1st Birthday

Well, we are about 2 weeks away from celebrating Anders' 1st Birthday (um...when did this happen???), and I am completely ready for it. We will not be having a "traditional" 1st Birthday party since we really don't know enough people with kiddos out here to make it worth it. Instead, we are flying back to Vermont for a week to celebrate with our families.

As the standard "spoiled" first grandkid, Anders will have 2 parties, one with each side of the family, and we just cannot wait to see everyone! While we are there we will also be closing the sale of our Vermont home, which S and I are extremely excited about. In going back "home" for A's birthday, I have given all creative license to my Mom and Mother-In-Law to do as they with for the celebrations. Honestly, the "events" will be more focused around seeing all of our friends and family rather than a kid's birthday party.

If someone had told me 2 years ago that I would not be planning or really throwing a birthday party for my child's 1st birthday I would have laughed. While I do think that many people go way overboard in planning a party, I had never anticipated that I would not be the one hosting our friends and family for a simple get together to celebrate our child. Realistically, it makes no sense to try and host something here for our families-too many people, too many flights, only grandparents could come, but sometimes I do wish we were celebrating our child in our home. We considered having a few friends over, but most people we know out here do not have children and we are still developing our friendships with them. Even if we had a "no gifts" party, I still feel like it would seem gift-grabby and awkward to host a kid's party with a bunch of 20-40ish adults with maybe 2 kids thrown in.

This is simply one more "first" we are going through living here. S and I will celebrate Anders' first year with him on the 4th, and I'm sure it will be the prefect celebration that we need at this point in our lives, but there is still a part of me that wishes for invitations, party favors and piles of dirty dishes.

end hiatus???

Obviously, I have taken some a lot of time off from blogging. I could say "it's been busy" but really, I just haven't had a whole heck of a lot to write about. Of course, things have been busy: we replanted a major flower bed in our backyard (one that had been neglected for about 15 years), we switched to cloth diapering, we remodeled yet another part of or first floor, we stopped napping (well, Anders did), and we became thoroughly overwhelmed with life.

There's a lot to be said for support, and S and I have learned a whole new way of supporting each other over the past 2 years. We made some major life changes: getting married, a major cross-country move, and welcoming Anders into our lives; and because of all of this, we have learned how to lean on each other. While we no longer face the every-day challenges of figuring out how to get around our new geographical location, we still face the challenge of coming to terms with our distance from family and old friends.

No, this is not meant to be a "oh poor me" post, but it's more of a "huh, I thought we would be in a different state of mind by now" post. Simply put, we both thought that after a year things would feel less isolating.

But, on a lighter note, I'm hoping to renew this blog. There has been a ton of changes over the past few months, and as we draw in on Anders FIRST BIRTHDAY (what????) I'm thinking it's time to put on my writers cap and start documenting/sharing our lives with the e-world. Plus, I totally feel like I need a blog do-over...I need to revamp the look of this sucker...

And in closing, here's a picture of Anders at about 10 months, munching away on his sweet potato bites that he loves!