Merry Christmas 2014!

My, my, what a year 2014 has been! Finishing one year of school, a full summer and now a new school year well under way! Let’s see, at the end of 2013, Anna was 6 1/2 years old, Jordan was 4 1/2, Maggie was 4 and Carolyn was 1. To think it’s been a whole year since then!

January:
In January we had a new dog (Smoke) who was a whole lot of fun, but didn’t end up working out. We also had Razzie, our dear little doggie. Maggie was in AWANA Cubbies and Anna was an AWANA Sparky. Anna was midway through her first grade year and Maggie’s schooldays goal was to do any one of her worksheets according to directions instead of “crazy” as she prefers.

February:
The most exciting thing about February was that it brought a brilliant snowstorm! It was wonderful as I kept the house all bundled up and warm and Brian went out adventuring with the kids. Except for the snow days, Jordan continued to go half days for preschool five days a week and we kept picking along at homeschool. We realized that a proper fence was more urgent than not while we had Smoke the doggie and that our whole family would benefit by a fence come summer… particularly the little ones, so we got a few fence quotes this month.

March:
March thaws brought blueberry plants, tadpole eggs, broody hens and a better awareness of the sodden, muddy nature of our property, despite being on a hill. 🙂

April:
April was full with birthdays, births (my sister’s baby girl), Easter, the beginning of strep throat season AND….. my Mom visiting unannounced! Could. not. believe. my. eyes. We had a really good time together, talking, hugging and catching up.

May:
May brought the next chapter of ENT visit for Jordan for new ear tubes, the end of Mom’s visit, a continuation of strep throat, our family’s first parade and an eager awaiting for fresh strawberries!

June:

It appears that we were finally done with strep come June! Jordan finished preschool, my girls went to part time school (just about once a week), my DAD visited! The weather got nicer and we started figuring out how to put up our swimming pool, I got to spend time with my Dad and Jordan had been in a family as long as he had lived in an orphanage. This is also the month when my emotional health tanked. I couldn’t tell you why, but this is when the word depression came up in our home. Could’ve been the long spell of strep throat and miserable kids, could’ve been a new wave of grief for not being able to connect with Jordan and how I couldn’t tell if he was sick or not, could’ve been that I was sleeping again and Carolyn wasn’t keeping me up all night and my system finally relaxed…. I couldn’t tell you just what it was, but it was.

July:

Wow – lots happened in July. It was hot. The pool was wonderful. We had my sister and her family over for a “camping” trip, which was so much fun and so much easier than real camping. We decided to sell Smoke, we went blueberry picking, I took just the girls to a parade, we went to a rodeo, got some craft entries ready for the county fair and just in general had a blast and wore ourselves out. I also started taking Prozac during this month and noted a significant relief from depression symptoms.

August:
We were able to get a babysitter in August and take the girls to the county fair! It was a lot of fun. This month also held a HeartChange workshop for me and an overnight retreat for Brian and I to the beach. Wow, that felt good.

September:
September brought the beginning of a new school year. Anna in second grade, Maggie in Kindergarten and Jordan in Kindergarten at a new school that I like. Carolyn turned two years old, Brian also went to a HeartChange workshop (Thank you, Mom D for helping with the kids while he was gone!) and by the end of the month, the Prozac’s side effects were too much, so I went off medication for the months of October and November.

October:

October brought rain and puddles and muddy children. It also brought my tiny Maggie’s fifth birthday party! Brian prepared the home for winter by building a Jordan-proof fence around the pellet stove. Anna wrote reports on pets for her school writing projects and I prepared for Jordan’s IEP at school.

November:
I know November is the most recent month, but I’m having a hard time remembering it! I know I tried taking 5-HTP as a natural antidepressant for two weeks, but it gave me really bad breath and I didn’t notice any improvements, so I stopped that. I restarted Prozac at the end of the month until I could get into the doctor again in December. For some reason I’m gaining weight. I don’t know why, but it is wreaking havoc with my wardrobe. I’ve never had weight gain before. I literally tore a pair of pants apart in the rear-end. I didn’t notice til I was home. I so hope nobody noticed. Oh! Thanksgiving happened! We had one of our best Thanksgivings yet, with Jordan doing really well for both dinners.

And that brings us up to now!

School keeps trickling along, we have lights on the house and are looking forward to Christmas! Anna made a paper chain and they tear one off every morning. I am getting drowsy, because I was eating Almond Roca while typing this. And it’s 2pm. That is nap time, right? Brian is painting primer on our moldy bathroom ceiling. I’m taking a new antidepressant, but don’t think I like it. We hope to go to a ballet recital next week. I’m going to counseling. We are fostering a little dachshund mix doggie for a month, though there is the possibility of us keeping her! This is a new development today, so I’ll keep you posted.

But…. without further ado, MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!