New Year, (almost) Same Post

I can't quite let go of this streak, even though I haven't written since last January!

1. What did you do in 2019 that you’d never done before?  Hmm...I learned to do string art.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I don't make resolutions

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? A few Facebook friends

4. Did anyone close to you die? Grandma Long, Adam's Aunt Sandy, and just last night, My Aunt Sandy, plus our cat Tippy. 

5. What countries did you visit? Another year stateside for me

6. What would you like to have in 2020 that you didn’t have in 2019? More financial stability 

7. What dates from 2019 will be etched upon your memory, and why? Hmm nothing jumps out at me.

8. What was your biggest achievement of this year? I've still feeling good about my work

9. What was your biggest failure? I read and wrote less this year than I have in a long time.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?  Not me, though I helped my mom when she broke her shoulder. 

11. What was the best thing you bought? My fitbit versa 2

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? My kiddos accomplishments 

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? Ugh, Donald Trump. (Some more)

14. Where did most of your money go? Bills 

15. What did you get really excited about? Finding what works for me to start getting healthier

16. What song will always remind you of 2019? Shallow Lady Gaga

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer  or poorer? Things are looking up for all three of these!

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Reading and writing

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Stressing out

20. How did you spend Christmas? We had a quiet but lovely day at home. Comfy clothes, games, and watching the kids enjoy the day

21. Did you fall in love in 2019? More and more every day with my husband and kids

22. What was your favorite TV show? The good place

 23. What was the best book you read? I did a lot of rereading when I read this year

24. What was your greatest musical discovery?  Lol the Frozen 2 soundtrack

25. What did you want and get? First family photos in 6 years

26. What did you want and not get? We didn't go away for our anniversary like I had hoped.

27. What was your favorite film of 2019? Frozen 2 (sorry)

28. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 37. I worked and had chocolate cake lol

29. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Less stress and anxiety in general

30. How would you describe your personal fashion concept of 2019? I kept up my haircut. I kept it mostly comfy this year however I could

31. What kept you sane? Adam and the boys, family and friends, audiobooks, music and YouTube 

32. What political issue stirred you the most? Donald Trump is still president

33. Who did you miss? My sister, my grandparents and my great aunt and my little Gabriel.

 34. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2019. Some years are going to be nothing spectacular, and that's ok.

 35. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year. 

Crash through the surface, where they can't hurt us
We're far from the shallow now

Another New Year

I haven't posted in ages! But old habits die hard so I thought I'd check in with my New Years post.

1. What did you do in 2018 that you’d never done before?  Hmm...I took on more of a managerial role at work, acting as direct supervisor for someone.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I don't make resolutions really 

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? A few Facebook friends

4. Did anyone close to you die? Thankfully, no.

5. What countries did you visit? Another year stateside for me

6. What would you like to have in 2019 that you didn’t have in 2018? I would like to gain some financial stability 

7. What dates from 2018 will be etched upon your memory, and why? AJ's first day of school

8. What was your biggest achievement of this year? I've made some great strides at work and feel very accomplished in that arena

9. What was your biggest failure?  Weight/healthwise.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?  Nothing major this year yay!

11. What was the best thing you bought? Our newish car, its fancy!

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? Work stuffs (no wonder I don't blog more, I'm so boring!)

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? Ugh, Donald Trump. (Some more)

14. Where did most of your money go? Bills 

15. What did you get really excited about? Adam and I are thinking of taking a little trip for our 15th anniversary this year

16. What song will always remind you of 2018? The entire soundtrack of the Greatest Showman (still obsessed)

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer  I think I've stayed steady in all areas this year, for better or worse 

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? excercising and writing

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Stressing out

20. How did you spend Christmas? We had a quiet but lovely day at home. Comfy clothes, games, and watching the kids enjoy the day

21. Did you fall in love in 2018? More and more every day with my husband and kids

22. What was your favorite TV show? I binge watched The Good Place and loved it

 23. What was the best book you read? Turtles all the way down by John Green

24. What was your greatest musical discovery? The Greatest Showman lol

25. What did you want and get? New car

26. What did you want and not get? I didnt manage to get family photos done

27. What was your favorite film of 2018? The Greatest Showman (broken record)

28. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 36. I worked and had chocolate cake lol

29. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Less stress and anxiety in general

30. How would you describe your personal fashion concept of 2018 ? I still love leggings. I got a cute dress and chunky sandals last summer I really loved. Oh, and this year I finally ended up with a haircut I love

31. What kept you sane? Adam and the boys, family and friends, books, music and YouTube 

32. What political issue stirred you the most? Donald Trump is still president

33. Who did you miss? My sister, my grandparents and my great aunt and my little Gabriel.

 34. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2018. Some years are going to be nothing spectacular, and that's ok.

