2009 in Review

{This should have been posted on 12/31, however it took me a few days to get it finished.}

Today is New Year’s Eve and we are on the road heading up to PA to visit with Mom-Mom, Pop-Pop and all the rest of the PA/DE Ryan's. With the end of the year and decade merely hours away, I can think of no better way to be spending this day than with family. After all, this has been a very eventful year for our family. In January, we were so excited to learn that we would be welcoming a new addition to our little family in September! I won’t say that we were surprised with this news, but it certainly wasn’t expected either. Along with the excitement came lots of other emotions too. I was especially anxious about how life would be with a toddler and a little one. Would I be able to give Jackson all the attention a 2 year old needs? Were we really ready for another baby? We would sure find out soon enough!

We celebrated Sean’s 30th birthday in April with a toga party for him and Matt. Lots of friends and family were there, even Mom-Mom, Pop-Pop, Rusty, Cheryl, Alyssa and Joan and Mike came down to celebrate. One of the best memories I think we all have from that night is Rusty and Matt jamming together to the Grateful Dead. It was classic to say the least.

In June we celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. It is so hard to believe that we have already been married for five years! Our marriage continues to grow each day and we are so blessed to have such a wonderful relationship filled with teamwork, laughter and lots of love!

Then before we knew it July had rolled around and we were celebrating Jackson’s 2nd birthday – with a birthday party themed around his favorite pal, Mickey Mouse! To look back at how much Jackson has grown over the past year is mind boggling! Every day he surprises us with a new word or a phrase. We have (very loosely) attempted potty training with no such success. Most of the experts say to wait until they are ready and so far he’s shown very little signs that he was ready. So he’s still hanging on to diapers, but he did give up his beloved Bobo (pacifier) this year. And that transition was much easier than we expected! With that we prepared for his next transition – into preschool. We enrolled Jackson in the 2 year olds preschool class at Faith Baptist Church in Knightdale. I was especially nervous wondering how he would adjust, but to my surprise he did wonderful!! He loves his teachers, Ms. Edie and Ms. Judith, is learning so much and making lots of new friends.

Then as the summer came to a close we began to anxiously await the arrival of our daughter. I was scheduled to be induced on 9/22, but before the hospital could call for come in, little Kate began letting us know she was ready. I started having contractions around 3am and we welcomed Kate Finley Ryan into the world at 1:54 pm. Since then our life has been crazy, but much more manageable than I had expected. While the little peanut may not nap much during the day (though she is getting better), she sleeps great at night. {Kate sleep + Mommy sleep = Happiness in the Ryan house!} Jackson has adjusted into the big brother role very well. Of course he has moments of jealousy, but for the most part he has nothing but love for his little sister. He’ll go over to when she cries and sing to her or talk to her and then gets so excited when she stops crying. Seeing that just melts my heart!

So, as we say goodbye to the first decade of the 21st century, I could not be more excited about the New Year! Sean and I have so much to be proud of and to look forward to in 2010!