A Long Hiatus...Small Successes

So it's been brought to my attention by more than a few people that there has been a long hiatus in our postings to the blog. I'm full of excuses for why I haven't posted lately - we were in NC packing our house so that the sale of it could fall through 2 weeks after we left, since our return from NC John was sick, then Matt was sick, then I was sick, then John was sick (I think they are going to name an infirmary after our family), we've been busy Christmas shopping, I'm growing a baby which make me want to nap at every free moment, etc. However, to bring back the posts I thought I should start by celebrating some of the successes we've had over the last month.

1. We successfully packed the entire contents of our house in NC with a 1 year old in tow. OK--let's be honest, the moving company crew REALLY helped us out when they realized that we had a baby and full house of stuff and flew in from STL 4 days before they were supposed to load the truck.

2. Most of the Christmas shopping is finished. We still have a handful of extended family to finish up, but I'm feeling really good about it. Planning on knocking out the rest by the end of next week.

3. We've survived the whole family being sick at different times. We've had stomach bugs, ear infections, sinus infections, colds, and most recently, hand, foot, and mouth disease. God bless the weary! We're ready for good health.

4. The Christmas tree is up and decorated. We got all the ornaments on and it looks fabulous. Pictures to follow soon.

5. After 2 days of non-stop loads of laundry, I can honestly say that I'll be completely caught up by tomorrow afternoon - just in time for Matty to leave for Colorado. How do clothes multiply so fast when people are sick and wear pajamas all day?

6. I've made the conscious decision to start shopping for maternity pants. With John I didn't switch to any maternity clothes until almost 7 months - but my waist seems to be thickening faster this go around and while my shirts are still fine, I'm going to buy a few pairs of pants. (After reviewing my maternity wardrobe from John I realized that I only own one pair of light weight pants and that won't work considering the high today was only in the 20's)

7. We've done a pack and purge of John's toys for the time being. We're banking on many toys being replaced in the upcoming weeks and are finding that toys are making the corners of our house round instead of square. The purge felt good!

Well, I've brought you up-to-date! I'm feeling good about getting things completed. Hopefully my energy will be returning with the approaching second trimester and I'll actually be able to get some stuff off the to-do list other than survive day-to-day!