 35. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year. 

When the sharpest words wanna cut me down
I'm gonna send a flood, gonna drown them out
I am brave, I am bruised
I am who I'm meant to be, this is me

10th Blogoversary!!!

10 years!  I have been writing (on and off, but I had posts every year) here for 10 years! Granted, I have very few readers, but still, I have to give myself points for longevity. Maybe I just like to hear myself talk?  LOL anyway, I'm still here and man, a lot has been documented here in the last 10 years--high points and low points.  I've documented the birth of my kids, my losses, my infertility journey, the joys of motherhood and marriage, the trials over everyday life, fitness journeys, new homes (more to this coming VERY soon!), and now my journey as an author.  There are posts that are merely funny and some filled with deep thoughts and self-exploration.  I know not many people read my ramblings, but I go back and read them sometimes and I'm glad I have them written here.


So if you're reading, thanks.  And past me, thanks for taking the time to document these memories.

All about Christmas!

I'm so predictable. I nearly vanish in November and December every year. I suppose it's a busy time for everyone. My job is EXTREMELY busy around this time of year, and this year is, if anything, more so! I'll be covering for the maternity leave for a coworker (well, a coworker from Birmingham) who is the go-to for all things for my group. Side note: It's a little hard to swallow, as we were literally due the same week. Anyway, I'm fielding lots of questions on invoicing and year end stuff. It's interesting and different, but can make getting my normal work done a little challenging.

So yeah, busy. I need to finish my Christmas shopping too. This weekend we took the kids to see Santa. We went to the mall this year. The last two years we attended an event at Tyler's school, but they didn't have it this year. The kids did great and were super excited--a change from last year when AJ was afraid of Santa.

Waiting in line! Blurry because they couldn't stand still from excitement!

They've been (pretty) good this year! AJ looks so deceptively innocent here.

We continued the Christmas preparation weekend by putting up the Christmas Tree.  I remembered that I planned to do a blog post about a few special Christmas ornaments, so I snapped a few photos after we'd finished.

Oh Christmas Tree!

Turtles!  Tyler's friend made him these!

Can you see tiny little me? Circa 1989

This used to be a rocking horse, until our sheepdog Shasta knocked over the tree one year and gnawed off a leg and the rockers.

Last year's obligatory Christmas Craft!

Tyler's first ornament! He loved that toy!

AJ's first ornament, complete with his footprint!

The ornament I bought the first year Adam and I were together 2002.

My first ornament! 1982

Our nativity scene--we put it down low where the kids can play with it.

We usually hang the stockings on bookshelves (no fireplace), but we put the shelves away this year, so command hooks it is!

Busy weekend and now it's the week again!  Any guesses on if you'll get another blog post before my New Years Post???

The memorial

Sunday was the Memorial of Ashes.  The hospital where I had my D&C is one of several in our area that offers an option of communal burial of ashes of miscarried babies.  They have a service twice a year and invite the families that have had a loss to attend.  The nurses told me about it the day of my D&C and asked if we would like to have an invitation sent to us. I said yes immediately.

(Side note: I never got an invitation (story of my LIFE), so I called the hospital last week and the rushed to send me one).

We decided we would all go (Mom, Adam and I, the kids, and my sister Michelle).  It was very nice. It was held at the funeral home at a local cemetery. They had a large room set up with chairs. At the back of the room were several tables. We were immediately offered a program, and they gave each of the boys a brightly colored paper sack with a few little toys and a sucker, which I thought was both thoughtful AND smart. There were also strips of ribbon that you could write messages on, which would later bed tied to two wreaths they would take out to the memorial site. Each of us took a ribbon and wrote a little message to our baby boy. There were also tables with cookies and water at the back of the room. 

