i'm baaa-aaack :-)

first things first, I'M BACK!  or, rather, i'm going to do my best to be back.  life had gotten in the way of blogging and then life got in the way of life, and a crazy year and half later (really?!? has it been THAT long???) i am going to give this another go.

to sum up the last year and a half:  after my sinus surgery (my last previous post), we went on 2 insane family vacations-to gatlinburg, tennessee and then to breezy point, minnesota.  we drove both of them.  with a 4(ish) year old and a 9 month old.  enough said.

carter started back to preschool, and life resumed some normalcy.  ryan decided he didn't like his job anymore and quit to start selling cars.  since money got tight really quickly, i also began working at a brand new sports bar that happens to be across the street from my house.  i had been contemplating picking up a part-time serving job for a few years, but never was able with ryan's crazy work schedules to do so without getting a sitter, which wouldn't net us enough money to make it worth it.  i loved it!  sadly, after a short time at the car dealership, ryan learned that the management there was content being verbally abusive to their employees and he needed to leave.  he was also wanting to go back to school to get his master's degree in counseling.  something needed to change.

i was burnt out of being stuck at home all the time with just the kids, and loved the opportunity with my job to have interactions with adults that didn't involve any talk of poop, pee, or puke.  ryan was burnt out on working all the time and not being home with the kids.  so i hatched a crazy plan to swap roles, and have him become a stay-at-home dad while doing online schooling, and me to become the full-time working parent.

it really was a welcome choice for our whole family.  quickly learned that (although he always claimed to understand) being a stay-at-home parent isn't a walk in the park, literal or otherwise, and if said walk in the park is attempted it would most likely to turn into a disaster.  we've been rocking this plan ever since, and coming up on the year mark of doing so.  not without it's moments, we are faring pretty well so far.

we took an amazing trip to cozumel in january, partial courtesy of my in-laws.  in february, my life changed drastically, and my granny died.  she really was one of a kind, and more than just a grandma to me.  not a day goes by that i don't think of her and wish it wasn't real.  i comfort myself knowing that she is doing was i was never able to do, which is hold my preston.  

i had another surgery in april, the details of which won't be blogged about.  and then summer came again.  it really went by in a blur and before we knew it, it was time for school to start again.  after debating back and forth, we decided to send carter to kindergarten, although he will be a young one.  the transition into his morning hysterics before school has resumed, although reports are that he is behaving like a model citizen at school, so nothing has changed there.

holden turned 2 in september (seriously canNOT believe that), i turned 29 for the 4th time, and here we are in october.  ryan's birthday is friday, but i'm cooking his requested meal today.  that, however, will be another story.