News in the New Year

The first month of 2012 is nearly complete (wow, that flew by!) and our family has a few new and exciting things to share.

Starting with the biggest news - the arrival of our nephew, Jake Ryan, on Jan. 23! This baby makes 5 grandchildren for my in-laws, and we are all very excited. As an only child, I had always wanted a sibling and to be part of a big family. While that didn't happen as I was growing up, it seems to be happening as an adult, with Jason's sister and BIL adding their third child to the mix. Lucky for my kids, who will grow up with cousins around their age (and different genders - I only had two older boy cousins, which proved to be rather boring when they didn't want to entertain their younger girl cousin). We can't wait until Jake is old enough to play with my kids because we know they will have so much fun together.

Also new this month is Zach's first "pre-preschool" class - the Wondrous Ones. It's his first "classroom" experience and as the eldest in the class, we know he'll have fun teaching the younger kids everything he knows. Which, by the way, is quite a bit these days! He is putting 2-4 word sentences together ("I want mama" seems to be his favorite so far) and he is really changing from a baby to a big boy before our eyes. We hope he'll enjoy this new class, especially since it's where he'll be going to preschool this fall! Oh my.

As for Abby, she had a great accomplishment at school when she rode 47 laps in the annual trike-a-thon to raise money for pediatric cancer. In previous years, she had little interest in riding, but this year we are really proud of her for doing her part - and she raised $100 for the cause! Also, Abby's friend Clara just lost her first tooth, so we know that milestone isn't too far from us. I don't think I am quite ready for that yet, though!

No major news to report (yet) for dad, but we are hopeful for some news on the job front soon! In the meantime, we'll be enjoying our new nephew and our kids' accomplishments one day at a time.

Little Man

With the hoopla of the first birthday come and gone, it has been fun looking back on what I was doing this time, last year (just had his bris, was about to miss out on Mother's Day due to a horrid allergic reaction to my c-section strips...) and being very relieved that I'm on to new and different things this year.

Zach's first birthday was a lot of fun - he had a great time listening to the music (he was very intently watching) and had the most fun shoving an entire piece of cake in his mouth for the first time. Probably the highlight of his whole year! Abby loved watching him, too, and I just sat back and took pictures while marveling at my baby boy turning into a big boy. Oh, and not to worry, he is still "little" in some ways - he measured in the 3rd percentile for height and 6th for weight at his 1-year check-up!

Of course, I have some sadness at the fact that he is no longer a baby as he is most likely my last child (I say that with a 1% chance of changing my mind, never say never!). I know that in no time, I'll be chasing him around the park, telling him to stop bugging his sister and complaining about the "terrible twos" (or threes, in Abby's case). But in the the meantime, I am just so happy to have my little boy, who delights in the littlest things (balloons! paper towel rolls! Sadie's kisses! his sister's tickles!) and makes my world that much better.

I am so lucky to be Abby and Zach's mommy and there isn't a day that goes by that I don't feel blessed to have these two little people in my life, who make my life complete.

Happy Mother's Day to all the great mommies out there!