So you know how people put a letter in their Christmas cards? Well...we don't do that. Maybe people we send cards to don't want to read about our year...also, maybe they read this blog and already know everything. Andrew read a Christmas letter yesterday and thought maybe we should write a letter to make the cards a little more personal. I was going to do it but sealed all the cards before I remembered I was going to write a letter. So I am just going to blog a letter and hopefully the folks that want to read it will and those who don't won't!!!
What a year it has been!!! Here are two pictures of the boys with Santa last year....
And here they are this year...
Aaron wanted to snuggle with Santas beard last year and this year he wanted nothing to do with him!!!
We have been through a lot this year and we have so very much to be thankful for. The boys are both on the growth chart and do not appear to have any delays. They reached all of their milestones so far within the normal range for their real age...not adjusted. They are amazing and it seems impossible but I love them more everyday. This year we were able to move out of my sister Annie's house and into our own.
Andrew still works for Verizon Wireless in East Peoria as a Sales Rep. It isn't the best situation but the job pays the bills so we are thankful. Hopefully one day he will have a job that allows him to be home to have dinner with us..his family. He has had a very good year as far as his job goes. He is good at sales but does put a lot of high goals on himself. He is always in a silent competition with another sales rep and really doesn't like when the other rep comes out ahead of him at the end of the month.
I am still a full time stay at home mom. It is by far the most demanding job I have ever had but it's also my favorite job!!! Some days are harder than others but the good outweighs the bad. I really struggled during the first half of the year with getting the boys on a schedule and getting them to sleep for more than 30 minutes at a time but all that hard work has paid off. They are great sleepers, fabulous eaters, and the sweetest little boys you will ever meet =) I have thought about finding a job I can do at home to help with the bills but have been unsuccessful in finding anything that is not a scam. I would like to go back to school for speech pathology...but honestly..I don't know how well I would do with the demands of a new career path and raising my boys. We will just have to keep praying about it and asking for God to give Andrew and I the wisdom to know what to do.
In the past year the boys have learned to suck, swallow, and breathe at the same time. They have learned to sleep on their own. They have learned to roll from their backs to fronts and fronts to back. They have learned to sit without support, stand, cruise around furniture, sit up from laying down. They know how eat solid food and pick finger foods up to feed themselves. They have gone from 5 lbs to almost 20!!! Preemie clothes to 12 months!!! They are trying to talk. Elliott can walk and Aaron is not far behind!!! They are learning how to be nice to one another and not push each other down and take things from each other. Aaron loves to put toys in things...or his paci. He hides his paci in the laundry or in other toys. Elliott loves to be chased and held upside down. They both love to make people laugh.
So that way my attempt at a Christmas letter. I think it was kind of dumb. Oh well.
This is New Years Eve. I am at home alone with the boys. They are sleeping and I am feeling a bit lonely. Andrew went to Henry to play poker. My mom, Julie, Annie, and the kids are at Annie's house playing games and eating unhealthy stuff. I am not feeling very well but much better then yesterday and the day before. The boys are getting runny noses and coughing again. I am thinking about taking them to the doctor tomorrow to see if they have ear infections again or if either of them are wheezing. Runny noses and coughs have always turned into wheezing...I did read that boys grow out of the wheezing asthma stuff more often than girls...YAY!!!
I am trying to think about what has happened since the boys birthday. We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in Jamestown with Grandma and Grandpa Bock. Katie, Eric, and Cassidy were also there. It was pretty hetic opening presents. The boys wanted to play with Cassidy's princess cups and Cassidy wanted to play with the boys dump truck. I actually think that they didn't get to play with their dump truck until we got home!!! They didn't want to open presents...they just wanted to be all over the house. I think that they really enjoyed time with their grandma and grandpa...also with Katie and Eric....I am not sure what they thought about Cassidy. They were just like they are with Jackson. Cassidy and Jackson are both sweet and will hug the boys and stuff but the boys just kind of want to do their own thing. I think they will be different in a few months. It seems like they are getting more interested in playing with eachother instead of next to each other. I know that all comes with time and time is something I don't want to rush. I wish that the boys could see Cassidy more but I guess they can't!!! I think that their favorite gift was the toy box from Santa Bock. Elliott got inside of the toy box with his lovie. He was very graceful getting in and getting out. Aaron likes it better on the outside. They also really LOVE the big dump truck. I was bringing stuff in from the car and Andrew was watching the boys. I came into the living room to find Elliott sitting in the dump truck and Aaron pushing him!!! I wasn't fast enough to get pictures but I did get a little video footage. We have put Elliott in the dump truck a couple more times and he loves it!!! Aaron also loves to push him...they are too funny. Aaron does not like being in the dump truck!!!
Its been fun to watch them learn how to play with their toys that they have had for a long time. Aaron loves to play with the roll-a-round dinosaur. I was so suprised the first time I saw him put the ball where it was supposed to go. He puts paci's in the dino often too. Elliott has been getting very frustrated when he can't do things by himself. It's sad to watch but its all a part of growing up. Aaron doesn't get frustrated as much...he takes his time to figure something out and if he gets tired of trying he just goes to something else. They were given LOTS of books for Christmas too and its been fun reading them all the new stories.
I feel that this blog is boring and long so I guess I will stop. I will try to blog more often and about more interesting things in the new year. YAY 2009!!!
3 comments:
Oh Jen,
It was not boring at all. It was great! It is now 1:15am New Year's Day and I just finished looking at all the pictures you sent on Snapfish and then checked to see if you had written anything in your blog. Smiles, Smiles, YOU DID! I was in the middle of making a Grasshopper Pie and forgot about that when I started looking at pictures, so the marshmellows got a little too stiff and I had to use the blender to mix in the booze and Cool Whip. Darn - it was so sticky I had a lot of "grasshopper" to lick off the beaters. Why would they call something so good "grasshopper"?
I am thankful for all the good things in 2008 and pray that all my nieces and their special little people have a wonderful 2009.
Love to all of you.
Sharon
Amazing how fast the year has gone by. They have grown up so well! :)
love and miss you! wish you were here on new years. we played rock band. it is stinking fun. we have to wait until maz is way asleep before we play though otherwise it keeps him up:)
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