretty excited about that. I have my cervix measured every two weeks (just like I did with Baylor) and everything is looking great.

At my 16 week appointment I knew he would take a peek at the gender just because I get an ultrasound at every appointment. The official anatomy scan isn't until week 20, but I knew the doc would look. Justin was out of town so I had my mom go with me. She has never been to one of our ultrasounds so it was pretty special for both of us that she got to be there. As soon as the doc put the wand on my belly I knew what I was seeing. Right there in the middle of the screen were two legs and a penis. I said, "Is that a penis?!" I was certain this baby was going to be a girl. After all, I felt exactly the way I did with Faith and Avery. Even the weight gain pattern had been the same. I knew we weren't having twins so it must be a girl, right? WRONG! We are having a third son and couldn't be happier. Three boys in our house is going to be amazing!!! I love my boys and I know just how much boys love their moms. I am so excited to get that times three.

Grayson is very excited about another baby. He says we need "more, and more, and more". For a while he called the baby "Noddle". All on his own he came up with that name. We loved it. I thought it was so cute he had a nickname for his little brother or sister. Now that he knows the baby is a boy, he has changed the name to Bodie (again all on his own). Yeah, I don't know where he came up with that either, but that is what he calls the baby. Baylor is going to be a wonderful big brother, but for now I don't really think he has a clue about how our family is about to change. Truth be told, none of us really know what it is going to be like in a house with three boys, three and under. God knows and He must love us a ton to keep blessing us with babies to love on. I can't wait!

ILLNESS AND INJURY

We just can't seem to catch a break in the illness and injury department. Our lives have been really busy lately and having anyone in our family out of commission for a day or more (especially me) really throws a wrench in things. It all started in February when Baylor came down with RSV. Yes, it was bad. He didn't have to be hospitalized but it was pretty rough and took him a full week before he could return to school. We had a little break in March and then in April I had the horrible case of mastitis the day before Grayson's birthday party. I have had mastitis several times. I think this made my fourth, but it was by far the worst case yet. I spent the entire day in bed. Thankfully my doctor trusted me when I called and said I needed strong antibiotics ASAP and I can't come in because I can't drive myself there. He called in the meds and Justin picked them up on his way home from picking up the boys. Then in May Baylor got sick while we were on our trip to St. Lucia. I knew he was feeling pretty rough while we were gone, but by the time we got back he was full blown ill. I took him to the doctor and sure enough he had pneumonia. Bring on the breathing treatments and more missed days of work and school. Here comes June bringing with it my odd ankle injury (the week of Baylor's first birthday) that put me on crutches for a week and in a brace for three weeks. Yeah, they never really figured out what was wrong with it, but after feeling that pain I don't want to know what a broken ankle feels like. Additionally, as if the ankle wasn't enough, Baylor and then Grayson both got pink eye. What would Independence Day be without a little pink eye thrown in. Oh and it couldn't be the generic run of the mill kind. Nope, Baylor had to see a pediatric ophthalmologist because the regular drops just were enough for him. So here we are just finishing up our run with pink eye and facing a big moving weekend for my office. We are changing locations. Guess what! We are all sick. Yep, every last one of us. This has to be the worst cold/sinus junk I have ever dealt with. Justin has it, I have it, Grayson has it, and Baylor has it. I have no voice and feel like I have been hit by a train. Seriously, we have to move my office in the midst of the plague. I feel like we deserve a bit of a break from the illnesses at this point. I mean, I am seriously considering having a special toxic clean-up team come in to clean our house to make sure all the germs are GONE. Something has got to give!

BAYLOR BOO TURNS ONE

That's right folks, my sweet baby is one. He is quickly growing out of the baby stage much to his mommy's disappointment. I would swear that the younger kids grow up so much faster just because they have an older sibling they are trying to keep up with.

For his birthday party we had a swimming party at his Nannie and Grandpa's house. They have a really nice pool and a nice big yard so it was perfect. Baylor's nursery theme is turtles, so his first birthday theme was turtles. It was mostly family and a few close friends there. Since my dad lives about an hour from where we are, we didn't expect a lot of our friends to drive that far to the party. A few did and the reminder that we have friends who love our kids so much was nice.

