Friday, June 27, 2008

And We're Back... Part 2

Ok, so you've made it through part 1 and now what?? Now I give you...



M's 2 year old post!! :)







M officially turned 2 on June 9th at 7:17 pm. To celebrate, she spent the morning at the dr's office for her 2 year check up. Nice mom, huh? Here are her stats:



Height: 36" (95%)...yes, she is my kid but apparently will be looking down at me by the time she's 7.



Weight: 29 lbs (75%)



Here are some things M likes to do:



- Read books. She tries to read them herself and always starts them off with "Once upon a time..."



- Sings. She loves to sing all the time from old classics like Old McDonald to Yellow Submarine by the Beatles. She also makes up her own songs all the time.



- Dance. M has a blast dancing. She has actually accompanied us to C's dance classes and started joining in. It's too cute!



- Play. Of course M loves to play. Her favorites right now are: playing with stickers, balls, little people, cars, baby dolls, and the big doll house we have. She also loves going to the playground!

- Talk. She is a talkative little girl! I should have a list of words she can say, but there are too many. At her appointment, the dr. asked if she was stringing a few words together. No sooner did she say that, M turned around and said "I want to get down!". Sentences only here!!

Here are some pictures of M over the last 2 years:



This was taken when she was a day old.



Her & C on M's first day home:





6 months:





1 year:





18 months:





2 years:



I cannot believe how fast these 2 years have gone! M...I love you and am enjoying watching you grow up! I'm looking forward to see how much you grow and change over the next year. Happy birthday big girl!

Thursday, June 26, 2008

And We're Back... Part 1

After hemming and hawing over what to write, I decided just to go with it. So, here's what's been going on in our lives. To save you from having to read one really long post, I'm breaking it out into parts... Now, no cheating...always start at Part 1 before you skip ahead. We can't skip ahead in life, so don't skip ahead here... ;)

Ok...so to backtrack, back in May, J and I had a long heart to heart about the state of affairs here. We're struggling to make ends meet, and the market here isn't condusive to us selling our house right now. So, I, or we decided it would be best for me to go back to work. On top of this, we also decided that we weren't going to pursue moving back to NJ this summer as planned. Two hard things to deal with, hence my last post.

The very next day I swung into action getting my resume together and looking for daycare. I was really upset over everything and allowed myself the day to mourn. Dramatic? Maybe, but you have to understand that it's really hard for me to be away from family and be raising my kids down here. It's not that I haven't met great people or have found things to do, but it's just not the same as family. I hate having no one to call when one of the girls is sick and I need to run to the store...or worse, when I'm sick and J has to miss work as a result. So, moving to NJ would solve a lot of that. Yes, it would come with it's own share of issues and family drama...but I really thought it would help.

After a day of being pissed off and sad, I moved on. Then something crazy happened...J lost coverage on his contract at work. The downside of working for a government contracting company is that you are up for contract renewal every year (or however long the contract is). J's contract has never been questioned, and up until that Saturday...we thought he was fine for another year. Then that Saturday it was all undone. The contract was going to expire in a month and then J would be out of work. Wow, right???

I did what any good wife would do...kept calm until I was alone and then completely freaked out. :) Needless to say, J has been looking high and low for a job. After a few setbacks, we've decided to go forward with moving to NJ. We figure it's the best for our family and financially makes sense. Now all we need is for J to find a job!! Wish us luck on this.

End Part 1....

Saturday, June 7, 2008

Not sure what to say...

I've been neglecting this blog for a while now...sorry. Truth is, I'm not sure what to write. I have a few posts saved in drafts but haven't had the guts to post them. They're personal, deep posts. The kind that makes things seem dark and gloomy in my life. And although I've been using this blog as a virtual therapy tool, I'm not sure I want to go there. Truth is I'm afraid that if I open that door then a lot will fall out. Honestly, who wants to read about someone else's problems when everyone has enough of their own??

So I've been stuck. To clarify, there have been good things, great things going on as well. C had her last day of school and end of year performance. M is coming up on her 2nd birthday, and we had the first (of a few) celebrations for it. My house is back to being mine with no extra guests. We've taken trips to Baltimore, gone to see a few movies, and are getting ready to head up to NJ for my cousin's college graduation party. See, life isn't all gloom and doom here!!

Today while the girls are napping (or at least M is) and J is at work (yup, on a Saturday), I'm going to make an effort to blog. I'm going to download pictures, write posts and actually post them. What a novel idea, right?? So, until later....