2008 A Year in Review

Aww who am I kidding, there is no way I'll remember all of 2008. I have a kid now, somehow that also equals forgetting anything and everything that happened more than 24 hours ago, but I'll try because everyone else did (and I'm stealing my recapping skills from Stephanie):

January: Baby gets sick on NYE, with cold. DR says she's fine. Two weeks later we take her to Children's Mercy so she can have her lungs sucked out. 5 weeks later we finally get some sleep, and she's all better.

February: Baby gets first bout of stomach flu. Baby dislocates elbow at daycare only no one notices except BIL who asks if she's left handed because she is only using her right. Dad notices next day she won't suck her right thumb per the norm. Back to Children's Mercy. Discussions with DR and Social Worker. Dr can't fix, wraps her up and sends her home. Next day we start the new daycare search, we will not take her back to the old one. On call Dr at our Dr office practiced in Africa without modern medicine, he fixes elbow in a jiffy. Baby back to normal. Start new daycare. Family comes to visit. My beloved kitties Zeke and Zoey go home to live with my parents. Lily freaked Zeke out. He suffered from stress induced urinary problems.

March: Dressed baby up in Bunny suit and she hated it. Lily starts crab crawling. $600 water bill shows up. Waterline burst in neighbors yard. Find out neighbors are 90 year old cousins. Costs $5,000 to fix water line. Sell Durango to recoup water pipe costs. Buy a $1600 beater for James to drive.

April: celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary with dinner at Pierpont's, see the Body's Revealed Exhibit, hotel room at Harrah's and poker playing.

May: Lily turns 1 on May 21st, I turned 29 on May 22nd. Threw a "Tinkerbelle" party on memorial day weekend.

June: Little sister gets engaged on her 22nd birthday :) wedding planning begins. Lily stands alone at toy for the first time. James' Aunt Barbara passes away from Leukemia. I get promotion and raise. We get stranded in OK after the funeral thanks to the car. Spend extra time with Great Grandma Wear. Eventually make it home.

July: Vacation to Grammy and Papa Dude's in St Louis for a week. Go to STL Zoo. Spend holiday weekend in Bennett Springs. James quits job and becomes stay at home dad. Trying to finish the house so we can list it. Lily takes her first swimming lesson and becomes teachers pet. Lily starts pulling up on stuff, finally. I start driving the beater.

August: Lily starts staying at home with Dad. We get a pool pass so they can go to the pool a lot. Family reunion at Lake Wappapello. Aunt Nai spends lots of time walking Lily up and down the hallway for practice. I win the Washer Toss tournament with cousin Billy. We are not rednecks. Hang plaque on the wall. I stop driving the beater.

September: James gets job with Lifetouch National Studios as school photographer. I start driving the beater again. I stop one week later. We buy a mini van. James starts small business as photographer. Put house on the market. Go to the KC Zoo. Grammy visits, buys Lily some Stride Rite shoes. Lily starts walking the next day.

October: Take house off the market. Decided its a pain, we won't get what we want thanks to the housing crisis, and we really love our cute bungalow. Lily has two Halloween costumes, a lady bug and a pink three eyed monster. Go to Boo at the Zoo. Go to a Bariatric Surgery seminar. Learn I'm not fat enough for lapband or gastric bypass. Make Dr appointment to discuss weight.

November: Start Weightwatchers and Phentermine on November 1st with all the other guilty Halloween eaters. Lose 15 pounds by the end of the month. Go to STL for Thanksgiving. Go wedding dress shopping with sister and mom. Sister makes lots of cookies. Blackfriday shopping trip from Hell. James' work goes on hiatus until mid January. Lily starts staying at home again. James' has lots of business coming in.

December: Bad luck on vacation in Branson. Rent smaller car than we drove down in. Take Lily to Silver Dollar City. Freeze butts off. Host work holiday party at my house. STRESS EATING takes over, don't lose any weight. Decorate house. Buy all new lights AGAIN for outside. Buy our first real Christmas tree. Vacuum up needles. Go shopping every single weekend. Wrap gifts. Vacuum up needles. Make cookies. Get the Flu. Make more cookies. Vacuum up needles. Have the in laws over for pre- Christmas Eve Church gathering. Vacuum up needles. Go to children's Candle light Christmas Eve service. Eat dinner at PF Changs, per tradition. Vacuum up needles. Have Christmas dinner at the in-law's. Open gifts. Trip over all the new toys. Vacuum up needles. Replace big screen TV bulb that burned out three years to the day after we bought it. Pick up parents from train station. Big Midwest storm, 80 MPH winds uproot neighbors tree. No power for 36 hours. Dad buys new gas log for our fireplace. The flu knocks me down. Power comes back on. We watch Tinkerbelle the movie. Go to Fritz's and see the trains at Union Station. Wave bye bye to Grammy and Papa Dude. Sleep in. Go shopping. Buy nothing. Do nothing on NYE except recover from flu and watch episodes of the Office.

Whew there it all is. 2009 is going to be a big year for my family. My baby sister is getting married in October. Planning had been somewhat on hold until she passed her Series 7 exam for stock trading. The location has been reserved, the reception hotel has been reserved, the dress has been bought, photographer reserved. But lots more planning to come. We need bridesmaid dresses and a flower girl dress. And I have weight to lose. I'm also hosting her bridal shower in August. On a personal note, I'm going to take the Kansas Certified Nurse's Assistant Course in March. You have to be a CNA before you can be accepted into a nursing school in KS. I have a degree in Biology and an MBA, but I need a "fall back" option in case I do get laid off. Nursing school will be that fall back (nothing like going back to school for an Associates degree after you have a masters, I'm expecting lots of funny looks) plus its something I've always wanted to do and regret not doing.

Happy 2009~