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.