Year in Review: 2012

Well, my year didn't get off to that ausipicious of a beginning. I can't even remember if anything interesting happened in January becuase that was, you know, 12 months ago. I remember February better. It started off with Brandon and I going to A Weekend to Remember at Hotel Roanoke. That was awesome because we'd been so stressed with fostering that we hadn't had a lot of time to work on us. We renewed our committments to each other and remembered why we loved each other in the first place. It was quite awesome and I highly recommend every couple do A Weekend to Remember because it is just that. February was the month that the three foster kids went back to their mom. I blogged before about how I felt when all that happened, so no need to relive that. I remember clearly going out to dinner with Brandon and Colby after the foster kids were gone. I remember being able to pay attention to Colby's smile and blue eyes and having a real conversation with Brandon that didn't involve kids. I realized that I while we'd done a good thing by taking in three foster kids, I had lost sight of what was important to me - real interactions with my family.

So for the months of March and April as I got bigger with pregnancy, I spent a lot of time hanging out with my boys. School was pretty decent around this time. I was trying to finish Romeo and Juliet and The Road with my year long kids so that the sub could do The Odyssey with them when I was out on maternity leave. My pregnancy with Carter was a lot like it was with Colby - uneventful!

Until the end that is...on May 11th I went in for a doctors appointment. My due date was a week away and I was excited to have a natural child-birth this time. But the doctor had other plans. He said my amniotic fluid was low and that he'd like to go ahead and do a c-section. I was sad, but the doc knows best. I called Brandon who was at work. Actually he was supposed to be guarding the Roanoke airport as Michelle Obama flew in to do the commencement address at Virginia Tech. I think he was disappointed to not be able to work since it was like his first real assignment with the Tactical Team, but all of that went away when he was holding Carter around 3:30 that day. So the rest of May was spend on maternity leave. This is probably bad, but I didn't worry one iota about school and didn't miss going to graduation in the least little bit. Carter, as it turns out, also has PKU just like his little brother so we spent a lot of time figuring that whole thing out. Unfortunately the special formula he had to drink made him pretty constipated, so we had to feed him a couple ounces of prune juice every day just to keep him regular. We did finally get him working right, but there was a lot of fussing in the meantime.


In June we went to Nags Head for a week. We went by ourselves (but in the future would love to go with others!). We discovered a new beach on the Sound side of Jockey's Ridge. It was awesome because the waves were pretty much non-existant and you could walk out at least a hundred yards without it going over your head. Colby had a blast playing with other kids and buidling sandcastles with his dad. Carter spent a lot of time sleeping under the umbrella :-) It was great to relax and recharge...I just love the beach! Later in June we went to visit my parents at Hungry Mother State Park as they were on their way back to Hampton from visiting Yellowstone, Mount Rushmore and lots of other places in between.

July and the remainder of August passed by uneventfully. I took Colby to the pool off and on and we got used to having two kids in the house with PKU. I started the weigh station early in July. It was tough, but I had promised myself that after I was done having a second child, I would lose the weight. I had a lot of determination when I started and I stayed determined for a long time! I got a little antsy to start school. I was thinking it seemed like it had been awhile since I was in a classroom and when I thought about it, it had been since early May! So in August we had our teacher workdays and I got two lovely (and large) honors classes and one (small, thank God!) academic class. Its been a good year at school right from the start. We got two lovely new English teachers - I'm helping to mentor one - and things have been pretty quiet. We have a lot of the same gripes, but nothing too crazy. The worst part about going back to school is paying for two daycares. I can't wait for Colby to go to kindergarten next year....wait...I say that, but I really CAN! I don't want my baby to grow up!

In October I turned 30...I know...wow! I can't believe I'm that old! I don't feel that old at all. Half the time I feel like a teenager still wondering how the heck I got to this spot in my life. Also this month I just happened to run into my three former foster kids. They looked good and they seemed to be really happy. I even talked to the mom for a few minutes, but she's not the best conversationalist in the world. It did my heart a world of good to see them and see how well they were doing. It gives me the courage to do it again in 2013!

In November I got to travel to see my family for Thanksgiving. This was special because I didn't get to go for any holidays last year due to having foster kids. Grandaddy made cheesecake...yum! And yeah, I took a break from my diet. I'd lost 33 pounds and was going to enjoy the holidays, but I was determined to not gain any weight.

