Updates

For some reason, I am always a little sad to let the year leave us--it is the same emotion that I have every year as Aaron and I watch the crystal ball drop in Times Square. I guess it is because I never felt like I accomplished as much as I would have liked or just sad to know that we will never get this time back again. But, it is time to start 2009!

Claire is now 17 months old. She is a little girl that is constantly on the go--she loves to run around the house (well, a quick step). She is learning new words every day and she is beginning to know the different sounds animals make (thanks to the book, "Moo, Baa, La, La, La!") Speaking of which, she loves for us to read her books--she will walk over with her book of choice, throw it in our lap and say, "reeed!" And, she will sit still for the entire book--something that we were not able to get Drew to do until he was at least two years old. And of course, she loves to dance to the theme song of "Calliou" and I found her bopping her head to Beyone's "Single Girls (Put a ring on it)" when we were in the car today.

Drew, our crazy 4 1/2 year old. He just returned to preschool today after the long two week Winter Break. I almost understand that Staples commercial that they play at the beginning of the school year with parents dancing in the aisles to "It's the most wonderful time of the year" song. Of course, his preschool only lasts for two and half hours each day-but I will take what I can get! He loves going to school--so I don't feel too bad about being excited about him going back. He is showing signs that he might actually like having a little sister--I find them playing together every once in a while and it is the best thing to see. I hope that they become good buddies, because they will need each other as they go through life together.

My mom continues to take us on a continuous roller coaster ride. She came to visit on New Years Day and again last Sunday. She is talking quite a bit--which is so weird and nice to hear because for a very long time, she hardly said a word. She asked if we planned on having more kids (the answer to that is no), if she could drive my car (once again, the answer was no) and if my stomach was flabby after having the kids (the answer to that is yes, but then again, my stomach has always been flabby!). It has been like that moment on Grey's Anatomy a few years ago when Meredith Grey's mother came out of her Alzheimer's state and she was normal for a few hours. I am not sure what her official weight is this week--I will know tomorrow. But, when she visited our house, she ate three Dunkin Donuts, marshmellows, chips and drank Coca-Cola.

Aaron, myself and the kids had lunch with Amy, Jim, Lisa, Bill, William, Stephanie and Brad last Saturday at the Gahanna Creekside Grill. It was so nice to see everyone. It is an annual tradition for the four of us to get together for the holidays--this year we mixed it up by inviting our respective husbands, fiance and children. It is hard to believe that we have known each other for 15 years. I think we have collectively experienced every life experience that you can have at our age. And the stories that we could tell! Most of them involve a good laugh--I am always exhausted from laughing so much.

Finally, I went to see "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" last Friday night. I went by myself as I am been so anxious to see a movie (which I love to do) and there wasn't time to find someone to watch the kids--so Aaron stayed home and watched football. I thought I would enjoy going solo-but it was kind of lonely. Anyway, the movie was terrific. I thought Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett were a great team. It has shades of "Forrest Gump" in it. The movie was long--but I completely lost track of time while watching it. I am anxious to see "Revolutionary Road" with Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. I was obsessed with Titanic ten years ago (yes, I have seen more times than I would like to reveal) and I am happy to see them team up again for this movie.