2008 Family Update

Tonight all four of the girlies are spending the night with Mimi and Pop so here it is as promised in the Christmas cards, our 2008 year in review.

We started 2008 by officially breaking free of the serious haze and fog of having 3 babies and a toddler in the house and moved straight into the mayhem of 3 toddlers and a preschooler. The days are just as busy and crazy and fun as you can imagine in a house filled with four chatty little girls!



Early in 2008 Scott was cruising along as a captain at the airlines with a decent commute. He worked for a few days and then would be home for a few. People often asked how I managed while he was away, but really that schedule worked for us because when he was home he was really present, we had him all to ourselves, and he was very, very helpful.... enough so that I was able to get by in the between times with all our other wonderful helpers without even missing a beat.

By Spring we were out taking advantage of the local rivers, mountains, waterfalls, and great hiking. We really enjoyed Scott's flexible working schedule and would often together take the girls to their Kindermusik classes or the local libraries for story hour when he was home.

Then in June we found out that Scott was headed to Iraq with the Reserves, and by July he was gone for training. In August Ella and I met up with Scott in Hawaii for a week while he was doing some final training before the deployment. It was an amazing trip, but one I would not have considered taking all four silly sisters on!

We all spent a wonderful weekend together at home as a complete family in early September before Scott left the country.

Shortly thereafter life totally turned upside down for us for a little while for a number of reasons. The main ones were: I could no longer just pick up the phone and call Scott (that was a lot harder than I had anticipated), I wasn't getting any exercise, Sarah insisted on potty training herself, Maggie, Kate, and Sarah all had to be transitioned into toddler beds because of climbing out of their cribs, and preschool wasn't going well for Ella. I should say she just didn't enjoy going... she loved everything about it once she was there.

It was a rough month or so, but then we got our web cam set up and Skype access going so we can talk to Scott and see him via the internet every day, we joined the YMCA and go there regularly, the potty training thing was a non-issue because Sarah literally just did it herself, and we're finally over the big girl bed transition and back to sleeping at night. We're still working on the whole preschool issue, but even that has gotten a bit easier of late.

So, even though the view is not the same for Scott and I these days as we look out our windows, when we look inside our hearts things are still very much the same.

We are still blessed by the love and support of close family and friends, and our faith is still growing every day. The girls all continue to amaze us with their voices, their hearts, their differences, and their capacity to love!

We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a very blessed New Year! Now I'm off to take advantage of this quiet house by turning on some Christmas music and transforming my kitchen into a cookie making factory.