An ode to 2013

This was a good year.  In fact, every year is a good year…but these past few years with this family of mine just gets better and better.  Over the past few days I have found quiet moments to reflect.  Last year at this time I was revealing changes of a new job and my departure from being a stay at home mom.  This has been a challenge and a blessing.  Being a full time working mama has brought Aaron and I back to what I would call an even playing field - we are co-parenting together to the best of our abilities and what seems like living on the edge of every waking moment.  However, I am tired - or maybe we are both tired - of the daily grind.  I grimace at the though of our weekday schedule.  With those feelings has brought some resentment toward work, starting after the new year I will be working 3 days instead of 5 - which I hope will be the right thing for all of us.

This year I have watched Isabelle take giant leaps and bounds.  We have watched her go from not talking to a single adult in preschool to being referred to as a "chatty cathy" at her new Kindergarten.  She is loved and cared for in her new school and it is everything I could have asked for.  I had much reservation over public schools - this school and her teachers have restored my faith in public schools.  I know each year will bring new challenges and we will take them in strides, but I am so happy that she is where she is right now.  It is perfect.

Owen blows my mind daily.  His smile face is infectious.  His language in the past month has exploded and his cheery "yah" melts me every time.  He is two, and we are covering "two ground" lately - tantrums and sleep issues alike….we try to remember that this too will pass.  He has an inability to sit, wants to leap off anything and is ready for an adventure.  He willfully follows his sisters orders and is the best snuggler I know (on his terms of course).

And there is Aaron, this man who puts up with me.  This past year he has published a great article, has been interviewed on the radio, has been offered a tenure faculty job and has been the best father I could have asked for to our children.  I am so proud of him.  He works his ass off and he deserves it all and more.  As we ruminate over where the next year will take us I know he feels the weight of his role in this family and I try to gently remind him that it will all be okay - really it will.

And lastly, there is one more family member that I must mention…or rather introduce.  A very tiny little person who has been making me feel quite nauseous over the past three months.  Yes a very tiny little person grows and so does our family.

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There are many moments of 2013 that I am cherishing, far too many to fit in one post. 

Until next year friends. 

4 a.m.

I swear the time change sucker punch hasn't faded.  Owen is consistently still waking up at 4 a.m.  This, my friends, is brutal.  Some mornings I can convince him to sleep a little longer,  but for the most part we are up and at it filling his belly with "ceaweal".  The boy does love a bowl of cereal and considering I am unable to hold my tired head up for anything more "elaborate" cereal is a blessing.  I consider myself to be a morning person, but 4 AM…c'mon…throw mama a  bone.  

It isn't long before we are joined by a girl with bed head…and on this particular morning we all indulged in a little cinnamon bun (made mostly the night before…) - of course after the first round of cereal.

a tree

Yes, a twig would certainly not do this year.  No, Owen has enough sense (I think) to not pull the entire thing down (however he is forever rearranging the low hanging ornaments…this must be his job) and Isabelle was less than impressed with our charlie brown style cutting from last year.  Yes, this year a tree will do just fine.  Our home is warm, smells of christmas and holiday tunes are always in the background.  With a holiday vacation in sight, a new nephew on his way into the world, and oh so much to be thankful for this year - I do say 2013 has been filled with many triumphs and there is so much we all already anticipate in the new year.

around the snowy corner

Owen, my dear little man, you are as sweet as the sky.  On these last few days of being one I am remembering how much I couldn't wait for you to arrive.  How you kept us all waiting and how as soon as you entered this world I knew you from another.  I can not believe two is around the snowy corner.  I am so happy you chose us…you are a force to be reckoned with and a tiger that will never be tamed…you are just perfect and we love you so.

oh yes, very thankful

There are two things that I am ever grateful for, these two smiles.  There is nothing quite like them- I swear they could turn sour milk sweet.  

We had a spectacular holiday week with family and friends, we ate too much good food and binged on Hitchcock & Bond movie marathons - yes it was a good fattening weekend.  And now, back in Vermont, we are slowly getting back into the swing of the daily routine (easing into the transition with a sick day…what else?) and counting down the days to the next holiday gathering.  24 more days!