We took seats and waited for the service to begin. While we waited, a woman was playing the violin, which was lovely. The service was only 20-30 minutes at the most. They recited a poem and there were some readings. I don't remember much. I alternated between bring brought to tears when a particular phrase would resonate with me, and turning my attention to the kids. I didn't regret having them with me for a second, as it helped to be reminded I still have them. Tyler shed a few tears too, poor thing. But the boys were very well behaved, in fact all the children present were.

On particular thing they said that hit me hard had something to do with the fact that our relationships with our lost children haven't ended, they have just changed.  That made me cry in particular. I guess it's been awhile and I'd moved on, but this brought me back to the grief that will never really go away. And that's okay. I let myself feel it, but I don't feel that it's swallowed me back up.

At the end of the service, they invited the guests up to tie our ribbons on the wicker wreaths and they gave out carnations to put at the memorial site or take home.  Then we all filed outside and walked across the cemetery. I didn't feel comfortable taking pictures inside, but I did snap a few at the site.

At the site itself, there was a large headstone with a statue on top of a little girl and a lamb. Behind the headstone is a stone bird bath.  The funeral director took the top off of the bird bath and placed the wooden box that contained the ashes of all our little babies over the stand, which had a hole in the center.  The box had a latch on the bottom so they were able to pour the ashes into the base of the bird bath through the bottom of the box. It's sort of hard to explain, but that's the best I can do.

The read a few more statements and a lady sang a song I didn't recognize and then they said we were free to go, or stay and talk, they even had grief counselors available.  It was a very nice service and I think it's wonderful that the hospital offers something like that.  They will provide the babies remains to the family if requested, for a private service (which we all know just isn't a viable financial option for most people) but it's so wonderful to have a second option, particularly one where the families can be involved. And I'm glad I now will have a place to go when I'm thinking about my little boy.  I grew up going to the cemetery to my sister's grave, and I always was grateful we were close by, since I didn't know her and don't have memories of her in other places. It's the same with my son, if I want to be physically close to him, I can visit the memorial. I am glad for that.

Finally, I think it's time to share that we picked a name for our little boy. He is Gabriel Wyatt. My little Gabe. Mama love you.

Here are the pictures I took. I will try to go back sometime when there isn't so many people.

"What the heart has once known it shall never forget."

"My Precious Innocence. You are part of me and will lie in my heart forever. i will always remember you. This memorial is dedicated to all children regardless of their age."

One of the wreaths with the ribbons bearing messages from the grieving families.

The birdbath

SURPRISE!!!!

Yes, that's right, BABY NUMBER 3!!!

I still can't really believe it.  It's still sinking in, for sure.  By the way, I'm writing this Monday, May 9th, two days after I found out.  This will be published at a later date, and I'm sure there will be updates at the end. But I wanted to document this before I forget any details, because pregnancy brain is REAL!

So I'll start off by saying my cycles have changed a lot since I had AJ.  For the past 6 months, my cycles have only been 26-27 days. And I hadn't had a ton of success pin pointing ovulation. I had actually been starting to think I was probably ovulating too late in my cycle to get pregnant on my own.  But we were so busy, we basically had been sort of trying/not preventing.  I figured once the house was ready we would start focusing more on it.

So I wasn't really focused on my period, but I knew it was probably due around the end of the week before Mother's Day.  By the end of the week, a thought had entered the back of my head, but I still really didn't think much of it.  I had looked at my tracking app earlier in the week and it had predicted I would start Saturday, but it's usually more optimistic than I am, and usually I beat it to the punch.

Saturday morning, I woke up at 5:30 and couldn't sleep. My brain started whirring and so I got up and went to the bathroom, because I knew there was only one way to stop thinking about it.  The trouble was, I'm not in the habit of keeping pregnancy tests around and the only ones I had were from an auction Adam bought, and they'd expired in June 2015. I figured it would be negative anyway, so why not use it up?

Except it wasn't. I never look at my tests while they are processing--the whole "a watched pot never boils" thing....so I fiddled around in the semi-darkness, eventually counting to 120 so I knew three minutes has passed. I flipped on the light and there were two solid lines staring back at me. I think I whispered oh my god a bunch of times, but I was also reminding myself that the test was EXPIRED and therefore unreliable.  I snapped a picture with my phone and hid the evidence, then when back to bed. I used my phone to post a picture on my facebook group with my old Infertility buddies.  Their consensus was it was probably positive, but to get some more tests ASAP!

