~August 10, 2009: My amazing Dr Fosnot stripped my membranes. The waiting begins for Emmy's arrival
~August 12, 2009: Labor started, I brushed off going to the hospital but finally at midnight, we start getting ready for the hospital.
~August 13, 2009 @ 9:43am: Emily Paige Crimella makes her long awaited debut and is absolutely healthy. A little jaundiced but thats ok. A healthy baby made 9 weeks of strict bedrest completely worth it. Noah is loving being a big brother!
~December 25, 2009: We celebrated our first Christmas together as a complete family. The best Christmas ever
~January 12, 2010: Noah turns 3. I can't believe he's so old. He loved his Thomas the Train party and we all had a blast. He truly is the best big brother in the entire world. He's also completed his speech therapy course. We're going to miss Jeanie desperately but we're so thankful that we've worked so hard to develop his speech.
As the months move on, we're getting more and more accustomed to life as 4 rather than 3. Emmy has a few bouts of pneumonia and bronchiolitis but no hospitalizations (yay!!!). Just enjoying life as it comes.
~May 2010: Our first family trip to Disney World. We did all 4 parks in 3 days. Call us crazy because we were. But we had a great time (minus day 2) and have great memories.
~August 13, 2010: Our little Princess turns 1. I can't believe this day has come. Her first year went by so much faster than Noah's. We had a celebration fit for a Princess (because that's what she is!!!)
About the same time, we decide to put Noah in Pre-K. He's attending St Patrick Catholic School (of course) and can't wait.
~September 11, 2010: USF travels up to UF for the first ever meeting between the schools. I thought my Bulls were going to pull off the upset but the Gators rallied back in the second half and won. I wish there was a different outcome but I'm glad I was a part of that game!
That pretty much catches everything up until now. Noah is loving school. He only goes for a few hours a day but he's learning so much. He can write his name like a pro. Its amazing how well he's doing after a few short months. I can't wait to see what the rest of the year brings. I'm finishing up my BSN at USF (finally). I'm in my last semester and cannot wait for it to be over. I'm sick of clinicals and papers and exams. I'm so ready for it to be over (ok I'm done whining). December 11th will be a very emotional day because I will finally be getting that USF degree that I started way back in 2000. I hate leaving things unfinished, especially when it comes to school. This is the closure I need in making my decision to leave USF in 2003, without graduating, an okay one. I know career wise it was the best (and I don't know if I would have ever met John if I stayed at USF) but it wasn't the educational outcome I ever envisioned.
So that brings us to the holidays. As we finished Halloween (and if it were up to the retail industry, we'd skip right over Thanksgiving), we're getting closer to the holiday season. I've already been planning out holiday outifts for our family pictures. I have a thing about color coordination when it comes to the kids and holidays. Our family pictures are no different. It is a huge, unneccessary stress that I put on myself but these pictures are the representation of us. Its what will hang on my walls. It is my way to remember where we came from. And of course, there is the all important Christmas card. I've been doing photo cards since our family began and there is no way that I'm abandoning that tradition. With Shutterfly being my "go-to" site for all things photo, I was so excited to hear about their new line of cards! It drives John crazy but I can look at Shutterfly for hours. So with only a month and a half to go, its time to start picking out our layouts. Here are a couple of my favorites!
I love the focus of the image with a very subtle, yet modern message
I love the untraditional aspect of this one. The colors don't scream holiday but its festive in its own way.
My absolute favorite layout. I love the simplicity of it. The photos set the tone and are the main focus. I love anything that allows me to add more pictures of my amazing children. Why wouldn't I love this layout? Plus its a Happy Holidays greeting, not Merry Christmas. I have a handful of non-Christian friends on my card list so this is a perfect way to have a beautiful card that does not offend any religion. Its perfect!Check out Shutterfly for their promotion for bloggers. 50 free Holiday Cards. How can you go wrong with that?!?!
And now for my promise.....I promise to try my best to be a better blogger. I don't know why I've let it go so long. My kids are growing up so quickly and without this site, I'm going to forget about the little things (like how much my mailman aggrevates me....which he still does!!!).
Here's to a better blogging experience!!!
~JRC~
