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Monday, December 31, 2007

Creeping into 2008...


I am little nervous about this upcoming week...I have been on what Jeff and I refer to as my "happy pills" since around a month before Sammy was born to help deal with the effects of post partum depression. I really feel like they helped a lot, and I wish I had been brave enough to speak up and get help after Evan and Charlie were born too. I think that those first months with a newborn would have been a lot easier, happier, calmmer, etc. I guess the bright side is at least I found help at the tail end of the Irish twins experience or that could have been a whole lot more depressing! In fact, I feel better and more normal than I have since my bout with anorexia as a teenager. So, I am especially nervous this week as I begin to wean myself off of them. I am nervous about side effects, but also that I will loose my balance. Send me good brain waves on this one!!!!


I am super excited for Evan today...I just signed him up for 10 weeks of swimming lessons at Swimtastic, which I have heard great things about. He hates soccer and other team sports but loves to swim, so I am hoping this fills a niche for him in his life. I also am excited to get him exercising!


Nothing special going on around here for New Year's Eve...I have this phobia about going out on New Year's Eve with all of the drunk drivers so, as usual, we are staying in with a bottle of wine and some DVDs. Happy New Year's to you and yours!

Friday, December 28, 2007

Our Christmas

Christmas this year was nothing less than chaos. It started Christmas eve. If you read my last post I noted that taking both babies to church at the same time is horrible, but I was stupid and tried it anyway. Evan is part of the choir Awesome Angels at school and they sang at the 4:30 Mass. I really wanted that picture perfect Christmas church experience so I insisted rather stubbornly that we all go to church to see him sing. Jeff reminded me that this was of course insane, but went along with my wishes. We had to get to church at 3:30 to get seats, (all of those C & E Catholics showing up) and they were very good for the hour we had to wait for church to start. Of course, once things got rolling they were out of patience and went nuts. Charlie spent the entire Mass with Jeff in my classroom playing with toys, and I walked the foyer with Sam, so it ended up NONE of us were together for church.

We celebrated Christmas Eve at my parent's house for the first time. This included 4 children under 3 opening gifts at break neck speed. At one point my sister Sarah was in tears, and my father was buried in wrapping paper. It was fun, but also exhausting and overwhelming.

Christmas morning was nice with just us, other than the video camera pooped out halfway through opening gifts (which came only a week after the digital camera broke! If anyone has suggestions on good buys, let me know). The boys all liked their gifts, and I was really excited that Jeff got me two Notre Dame t-shirts and a Packers t-shirt, making my transformation to a football fan complete. We went up to Harlan to celebrate with Jeff's family for the first time later in the day. They had prime rib (MY FAVORITE!!!!!) and they all spoiled the boys. It is so neat for me to watch Jeff's dad with the kids. He got them sleds for Christmas and took them sledding for about an hour in the backyard, which they loved. He is so in love with his grand children it is just amazing to watch.

We came home to a disaster in the living room so for the next three hours Jeff took toys out of boxes while I distributed toys to the right places, and cleaned up the mess. I still feel like we are recovering 3 days later, but I count the whole thing as a success. The kids were happy, we were all well fed, and we spent time together. What more could you ask for?

Sunday, December 23, 2007

The Holidays

While I actually have a semi-peaceful moment, I thought I should update my blog. Life is pretty much the same, with a few small changes.

Sophie the dog went to live with a new family last Tuesday. It was hard for all of us (even Charlie, who has wondered the house shouting "Doggie! Where are you?" It was also a relief in a lot of ways too. After the dog ripping apart several screens on windows, eating every single pair of my shoes, eating Sam's shoes, ripping apart countless baby toys, making numerous poop spots on the carpet in her insistance on letting us know she was displeased with something, it was nice to think that none of that will happen again. The last straw was the dog eating all of my shoes. Not something you want to replace during the holiday season. I literally wanted to kill her. Jeff and I looked at each other, and it was clear to both of us that while we loved her, it wasn't working for anyone. I just don't have time with two toddlers to give a dog behavior therapy as well. Lucky for us, she was adopted by a VERY nice woman, who has agreed to send us pictures of her, let us visit, and also has a nine year old son who Evan has set up a playdate with over the holidays. It's kind of like an open adoption. She had Sophie sitting on command within 5 minutes of meeting her, and I new she would be better off with her. I am so grateful to her for giving Sophie a good home!

School is going well. I feel like after two years of chaos with the babies and just treading water at school, I am finally back in the groove. I love my class, and I love being "back" in the classroom, in the sense I have my sleep, body, and brain back.

Jeff and I are really doing well. We had a rough start to marriage after all of the stressors we encountered in the first 2 years, but now that life is settling down, we are really enjoying being married. I am so lucky to have him, and that he put up with my insanity-literally-while pregnant and through post partum depression. Every time Sammy passes a milestone like giving up his bottle, or walking, it is bittersweet. I am sad to know he is my youngest, and this is the last time I will have a baby do this, but it is also a relief. The last two years have been brutal. I am glad to be getting myself back, piece by piece. I keep thinking of my grandmother who had 6 children in 6 years. I would not have made it. I can say that with complete assurance. I think she should be nominated for sainthood.

I took Charlie to church with me for the first time yesterday. Just Evan and I have been going for a long time, since dealing with both of the babies at church at once is a complete disaster. He was an ANGEL! He didn't say one word and sat in his chair the entire time, without a binkie or even a toy. We had a long talk before church started about how he had to be quiet, so whenever I tried to sing or talk, he gave me a loud shush sign. What a cutie!

So, it is with great expectations that I look forward to 2008. I am excited to have kids that are a little bit older, to get a lot more sleep, and to spend some time on me and my marriage. Hopefully it will be a year for us filled with regular old stuff.

Sunday, December 02, 2007

Blisters Everywhere

Charlie and Sam both came down with Hand Foot and Mouth Disease last Thursday and had to stay home from school. This morning I woke up and felt like I had a canker sore on my tongue, but I didn't think too much of it. By lunchtime though, I had blisters all over my tongue and I can see (and feel!!!!) blisters going all down the back of my throat. It hurts like hell. No wonder the babies wouldn't eat when they had it! This is absolutely miserable.
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