Naptime Blog

This year saw highs and lows for our family.  The year started quietly, as we rang in the New Year at home with our children and my parents and sister.  The twins were only six months old then, and didn’t make it until midnight (rightly so!).  In February, we got the shock of our lives, when I learned that I was expecting again, our third baby in a year.  We spent the next few months trying to figure out where we would fit everyone, how we would manage with all of these children, and if we would ever sleep again.

My daughter completed the first grade and did exceptionally well.  She finished with a 98 average and in the 96th percentile in her state exams. 

We traveled with the kids (yes, pregnant!) on two family vacations.  We went to Colonial Williamsburg/Busch Gardens in Virginia over the long Memorial Day weekend, and we drove from New York to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina in early August.  I was thrilled to have survived the trip (and the ride!) with Paul and the kids and my huge belly!

I was promoted to City Ambassador for New York City’s MomsLikeMe.com right before 2008 came to a close, and my job officially started in the new year.  I started freelancing with Parent’s Choice in May.  By the end of the year, I was working about 45 hours a week from home growing page views and registered users for MLM, while writing various articles and blogs for Parent’s Choice.  My online counseling and Nevaland business and website were put on the back burner as there are not enough hours in the week to manage the two jobs, the kids, and our home.  I hope to grow both of them again in 2010.  Busy, busy, busy.

We celebrated some big birthdays this year:  my mother-in-law and my father both celebrated their 60th birthdays.  My husband turned 40 (and I still cannot believe that, we feel so young!), my brother turned 30, my sister turned 25, and my twins turned 1.  My daughter began the second grade, the school year where she will make her First Holy Communion.  And I gave birth to one more bundle of joy.

Joseph Paul completed our family on September 18th.  Originally due in early October, with a scheduled C-Section for 9/22, Joseph wanted to show Mommy and Daddy that he was calling the shots, and mommy was in pre-term labor (just like with the twins only 14 months earlier) at 32 weeks.  We managed to stay pregnant until 37 weeks, and when Joseph was born, I immediately fell in love with another male (I now am madly in love with one man, 3 little boys, and a princess).  I am a busy mommy but tremendously blessed.

When Joe Joe was only eight days old, my grandmother passed away.  She had been sick for some time, and I believe she held on until she knew JoeJoe and I were home safe to allow herself to go home.  While relieved that she was no longer in pain, she is missed daily.  And while she and my grandfather were fortunate to have a beautiful marriage, two children, five grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren, the holidays are proving to be missing her presence as we prepare for Christmas and ringing in the new year. 

Just two weeks before 2009 ended, we saw a blizzard in NYC.  It started snowing on Saturday afternoon, and when we awoke on Sunday morning there were about 10 inches of snow on the ground.  That weekend was the BEST weekend of 2009.  I was able to spend two whole days with no where to go, no deadlines to meet, and the pleasure of being with the people I adore most in the world.  Paul and I prepared the lasagna for our Christmas dinner, we baked cookies with Juliana (and I even made the twins help whisk the flour, which they LOVED!), we wrapped gifts, cleaned the house (I rearranged cabinets to fit all the groceries we bought before the storm started), and then after the snow we let the kids play in it.  We put on the monitor right near baby JoeJoe by the sliding glass doors leading to the yard while he slept, and the boys enjoyed the snow for the first time.  Juliana had a blast as well!  Paul and I were so happy to have been able to stop time just for a weekend and enjoy our family.  I hope 2010 can bring more weekends like that here and there. 

We’re looking forward to spending another quiet New Year’s Eve at home with the kids.  We’ve invited some friends over with their children, and we will ring in 2010 with hope for a great year.

How will you remember 2009?

Jennifer
Wife to Paul, Mom to Juliana (7), Anthony and Louis (1) and Joseph (3 months)
www.nevaland.com

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 30th, 2009 at 5:49 am and is filed under Holidays, Jennifer. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.