2011 Recap

So, I don't really write a Christmas letter every year. It just isn't my thing, but I thought that I might recap the last year for those of you who weren't reading the whole year. (So, for like 6 of my twelve readers.)

The year started out with me 4 months in to returning to work and missing my Coley so much. Matt was starting his second semester back at school. Oh, and I was great with child. Winter semester was really hard. Matt was taking 15 credits and the classes were really tough. I left for work at 6:30am and got home at 4pm just as Matt left for school. I put Nicole to bed at 8pm and Matt would get home at 9pm. It was a really sucky semester.

But, last April, our wonderful baby boy, Daniel Alan Kimball was born after just 8 hours of labor and 30 minutes of pushing and one week later, Matt finished his semester of school. And the hardest part of the year was over.

We got six weeks together as our new little family while I was on maternity leave and Matt was in between semesters. Matt took a couple of math classes on the block over the summer, but it really wasn't that bad. Then, last June, I went back to work and had to leave my baby at home... again.

I went back to work to find that all of the people that I used to work with have transferred or quit, so I had to become adjusted to a whole new team of writers. The summer was slow for work, which only made me antsy to get home to my kids, but at least I had a lot more time with Matt. No vacations for us this summer with Matt in school and me just coming off of 6 weeks of leave.

Fall semester came and Matt had decided to tackle 17 credits for school. Because he is either crazy or... nope, just crazy. It felt like winter semester all over again where we tag teamed back and forth between taking care of the kids. I missed my husband and I missed being together as a family.

But, because Matt is amazing, he finished the semester the second week in December with 4 As and 2 Bs. All the hard work and sacrifice paid off because he was able to fit in a lot of the prerequisites that he needed to take classes in 2012.

Then, we had the last two weeks of December school free! Alas that we spent most of it being sick. I still love my job even though I have been moved from my cushy office to a cubicle. This is actually a vast improvement since my office-mate was a smoker and a smelly cat.

In the last year, Nicole has grown up so much! She completed her first year of nursery, she is now potty trained, she will eat more meals than just macaroni and cheese, and she is really doing well at being a big sister. Her vocabulary is huge! I can't count the number of words that she knows and she is really good at speaking in complete sentences. Nicole can count to 20, can recognize all the letters of the alphabet (lower and upper case) and knows the sounds that they make. She has learned how to use my new tablet (much to our dismay) and can now successfully drink from a cup (she has been on sippys for ever).

In the last year, Dan has gone from being a fetus, to a newborn, to my little baby boy. He can get to sitting position from his belly, he bounces on his knees but is not yet crawling, and he can pull himself up on things. His favorite food is mangos and he loves Pops cereal. He is a lot louder than our Nicole was at his age and he says Mama, Dada, and Baba. He also says, "Bob" a lot, but we aren't sure who this "Bob" is. My little baby has grown so much in a year and I fear that he won't stay a baby forever.

2011 wasn't an easy year, there was a lot of sacrifice by both Matt and I to make our way toward the life that we want for ourselves. 2012 will also include a lot of school for Matt and a lot of work for me. But, in 2013 we hope to have Matt graduated and in a job of his very own. So, one year down and one year left to go. I didn't spend the year doing what I wanted to do, which was stay home with my new baby and my little girl and squish their cheeks nine times a day, but I think what we are working toward right now will allow for greater happiness in the years to come.