Is anyone still reading this?

I know I wouldn't be, since I haven't written since FEBRUARY!  I guess life just got so far away from me.  Here's a quick catchup of  what you missed in 2009:

Busy season was tough, and actually seemed to last...well, really it's still going on.  I appreciate Dean's job since it allows me to stay home, but there are times when I really don't like it.

Jack turned 1 in June.  We (Jack & I) were actually in VA Beach for my niece's high school graduation.  He was under the weather while we were there, and it turned out he had Roseola.  Not a horrible thing, but a little frightening while his fever was so high.

The boys and I went on vacation in August with my mom, and my sister & her family.  We went to the lake in Connecticut where my grandfather and his brother had cottages when I was growing up.  We saw lots of family, and some of them had the chance to see Jack for the first time.  I have to admit though, it wasn't the same without my Gram.  That's the first time I've been back to CT since her memorial (she passed in June of 2007) and there is definitely something missing there for me.  Connecticut (and my Gram) had always been home for me.  I grew up in the military so it really was the place I thought of as home.  And even though I've lived in Virginia for 26 years, Gram's was the place where a lot of my childhood memories are.  So it was hard to be there without her there.  It's just not the same anymore, you know?

August also brought my 20 year high school reunion.  I know, hard to believe I'm that old, but I am.  I've gotten back in touch with a lot of people that I went to high school with on Facebook, and it was awesome to see so many of them at the reunion.  The reunion was a lot of fun, and in case anyone asks - Yes, I'm going to Grevey's!  For someone who doesn't have the fondest memories of high school, it was some of the most fun I've had in a long time.  Tina and Robyn were fun to hang with, and I'm so glad my other friend Tina let me share her husband as my date!

September brought more good news - we got a minivan!  I know, doesn't seem like it would be good news, but I really do love my van.  It has made things so much better with the boys.  There's more room and it's really nice to open the doors (and the back) at the touch of a button!  I'm still in the habit of calling it "the car", but Roy is quick to point out that we don't have the car anymore, we have "the Van, mom, the Van"!

October brought Roy's 3rd birthday, and with that our first kid party.  We had a small party for the family one weekend and then had his friends over the next weekend.  Since his birthday is close to Halloween, we had the kids paint pumpkins and everyone had a lot of fun!  We are lucky to have such good friends, not just for our boys but for us too!

November brings our wedding anniversary - 5 years this year, and Thanksgiving, of course.  The boys (all 3 of them) went to VA Beach to see Dean's mom & dad (and their new house).  While I missed my boys, it did give me some much needed down time.  I was able to spend Thanksgiving at my friend Bre's house with her family, so that was nice.  And then I actually went out shopping at midnight on Black Friday!  The mall opened at midnight, so my friend Tina and I were there.  Not for anything in particular, but just for experience.  I figure I won't have the opportunity to do something like that until the boys are in college so why not?  It was a lot of fun and I spent the rest of my alone time getting acquainted with Gossip Girl.  What a lovely guilty pleasure!

And here we are in December, awaiting the arrival of the guy in the Red Suit!  The boys are excited about the tree, and Roy insists that Santa is bringing him Dinosaurs.  Today brought close to 2 feet of snow to our area.  It's crazy!  The entire area was basically shut down today, but hopefully we'll start to dig out tomorrow.

The boys are FANTASTIC!  Roy is attending the same preschool he's been at since last year and he is doing great!  Miss Shelley and Miss Jenn are great teachers, and he is becoming quite the little person!  He is talking up a storm, and he is a such a joy for us.  Roy is also officially potty trained!  I tried to do it in June, but it wasn't really working so we backed off.  Two weeks later Roy declared that he didn't want to wear a diaper so we didn't.  It's been a bit of a roller coaster, but he's been a trooper.  And thanks to his favorite buddy at school, Bennett, he's even doing #1 standing up!  Jack is a maniac!  He started walking in August during our vacation in CT, and he's never looked back!  He runs around and is now climbing on everything.  Today I found him in the middle of the dining room table!  He is also quite hot-tempered!  He is a very mellow kid, but when he's mad you know it!  And he gets mad so quick!  While Roy always takes a while to ramp up to a tantrum, Jack goes from "okay" to "completely flipping out" in about 3 seconds!  I keep hoping that things will get a little better when he starts talking more.  It's got to be frustrating for him, knowing what he wants but not being able to say it, you know?

Jack had his 18-month checkup yesterday and he is growing right on track.  He's up to 26 lbs and 33 inches.  They are concerned that he may have a heart murmur, but we're hopeful that it's just an anomaly.  We're seeing a cardiologist after the first of the year, so then we'll know more.  His brother is also getting big - we was 38 lbs and 38 inches at his 3 year check up in October.  They are both doing well and seem to be hitting all the appropriate milestones when they should.  We are truly lucky to have two such wonderful boys!

Wow, this is almost an 1100 word verbal throw up of what happened in the last 10 months.  I'm sure I left stuff out, but it's a lot of the highlights of our year.  I am going to write more often, I promise!

How did my kid get so smart?

Or, how did I get so dumb?  So, I'm in the kitchen earlier getting dinner ready to put in the oven (for me and Dean anyway, Roy already ate) and Roy was running around the kitchen "playing football".  If you've seen him do this, you know what I'm talking about.  He runs around with a football and eventually falls down and says "Roy get tackled".  Well, he was wearing socks without the little nubby sticky things (that's the technical term) on the bottom so he slipped on the wood floor a couple of times.  I told him that maybe he should go play football in the living room where it's carpeted so he wouldn't slip.  But my son knew what any smart person would know - if you take your socks off it's a lot harder to slip on bare feet!  Why didn't I think of that?  And he continued to play football until I was done in the kitchen.  Now he's attempting to disassemble Stretch from his Handy Manny toolbox using Phillipe.  If you are over the age of 4 or you don't have kids, you will have no idea what that last sentence means.

