Back at It

Well we are back to the grind. I told Tim the other day that this is the long stretch in the education world. It's hard to believe that our little princess could be here by the end of it. Tim and I both have the same spring break this year and depending on how everything goes with the last chunk of this pregnancy our little one could be here any time between March 21st and our due date April 18th. There are a lot of things being taken into consideration...we will keep everyone posted.

Christmas this year was great. It started off very rough but ended with the birth of our beautiful niece Lyla. Andrew and Katie welcomed her to the world on December 30th in the afternoon. Labor was very quick this time around and mom and baby are doing well. she looks so much like Faith. I think we all fell in love very quickly!

I worked through the 23rd of September. My principal was kind enough to let me leave early so we could get out of town ahead of the weather. The drive to Duluth was great. We got there, enjoyed a nice dinner complete with Annika having an "accident" in the booster seat, went swimming and turned in for a good lights sleep. We woke up to enjoy a yummy breakfast by the lake and enjoyed the view of a beautiful morning blizzard. We set off on out trip only to decide that we would not be going any further than Two Harbors. I was TERRIFIED, complete with tears and all. (I've been crying a lot lately...thanks baby girl). The roads were horrible and we could not see 2 feet in front of the car. When we arrived in Two Harbors it eased up a bit so after checking the GPS for the next closest town we decided to push on. Roads were great until just past Grand Marais when the weather picked up again. The normal 3.5 hour trip took about 6 hours but we made it to Thunder Bay for Christmas.

Christmas this year was so much fun with Annika. This was the first year that she really got the whole Santa/presents thing. The funniest was when she got her Princess Dress-Up Trunk from Santa and turned to us to ask where her Princess Shoes were. Gotta love a girl who knows what she wants. We were able to spend some time with family and friends. Annika loves my cousin DJ...she even fell asleep in his arms at the dining room table on Christmas Day.

Biggest lesson learned over the holidays...NEVER take your toddler off of their schedule for napping and sleeping. It has been a disaster to try and deal with her and get her back on track. Just need to keep reminding ourselves that she is only two and this was mostly my fault.

Tim's team did very well in their tournament this year. They won the whole thing. The girls are off to a very good start this season. They have some tough games coming up but they seem to be playing well as a team for the most part.

In 2010 we have many things to look forward to. The birth of our baby girl, moving into our new house, good basketball/synchro/AAU seasons, watching our nieces/goddaughters grow and change, the arrival of more babies for some very dear friends and much, much more. We look forward to sharing these times with all of you who who love and cherish.

Here's to a wonderful 2010 to you all.