New Year, More Time to Blog?

I'm baaaack!


Well, we'll see how this goes anyway. It's been several months since I've blogged and I'm sorta kinda in a routine now with the boys and getting them off to daycare/preschool while getting myself to work mostly on time. It's a struggle and I don't pretend that it's easy. It's really really hard. But with Lucas now nearly 11 months old, it's a teensy bit easier. Then again, sometimes it's a whole lot harder because now he's mobile.




Brother chefs

 Anyway, just thought I'd throw a hello out there in cyberland to my audience of zero. I'm sure any followers I've previously had have given up on me ever writing again. Well, if you're reading this, send me an email so I know! Or even better, post a comment. It'll make me feel like you care. :)

So a quick update on us since much has changed since whenever it was last year that I last posted. I'll give the rundown on each of us, but I'm sure I'll have forgotten some really big things. Sorry. If you know us at all though we likely have already told you some of those things. Or they were in my Christmas card.

Lucas:



Lucas at 10 months

 The cutest baby in the world! Seriously, this is a happy little guy and he is really good natured and so smiley. He has the best dimple in his cheek and piercing blue eyes. He is beautiful, and please don't think I'm narcisstic when I say this, but he does look like me. Or Baby Me anyway. He also looks strikingly like Zachary when Zach was a baby, but not like Zach now. Does that make sense? Lucas has recently sprouted all 4 of his top teeth (at the same time, ow) which finally are joining the bottom 2 teeth in his mouth. He eats quite a lot given his gumminess, and he is a chunk! Actually, not really a chunk, but more like a big boy. His hands seem so big for a baby and he is solid. Size-wise, he's not able to wear too many of Zach's clothes from when Zach was this same age which is a combination of old baby clothes shrinking, seasons being off, and the aforementioned chunkiness. Lucas is crawling around like a pro and stands up whenever he can. He cruises everywhere and has recently started letting go and balancing for several seconds before sitting down. We think he's going to walk soon. Then again, we've been saying that for a month.

Zachary:



Dancing! Apparently this means running
really fast around the family room

 Super smart and just a great kid. He is silly and organized and very loving. He loves all animals, stuffed and real, and I love that he calls his stuffed animals his animal friends. He still loves his blankie although doesn't drag it around to play anymore (although sometimes it is nearby -- just in case). Zach can count, knows his letters, and how to spell his name. He's working on being able to write his name down. He gets some of the letters right. Our big project this summer is getting him to dress himself (he can do it but is kinda lazy about it) and to wipe his hiney. He's been potty trained for ages, but the whole butt wiping thing he leaves for us. He loves Scooby Doo, Disney stories, Richard Scarry stories and the playset that Kevin got for him on eBay (it's about 30 years old and they both play with it for hours every day). He also loves firetrucks and anything to do with firemen. He loves to make Lucas laugh but is still not too wild about sharing toys with him, especially when he's tired. I should also mention that Lucas adores anything and everything that Zach does.

Emily:
Has moved home and is on a leave of absence from school. She is working on trying to figure out what she wants to do with her life and trying to come to terms with it. I'm working on that part as well. It's been a struggle to not take control and to see her making decisions that I don't agree with, but I'm trying very hard to support her as she figures this out. It has been really great to have her home and have the boys have a lot more time with their big sister. She loves it too and just adores them. She got a job in the mall near our house and is saving for a car although first needs to maybe get her license. For now Kevin and I have been toting her back and forth which is getting really old, really fast. But I know it won't be forever so I'm trying to keep positive about it. Emily is blonde again and seems to be sticking with it for a while this time.

Me and Kevin:


Getting the roof shoveled



Work, work, work. Between work and the boys, there's not a lot of time left over. We're trying to take advantage of our built in babysitter and have a date here and there. It's happened a couple of times, and I think that as it gets warmer and brighter outside, it'll happen more often. We're really excited about taking down several of our giant trees in our yard this spring and being able to enjoy the sun and grow some grass. We are also working on some things inside the house, helped along by the horrible weather we've had this winter and too much snow on the roof. No roof leaks, but water did force its way under the eaves and into the window panes, and we had leaking windows and walls in several rooms. We've had to have people in to rip open the walls, take out insulation, and blow big fans in the house to dry everything out. Now we're waiting to get the walls repaired and repainted. The good news is that we will get some additional painting done that we would have probably put off for another year or two. The bad news is that it's taking longer than we anticipated to be repaired.

A rare cuddle

A note on the photos -- these are relatively recent (Feb or March) and you'll notice that Emily, Kev and I are missing. There are several reasons: 1) Em won't let me take her picture unless she's had a lot of notice that there will be a photo shoot and she can get glammed up first (which kills the spontaneity of it), 2) I take the photos, hence I am never in them, 3) The boys are just so darn cute -- it's hard to not include lots of photos of them. Anyway, if I keep up with the blog going forward, I'll include more of the rest of us, and maybe even some of our evolving house.

So there's my blog post for the first quarter of 2011 (in just under the wire!)