Reflection Time

I have to say...even with it's little hiccups, 2008 has been pretty freakin' awesome.

Aaron and I got married on January 16th...no real "wedding" as I was about 2 weeks away from giving birth. We had been engaged since the August before, but for 'tax purposes' (my idea...lame, but whatever)...we held off until after the 1st of the year, so that we could both get our substantial tax refunds. hehe

Little Baby Pants was born on February 9th...she was due on the 5th, but made her debut on the 9th...fashionably late. We went riding on the quad a couple days before to get things moving...it worked. hehe. That whole experience could be a blog unto itself, but it was beautiful bringing another little creature into the world. February begins our slew of bdays...9th was Baby Pants, 13th was my Dad, 14th was my Grandpa and my BFF Gina.

During March, I was still on maternity leave enjoying the baby. I do have to admit I became somewhat of a hermit, and she and I were in my bedroom for most hours of the day. I think this was the first time I experienced some "Baby Blues". My little 'Cita turned 6 on March 30th! And we were only a couple months away from school being out for the summer.

In April, I went back to work part-time from home, as I tried to ease back into a work life away from the baby. That was pretty tough, much harder than having to do it with the older 3 girls...weaning from breastfeeding was harder too...don't know why, I was ready to jump off that train with the older 3 faster than you could say "bloody nipple" (sorry, gross I know). I turned 28 on the 22nd of April...oh 30, how you call out to me with promises of "got-it-together-ness" (here's hoping on that one). Oh and how can I forget, my SAM had surgery on my birthday at Phoenix Children's Hospital for her twisted ovary, very weird thing to happen to a 10 year old. My Mother-in-Law also had a bday in April on the 29th.

By May, I think I was back to working full-time, and on my way out of the Baby Blues...I had started exercising again, and was done breastfeeding...so I felt somewhat like "myself" again. The older girls finished up their school year, and they started hanging out with the two little girls at the babysitter's house. My step-dad and step-mom both have their bdays in May.

June, July and August are somewhat of a blur...there was swimming, boating, and off-roading involved. :) And my mom had her bday on 08/08/08 - cool huh? Oh yeah, in August we took our yearly trip to see my husband's grandma in Alamosa, CO. It's gorgeous there in the summer time...we see deer, go to the quaint downtown area, and spend time with Grandma Dean (this name boggled me, since her first name is Bertha and her last name isn't Dean...but after hearing the story, her middle name is Jean, and that was the name she went by, but she had a sibling that could not say "Jean"...so "Dean" stuck...for 80 years and counting...hehe). On the way back to Phoenix from Alamosa, we stopped in Pagosa Springs, CO to visit with one of my husband's high school friends whose parents have a GORGEOUS house on a lake there...my note to self is to have a summer home there one day. The next stop was Farmington, NM...where my husband's dad and most of his side of the family live. It was their first time meeting Baby Pants...it was really cute.

September my girls were back in school, 'Cita started 1st grade and SAM started 6th grade (her last year of elementary school...waaaah). We also took a day trip to Cottonwood and Jerome in September...the girls rode their quad and Aaron rode his dirtbike at an OHV park they have in Cottonwood, it was pretty fun! Then we drove up to Jerome and walked around and ate lunch, and played at a little park they had there.

October starts the next slew of birthdays...SAM turned 11 on the 28th, and my Nana had her 75th bday on Halloween! Of course we did the whole trick-or-treating thing, and ate buttloads of candy for a week.

The first week of November we went to Rocky Point, Mexico...it was my first time there, and BOY was it gorgeous. Can't wait to go back. It was also the week of my hubby' 28th birthday...and he got his first ever brand-new dirtbike which was AWESOME! Then on Nov 9th, SAM had to have the twisted ovary surgery AGAIN, this time they "tacked it down" with stitches...and I swear if it happens again, the girl is going to be in a medical journal or something. On Nov 14th, Monkey turned 4! We took her to the Phoenix Zoo with a friend for her bday present...and that trip occurred during the same time that Aaron's dad actually came to Phoenix for a visit (there's a blog about it down there somewhere, hehe). Thanksgiving was nice and calm...no major drama there.

And here we are in December...and the 23rd day! Crazy stuff...how did we get here so fast?? So, this month we had the dirtbike incident with my hubby...which made me miss my kids' Christmas play at church and a couple PhoenixMommies events (dang him for lacerating his liver!). But he's alive and I'm grateful for that...we both have jobs during a time of "economic turmoil"...all of our family members are well...I feel like I'm continuing to grow and evolve into a better person...and all is good in My So Called Life...at least for now. :)

And since this is probably going to be my last post until after Christmas, Merry Christmas everybody!! :)