Now, I have had a BFP (big fat positive) three times before this.  With the boys, of course, and with my miscarriage in 2011. And each time, we had been really trying to get pregnant and Adam always knew when it would be time to test. This time, I had a slight edge. This time, it would be a surprise.  So I didn't say anything and acted casual. He needed to finish mowing the grass, so I was going to run errands with the boys by myself, then he was going to meet us for lunch and we would go to the hardware store to pick up somethings. So I had the perfect opportunity to buy pregnancy tests in secret.  I bought an 88 cent test to take that afternoon and a package of First Response.

After all of our running, I got the boys settled and Adam went upstairs to work on installing our closet doors.  I slipped back out to the van and grabbed the bag with the tests.  I put the First Responses and the box for the cheap test in my purse and took the test downstairs to the bathroom.  The test showed up positive right away!  I had a little moment by myself there.  It was really true.  And we weren't even trying hard. Somehow, on the day before Mother's Day, when there was only ONE possible day it could have happened, here I was, pregnant.

No doubt about it!

So now I had news to tell.  I planned on telling everyone together on Sunday, revealing it to mom through her present.  I had bought a kit of little foam owl crafts for Tyler to make her for Mother's Day/her birthday (her birthday fell on Mother's Day this year). So after AJ was napping, I took Tyler upstairs and told him the news!  We've talked about it before, and his friend Luke's mom is expecting, so he knew what it was about and was excited!  He won't stop talking about how he hopes it's a girl because we don't have any girls!

So Tyler made an owl for Gaga and I make two more. On the backs, we put the boys' names and on the third, I wrote "Baby #3, January 2017".  Later we were hanging around downstairs and Adam said, "Aren't you supposed to get your period pretty soon?" I tried to play it cool, casually checking my phone, looking at my app.  "Yeah, probably today or tomorrow." I said.  So he said we should play around that night, because he thinks that makes my period come. Uh oh. I decided I had better tell him. So I said I wanted to go up and see the new closet doors he'd hung. I snuck the test out of my purse and into my pocket and went upstairs. He came up after and so did my mom.  We looked at the doors and then mom when back downstairs. I closed the door and pulled out the test. I don't even remember if I said anything. He just started laughing and we hugged and laughed about how it only took once this time around!  I think he said are you kidding or are you serious or something.  LOL Then he admitted that he'd gone to get a receipt out of my purse and seen the box of tests. He thought I was going to test though, he had no idea I already knew!

So I still planned on telling my mom Sunday, but Adam started saying we should go ahead and tell her. I didn't need much convincing!  So I went upstairs and wrapped up the owls and gave Tyler the package. We took it to her and said, "Tyler made this and he didn't want to wait to give it to you." She opened in and oohed and ahhed over the owls. Then I told her he'd put his name on the back. The first one she turned over was the one that said baby.  She looked at me and then back at it and back at me. "Are you pregnant?" I nodded.  "Are you really?!" Then she screamed and jumped up and hugged me. Michelle came in too and everybody was talking and laughing and I was telling them about the whole day.  It was great!

Our family of owls

With the new addition!

On Sunday Angie came over and we showed her the owls too.  She BURST into tears!!  I was surprised, she'd never gotten so teary before, but she said it was because she wasn't expecting it.  It was really sweet!

So that's it for now!  I'm 4 weeks and 2 days according to my last period, but my guess is that I might be a couple of days further along than that. I don't know exactly when I ovulated. My OPK was close to positive on day 12, and less so on day 13, and I pretty sure it wasn't positive on day 11 (which is the day we conceived), so I don't know, somewhere around there.  I don't even have a doctor's appointment yet.  I called my OBs office but they haven't called back yet. I have a call into my rheumatologist too, just to be sure there isn't anything I should be aware of, given my lupus. I know my medication is safe to take.

So as of now, I'm due around January 14th. Given my history and previous C-Section, I will just schedule this one, which is kind of a relief.

