2008 - A look back

2008 was a crazy year for us.  It had its wonderful moments, the birth of R&R, and its stressful moments - pretty much everything else!!

A brief look back at 2008:

Winter:

January - We celebrated Miss J's second birthday with a home birthday party for her and 5 of her friends.  It was fun!

We then put an UNCONDITIONAL offer on a new home, which was accepted and left us wondering what happened to our sanity - if we didn't sell, and close on, our house in 5 weeks we would be paying 2 mortgages - right around the time I would go an mat leave....

Thankfully we sold our house in 1 day for full asking price.  Phew.

Miss J got Whooping cough.  But recovered quickly.

February - Packing Packing Packing.  Hubbs had the all out flu and was in bed for a week which slowed our packing progress and left the very pregnant me to pack and chase the 2 year old full time, when not at work!

Moved into our new home the weekend of Feb 22, at 37 weeks pregnant.  During a snow storm. The movers squeezed us in Friday evening and Hubbs and Dad worked hard moving everything else. The house was a complete mess and had to recruit my wonderful sis-in-law and my good friend Carla to come clean before we could unpack anything.  Thankfully my parents cleaned our old home while Hubbs and our brother-in-law unpacked and set up furniture.

March - My brother and his 2 kids came to visit Gramma and Papa.  Enjoyed catching up with my  brother and Miss J loved playing with her cousins.  Slowly unpacked and tried to relax before baby # 2 arrived. 

On March 8, at 8:22 am, after 7 mins of pushing, and a little over 3 hours total labour (and less than an hour after arriving at the case room), our second sweet girl arrived!!! While I was in a state of shock and denial at not having time for any medication the delivery went well.  She even got to meet her uncle and cousins before they flew home the next day.

Mid March - June: Most of this time spent visiting our family doc and/or the ER a minimum of once a week (I wish I were exaggerating).  Miss J had an ear infection from March-June accompanied by high fevers (40 C!).  Also had suspected RSV in April for which she required 2 puffers.

April 17 - Rushed R&R to the ER after she turned blue and was coughing up mucus.  She was admitted to PICU with RSV for 6 days, during which time she was on a c-pap machine, had countless blood work, lung x-rays, an OG tube and she was not allowed to eat for a few days.  She then spent 3 more days in hospital while being weaned off oxygen.  A VERY scary time for all of us.  But the staff at the children's hospital were fantastic and despite frequently having a small cough, R&R seems none the worse for it.  

I guess sisters do share everything including colds, flus and other viruses!

During this time I learned who those people are who buy the giant bulk packages of tissues - ME!!  

Spring:

Household stuff we had to deal with included pests and birds who decided to take residents in the range hood vent.  For which we doused our home with chemicals.  Nice.  At least the girls and I stayed at Gramma's during this time!

Summer:

The snow melted to reveal a very unkept yard.  So Hubbs went to work trying to de-weed the grass and make it look green (instead of brown).  He did a great job, amazing really!!  Too bad we didn't do before and after pics!  We will be doing more landscaping this summer.  

And because it seems that the previous owners didn't really do much with this home, we did some staining of the front and back patios and fence and painted the doors which really freshened up the look of the place!

Nanny & Poppy came to visit us and Hubb's sister's family for a month which was great.  

We spent loads of time visiting the playground and going for walks.  Got to meet some more of our new neighbors.  And no major incidents or inconveniences (that I can recall - prehaps I have started blocking things out!!)

Summer was also a welcome break from wiping runny noses and our doctor visits were reduced to every 3-4 weeks (usually from my being paranoid about R&R's coughing!)

Ear infection count for the summer: R&R - 1; Miss J -1 (that cleared up with only one round of meds!!)

In early September we took R&R  on her first airplane ride to visit my brother's family and attend the wedding of my good friend and old roommate from university days.  It was great to get away and visit our family in the area, but a learning experiencing travelling as a family of 4. 

Because we are crazy, we thought instead of going home for a night, unpacking, and repacking for the 7 hour drive to visit Nanny & Poppy, we would just got off the plane, go home and grab a few things and hit the road.  We stayed in a hotel about 1/2 way to Hubb's parent's house.  That decision was just to ensure any chance of having the girls on a routine was out the window!!  But we then had a wonderful relaxing visit with Nanny and Poppy!  That drive reminded us that the dreaded (well dreaded for me anyway) decision to get a mini van was worth it!

Fall:

In October, we left the girls with Gramma & Papa for 2 nights!!! and attended an out of town wedding for friends of ours.  It was semi guy/girl trip.  Hubbs and our friend Wayne travelled together to play golf (in the rain) all day, while myself and his wife Jill met them later for supper.  We played golf, relaxed, enjoyed drinks, slept in! It was a great weekend!

I stopped breastfeeding R&R in October.  It was a little emotional, with her being my last baby and all, but considering she preferred the bottle and I think my milk supply had vanished it was a good decision!

Miss J took swimming lessons with her friend Noah, to help her overcome her timidness around the water.  It was a success!!  She also started in a gymnastics class that she attends without a parent.  Its so fun to watch her from the waiting room - what a big girl she is becoming!

The rest of the fall was spent getting ready for Christmas, having palydates for Miss J and R&R and just enjoying the routine (or as close as we can get to one).  R&R went swimming a few times and she already LOVES to splash in the water.  She would just swim away if she could!!

Hubbs worked loads through the fall, but was recognized for his hard work with a nice bonus!

Our doctor visits now resemble those made by normal families.  We didn't go at all from mid-October to December (except 1 specialist appt).  I'm pretty sure our family doctor thinks we've moved!

I'm sure I'm missing a few things here.  But despite the craziness of sick girls and working out the kinks in our new house, it wasn't so bad.  We'll call it a year of learning through experience as well as learning to appreciate what we have :)