2013

Whew, what a year it has been. What a season we have had! I am utterly exhausted and yet full of excitement that a new year is upon us. If I could just catch up on my sleep, I know I would be more than good to go.

In a nutshell, here is what we have been up to...

1. Shane passed his plumbing test. He is officially a Master Plumber! (Have I mentioned that already??) We are very excited and proud of him, and looking forward to what the future holds for our family.

2. My Aunt Maureen and Uncle Steve came to visit a few weekends ago. We did a Stone Mountain day, where we rode in the cars all the way to the top of the Mountain. Kids loved it! Also, we ate tons of yummy food, Steve and Shane went to a Falcons game, and we bonded and reminisced over lots of coffee and tea. I love my aunt and uncle, and I was so glad that they go to fly to Atlanta and meet Easten and stay with us. I love my Cape Cod family.

Here is Parker being his usual self at the top of Stone Mountain:

Ah, and here I am wearing Easten in his Sleepy wrap. He was so cuddly that day, he barely made a peep!

3. We got our basement finished. Have I mentioned that too? It looks wonderful. Sorry if I am repeating myself from a previous post. We now have a full playroom and a full bath. The bathroom is nicer than mine! I might have to move down there. We still need to get a TV and move the Wii downstairs, and get some sort of sleeper sofa...if they still make those, or a futon.

4. Christmas came and went very quickly this year. Shane and I attended Lily's class Christmas party. Then, we visited with my mom and sisters Christmas Eve eve. We went to church on Christmas Eve, and we spent Christmas day with Shane's family. The kids were beyond spoiled rotten. Lily got a guitar, and Parker got a bike, to name a few things. Easten was thrilled with his new Blueberry Basix diaper in elephant print (haha!) Shane surprised me with a Northface jacket. I was super pumped...and I needed it, because we flew to New Jersey the day after Christmas. It was freezing! The plane ride up was literally hell. We were delayed an hour, sat on the runway for 45 minutes (with both the boys crying off and on). Then we endured a 2.5 hour drive from Laguardia to my dad's with Easten screaming at the top.of.his.lungs. I almost jumped out the window. Luckily, this nightmare did not foreshadow our trip experience. Once they got settled, it was fine. Parker thought he moved into a new house. He had his moments, but I was proud of my unflexible boy for going with the flow.

Morristown got 6 inches of snow while we were there. We had a blast with my dad, Allison, and Victoria. Oh, and Oscar, their dog (yes, another Oscar). Shane and I even had a bonafide date night with no kids and drank wine and ate sushi (well, Shane drank iced tea). Shane shoveled snow for a good hour the day it snowed, and built a giant snowman. He still prefers the South though...

Now, we are home. I am already hard at work cleaning out closets and organizing clothes. I have hung up lots of pictures that I finally got developed from my dear friend Anna. I am starting to feel at home now that I have baby Easten up on the wall.