What a ride this will be! Goals before baby number 3 arrives: Finish the house, sell it, move, and potty train AJ!  God help me! :-)

UPDATES:
 
WOW, I wrote this over a month ago!  A lot has been happening!  Tomorrow is my first Doctor's appointment. I will also have an ultrasound.  It's not my first ultrasound, however.  This post will get very very long if I tell the whole story, so it will get it's own post that I will publish in a day or so. Last Monday night (June 6th), I suddenly started bleeding.  I went to the ER and long story short, blessedly baby is okay!  The ultrasound showed the baby with a strong heartbeat (185) and actually measuring ahead at 9 weeks (by my last period I would have been 8 weeks, 3 days then).  I was diagnosed with a subchorionic hemorrhage (SCH). It was SUPER scary, but they aren't uncommon.  I was instructed to take it easy, NO lifting more than 10 lbs (no more picking up AJ), and put on pelvic rest.  We were SO relieved!

Symptoms: Morning sickness started about a week after we found out (BOO!). Also major gas (sorry), sore breasts, serious fatigue and many many food aversions.  I'm just hoping and praying these subside at some point, since with Tyler they really never did.  No throwing up yet, so that's a plus, I guess.  I've been taking the Vitamin B-6 and a half a unisom at night, per my doctor's advice, but it's not completely alleviating it. We'll see how it goes.

FIRST DOCTOR'S APPOINTMENT W/ULTRASOUND
Everything went well today (6/14)!  The baby still looks awesome, with a heartbeat of 183. We could see it wiggling it's little arms!  When I asked if I was really seeing it move it's arms, the baby bobbed it's head and the ultrasound tech swore it was nodding!  SO CUTE! Adorable profile!  My SCH is still there and had grown a tiny bit. They'll continue to watch it with weekly ultrasounds until it starts to get smaller and resolves itself. She gave me some samples of dyclegis (which is similar to the B-6/Unisom combo I've been using) to see if it helps my nausea a little more. Everything looks great!

Already so photogenic!

All that and a bunch of stuff

I'm such a terrible blogger.  I have things I want to say and then don't have time to sit down and write them.  I was even late putting up Tyler's birthday post!  Mom fail.

So what have I been busy with?  So much!  January was actually a pretty crummy, stressful month. I don't want to dwell on it, but here were a few lowpoints from December and January.

• We finally had to replace the sewer line in our front yard.  We had been avoiding it for awhile, limping it along with a good rotor-rooter once a year or so.  Basically what had happened was tree roots had broken into the pipe leading from the house to the main line.  The line backed up twice in a week, so we knew the problem had escalated.  Sure enough, the pipe was actually beginning to break/collapse.  So we faced the music and had it done.  $4000 (financed) dollars later and we were left with a very muddy yard that looks like a giant gopher had dug across it and a house with plumbing we could actually use without worrying. Yay.
• Mom was sick sick sick for like 6 weeks in a row.  We all had colds, then she and I both got a horrible cough that was REALLY terrible for her.  After that came ANOTHER cold and THEN a severe ear infection with a ruptured ear drum.  That last part entailed Adam and I taking the combined total of an entire work week off because she was so sick, there was no way should could watch the kids.  After that, we came up with a back up plan for these sort of situations, since obviously we need to be at work whenever possible.  Adam's dad is retired now, so he may be able to serve as a back up, so that combined with Adam and I driving separately and me going in to work very early so I could leave in time to pick up Tyler from school will work in the future.  His dad watched both of the kids on MLK day, which they all enjoyed, and after that, mom was beginning to bounce back.  Her ear is still healing and her hearing is coming back slowly, but it's progress.  I have another cough, so I am hoping she doesn't catch it or anything else!
• I've had some disappointments at work lately.  I've been trying to figure out the next steps in my career for awhile now.  It's challenging, because the path I originally thought I would take hasn't worked out.  They changed the preferred qualifications to include a preferred degree in a technical or engineering field. Obviously, I don't have that.  It's not like that particular job was my DREAM job, but it was just about the only one I thought I'd be able to transition into (that would be a promotion, not a lateral move). I've applied for that job a total of 4 times now and not gotten the position.  I'm at peace with it now, but it was tough and frustrating at the time.  I also applied for another position, and I'm told I was definitely a top candidate, but I more or less took my name out of the running, because the amount of business travel required was up to 50%.  It was a great opportunity, but with the kids still being so young, it just wasn't possible for me.  It was my hope that by applying and interviewing for it, it might open doors down the road, so we'll see.  My boss is being great about the whole thing too.  He's contacting a lot of people on my behalf, so hopefully something will come of it.  
• My sister had moved out, but unfortunately she lost her new job, so she moved back with us for awhile. She's got a good job now, so hopefully it's just a small setback
• We're still working on the house, but with Christmas and illnesses, we're a little behind (again, some more).  The goal is looking more like early May to list.  Fingers crossed!!
• Our dryer also broke, but thankfully it was just a belt and Adam was able to fix it fairly easily.  What did we do before YouTube how-to videos?