On his actual birthday we planned to take muffins to his preschool class. However, Baylor got sick and was not able to go to school that day. It was the last week of the 1st Summer session before the week long break. So, no class party this year. We will have to really make a big deal next year. We did have a party for him at home and made sure he knew it was his special day. He loved every time someone sang Happy Birthday to him and was trying to sing it himself by the end of the day.

I always make the boys' cakes on their birthdays, but that was not an option for Baylor's party. I injured my ankle and was on crutches all week. Crutches and a bum ankle make cake baking and decorating impossible. A couple of weeks before we went to a friend's birthday party and her cake was adorable and yummy. I was able to get in touch with the lady who did that cake and she assured me that it would be no problem to do a cake for the party five days away. I sent her a picture of the nursery crib bedding so she would know the color scheme of the party, described the cake I had in mind, and told her that I trusted her artistic talents to do what she thought would look good. I had viewed some cakes she did on a website and felt like she was a great cake decorator. I am now convinced those pictures can't be her work and I am seriously doubting she actually did my friend's cake. The cake was horrible. The colors were all wrong. The turtles on the cake looked like something a preschooler made out of play dough. The stripes were uneven and the fondant was bubbled and cracking. The cake was 2-tiered and the top tier was collapsing into the bottom tier because she used straws for support instead of cakes dowels. On top of that it didn't even taste good. You could totally tell she baked it months ago and it had been sitting in a freezer. Baylor's smash cake looked like something a middle school kid made, but it did at least taste good. I guess she baked it fresh the week of. Never again will I let someone else make a cake for the boys' birthdays. Lesson learned!

Baylor loves anything that goes. He loves riding toys and he loves to push his brother's cars and motorcycles around. He really likes to clap for himself and to sing. His favorite songs are Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and Itsy Bitsy Spider. He is very independent for the most part. At least once a day he likes to go into his room alone and just play by himself. He loves his brother, no doubt about that, and any time Grayson plays with him he is on could nine. However, there are those times when Baylor just wants to be in his room playing alone. He will stay in there for about an hour and totally entertain himself.

Baylor has taken some steps but still prefers to crawl. Crawling is faster! He is also in to everything. He loves to eat and will scarf down just about anything you put in front of him. At his birthday party he devoured his cake. In fact, we had to take it away from him. At his check-up he weighed almost 20 lbs. Baylor is energetic and runs full throttle from the time he wakes until he crashes into the bed. Despite his enormous amount of energy and desire to be in to everything he is still the best cuddle bug I know. Baylor loves to cuddle and snuggle. He will crawl right up in your lap, put those little arms around your neck, nuzzle his face into your chest, and just squeeze as tight as he can. When he is tired he will tuck those little arms down in front of his stomach and just snuggle there. Those are some of my most favorite moments of the day. He has the cutest personality, seriously he is just overflowing with it. He has the most hysterical expressions and although he isn't saying much yet, you can tell what he is thinking because it is written all over his face. Baylor can say a few things besides "daddy" which he has been saying since about 8 months. He can also say "bye-bye", "ma-ma", and "uh-oh". He is a very rough and tumble kind of kid and has no fear. He goes after things with all of his will and gets very frustrated when he can't get or do what he wants. Nothing makes him more frustrated than to hear the word "no". I joke that we should get Baylor a job testing all things that claim to be baby-proof or child friendly. He like to push the limits and if there is a barrier in his way he uses his determination and strength (yeah he is strong) to try to get past it. We have had the same baby-proof door knob cover on the door knob to our garage since Grayson was born. For a while Baylor has been pulling up trying to grab it, but he hasn't been tall enough. On the day he became tall enough to reach it he climbed up, grabbed a hold, and ripped the thing right off. I have never seen a more determined child. My prayer is that God will use that determined spirit and loving heart in a mighty way.

Happy 1st Birthday, Baylor Boo! We love you so very much!!!

