Finally, I have made it to the end of my picture-a-day challenge. Turns out 2011 was much more challenging for me than I anticipated. It started with my husband spending 6 weeks on the other side of the country. Which was hard, but it was for the greater good, since it was training for his fantastic job. After a year of unemployment, I don't think I'll ever take a job for granted again. However, 6 weeks as a psudo single mom of 5 - let's just say I never want to do that again. It was one of the hardest things I've done in my life. I held it together pretty well until somebody at church decided to be encouraging around week 5, and said I was doing a great job, and gave me a hug, and then I just lost it and cried and cried. After that D was on 3rd shift for a few months, which was tough on both of us for different reasons. Then he moved to 2nd which was much better. Now he's on 1st again, so it's another adjustment.
Our boys were both 1 at the beginning of the year, and had turned 2 by the end. We waded through a sea of poop (not literally, though it kind of feels like it), a lot of broken things, and spent a lot of time putting out fires (also not literally, thankfully). Many days I felt like all I did was clean up a mess in time for 3 or 4 more to be made. Many times I faced moments of panic and quick thinking as several crises were happening at the same time and I had to decide which to take care of at the same time (for example, Sage spilled milk all over the table/floor, Tez took off his poopy diaper and smeared poop all over, and the dog peed on the floor, and Jayna was crying because ... whatever). All these things happen withing seconds of each other, and I have to quickly prioritize and delegate, and decide what can wait. Meanwhile, dinner is burning on the stove because that's what I was in the middle of before all these crises started happening. Is there anyone out there who can relate? I can think of a few who probably can. Anyway, looking back on 2011, those are the moments I think of.
This year has been a whirlwind. But, there have also been good things. We went camping 3 times, one of those was in MN with my family, after attending the wedding of a dear childhood friend. We adopted our boys officially, though we've had them since they were born. We went to the beach a couple times, and the Elkhart county fair... yeah, that's all I can think of right now. Honestly, we didn't do a ton, mainly because everything was so hard with the boys. I'm relieved to say though, that in the last few months things have gotten easier. The "incidents" are much fewer and farther between. We haven't had any poop incidents in a long time (just toothpaste, and at least that smells good). They're understanding more, communicating better, and that makes things a lot easier.
I'm looking forward to 2012. We have some financial goals we've been working on for a LOOOOONG time that will (hopefully) finally be achieved. This year the boys turn 3, which was the magic age for my girls. Everything lightened up at that age, and I'm crossing my fingers that it will with the boys too. My baby brother is getting married this summer, and I'm super excited about another trip to MN. My photography business exceeded my expectations for 2011, and I'm anticipating 2012 being even better. I'll be 34 this year. Sometimes I can't even believe it. I still feel like that 12 year old girl who thought 34 was "so old." Ok, moving on:
Happy 2012. Now I can go back to posting at my leisure. :)
Horray for making it through your pic-a-day challenge!
ReplyDeleteAlso congrats on making it though 2011... it was a tough one for me too. I am SO looking forward to 2012!
Love ya!