2009-A Year In Review

Wow. It's the last day of 2009. We're ending a decade. Unbelievable. It seems like only yesterday I was sitting here writing my 2008 in review, and another year has passed.

Needless to say, God has blessed our family with so many AMAZING events this year! #1 on that list, the birth of my sweet Reilly Alexander. I'm so very thankful that I was given this little boy as the most precious gift of all.

2009 had other interesting and exciting events as well. Here are some of my most memorable, in no particular order.

• Keely and Jeff's wedding-what a gift to see my sister beaming and so very happy on July 18th. Jeff is a great addition to our family!
• Dave and I traveled, (with his sister, niece and mom) to West Virginia. Not only did we endure an 8 hour car ride with his family (one who requested we stop at least an hour for a smoke break!) with me being pregnant, but we also survived having to fix three flat tires on the way home. We had a great visit with his West Virginia family, many of whom I got to meet for the first time.
• We welcomed a new baby cousin, Tyler, into our family.
• Grandma kicked butt at her knee replacement surgery and is now walking better than she has in a long time.
• Kim survived a freak accident falling off the step at Glenn's Grandma's house, broke her ankle in 5 places and underwent surgery.
• Dave and I celebrated 2 years of marriage and are hoping for 40 more, at least!
• Kim and Glenn celebrated 10 years of marriage.
• Brady and I went on a "Bee Boy" hunt at the Longaberger Bee and were victorious, so much so, that Brady was nearly speechless!
• Dave got a job at Puck Distributing, less than a week before Reilly was born.
• He also took a stab at selling vacuums...while good at his job, they weren't good for him!
• We welcomed 2009 in with Keely and Jeff, the same way we plan to welcome in 2010.

I could sit here all day and continue to put in some of our highlights. While there were many exciting things in our lives, there were some pretty interesting things going on around the world too...

• The Jet Liner that landed in the Hudson River-I remember being at Dave's Dentist and watching this breaking news.
• Michael Jackson went home to Heaven.
• Tiger Woods-nuff said.
• We swore in the first African American President...I sat in my classroom eating lunch with my kids watching this history making moment.
• Our economy is one of worst recessions we've ever seen
• President O'Bama came to speak at Notre Dame...never seen so many planes and protesters.
• Charlie Weis was fired from Notre Dame and Brian Kelly was hired to take over.
• St. Joe Medical Center moved 4.5 miles from South Bend to Mishawaka
• The College Football Hall of Fame announced it was leaving South Bend.
• There was a boy in a balloon...again, nuff' said.
• One of our own soldiers went crazy at Ft. Hood
• There was a huge outbreak of the Swine Flu which had many people sick and dying.

2009 has treated us well, we can only pray that 2010 is as good and even better!

Happy New Year!

One Word Wednesday-PRECIOUS!

One of Many...

Again...a day of reflection! It's Christmas Eve and I am sitting here pondering Christmas Eves of the past, and one in particular comes to mind.

Sadly, I don't even remember how old I was, or the year that it happened. All I know is that we (my sisters and I) were around the age when getting everything Cabbage Patch Kids was a dream come true.

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, Christmas Eve at the Moroni house meant that the kids had to sleep downstairs (even though our bedrooms were unoccupied upstairs!) I think Kim usually stayed in her own room (the only bedroom in the basement) and Keely and I always slept on the pull-out couch. The reason for this was then we wouldn't wake up when Santa came, because you know he never comes to houses where someone is awake!

For 364 nights a year, my bladder always treated me well. I NEVER had to get up in the middle of the night to go potty, EXCEPT ON CHRISTMAS EVE! It never failed. And it was so amazing that usually the "Potty Fairy" struck Keely at about the same time. During this particular Christmas Eve, I remember going upstairs with Keely to go to the bathroom and taking a sneaky peek at the tree to see if Santa had come yet.

Santa had come alright and he brought with him a CABBAGE PATCH WONDERLAND! It seemed like our entire living room was filled with Cabbage Patch Delights. I don't even remember what all we got, but it was a ton and it was amazing, simply amazing! I remember sneaking around with Keely (ok, she was always the better behaved sister so it was probably me more than her) and quickly taking a peek at all of the fun stuff. I don't know for sure, but it seems like we got a crib, playpen, stroller and other stuff. I do remember it was stuff that Santa had put together for us so we were ready to play with it right away!

I hope that in the near future, we can give Reilly some sort of Christmas Morning Delight like I remember getting all those years ago! I can't wait for him to learn about Santa and enjoy all his gifts!