So, on to more pleasant things!  Another thing that has been taking up a lot of my time and attention, is a project a friend and I have been working on. I can't remember if I mentioned it or not?  I have mentioned that I've had aspirations to write a book.  I talked about writing one about infertility, and I still might someday.  I also wrote a novel myself, but never felt like it was something I could develop into a real project.  But awhile back, my friend Kelly came to me and asked me to work with her on a writing project.  Our writing styles seem to compliment each other. We are both very creative, and we have different strengths and weaknesses in our writing.  I edited what she had written and then we worked together to develop the and complete the story.  I don't want to say too much yet, I have no idea how this stuff works, but it's geared toward Young Adults, but fairly mature young adults.  There is a love story involved, even a bit of a love triangle, but it also deals with heavy issues like teen suicide, self-harm, and depression.  We've completed the manuscript, so now we're hoping for some feedback and we are preparing the necessary items to start sending it out to publishers.  I'm not assuming anything, we may get a slew of rejections, but it feels good to be trying and who knows where it will lead!

Okay, enough for one night!  I hope someone is still reading out there!  I'm still reading blogs, but since I can't comment like I used to (my phone is terrible for commenting), I know it doesn't seem like I'm reading!  But I'm still here!  Take care, all!

Traditional New Year Post!

 Predictably absent from the blog for most of November and December. Seriously, that ALWAYS happens!  Anyway, updates to come shortly (I hope), but for now, obligatory New Year's post!  It's 2016!?

1. What did you do in 2015 that you’d never done before?  I traveled outside the U.S. for the first time, to Canada.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I don't really make resolutions, per se, but I wanted to refocus on fitness and I didn't really manage that.  My focus for most of the year was making progress on the house, and we did make some good progress.  This year, I really want to FINISH the home improvement projects and sell this place!!  Next New Years I hope we are in our forever home!  I would love to get back to my fitness goals as well, and Kelly and I really want to get closer to trying to get our book published. I think of these as goals more than resolutions. Is there a difference, really?

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? My dear friend Mandy had her adorable son Kellan!!

4. Did anyone close to you die? Hmm, I don't think so, not this year.

5. What countries did you visit? Canada!  It was fun and cold!

6. What would you like to have in 2016 that you didn’t have in 2015? I would like to be able to buy a bigger house that suits my growing family better! (same answer as last year AND the year before)

7. What dates from 2015 will be etched upon your memory, and why? Hmmmm...I don't know of any particular date this year that sticks out.

8. What was your biggest achievement of this year? We made some awesome updates to the house.

9. What was your biggest failure?  :( Gained back some of the weight I lost...Boo

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?  I hurt my pinkie finger over the summer while painting Tyler's room...it still bugs me a little bit. 

11. What was the best thing you bought? I guess I'd say my Galaxy S4, so much better than my old phone.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? Always Adam for rolling with the punches and putting up with me!  Tyler doing so awesome in school!  AJ for learning so much!

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? SOOOO many terrible shootings! Depressing!

14. Where did most of your money go? Bills, diapers, food

15. What did you get really excited about? House hunting, which keeps getting put off, but is still fun! 

16. What song will always remind you of 2015? Fight Song by Rachel Platten

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer? Happier! Fatter (Boo)  I'd say slightly richer (money isn't tight quite so much).

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Eating better and working out more

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Stressing out

20. How did you spend Christmas? We stayed home with mom and my sisters. We had a big breakfast and a big dinner and relaxed.

