2008 Recap

On Christmas morning, Charlie Brown gave me a beautiful card with words that touched my very soul with sentiment so rich and meaningful that I cried. Following the card-maker's verse, in his own scrawl were the following words:

Our best year yet and there is more to come! I love you so much, Heather, and can't wait to see what the future holds for us.
Love,
Charlie Brown

He's right, 2008 has been our best year yet and things just continue to look better for us. What a blessing it is to be able to say this!

On the marriage front, we celebrated our 10th anniversary in 2008 - and honestly, it's like a different world since hitting double digits. We've weathered some serious storms in our years together and at times I thought our ship was sunk, but miraculously through prayer and divine intervention, we've managed to stay afloat and cling to God and each other. Charlie Brown has experienced tremendous growth this year (emotionally and spiritually that is) and makes me feel like that clichéd woman who's always asking, "How did I get so lucky?" A stark contrast from just a year ago.

On the family front, LMNOB and Punkinhead became schoolmates this year and what a difference this has made in their sibling relationship. They are now very close and play so well together. On the flip side, they now know how to really push each other's buttons and do so periodically, but the perks totally outweigh this. Seriously, LMNOB has often been found to say at dinner that her favorite part of the day was "Seeing Punkinhead at recess." And that just melts my heart.

Another family matter is that of baby #3. We thought we were D-O-N-E, DONE, after Punkinhead, but with my IUD having 10 good years before we needed to do something permanent, Charlie Brown had been in no rush to, ahem, "lose his balls" (as they so delicately put it in Marley and Me). While we were on our 10th anniversary vacay this past summer, we decided that we would start trying for another baby after we returned. And being fertile like we are, he pretty much looked at me and I was pregnant. I'm now on the verge of my 3rd trimester and he'll be here before we know it (or have a name selected for him to bear). The pregnancy has been harder than the others were, but Charlie Brown and the kids have been so good to me that it all balances out.

On the career front, God led me to make another sharp 180 in my thinking. My last day with the City was December 19th. And now I am a SAHM - you know, that thing I thought I could never sanely be? But I needed to return to this. Juggling FT work, LMNOB's special needs, a desire to work with them in their schools, my master's degree program, marriage, housework, and all that other domestic stuff just wasn't cutting it. I was having more and more difficulty staying sane doing all of that than I ever had while being a SAHM. So it was time to re-prioritize and the health and well-being of my family and me came out on top.

After having made this decision, the opportunity to work with lia sophia came up and I took it. I get to keep fabulous jewelry for myself and make money for my family, in addition to keeping a social outlet - what could be more perfect, right?

On the LMNOB front, her sensory issues are still there, but as she's matured this past year she has gained more self-awareness and the ensuing ability to recognize her own signals and meet her needs independently, with less and less adult intervention and/or structuring. This is HUGE!!! After the big school transition this year, we cut back on the OT and just last week we saw BT the OT for our discharge session. That was bittersweet, as she has changed our lives so much for the better with regard to parenting LMNOB and better family functioning. But, as she reminded us - we have her e-mail address and LMNOB is welcome to write her anytime, and we can also schedule a drop-in, consult session with her for addressing transitions and/or other issues that may arise at anytime.

As for Punkinhead, he's quite the character. Full of energy ALL. DAY. LONG. and ALL BOY. He is something of a schemer, prone to drawing outlandish conclusions when he doesn't get his way (i.e. "Punkinhead, no video games right now," "You don't wuv me!") just to see if he can weasel his way into doing whatever he wanted to do. As frustrating as that sounds, he is my sensitive little guy - first to apologize without prompting, always hugging and loving on us, and lover of the babies in our lives. He's a charmer on either side of the coin for sure.

It's been a great 2008, and I'm looking forward to a divine 2009.

:groans: Bad, I know - but I couldn't resist!

Love to all!




© 2008 Ramblings of a Red-Headed Step-Child. All Rights Reserved