It's The Day Before, The Day Before Christmas!

Hooray! Christmas is almost here!

I'm not sure what it is about this Holiday Season, but for whatever reason, I've been thinking about different Christmases from the past a lot lately. I don't know if becoming a mommy has changed my outlook on things, or if it has made me think of and miss my mom more than in recent years.

I don't really remember when the real Christmas "activities" started around our house. I know it must have been the 23rd on some years though, because I can distinctly remember my Grandma saying, "Today is the day before, the day before Christmas!" I remember thinking this was as special a day as Christmas, just because she made it one. I don't know why, but it kinda stuck through the years.

Even this morning, when my almost 10 lb. alarm clock went off at 4:45, the first thing I said to him was, "Today is the day before, the day before Christmas, Little Man." He gave me a one eye open, sleepy little look that only spoke one thing..."Change my diaper, please." And so I did.

Looking back, I can't really recall any extra special traditions that we did in my family for Christmas. We never got to open any gifts on Christmas Eve, we never went anywhere special at a special time for a meal or anything, we just spent the day and those surrounding it, close with family!

I guess there were a few things that happened every year...

• Grandma and Grandpa always came up to our house and it was the one night they stayed with us that they slept upstairs, not down.
• Grandpa usually made some sort of concoction in the blender (I'm going to say Whiskey Sours) and we always got one little sip.
• Grandma and Mom usually made dinner (well, there was this one year...which deserves it's own special entry!)
• We had our own bedrooms, but on this one night during the year, we were forced to sleep in the basement. (Again, there is another blog going to be happening about this event!)
• When we decorated the tree, (which wasn't usually until the middle of December) we had to wait patiently for dad to put on all the lights, make sure they worked and give us the go ahead to put on the ornaments, then we each took special care in putting on ornaments that we had made or had our names on them.

I'm really looking forward to the next couple of days and getting to cherish Reilly's first Christmas. His first ornament has been hung on our tree with special care and he's ready to celebrate in his many Christmas outfits! He even has one on today...after all...it is "The day before, the day before Christmas!"

Happy Birthday Auntie Keely

Dear Auntie Keely,

Thanks for being one of the greatest Aunties in the world! I really love spending time with you and love when we get to snuggle together. Thanks for "riding a bike" with me when I have some gas bubblers in my belly that refuse to come out.

Mommy, Daddy and I hope you have a great birthday today and want you to know that we love you bunches.

Happy Birthday! Please come play soon!

Love,

Reilly

Meeting Miss Betsy

Less than 3 weeks...that's all I have left of my leave, that's less than 21 days that Reilly and I can spend the majority of our days snuggling, cooing, playing and hangin out together. In less than 3 weeks, I have to make the dreaded trip to drop Rei off at Miss Betsy's house for daycare.

Tonight was our official "Meet and Greet" with Miss Betsy. I had the pleasure of getting to know her and her daughter (at least one of them) last year when I tutored Whitney. Miss Betsy comes very highly recommended by many people, so I trust that our lil man will be in the best hands possible, but I still have to make the trip and leave him there in less than 3 weeks. :(

Tonight was the first night that Dave and Reilly got to meet Miss Betsy, and Miss Betsy got to get her hands on Rei. She jumped right in as soon as he was out of his car seat so they could start to get to know one another. I think she already loves him as much as we do! Reilly just sat and stared up at her and then around the play room where we were sitting, plus, Miss Betsy has long hair, which is great for pulling, so I think Reilly was in love, too!

I'm excited for the experiences that Reilly is going to have at Miss Betsy's house, but I sure am sad that we're not super rich and I can't be a stay at home mommy!

Prune Juice = Barium Blowout!

On Friday, Reilly had to go to the Med Center for his second Upper G.I. in his short little life. Dr. Meier wanted to make sure nothing had changed from the first test and make up for some errors that were done during the original procedure. (They didn't keep him long enough to make sure everything in his belly traveled far enough down--needless to say, we almost had a Mama Bear moment when I found out we could have avoided this second test if the first one had been done correctly!)

For those that don't know the procedure with an Upper G.I., they make him drink a bottle of barium so that they can watch it travel down his pipes to make sure everything is working properly. Thank goodness he's not picky when he's hungry, because the stuff smells disgusting, but he happily drinks away. Imagine liquid chalk...that's what it looks like going in and that's what it looks like coming out, either the top or the bottom!

During both tests, Rei has "painted" the lead vest that I had to wear. The poor thing doesn't have any better luck keeping the barium down than he does the milk.