St. Lucia

This year has gotten off to a rough start. We have been through a major and expensive flood at our rental property, lots of sickness, and some big changes at my job that make the future very scary. What better time than now for a getaway? Fortunately we have two very special friends, Matt and Kelly, who decided to get married in a really beautiful place. On May 11th Justin and I said good-bye to our boys for seven days and boarded a place to paradise. It was an amazing trip and I know of no other way to sum it up than to post a few pics.

Here we are on one of our first days having lunch at our wonderful resort.

Kacey and I have been great friends since college. She lives in FL and it was such a treat to spend time with both she and her sweet hubby.

Here we are in the healing mud bath of a volcano. Don't judge! It was good for your skin. Oh and the other couples are Kacey and Chris and Matt and Kelly(the bride and groom).

Here are the girls with the beautiful bride.

The bride and groom with all of their wedding guests. Are they loved or what? That is one large group considering everyone traveled from pretty far away to be there. Most of Matt's family came all the way from the UK.

One last one of the hubby and I doing what you do on a Tropical Island at an all inclusive resort. You relax!

Thanks Mr. and Mrs. Edwards for allowing us to be a part of your special day. It was a trip we will never forget.

TWO YEARS

Faith and Avery are two years old today and they are celebrating in heaven instead of here with us. In some respects this day has gotten easier and in some ways it is so much harder with each passing year. Easier because time heals everything to an extent. Easier because today is a birthday it isn't the day we said good-bye two years ago. Easier because we aren't still sitting in the hospital in disbelief. We have accepted and done our best to move forward.

But it is harder in so many ways. Its harder because we don't have little toddler girls running around our house and I think about that every day. Harder because twins are everywhere and I am sure I have seen at least a dozen today. Harder because with each passing year what we thought would be is further and further away.

God did a lot of good things in our life through the loss of our daughters. That I will never deny. I also know better than to question His most perfect plan. BUT today I am allowed to just be a bit angry, a lot sad, and a mom who did the one thing no mother should never have to do. I am a mom who held her daughters as life left their little bodies two years ago today and that is just hard.

GRAY BEAR IS THREE

It is so hard to believe that my oldest son is already three. Time just keeps flying by. I have decided and started to accept that is just the nature of being a mom. Your kids just grow up faster than you want them to. I said I am accepting it, that doesn't mean I am okay with it.

For Grayson's third birthday we had a party with his friends at Marbles. Marbles is the children's museum in our home town. Grayson wanted a Toy Story party and that is what he got. His party included 24 of he best toddler friends and a lot of fun. Since Grayson's actual birthday fell on Good Friday, we decided to have his party the weekend before and the turn out proved we made the best decision. He had a Toy Story cake made by mommy with help from daddy and Aunt B. It was adorable. It was also a lifesaver that Aunt B and Peyt came up to help the day before the party. On Friday morning I woke up with a horrible case of mastitis. I was about as sick as I have ever been. Thankfully I not only had wonderful help, but for once I had already purchased almost everything I needed for the party so that I only had the cake to work on Friday. On his actual birthday we had a family party, just the four of us and he had popsicles at school with his friends.

At his three-year check up Grayson weighed 28 1/4 lbs., he was 36 inches tall, and had a BMI of 15.3. He is slight but is so adorable. My sweet little three year old is still wearing size 18-24 month clothing. It is very hard to find pants for him because although he is super skinny he has pretty long legs. Adjustable waist are the only thing that works.

His best friends at school are Davis and Dawson and he says he is going to marry Rin. He loves any opportunity to see his cousin Peyton. They play together like brothers and it is just too fun to watch. Besides all of that, his most favorite person in the world is his little brother. He loves Baylor in a way that makes my heart melt. He is more kind, generous, and patient with his brother than I ever even imagined a three-year old could be capable of. He looks for Baylor first thing in the morning and is certain to give him a big kiss before he goes to bed at night.

Grayson loves TV. Yep, he loves it to the point that we have to keep firm limits on TV watching and being told he can't watch something he wants almost always brings big tears to his eyes. He also loves superheroes, Toy Story, motorcycles, and playing ball (he has an amazing arm). He loves to dress up in his Spider Man costume and pretend he is getting the bad guys. Yep, he is all boy! At three he still says he wants to be a doctor when he grows up which is fine with us as long as his doesn't go to Carolina for it.

