Happy New Year!

Well, I suppose my Happy New Year is a bit belated but hopefully not too late to wish the best. It's a new year, a new beginning, and time to start a new blog to share some new memories! 2008 came at a significant time for me, because I was more than ready to welcome a fresh start. Conveniently, Owen's first birthday came shortly after, and his turning ONE symbolizes a turning point for us. NO MORE BABIES!!!

Please, don't misunderstand. I absolutely adore babies. In fact, I find myself asking Owen to please not grow so fast, because his age at the moment is priceless. It is a fact that I will be experiencing some sort of "empty nest syndrome" with the lack of an infant in our life within the year. However, before that question creeps up on you....NO, we will not be having another. It's exciting and stressful enough with what we have. But, when I see a mom with her little infant out in public, I find myself smiling at her and her baby, asking questions, sometimes even hearing a little more of her story than I expected to hear. (Yes, I have become one of those annoying strangers who stare at your baby and ask how old he/she is. Unfortunately this is usually followed by "I have 3 boys.....YES, that's right 3 boys. No, we won't be trying for a girl. I'll just eerily stare at yours." haha) On the other hand, as soon as I open a Parenting magazine and see an article entitled, "How to get your infant to sleep" or "The trials and tribulations of breastfeeding," all I feel is a humungous sense of relief that this phase is over for us. This is it for us. We have 3 beautiful boys...oldest is 5, youngest is 1. That is our story.

Another significant turning point for me is that I am finally accepting the fact that I am and will be for some time a stay at home mom. This probably makes no sense seeing that I have been physically staying home for 5 years now. Mentally, I struggled to feel settled with this arrangement. Oprah claims that being a stay home mom is the hardest job in the world. Somewhere I managed to find a little pride in that, but a big part of me still felt a little betrayed. What happened to MY life? What happened to MY career? My children consume every second of my day, and my freedom was taken away right before my eyes. I found myself wondering what grade I would like to teach when I go back, and what courses I would like to take at a grad school. Then it hits me that I am making decisions on something that most likely will not take place for at least another couple of years. Something about this new year made me wake up and smell the coffee. Maybe it is knowing that our family is complete, and the countdown has become official as to when I'll be back to work. Although the "countdown" consists of several years remaining, it is still something that puts things in perspective; I better appreciate the time I have now, because as we know, time flies like crazy, and before I know it, I'll be putting all my kids on a school bus everyday. (I'm still trying to adjust to the fact that Ben will be starting Kindergarten this fall! sigh...) This is a decision that we made from the very beginning, and I realize now that it is a true blessing to be able to stay home with my kids. The biggest challenge with staying home is stopping yourself from taking things for granted. I miss working (5 years and counting!!), and I still miss daily adult interaction. I miss conversations that don't involve the words, "potty training," or "picky eater," or "preschool." But, as hard as it can get sometimes, we move on as best as we know how. I want to look back with no regrets. I know someday I will be back in the working world, but for now, I'm home. This is where I want to be. So, cheers to another year at home.

As I sit next to my kitchen filled with dirty dishes I am about to attack, a kid watching PBS, one sleeping, and the other playing with his push toy, I am thrilled to start this new blog and share some new stories of my 3 boys.

Happy and Healthy New Year to all!