Thoughts for Thursday

Well, looky here...It's been a crazy long time since I blogged.  I say this every time- It's just proof that life is busy!  I think working nights has been a main reason that things like my blog getting forgotten or pushed aside.  I don't want to do anything on my days off.  For example, it's Thursday today...I work last Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, had a church thing Saturday, worked Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday nights.  Not to mention the fact that it snowed so much during that timespan that I shacked up at hotel Truman (my hospital) Tuesday day to sleep, which might have been equivalent to not sleeping at all.  Then yesterday (Wed-- are you following me here??) I had to be mom all day, ergo not sleeping much, since Jack was out of school and Reid obviously worked.  So today, I don't want to do a darn thing.  Thankfully I don't have to go back until possibly Sunday (I'm on call).  I'm going to enjoy every minute of this 4 day break.  It really helps recharge my batteries when I get a nice break.  Despite the long hours, life is really good.  It's a wonderful thing to step back, look at things and just be able to smile and truly be happy. 
Let's try to recap the last couple of months...
November-  We got to take a quick family trip to STL in November.  Our friends the Beasley's and Carpenter's went too.  We planned to convene in STL because our girlfriend Christina had a new little girl, KayBella and we needed to meet her.  Sam came down from Minnesota and it was a blast to hang out with our families/friends.  We went to STL zoo, ate some good food, and spent a day at the Magic House.  The kids had a blast and it was awesome to spend some quality time with some of my girlfriends. 

December-  Christmas time is my favorite time of year.  This year did not disappoint.  Typically we spend time in KC with Reid's side of the family and then we make a trip to Hastings with my family.  Since my brother Ben is in medical school rotations, his flexibility is slim.  He was in the middle of a surgery rotation and had to be on call basically the whole month.  So, instead of travelling to Hastings, the crew came to KC the weekend before Christmas.  We hosted at our place and spent time playing games, eating good treats, and just having some good quality time together.  We tried to replicate our normal Christmas Eve/Christmas Day routine.  We went to church Saturday night, out to dinner (it was no Chinese like we usually do on Christmas Eve, but Buffalo Wild Wings did not disappoint), and then presents on "Christmas" morning.  As we get older and we all hit "adulthood" it's becoming increasingly fun for us to all hang out together.  We're all on an "even playing field" and honestly I love seeing the young adults my siblings are becoming.  I can't help but think how proud my parents probably are...they have some great kids. 

Grandma Ginny and Ye-ye with Jack:

Our time with the Kirby/Calvert/Phillips family was not easy to manage this year either.  Reid's brother, sister-in-law, and myself all work as night RN's, and of course this year, our schedules were all different.  Thankfully it worked out for us to spend the Saturday after Christmas, the whole day, together.  It wasn't the "normal Christmas celebration" but at this point, we're happy when we can all be together.  Our families are growing and it's pretty awesome to be part of not only one, but 2 amazing families.  I'm feel blessed. 

Jack got mustaches for Christmas from the Calvert's:

January- Honestly, January flew...I don't even remember it.  I do remember that we rang in the new year (while it dumped snow on KC) with some good friends.  We had some serious champange (everyone brought at least one bottle...lol), danced on the kinect, played some games, and enjoyed being out of the house.  Now looking back, I do remember that I got a call the next morning REALLY early from my mother-in-law.  Jack had been up crying, screaming basically, for hours.  The poor kid had an earache, headache, and sore throat.  We jumped out of bed and went to get him.  When we got home, he just kept crying.  Thankfully, I got him to take forced him to take tylenol and cough syrup.  30 minutes later he had passed out on daddy in the chair.  We all slept about 2 more hours.  When he got up, he was a completely different kid.  By 4pm we were out in the snow for our first sledding adventure of the year.  Once again ibuprofen comes to the rescue! 

New Years mustaches with friends:

Our first snow run for the year:

February- Well, here we are...the last day in February.  This past month has been another quick one.  At this moment I feel like Jack has been out of school more than in school this month.  He has had a lot of "teacher work days" and then in the past week there were 4 snow days!  We went sledding with Aunt Sarah yesterday.  It was beautiful out and lots of fun.  Jack is quite the daredevil, sledding down on his belly, flipping off, diving into the snow face first, and jumping off a huge snowball into waist high snow.  He loved it! 

Daddy showed up after work and got in on the action:



March is sure to be great as we will be celebrating Jack's 4th birthday!  I cannot even believe my little baby is going to be 4.  I have been reflecting a LOT lately about the past 4 years.  Sometimes I look at Jack and just really don't know how we got so lucky.  God created this amazing, beautiful, smart, hilarious, and loving little man...and I get to be his mom.  It feels surreal at times.  And I wish I could capture all his funny little moments.  He is getting to be such a little man that is so much like his daddy.  He loves Star Wars, Angry Birds, and yes, still Cars.  He plays video games with his daddy and probably uses an Xbox controller better than I do.  (His dexterity really does amaze me)  He has a memory of an elephant and I don't even know where he hears some of the things he says.  I need a video camera on constantly.  

Thanks for checking in on us.  Until next time...