At three Grayson is the sweetest most tender little boy I have ever met. He is about as sweet as they come. He is kind to everyone but tends to be a little shy in new situations. He is tender-hearted in a way that reminds me of myself when I was little. The smallest reprimand can bring tears to his eyes and he genuinely wants his mommy and daddy to be proud of him at all times. He is a very good little boy and rarely requires more than one reminder to make the right decision or obey the rules. He is about as far as you can get from rebellious. He cares for others without reservation and with the gentle innocence only a child can possess. He doesn't yet know to be fearful of the scary things in the world and wants to make sure everyone is loved and taken care of. He still prays often for a homeless man I mentioned months ago and still questions why he can't come live in our house. God will do great things with a heart like that.

Happy Birthday sweet boy. Mommy and daddy are proud and blessed to be your parents EVERY day. I love you too much!

NO MATTER WHAT

Things have been insane lately. Remember this post about starting our New Year over on February 1? Yeah well things have been even crazier since that post. Baylor had RSV, we had two (yep, two) floods at our rental property, a fire in my office building, Justin is sick again, and that is just the major stuff. Additionally work has been really wild for more reasons than I care to blog about, basically increasing my work-load by double. I am now carrying a full caseload in addition to my management responsiblities.

It also seems every week has brought with it a MAJOR to-do. What are MAJOR to-dos you ask. Well, those are things like preschool registration for 2011-2012, Grayson transitioning to five-day preschool, booking and paying for a big vacation/friend's wedding in May, the purchase of a mini-van out of requirement because my old car was a lease that was ending, and having a suspicious mole removed (that turned out to be fine. PRAISE). Before I go any further. . . Yes, we know leasing is not a smart financial decision. That was not our decision. That lease was part of an employment package. It wasn't our lease.

Things have just been crazy. Some people have said things to me like, "oh this is normal when you have two small children" or "you better get used to it". No, I don't think this is "normal" just because we have two small children. Things like flood, fire, and big financial stresses are not "normal". I feel like we are in the midst of a hail storm on most days. I feel like I spend most days trying to keep from drowning in the insanity, nevermind the laundry which literally went a good two weeks with no attention. I am not even kidding. We got to a point that it had to be done because there was nothing clean to wear. Don't even get me started on the house cleaning and we are potty training again. Yep, Grayson completely regressed and REFUSED to go potty after being almost completely trained. We went back to diapers because I refused to get into a battle of wills with him. We are back at it now and he is in his underwear today following a long explanation that his baby diaper are all gone and he is not allowed to wear them. He can potty successfully. He has proved that.

So, I was getting all frustrated with life in general and really questioning why, when I was desiring so much to grow in a deeper relationship with God, did it seem like He was making it impossible. When things are as insane as they have been there is little time for quiet time with God. Then it hit me. Things have been crazy since around December. In December I had a real heart to heart with God about my desires to have a deeper relationship with Him and to really start spending more time in personal devotion and devotion as a family. Cue the insanity.

I was driving in the car Thursday just praying that God would speak to me and give me some peace about the storm I feel surrounds me. After I finished praying I turned on the radio and God spoke to me right through the song that came on. I wanted to share it with the few of you that have stuck around despite my absence.

I know the closer I grow to God, the more the enemy will try to distract me from that relationship. No matter what I am going through and what the enemy uses to trip me up, God is still there working to make beautiful this mess of our lives.

Enjoy!

UPDATE ON SPAWNWATCH

Hi friends! Thanks to all of you who have been praying for my dear friends over at Spawnwatch. They got really great news today. Hop on over to their blog and check it out! Thanks again for the prayers. God is so good!

JOIN ME

Please join me in prayer today for "N" and "M" my friends who are hoping for a successful pregnancy today after their third IVF procedure (2nd FET). You can follow their story here.

GRAYSON

It has been a long time since I did a blog full of updates on my oldest son. Over the weekend he hit the 2 years, 9 months old mark. I can't believe we are 3 short months away from having a 3 year old in our house. Today he is sick. He has a bad cough and a fever. He has been sick since Friday. So today he is laid up on the couch watching movies quietly. That is a far cry from his typical level of activity. Yes, this guy keeps our lives entertaining.