And last but not least, December. We got out of school a week before Christmas and it's been an awesome season! I got to see Gwen, Jordan and Lindsey the weekend before. That was great because it'd been a while since we'd all seen each other. I just wish Brandon had been off and Jonathan had been in town...then that would have been the whole crew! We had Christmas breakfast at our house and Christmas dinner with Brandon's parents. Colby and Carter got some great gifts! The Friday after Christmas, Brandon and I tried out our presents to each other - .22LR rifle and a 12 gauge shotgun. That was fun! Colby shot Brandons lever action BB gun (zero kick). The .22 we great - I was pretty good sitting and standing if I do say so myself. The 12 gauge had a bit of kick that I was unprepared for, but I didn't come home with any bruises or anything. My parents came to visit too. They brought us a new recycle bin as that we don't have to hang bags off of drawer handles anymore. They also brought some awesome presents from my family who are so generous. After my parents left, I started my diet again. I did all protein until this morning. New Years Eve, as I write this, is pretty uneventful. I'm just hanging with the boys and Brandon is at work.

I only have two new years resolutions...

1. Lose another 30 pounds...I'll keep you posted
2. Blog more...I've been a slacker in this area and want to do at least one post a week. I hope you enjoy reading!

Emergency Preparedness

So, I've been doing this thing where you spend five dollars a week and buy something extra at the grocery store so that you'll be prepared in case of an emergency. Here's the website that I've been using to decide what to buy:

http://readynutrition.com/resources/the-5-a-week-shopping-challenge_09072012/

I bet a lot of you readers think it's silly and honestly I've felt a little silly at times. I bet the woman who checked me out today with my twelve cans of salt (seriously, they're only $.44 a piece) thought I was going to to open a restaurant or something with it. But with this "Frankenstorm" baring down on us I look through my supplies and wonder if it's enough. According to the weather channel, a power outage is likely for our area. I wonder what I'll do without power...if my in-laws or other family members have power I'm going there! But if we're all out...what will I do for heat? How will I cook? How will I keep my food from spoiling? What will I do for Carter's bottles? The list of questions goes on. I know it won't be as bad as I'm making it in my head...we're not stepping into an episode of Revolution or anything, but I guess being a mom makes me more of a worrier. All I know is we can probably go a week with what we have, which is pretty good in my opinion.

Book Review: Better Off

I'm currently reading a book called "Better Off". It's an intruiging read about a married couple who went completely off-grid for eighteen months in a community of Amish-like people. By off-grid I mean no electricity, no running water, no nothing. They grow their own food and don't use technology at all beyond a horse and whatever you can hitch to a horse. The community has a no car rule.

Now, no, I'm not going to be disappearing into the wilderness anytime soon, but I find it an interesting read. I wonder if I could make it without electricity. No AC, no refridgerator, no computer, no tv. In all honesty I think I could do without AC - I did it in college so I could do it again - but I don't think I could do without the refridgerator or the ceiling fans. I think I could do without a computer or tv for a while, but I think at some point I would miss it. I wonder what we could do with just wind power? Run the fridge and ceiling fans and the computer for a couple hours a day? Just a thought!

I think the hardest part of being off-grid like the people in the book would not being able to run out to Walmart. I think we, myself definately included, are way too dependant on Walmart or grocery stores in general. If the apocalypse happened I know that I would be screwed in a couple of weeks since grocery stores would quickly run out of food and there wouldn't be anyone to bring more. Yes, I have enough food to last for a bit, but it's only a short bit. The people in the book can every sort of fruit and veggies known to man and therefore have tons of food in their basements. They own chickens and pigs and cows and can slaughter them when the need arises. I think they are much better off if something drastic happened to change our way of life.

I think they're lives are extreme, but just think about what they are teaching their children - hard work pays off, community is important, family is important, pull your own weight, responsibility. Those things are nearly impossible to teach kids these days, but here these people are doing just that. It makes me slightly jealous, but then I go google something and I feel better about my technological life :-)

First Week of School

I just finished my first week of school. I'm so tired! I am not used to being in a classroom anymore and all this walking around makes my hips and feet so sore! And I'm not used to speaking for long amounts of time and catch myself saying "um" and "uh" a lot. By the end of the day I feel like I've given all I have to give.