During the first test, the Radiologist told me there was a chance that the barium would make him constipated. Well...he didn't have any problem passing it that same day. Thankfully, Daddy had decided to change his diaper that time, and boy was he in for a surprise! We had to go straight from the changing table to the shower because it was just all over.

This time was a different story! Same amount of barium, same type of bottle, not the same results. He finished drinking his barium cocktail around 11:15 Friday morning. By Friday night, we'd been given no presents in his diapers and were getting concerned because he was very uncomfortable. His tummy was like a rock, but he was still willing and eager to eat.

We called Dr. Meier, who happened to be on call this weekend, for some tips. She suggested a suppository from the pharmacy (which we passed on!), taking his temperature rectally (to which his Daddy replied, "Be brave, buddy!-and even putting him through this got us no where!), or giving him an ounce of prune juice. Since we had no prune juice, we tried to put him in a warm shower, which again go us no where.

Saturday came and he was still not doing anything, and clearly uncomfortable. Aunt Keely did a lot of "bike riding" with him, along with tummy massages, but we only had noise, no product! We ended up going to Meijer last night for prune juice. Here's what happened:

Prune Juice=Barium BLOWOUT!

Sympathy Pain...

As everyone knows, Reilly has brought so much joy to our lives. He makes me smile EVERYDAY! I never imagined loving another person nearly as much as I love "My little man!"

I'm very thankful that God blessed me with a baby who loves to snuggle. It's one of our favorite things to do, and I try to take advantage of every minute he's up for it, because I know it's not going to last long.

This week, we've been spending our days out at Kim and Glenn's house. We're doing all that we can to help Aunt Kim feel better. She was at Glenn's grandparents house on Saturday, and fell down a step while carrying a cedar chest. She's now flat on her back, having undergone surgery on Sunday morning for her ankle which is broken in three places and a messed up ligament.

We've discovered that Reilly isn't only good for snuggles...he's also good at showing sympathy pains...He's even willing to put his foot up so Aunt Kim doesn't have to be the only one!

A Week Of Firsts!

Wow...it's been quite a week! Reilly has had so many new experiences and events in his life over the past 7 days, it's been a crazy week of firsts for him!

Thursday 11/26 was our little "turkey's" first Thanksgiving. We spent a wonderful day out at Kim and Glenn's house and enjoyed a huge turkey feast. Reilly loved being cuddled by Great Grandma (who didn't share him all that much!), Great Grandpa, Aunt Keely, Uncle Jeff, Aunt Kim, Uncle Glenn and Brady. He also met Father Cam and Father Wally as well as seeing Mr. and Mrs. Ornat again. We had a great time with everyone and this year was extra special because of being so thankful for our 8 pound little man.

Friday 11/27 was Reilly's first BLACK FRIDAY! Although he was up with me at 2:15 am, he didn't venture out with Kim and I at 3:20 when the party started! :) He and Daddy stayed in bed and met us at Menards (we were there for the second time) around 10:15 and then went to lunch with us! He did spend the rest of the day with us learning how to shop, shop, shop!

Monday 11/30-Tuesday 12/1 was the first night that my little "Sleeping Beauty" slept the entire night and didn't get up at all! He went to bed about 9:40 and didn't get up until Dave's alarm went off at 6:00. I woke up around 5 am in a complete panic that something was wrong, but he was happily in dream land! (He slept the entire night again on Wednesday night--I might really learn to like this!)

Wednesday 12/2 Reilly had his first "babysitter" experience. He and I have been spending most of our days out with Aunt Kim, who is recovering from her broken ankle and we were out there again yesterday. Glenn was out cutting wood and it was time for Brady to go to school. I got both boys all packed up and ready to go, (packing Rei went much quicker than Brady, actually!) and by the time we were ready to leave, my little snoozasaurus was zonked out in his car seat so he stayed with Aunt Kim while I took Brady to school! Aunt Kim and Uncle Glenn actually kept him for a much longer period on Thursday when I had a dentist appointment and some errands to run!

Wednesday 12/2 didn't end with the first babysitter. Reilly also got to experience his first Notre Dame event. The three of us went to the Notre Dame Women's Basketball game! Reilly did awesome. He stayed awake for the entire game and loved looking at all the lights! I think he is going to be quite the Irish fan...now if we could just get him a good football team that's worth cheering for!

It's been a big week in my little man's life. I thank my lucky stars that I get to be home with him everyday and experience these things with him.