It's already September and haven't posted since I went back to work in January. It's been that insane that finding just a few minutes to update my blog has been the last thing on my mind -- actually anything to do with a computer when I get home from work is not a top priority.
So, how could I possibly update today...the day after a long Labor Day weekend? Simple, it's the first day off I've taken with really nothing major planned since going back to work at the beginning of the year. Ok, so we do have carpet cleaners and air duct technicians coming by today, but my kiddos are at school and I'm sitting here avoiding my work computer and all other chores to post an update.
So let's see...what has happened since January? My kids are growing like weeds and in one short month we'll be celebrating Declan turning 4 and Connor turning 1. The year has absolutely flown by and each day passes in a blur.
We've had a few bouts of quarantine for each kid with school due to COVID exposure and in February at Connor's 4 month checkup, he tested positive himself. Talk about feeling like a bad mom -- he had no symptoms besides a runny nose and when I happened to take him to the pediatrician they asked if he was coughing and dumb me says "no." He let out the slightest of coughs when they rolled him from his back to his belly and sure enough, he tested positive. The rest of us didn't seem to get it -- so either we had it previously and didn't realize it or Connor had a false positive. It seems like both boys were in and out of school for weeks until finally things started to slow down in June.
We celebrated Easter, Mother's Day and Father's Day with small celebrations at home. Nothing too crazy as trying to wrangle up two kids has proven tougher than I thought.
In the beginning of July we decided to take a family vacation. I was unsure about a 13 hour drive to D's family cabin in the Upper Pennisula so we settled on something much closer. It was still about a 4 hour drive, but Branson seemed to be exactly what we needed to get away for a week. Thankfully my mom and Michael came with us and were a huge help. We rode the Branson Scenic Railway, visited Silver Dollar City, splashed around at White Water and took a tour of the fish hatchery. It was a fun time and allowed us to get away from home. 4 hours seemed to be our limit for a road trip as well as both kids were done with the car by the time we arrived.
After Branson, Declan got to experience a Brazilian steakhouse when we went to dinner with my dad, step-mom and my brother and his family. He was all about using the tongs to pick up everything.
In mid-August Declan officially started the preschool program at his school. It's more structure with less kids, which will hopefully help prepare him for Kindergarten. His teacher is from Peru and she's teaching the class in both English and Spanish. Declan has started coming home and giving us pointers of words in Spanish. I absolutely love it as it's allowed me to brush up on my Spanish too!
Connor has started transitioning to the I/T 2 classroom at school too. This is a room between the infants (or young babies) and the toddlers (kids over one). This class is a bit more active than the infant room and is preparing him for his move to the toddler class. In order to be moved to the toddler class, Connor has to be eating people food (not purees) and down to one nap a day. We've just started people food as he has been a rebel and has refused to try it until just this past week. And, as far as naps are concerned, he's a rebel with those as well but a complete trainwreck when he doesn't have enough sleep. My guess is that he'll move into the toddler class at around 13 or 14 months, like Declan did. He has started cruising around our house, holding onto furniture and wants to be on the go all the time!
Perhaps one of the most exciting part of this update (or at least most, me-centric) is that I actually got to go out last night and enjoy a kid-free night of music and fun. For Mother's Day, D and the kids bought me tickets to see Shinedown perform here in STL and the concert was last night. The last concert (Nickelback) I had tickets for was cancelled in 2020 and I hadn't made a push to want to see anyone too badly since then. That all changed when I heard Shinedown was coming to town and I really wanted to go. I had debated about buying tickets myself and Mother's Day just so happened to be around the corner that D thought it would be a great gift. Thankfully D also planned for my mom and Michael to watch the kids. And until I was sitting in my seats last night, I didn't realize how much I needed the night out. Shinedown's music helped me get through so much in my 20s and now as I approach 40, their music still helps fuel me.
I guess the last thing I should mention is work. My role as Controller is ever-changing and growing. I spend a good portion of my time advising, mentoring and fixing problems. The rest of my time is finding ways to manage and report the financials of four trucking companies and the other companies that are part of our network. On top of my normal workload, we're preparing to move our Corporate Headquarters at the end of the year and I've been involved with the decision-making process for our new building as well. Somedays (or most days), I don't know if I'm coming or going. I've realized this year that I'm aging when it comes to work -- partially due to the huge responsibilty I have, but also trying to balance my family, my workload and just life going on around me.