He probably weighs no more than 26 pounds and is as skinny as a minute (a nice southern term to make my non-southern readers giggle). He is getting rather tall and seems to have gone through some sort of growth spurt in the last few months. It is becoming VERY difficult to find pants that stay up on his skinny waist without looking like he is on the way to a flood. Yes, we have tried several varieties of adjustable waist pants and in most instances they sit on his waist but look strangely baggy. It is also getting harder to find shirts that have long enough sleeves but fit around the next and shoulders. I try and try to get calories in him. He eats pretty well for a 2 year old and loves peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, which I LOAD with peanut butter. Even with adding extra calories where I can and still feel like I am training a healthy eater, he stays skinny. I know I was that way as a child so I don't really worry about it.

Grayson has the sweetest personality. He is very tender-hearted and kind. He loves to learn about new things and is constantly asking "why". He loves to help me in the kitchen and regularly askes to get "up counter" to help when I am preparing dinner or baking. He got his own vacuum cleaner for Christmas because he loves to help me clean. He is a great big brother and often entertains Baylor while I am getting things done around the house. No one can make Baylor laugh as hard as Grayson.

He is currently going to preschool 3 half days per week. Beginning in February he will be attending 5 half days per week. We have been on the waiting list for 5 days for a while so I am happy the spot has opened up. I think the consistency of being there every day will be good for him. He has started going to chapel at school and has transitioned to the preschool wing for Sunday school. In both places he is learning lots of bible stories and is starting to ask a lot of questions about God and Jesus. I pray daily that I am being the teacher I need to be for him on these subjects. I know the questions are only going to get harder to answer.

He says really funny things all the time and on most occasions he doesn't even mean to be funny. Just last night, after watching a Pater Pan movie, he commented on the fact that the people could fly. Justin asked him if he could fly. His reply, "I can't fly! I don't have wings. I just have some hands." He followed that with, "Dem are for waving." While he has been sick he keeps referencing his sickness as the "cough in his mouth". He will say things like, "I don't want to give brother this cough in my mouth so I will sit over here" or "I don't feel good. I keep having this cough in my mouth." His sweet, sweet words keep us laughing. He continues to be one of the greatest blessings I have ever received.

STARTING MY NEW YEAR OVER

Things have been crazy. Since Christmas things haven't slowed down. I love the holidays. It is my favorite time of year, but by the end I typically welcome the New Year along with the slow down it typically brings. This year has been different.

Between snow, ice, sickness, work craziness, and a million other things I feel like we are still in the middle of the holiday whirlwind. I had few resolutions for the new year and I haven't even been able to get those going. The biggest problem is that I look back over the last few weeks and I couldn't tell you what I have been doing. It has been a total blur.

I think the biggest issues have been sickness and snow/ice days. I am a one who thrives with a routine and a schedule. We haven't had a typical week since Christmas. The week after Christmas it snowed and Justin and I went to Orlando for State's bowl game. By the way, that was a totally awesome trip and was made even better by visiting with our friends Kacey and Chris. I just love that girl! Then it was the New Year and we had some family Christmas celebrating left to do. The week after that the boys went back to preschool in the middle of the week. Since they didn't go on Monday and my office was closed that Monday, that week was off. The week after we had an ice storm. This past week the preschool was closed for the Martin Luther King holiday, Justin had to travel to Georgia, and THEN all three fellas in my house got sick in the middle of preparing for my office Christmas party that was last night. Yes, Christmas party. It was rescheduled after the prediction of snow in December resulted in cancellation. Next week? Yeah, the preschool is closed tomorrow for a teacher workday so again it will not be a typical week.

What is the point in all this rambling you ask? Well, I am declaring that February 1 will be my New Year Re-Do. I will start my resolutions then and hopefully the new month and a chance at a New Year repeat will bring the normalcy I was hoping for in January. No, we will not celebrate on January 31st at midnight the way we did on December 31st. That would just be crazy. I am just hoping the idea of it will get us back on track and bring back the routine that makes me feel happy and content.