Did I mention he did NOT take a nap again today?  Second time this week.  I've got news for him if he thinks he's dropping his nap.  He still spends time up in his crib, reading books, talking, occasionally throwing things and I'm not ready for him to not have this "quiet time" every day.  And I'm not ready for ME to not have this quiet time every day.

On the other hand, Jack went down around 3:30 today and is still asleep.  I'm envisioning he'll get up around 9 or 10, eat and go back to sleep.  This is what I'm envisioning.  We'll see if that actually happens.  He's either having a growth spurt or he's getting over the nasal stuffiness he and I have had.  I don't know how it's been for him, but I've felt fine - just annoyed by the fact that my nose is stuffy.  I'm pretty sure my friend Bre gave me this "cold" - so thank you to her!

Jack and I went to Chuck E. Cheese today for our regular Friday playgroup.  It's actually Roy's playgroup, but since he's in school on MWF now Jack and I go alone.  I get to see my mom friends and Jack gets to see his friends Jane and Piper (future girlfriends/prom dates in my mind).  It was a good time, and no one said a word to me about the Caramel Frappacino that I brought in with me.  I knew I probably shouldn't, but I seriously needed a Frappacino fix.  Okay, I didn't need it, but it did make the day much more pleasant for me (and probably for those around me).  Starbucks really should be sued for making addicts out of us all.  Coffee pushers!  There ought to be a law!

Where I'm at...

I've been thinking about balance lately.  I was a gymnast when I was younger (and skinnier) and the key to the balance beam is to keep your center of gravity low.  It's hard to fall off if you stay calm and centered.   So, why is this important now?  Because the last thing I've been feeling lately is calm and centered.  We've had some changes around here lately, and busy season has started for Dean so being calm and centered is going to be key if we are going to survive it.  Dean also just got promoted at work, so there's some added pressure and duties for him. 

 This year is so different than last year.  Last year I was only pregnant, I didn't have two kids.  It's a lot more work with two, I don't think I really realized how much.  I'm grateful for the boys, don't get me wrong.  I know how lucky I am to have two kids - some people would give anything to have just one.  And I have two healthy kids, by all accounts.  So I am super lucky - but you can't really know how hard it is to have two so close until you actually do it.  And there are times during busy season that I am like a single parent.  Long days for Dean make for longer days for me!

I don't want to seem like I'm complaining, cause I'm lucky to be living the life I am.  It can just get a little overwhelming sometimes.  Those are the times I'm so lucky to have my mom friends.  So many people who can say "I'm right there with you" or "I understand what you're saying".  My husband can try, but only my mom friends get it from a mom point of view.  I don't know what I would do without all my mom friends.  Or any of my friends, for that matter!

The boys are doing good.  Roy has started going to school on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays now.  He really seems to enjoy it and he is flourishing!  He can count to 11 and he can get through most of the ABC song.  I credit Miss Shelley and Miss Jenn at his school with that, cause I know he isn't learning any of that from me!  Jack is really starting to move on the floor now.  He can roll around and is scooting forward in a sort of modified army crawl.  He is also starting to rock back and forth on all fours.  He'll be crawling all over everywhere any day now!

So, again, life is good.  We have so much to be grateful for and we are so blessed with our friends and family!

Where does the time go?

Time is FLYING by for me lately.  I don't know if it's because we've had a lot going on and a bunch of great visitors, or if it's cause I have two kids and a husband with a busy job, or if just that I'm geting OLD.  Whatever it is, things are moving EXTREMELY quickly around here lately.  Jack is rolling all over the place, and he's getting up on his knees and rocking back and forth.  That tells me that crawling isn't that far off.   I'm so not ready for that!  I know it wasn't that long ago, but I forgot all about babyproofing.  And I don't think Roy's going to take too kindly to putting all is his small pieces out of reach. 

Speaking of Roy, he is just hysterical lately!  He was sitting on the couch last night after his nap, watching a cartoon.  I was  trying to start the dinner process (daddy wasn't home yet), so I said "How about dinner?".  He looks at me, completely serious, and said "How about Thomas?".  I laughed out loud for the longest time!  Later, while we were eating dinner, Roy had finished and was ready to get out of his chair.  Dean asked Roy if he was ready to get up.  Roy looked at him, again completely serious, and said "No, DOWN!".  We don't say "get up" out of his chair, and Roy wanted daddy to know that he knows the difference!  That kid is a riot!

In addition to the seemingly warp speed passing of time, I have been incredibly emotional the last few days.  I've been so overwhelmed by how lucky and grateful I am that I have such a wonderful family.  It starts with Dean and the boys, of course.  But it extends to my immediate family and my in laws, and then my "family" that I'm not related to by blood.  I have so many great people in my life, it is amazing!  Then today, I was reading a story in "People" magazine about a man who was killed in Iraq but he kept a journal for his infant son who he only saw for 2 weeks his entire life.  The boy's mom is publishing excerpts from the journal along with the story of how they met and their romance.  The next thing I know I'm crying my eyes out because I can't imagine how hard it would be for the boys if something happened to Dean.  And because we're so lucky to have the boys.  Then, Roy comes over to me to see what's wrong and he's hugging me and wondering why Mommy is crying.  He was so cute!  Which only made me more emotional, of course!

But seriously, all is well.  We're all healthy and happy.  Life is good.  Even if it's going by too quickly.