Carter started daycare this week. He seems to be doing okay. I've been bringing his formula so that they can make it at school instead of pre-making it like I did for Colby. It's funny - Carter is usually napping or hanging out when I get there, never crying. But there's another kid named Carter that is crying in the morning when I come and crying in the afternoon when I come back. I'm super glad my Carter isn't like that, though he is fussy in the evenings sometimes. My theory is that he's tired when he comes home and therefore fussy. Generally, though, he's a pretty good baby :-)

Colby also started this week at school. Every day he's run into class and in the minute it takes me to sign him in, he's off playing with his friends. I get a bye momma and an I love you from across the room. I'm not complaining, though. That's a lot better than dropping him off and having him cry. He's been pretty tired and cranky when I pick him up, but I think when he gets used to the routine again, it'll be a lot better.

Now I know I need to clean up the house a bit...but it can wait until tomorrow because I'm going to bed after I make a couple bottles for Carter :-)

Oh! And I'm really excited that Brandon goes back to shift after labor day! Now I'll know his schedule way in advance and not the day before! Yay!

It's been a really good weekend. What did I do, you ask? Nothing! I went grocery shopping on Saturday with Carter. He'd been fussy and I wanted to get him out of Brandon's hair for a little while. That afternoon I sat out on the patio and read while Carter hung out in his bouncy seat and took a nap. I finished my Saturday by going for a walk at Wildwood park with the whole family. Colby rode his big boy bike while Brandon and I took turns pushing the stroller. I'd like to say that Sunday was just as nice, but with the weather being pretty nasty, it wasn't. We went to church and have just hung out this afternoon.

My Boys!

I love my bouncy seat!

My big boy!

My babies!

School is No Longer Out for Summer

We started school this week. I'm not used to getting up and staying up so early. During the summer Colby would wake up, I'd get him some formula and he'd turn on the TV and watch cartoons while I napped for a little while longer. I had been getting up around nine to eat breakfast. Now it's more like seven. Next week when Colby and Carter start daycare, I'm going to be getting up even earlier.

I'm pretty excited about school because we got new books. The books we were using were published in 1999 and were definetly showing their age. My books looked horrible and had vulgar things written all over them. Needless to say that if I see a student writing in these new books, they will be in lots of trouble. I'm also excited because I have not one, but two honors classes first semester. In some ways honors classes are more work for me, but in other ways it is less work. At any rate it's going to be good.

This week Brandon has been awesome enough to take off of work to hang out with the boys. I think they've been having fun :-) I think, though, that Colby is very ready for his school to start to see his students and his friends.

Looking for Land

So it's always been mine and Brandon's goal to buy some land, preferably about 5 acres, and build a house. So from time to time I go online and see what's out there just in case there's something awesome that we just can't pass up. Recently while looking online I found this property - 14 acres for $26,900 - out in Giles County. We looked at it on Google maps and the Giles County GIS and it looked like a decent piece of property. The price was obscenely low so we decided to go take a look. We figured it was worth a shot at any rate. We drive out ther and what we see is the side of a huge, steep hill and we are not impressed. I mean I'm talking a 45 degree angle. So the realtor takes us up a small gravel lane and onto another smaller gravel lane that goes into the property and ends at a turn around of red clay. We can't even look down the hill because the weeds are so tall and the red clay, a.k.a. the red glue, gets all over all of our shoes and I'm even less impressed. Then we have to turn around and we're in the van, not our four wheel drive Rav4, so I'm like there is no way we can turn around on the mud, so Brandon had to direct me to turn around in the middle of the gravel road while trying to make sure I didn't go falling down the hill. Ugh. So we went back to the realtor's office and her boss tried to sell us on the property, but I would have none of it. They showed us some other properties on their computer and we swung by to have a look at one on the way home, which was better, but we weren't in love.

Even though the looking was a bust, we learned a few things. We learned what to ask for when it comes to property around here and I learned that I REALLY do NOT want to have to find a new church, so we will be limiting our searching to within a reasonable driving distance of Radford. Brandon and I are making lists tonight to see what is important to us when it comes to land and homes so we'll be able to tell a realtor exactly what we want. We're not in a rush or anything so I think we can get what we want eventually for a decent price.