OK, I will not try to recap the last 11 months. Instead, I'll vaguely fill you in on each of us- what we're up to and anything noteworthy that's happened since August of last year.
I quit working full-time shortly after my last post, and have been enjoying (It's been quite the adjustment, and I'm just now finally beginning to feel like I've got a grip on things) being home with the kids. Emrick did not like sleeping through the night until just about 2 months ago. 8 months of sleep deprivation will suck the sanity out of anyone, especially the mom who has little adult interaction or alone time. Thankfully, Joel is really pretty good about taking the kids and letting me get some time out, and we made it to the sleeps-through-the-night-every-night milestone- YAY!
I used to think that if I had the opportunity to stay home, I would be able to do all of these projects and crafts and activities. I thought I'd have time to stay in shape, bake, keep my house clean, refinish furniture, accomplish some DIY projects, take my kids to parks and museums, etc.
What I realized pretty quickly was that I have to pick my priorities, because doing it all, all the time, will never happen. So, I clean my house when I get around to that, I decided parks and museums are a little overrated (my kids seem to like the walking paths in our neighborhood better than any museum) showers are now a spectator sport, and everyone's better off if mom has a cup of coffee before anyone does ANYTHING in the morning. :o)
I did start running, and have actually learned to love running outdoors, which is something I never thought I'd say. I'm not fast, but improving. My 5K is averaging about 32 min. If you don't run, you might be slightly impressed that I can run 5K (3.1 miles) at all. But if you're a runner, you know how slow that is. But it's a start, and I'm improving, so... yay me!
And I've started some of the kinds of projects I had hoped to do. For instance, I refinished a table I've had forever:
I made this quilt for Afton:
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| for project info, see here |
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| for project info, see here |
So, that's what I've been up to lately. :-)
Gillian has been keeping busy playing softball this summer, having Kool-Aid stands, playing with the neighbor kids, enjoying a volleyball camp, biking with daddy, and all kinds of other good summertime fun. She's going to be starting 2nd grade in another month or so!
Afton is.... well, she's Afton! If you remember, I was a little worried about her lack of vocabulary. Well, we are definitely no longer worried. She caught up quickly and is now saying all kinds of stuff. She says "Oh my gosh!" all the time, and it makes me chuckle. When she says Emrick's name, it sounds like "Emuck", but she usually just calls him baby. She still calls Gillian "Gigi" and we all like it, so I don't think that'll change anytime too soon. She is quite the little spit-fire, and the terrific twos are upon us now, so life with her is almost always interesting and entertaining.
Emrick is already 10 months old and is growing like crazy. He's so laid back and happy most of the time! He's got 5 teeth so far, babbles all the time, crawls and climbs all over the place (no walking yet), and loves to play catch! He also LOVES the water, which is a really good thing with all of this hot, sticky weather we've been having. It makes a trip to the lake or the river, or even just the kiddie pool in the back yard, a lot of fun. :o)
Joel is doing well, not much out of the ordinary. He is focusing on biking a lot this summer. He has recently been biking home from work on Thursdays (downtown Minneapolis to Ramsey), which is around 25 miles, depending on his route. Otherwise, he's still working at Old Republic doing computer stuff (all of which is Greek to me), and enjoys spending time with the kids and I going for nice long walks.
So, that's where we're at. Here is where I would normally make a promise or state my intent to never, ever let so much time lapse between posts again. But.... I'm not prepared to make such promises. I can say that I will try to be better at keeping up on this blog now that life has settled back to something of a "normal" though. :o) Adios amigos!
