2010 in Review

Well, as you can see I didn't do very good job with keeping up the blog last year. 2010 was a crazy, stressful and emotional year for us and unfortunately many things, including the blog, got put on the back burner.  In an effort to catch everything up and start fresh for 2011, I am going to try and do a quick review of 2010. 

Winter 2010

We tried to keep busy despite the nasty weather.  Here the girls are at the Botanical Center and with all their seatbelt gear to ride the school bus.

In March Maya had her tonsils and adenoids out.  Surgery went well, but she was in and out of the hospital twice with pain control issues and dehydration.

Spring 2010
I watched A.G., the most adorable little girl a few times a week while her parents looked for a new provider.  It was great fun for me and for the girls, and I am so glad we were able to get to know each other better.  They are truely wonderful friends!

Maya graduated from her feeding group.

With Isabella and Katie (speech therapist). :)

With Laura  (Occupational therapist). :)

The girls played their first season of soccer in Carlisle and daddy was their coach.

In early spring we decided to put the house on the market....again. The neighborhood was just going downhill quickly and I just wanted out of there. We ended up renting it out and moving in with my mom. LONG story there, but so far it's woking out well and we are able to save money with hopes to pay down our current loan significantly so we can keep lowering the price, as well as saving for the down payment on the next house. We are very dissappointed that after 10 years of being in the house and all we have done with it, that we still may have to take a loss.....but at this point we just want it all to be done and to move on. We plan on being here about a year to year and a half, depending on how fast the house sells when we list it again.  It is a bump in the road, but we are so grateful we have such a supportive family to help us through the bumps.  When I get frustrated with the situation I try to remind myself how grateful for this time together and fun memories we will have and what a wonderful relationship my daughters are able to have with their grandmother and great-grandparents (who are just a block away). 

Garry got a job!!!!!  What a scary winter this was not knowing if he was going to find a job.  It took longer than we both expected I think, but the job market was so bad this year.  His new job is with Wells Fargo Home Mortgage.  He was lucky enough to get to keep many of his benefits and senority from Wells Fargo Financial and best of all he really likes it and is able to work from home often.  :)

Summer 2010

We spent the summer busy with swimming lessons and swimming in the backyard, princess camp at the Y, vacation to the Ozarks, playing with our new neighbors..........

We had a great time when all the family came home for a visit and we had some awesome photos taken of the whole crew.




In August I went back to work..FULL TIME!  What a shock to my system after working very part time for the last 6 years.  I took a job with Visiting Nurse Services of Iowa as a Child Wellness Nurse Consultant.  It is very different from hospital nursing and has taken awhile to get used to everything.  I love the hours and no weekends, no holidays and minimal to no summer hours!!!  I just couldn't pass that up.  It has been very hard to figure out how to balance everything.  It's getting better, but I had a really hard time at first.  I am still PRN at the hospital, but not sure how I am realistically going to fit that in.  It's just been really hard for me to let it go.  I have been at a hospital in some position since I was 18 years old, and have been at Mercy for 11 years.  I have never been apart of anything that long.
Fall 2010
First day of KINDERGARTEN!!!!!!!!  What a day.  We even made it through without any tears...even me.  They were so excited to go.  Kyra chose to be in a classroom by herself and the other 2 are in a room together.  Maya went in with an IEP, but lost it by Christmas time.  Eryn still has her IEP, mainly working on attention and social issues.  All the girls are doing fantastic.  I can't believe how much they expect out of kindergarteners these days!!  I had know idea they would be reading and writing sentences already.

We chose Walnut Street School and have really liked it and felt like for the most part it was a good choice. They love it and love their teachers. We love having it downtown so the girls are very close to where we work and it's a very unique atmosphere.  We have been a little disappointed with a few things, but we probably would have found that with any school.

6th Birthday Party at Chuck E. Cheese.

Halloween-Trick or Treating.  Maya-Dorothy, Kyra-Glinda, Eryn-the Wicked Witch  (yes, they chose their own costumes)

In November Aunt Sarah moved to Austrailia for a year.  We miss her, especially during the holidays.  We have had fun Skyping with her and hearing about all her adventures.  She is planning on studying Yoga for a bit this spring in Bali before coming home in April.  We were lucky enough to see Aunt Deb twice over the holiday season.  She got an exciting promotion this winter and is now the director of the non-profit she works for!! 

Winter 2010

Garry and I got to take a fabulous vacation to help celebrate our 10th anniversary in December.  We went on a 9 day cruise and stopped in St. Kitts, Tortolla, Antigua, Dominican Republic and Barbados.  It was so relaxing!! 
Not long after we returned Grandma Mary left for an exciting trip with her sister and friend.  They went on a South America and Antarctica cruise and were gone almost a month.

Stay tuned for more.....