January

As a follow up to my last post, we all survived December. And you know what? It wasn't as bad as I feared. It didn't sting like I thought it would. We didn't all crumble like I felt we might when I wrote that post. Is the terrible reality still there? Yes. Does my heart still break when I think about it all too much? Yes. But lately I've been finding so many good ways to remember James. I think of him often and find comfort in keeping him alive through talking about him and finding ways to connect him to our lives now. So right now it feels as if the weight has lifted.

We spend Christmas in New Mexico this year and had such a fabulous time. It was such a nice break from work and our usual routines. It was so fun to spend time with each other and Greg's family. We loved visiting with everyone and again we were reminded how lame it is to be so far away from any family. Even though we had a great time and already miss our family, it is good to be home and back into our life here in Virginia. After more than two years here in Virginia we finally feel like it's our home and I think we were actually a little homesick from being gone so long.

William is still growing and changing at an ever increasing pace. Just when I think he can't get any bigger or change anymore, he does. He loves to eat everything. Squash, applesauce, pears, rice puffs, peas, carrots, banana, rice cereal, oatmeal, cheerios, apples....you name it, he'll eat it. He loves standing and is starting to walk around with help. He'll do a funny little inch-worm crawl sometimes, but overall isn't very interested in crawling or tummy-time. He has been very talkative lately and seems to always be making some sort of sound. He finally turned a corner in his sleeping patterns and I'm happy to say that at 7 months old he is (finally) consistently sleeping through the night. Hurray! I had forgotten how rested you feel when you sleep uninterrupted. It's amazing. Sometimes hes cranky and I have no idea what to do with him and other moments with him are just pure bliss. I guess this is what being a parent is.

Work was been crazy for me since we got back. I've worked everyday for the last two weeks and I'm so ready for a break! I forgot how tiring it is to work full days then come home and try to get all the housework done. Thankfully I'll be starting in on my new three day work week starting this week. It's funny how at first I was going to quit working entirely after William, then I was just going to work two days a week and now I'm at three days. Most days I feel like my job is such a blessing to us in so many ways, but other days I wonder why in the world I went back and if I'll ever be done working. I'm committed through May and I guess we'll figure out where to go from there.

Greg is still chugging away at work and school. We are getting so close to the end of school that we are starting to catch a glimpse of the end. We just have to finish this one last year of school and then we'll be done! No more evening classes, no more finals, no more papers, no more extracurriculars. I can hardly wait for this last year of school to be over. The unfortunate truth is that at the end of this year when Greg finishes classes we have to face another period of uncertainty as he looks for a job. I'm so excited for him to be done with school, but I so do not want to face a big piles of unknowns. I guess we can't (and don't want to) stay in law school forever so therefore we must face whatever is next.

So that's what's up with us this January. What's up with you?