21. Did you fall in love in 2015? More and more every day with my husband and kids

22. What was your favorite TV program? Big Bang Theory, Dancing with the Stars, and The Little Couple

 23. What was the best book you read? The Little Couple's book

24. What was your greatest musical discovery? Rachel Platten

25. What did you want and get? To make progress on the house

26. What did you want and not get? A promotion and a new house!

27. What was your favorite film of 2015? Mockingjay Part 2 and Pitch Perfect 2

28. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 33.  I worked as always (end of month), and my family celebrated me and twin.  I am happy to know that THIS year, my birthday is on a SATURDAY!

29. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? If I had had more time to take care of things

30. How would you describe your personal fashion concept of 2015? I am currently OBSESSED with Leggings!  They are seriously so comfy!  I swear, I only wear them with long sweaters though. I'm also in love with the boots gifted to me by work, which are super warm.

31. What kept you sane? My hubby, my kids, my mom, my sisters, my family, my friends, and my coworkers! Talking and writing and laughing and music!

32. What political issue stirred you the most? I do not get involved with politics if I can possibly help it, but please God, please Lord do not let Donald Trump become President.

33. Who did you miss? My sister, my grandparents and my great aunt. My family when I traveled

 34. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2015.  One thing at a time

 35. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year. "Even if we can't find heaven, I'll walk through Hell with you. Love, you're not alone, cause I'm gonna stand by you" Stand by You-Rachel Platten

Happy Fall Y'all!

As I mentioned, Adam and I took off three days at the beginning of Tyler's Fall Break to have some family fun!  And boy, did we!  Saturday was spent on party prep, and AJ's birthday party was Sunday.  Monday, we went to Eagle Creek Park, a state park close to where we live.  I hadn't been there since I was a kid, which is crazy because it's so close, and it's gorgeous, and it only costs $5 to get in. 

Again, the weather was perfection, cooler in the morning and warming up in the afternoon, and beautifully sunny.  The trees were beyond gorgeous, which just the right touch of fall colors.  We visited the park center and the ornithology building (Birds galore!) and spent a few minutes marveling at how gorgeous Eagle Creek reservoir is, particularly this time of year.  Mom and I decided we want to live on a lake someday, or at least have a vacation house near one! 

So pretty!

My loves

Birdwatching

After that, we found a picnic area near a playground where we ate peanut butter (and jelly for everyone but Tyler and some cheese for AJ, who refuses to try PB&J) sandwiches, chips, fruit and cookies.  After that, we let the kids play on the playground for a little while.  Then we visited Lilly Lake and walked a bit of the hiking trail around it.  The kids climbed around on a fallen log and even found a tree with a huge hole in it that they could climb into!  I stuck my hand inside to help Tyler out and it amazed me that it was at least 15 degrees cooler inside there!

With Gaga, hanging at the playground

AJ on the merry-go-round

Nature Boys

Tuesday we drove to Trafalgar, IN to visit Apple Works, an orchard there.  It was actually the same one that Tyler and I had visited on his class field trip the week before.  The field trip was a total blast, Tyler loved having me along and the kids were all so fun. I had a group of 5 that I was responsible for and they were all very well behaved, thankfully! 

Goofy Boy

Apple picking!

So anyway, we went out there and got some apples (a peck of apples!) and some other goodies (fudge!).  They'd been making apple dumplings the week before and I was dying for one (an apple, cored and stuffed with butter and brown sugar, then wrapped in dough and baked) but unfortunately they were sold out, so I "settled" for an apple pie instead.  Then we went out to the pumpkin patch and wandered for ages looking for the right ones! We ended up with a medium sized one for Tyler, a smaller one for AJ, and a little mini one I couldn't resist.  We made a quick lap through the petting zoo and then went to Steak N Shake for lunch.

The perfect pumpkins!

He put this sticker on his face and then made this face. And then I died from cute.

In the afternoon, Adam took Tyler to the Children's Museum where they were having a special exhibit of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  Tyler had a blast and I think Daddy secretly did too!

Digging for bones!

WHOA, big Mikey! And Tyler's making his classic picture face :-P

Wednesday we mostly relaxed, with Adam and Mom getting a couple of auctions to sort through, but all in all, it was a great couple of days!  So much fun, but not completely exhausting!  I could get used to a two day work week, too!