Sabbatical Over?

I can say I have been horrible recently about keeping up with my blog. I feel horrible. It's been a good couple of months now. That's pretty bad. However, like everyone else out there, this is a crazy time of year for us. We not only have the normal Thanksgiving and Christmas mess, but we also have two birthdays in the middle of it all. It makes for one busy time of year.

Genevieve turned 4 this year on November 30. I can't believe my first born is 4 years old now. When did she grow up to be such a young lady? She has been going to Preschool since May now. She loves it and now has two best friends. She was very excited to have her very first real Birthday Party. It was nothing amazing. We just rented out a room at the Bowling Alley here on post. Her friends got tokens for the machines, and they played on the play house. They loved the pizza and cake, and went back for my playing. They played so much she didn't even have time to open her gifts at the party. We took her to school right after it was over, and she opened gifts that night after dinner. She got a lot of really cool stuff, and still loves playing with it all. She's so grown up. I was thinking about the holiday next year (we are starting to maybe plan a big trip back home), and it was hard for me to wrap my mind around the idea that she was going to be 5 in a year. Soon it will be time for real school. HOLY COW!

Samuel celebrated his 2nd birthday tonight. To say it's been an easy year is a total lie. He has been such a handful, and he's been very hard to deal with at times. He has had some issues with speech delay, and he was enrolled in an early intervention program to help him. I'm happy to report that with 6 months of work, he is now more than caught up, and he's actually advanced for his age now. He went from no words and only grunts 6 months ago to full blown sentences now. His new one is "Mommy, I want shoes." Then it will go on to shirt, pants, socks, shoes, etc. It just keeps going. Even with all the tantrums he throws, he is a joy. He makes me laugh all the time. Look at that face!! Just when I'm thinking I can't take something, he makes the goofiest face, and everything just goes away. I'm getting ready to *think* about potty training him. It takes me thinking about it for awhile for me to actually start. I want to have him ready to go so when he has his birthday next year, he can start Preschool too.

Other than that, life has been probably a lot like yours. It's busy, crowded, and full of anything and everything. I love this time of the year, but boy am I glad when it's over. It just seems like time goes so quickly and is so packed. I will be ready for "normal" again.