We wish we were spending today with you. We love you and hope you have a wonderful day!
Ethan drew this picture of you celebrating your day.
P.S. Your present is (1) a little random, and (2) arriving one day late. Last year, Ethan wanted to see snow. We went to visit Grammy and Papa in New York, and as luck would have it, it snowed for him. A lot.
This year, he's been begging for it, and I've been explaining that it just doesn't really snow here. Then Grammy and Papa came, and since they apparently give Ethan whatever he wants, it snowed. At least 5 inches. I blame them...really, I do. But at least it made Ethan's day.
Jason went in to the office despite the fact that it was CLOSED and he was the only one there. Workaholic, perhaps? It's genetic, since Papa (Randy) flew home in the snowstorm early that morning and drove straight to work. Jason played in the snow with the kids before and after. We don't have ANY snow gear, so we sent Ethan out in bright blue flannel pjs, bright green frog rain boots, bright red Terrapins gloves that my brother gave him 2 years ago, and his winter coat. There are pictures of him, such as the one below, for which he may never forgive me when he's older.
We put Colin in a one-piece snowsuit that Ethan had in Boston. He couldn't move and freaked out any time he fell because he couldn't get himself back up. He also freaked out until we took at least one glove off. He just stood in the snow and stared. It was funny to see him hold still. I can't remember the last time he did. After a little while he picked up a sand shovel beach toy and started digging in the snow. Then he lost his balance, fell down, and freaked out some more.
While Grammy and Papa were here, we ate chocolate pie, played Wii racing, and a new game our friends introduced us to. It was too cold to leave the house, but we still had fun.
I walked in the room one morning and found Ethan and Grammy hard at work on their laptops. He adores her.
Ann stayed on a few days after Randy left and was a substitute mom. After she left, I had to get out of bed before 8:30 am, make myself my own breakfast, play Zingo and "living room soccer" with Ethan a gazillion times a day, change Colin's poopy diapers, clean my own kitchen, and bathe the kids myself. It was a rough adjustment back to reality.
The winters!
The middle of January, we were surrounded by this.
The first Saturday in February, we spent the day in my brother's back yard enjoying 70 degree weather. Love it!
For the last three months, Jason has come home every day to a filthy house, a 1-year-old sitting at the table who has smeared himself head to toe with his dinner, a 4-year-old who thinks his dad lives to play with him, and a wife in the fetal position on the couch. Typing this, I'm starting to wonder why he comes home at all. As if all that isn't enough, he never gets to exercise outside, because he's always helping me with the kids until after dark. And he has never once complained.
But today was different. Because today is our 10-year anniversary. And to thank Jason for the most amazing 10 years of my life, I cleaned the house (okay, straightened it up a little) and left him a note explaining that I was taking the kids to the grocery store (to pick up steaks and chocolate pie for dinner for us) and then to McDonald's for dinner (for them) where they could make a mess someone else would clean up. He was supposed to get off work at 4:00, which would leave him plenty of time to go biking or running in the state park by our house (his current favorite form of exercise). All afternoon I kept thinking about how happy he was going to be.
And then he got stuck at work until 7:00.
The great thing about 10 years of marriage is that I still get points for the effort/thought, and we enjoyed a really nice, yummy dinner together. When we first got married, I knew we had 10 years of post-grad training to "get through" before "real" life started, and it seemed like forever. It went so fast. The first 10 years were more wonderful, fulfilling, fun, and adventure-filled than I had ever imagined. I can't wait to see what the next 10 bring!
Thanksgiving: Bryce and Cathi came and stayed a few days. It was so fun to have them here! They joined the rest of my family a couple of hours east of here for a pig pickin' Thanksgiving. Jason was on call, so we had to miss out on it. We crashed our friends' friends' Thanksgiving. The company was great, the food was great, and it was lots of fun. Anna has lots of great pictures up on her blog. If you're a grandparent of my kids, it's worth scrolling to the end to see Colin enjoying chocolate pie. Really, really enjoying it.
Christmas: Jason worked the whole week. Christmas Eve we joined my parents for dinner out (Italian) after he got off work (eating out on Christmas Eve is a tradition my parents started years ago). Afterward, they came back to our house, where we opened all presents except those from Santa. The first present Ethan opened was pjs. He shouted, "A new shirt! Awesome!!!", and I knew Christmas was going to be a big hit. So cute. We enjoyed hot chocolate and each other's company.
Colin wasn't sure quite what to make of the presents at first.
Christmas morning we woke the kids up at 6:00 am, much earlier than normal, because Jason had to leave for work at 6:45, and he wanted to be part of their reactions to Santa's gifts (the best part of Christmas with kids!). Colin was very confused and took a while to warm up to it, while Ethan jumped right in. Santa got him exactly what he wanted, despite his mother's personal opinion.
Jason left for work and my parents showed up shortly before noon. I will always remember this as the Christmas my parents saved. My dad spent 3 hours building a Coast Guard lego helicopter and life raft for Ethan, while my mom cooked Christmas dinner. I laid on the couch alternately wanting to die and feeling sorry for myself. I'm super fun when I'm pregnant. Jason came home in time for dinner. My parents also gave us a Wii, which has been used every single day since. We love it!
Colin loves Grandpa. They have bonded over a mutual love of wrestling (each other).
He also loved all his toys, once they were set up. This hit is from Grammy and Papa.
New Year's Eve: I wasn't feeling well enough to go out (a theme, I know). We decided to invite friends over for a low-key evening. Jason worked all day (yet another theme). At 5:00 pm I was vomiting in the parking lot of the grocery store and at 6:30 Jason and our guests showed up. Once again, I was the life of the party. It turned out to be a fun, easy going, low-key evening. We had 4 other adults and 6 other kids over, which was very manageable. Most of the kids, including Ethan, made it to midnight. Colin slept the whole night. Ethan had a great time and we really enjoyed hanging out with our friends. I don't have a single picture. Oh, well.
New Year's Day: We met my family for bowling (another tradition with my family, about 20 years old at this point). Then gathered at my parent's house for all sorts of fun finger foods and to hang out. It was very fun, and the perfect way to end the holidays.
And second, Jason and I made a G*I*R*L. As usual, we took advantage of Jason's radiology training to go "peek" at 15 weeks (we've done it with the first two). It's still early, so we're only about 80% sure. There may be a retraction on this blog in 3 weeks, but for now it's looking pink. Fingers double crossed!
