Way past overdue update...

Well hello there blog buddies!  I hope you all are doing fantastic.  It's been a while since I last blogged and even longer since I last blogged consistently.  I wish I could tell you all that I had a ball the entire time I was gone but I'd be telling a story.  Overall things have been great and I'm definitely counting my blessings but things have also been challenging.  I have been reading a handful of blogs while away although I haven't left any comments.  I thought about blogging a lot but due to laziness, family, work and other excuses (lol), I didn't.   Anyway, I want to catch you up on what's been going on, although I'm not quite sure where to start...

So, let me see...2013 was an exciting year.  
--my husband and I celebrated 5 years of marriage and my son turned one.
--I finally completed school/training (after all these years) AND 
--landed my first real paying job at 32 (well I was 31 last year).  I liked the job overall  because it was very flexible and paid well AND I loved what I was doing.  I hated the administrative (paperwork) part of my job because it made life more difficult.  Being the obsessive compulsive person that I am, not only did I enjoy the job, I did a pretty dang good job...maybe too good.  For example, I would bypass eating, work after hours (without extra pay), pick up my kid late because I couldn't do a mediocre job.  Well, that was stressful because I felt like I was doing a mediocre job as a parent (although I wasn't I don't think but my obsessive compulsive (ness) wouldn't let me think otherwise). LOL.  It was my first "real" job and I learned a lot.  I learned my worth and how to negotiate my time, pay, benefits, etc accordingly.  I also learned how to stand up for myself.  The two days I picked up my son late due to the company's inefficiency, the company heard about it and they rectified the situation.  Overall it felt good to get reasonable compensation for my work (although part time) while not taking away from my family
--I also was able to stay healthy.  I only worked 3 days per week so I exercised a lot (both running and weightlifting).  I also ate better and was enjoying making fairly healthy meals for my family.  I felt so good and lost almost all my weight from my first pregnancy (well, all but 5lbs).
--the latter part of 2013 was more challenging because my grandmother had a massive stroke which she later died from in early 2014.  This has been very challenging because my grandma partly raised me and I was used to talking to her several times per week.  I had not experienced the death of a very close loved one until this.  It's still hard and sometimes I forget that she passed away because it feels unreal but then I'm reminded when I reach for the phone to call her to share some news with her.
--my son, IEK, had a great year too.  My husband and I are truly marveled by his sweetness, smarts, and language.  Language is definitely a strength for him.  He was a good sleeper but still a terrible eater.

2014 has been interesting thus far.
--My wonderful son turned 2 in early February and had a joint cowboy themed party with one of his buddies.  We all had such a great time and my husband's parents were there to celebrate with us.   He began showing interest in potty training a few weeks before his 2nd birthday and was fully potty trained with ease in no time.  He's an awesome little guy and we are so blown away by all he does.  We saw him go from being a docile toddler to a bossy preschooler.  So cute, but challenging :).
--In late March I stopped working and early April our family moved from North Carolina.  We spent two weeks with my husband's parents as we were relocating to the west coast and wanted to spend some time with them.  That was fun and very relaxing because for the first time in a long time we had family close by to help with our son.  
--In April we went on so many dates.  We even went to the Dominican Republic for a week.  We did an all inclusive resort type trip and was not impressed at all.  However we were grateful for the alone time that we spent together relaxing.  It was my son's first time being away from both parents overnight.  I cried my eyes out the first few days of the vacation.  My son did fine and had a blast with my husband's parents.
--Late April we relocated to northern California because of a great job opportunity for my husband and a potentially great one for me too.  We are using to hopping states a lot (although we are not military) but this was our first time living on the west coast.  I love our town--it's a medium size town with friendly people, great for families, fairly good schools, great food options.  It's bad for shopping but if I want something I usually can find it online if not in the stores.  We love our new town although it's taken our family a little while to adjust.
--Our two year old started having sleep trouble for the first time for likely multiple reasons: the MOVE, 3 hour time difference, newly potty trained, converting to a "big boy" bed to name a few.  The sleep issues were suuuch a pain in the butt for the most part they are resolved now, thank God.
--We celebrated 6 years of marriage in May.
--We expanded our family in June.  I gave birth to one adorable little girl, IVK.  She was born a little early but very healthy (had no complications and came right home with us--thk God).  She is now 2 months old.  She is a darling and her brother "loves her so much."  I agree for the most part with the saying that one of the best gifts you can give your child is a sibling.  I love seeing them together.  He's already very protective of her (although he's hard headed about being gentle with her at times). Haha!
--I had some challenges during the pregnancy--I had a rib dislocation at around 7.5 months that was excruciatingly painful.  Gosh--it was so bad that I could not sleep in my bed due to rib and back pain.  I slept in a recliner for close to 2 weeks.  I sneezed, heard and felt a pop, then was in immediate pain and that was hit.  Thankfully it resolved after about 2-3 weeks with chiropractic care and regularly icing the area.  Soon after that I developed hypertension during the pregnancy and was induced at close to 4 weeks early because it was safer.
--It was soooo stressful: moving to a new city with a sleepless toddler, no support, medical issues and the unanticipated early delivery of our 2nd child.  Of course we also had a lot of other small challenges (like not having my car for about 2 weeks after I moved because the car transportation company lied about transporting the car.  When they finally delivered it they dropped the car off at some random location 2 hours away from where we lived and left the keys on the wheel).

Of course, there's so much more but I've written too much already.  Despite all this we feel very blessed and we are very thankful to God.  Things have settled down a lot for us and we like it that way.  It's weird living so far away from family but we haven't lived in the same state as family in over 6 years.  We've had tons of folks visit us so far which has been awesome.  We love our town and feel eternally grateful for our healthy happy kids.  I'm also thankful for my husband who puts up with his "cray cray" wife with a smile on his face. LOL.  

Overall life is good!  I hope things have been good for you too.  The plan is to pick up blogging again and to be more consistent but I'm making no promises :).  I do want to document our history as a family so I will try my best.  I will share pictures when I so updates on both kiddos.  Also trying to get back in shape again (doing T25--because who has time for a longer workout, right?)


Mrs. K