Wednesday's Winning Words

So, I pretty much suck as a mom from time to time.  Don't we all?  Please?  Tell me we do.  As you know, last week was the Big 5 in our house.  On Wednesday, I took Justus for his 5-year well check.  Since his first year of illness (typical with those attending day care, as ours do), this kid is hardly ever sick.  Thank you, God, for that!  So, it's been a long time since he's seen Dr. Henderson, but he has no ill feelings of his time at the doc's offfice.  He did keep asking me if he was going to have to get shots.  I told him, repeatedly, that no, shots are not part of the 5-year check.  Smiles all around.  And then, we were there.  Doctor H. did all the required checks and questions, and then this happened:

Doctor H:  "A flu shot today?"
Me: "Oh, yes, I'm so glad you asked." Shock and awe on J's face.
Me, turning to my horrified child: "Justus, remember how I told you you didn't have to get a shot today?  Well, I was wrong.  But it's okay, because it's just a flu shot and they keep us from getting sick later.  It'll be really fast and then all done and you won't get sick with the flu."
Justus:  "Ok, mommy."  He said, putting on a brave face.

He cried for just a second, and with a sticker and sucker, all was well.  Or so we thought.

That night he complained of a sore arm, and being cold (teeth chattering kind of cold/chills).  24 hours after the shot, he had 102 temp, was still having the chills and wouldn't eat (this last issue was the indicator to daycare that something was amiss).  This persisted into Friday morning.  Flu symtoms.  Awesome.  Feeling like the worst mother in the world.  Then the fear of the Saturday birthday party set in.  What if I have to cancel?  Seriously--he's already harboring the scar of me "lying" to him about the shot, can I really take away his Star Wars birthday party that he's super excited about?  Stab me in the eye.  My parenting nightmare is playing out before my very eyes.  Everything is ordered and payed for?  I don't know how to contact half of the attendees if we do have to cancel Saturday morning?  Help!!!!

As you know if you read previous posts, we had a party because (THANK GOD) his fever disappeared late Friday morning.  For a day or so though, I thought we were about to have a defining moment that would not be forgotten.  Hopefully, it will not be forgotten, but because he had an awesome birthday party, and the shot/illness days will disappear from memory with time.  I can hope, right?

Note to self:  Think before you make promises like "no shots"  Also, don't do the flu shot (to which he has never previously had a reaction) right before an important event.  Like a birthday party.  Uugh--still kicking myself!

Sunday, Sunday

After all the birthday madness, Sunday was a nice, much needed low-key family day.  We went out for breakfast, but otherwise stuck pretty close to home.  We capped it off Sunday afternoon with a trip to the park to enjoy the ridiculous unseasonable beautiful, warm January weather.

It was literally almost 80 degrees, don't ask me why they are in long sleeves. I wasn't.

Look at those cheeks! How can you not just want to pinch them???

Delaney is a tad OBSESSED with dogs, and Sarah here, was nice enough to accommodate her. I think she realized that if she tried to run, the tiny human would just chase her down. Delaney Just. Kept. Hugging. her. It was really sweet. And, thank goodness Sarah, whom we've never met before, was such a good dog.

**Rest easy, folks--Sarah's owner invited D to pet her.  I didn't just unleash the dog-crazy child on the poor unsuspecting animal.  I know the golden rule: Ask first, then pet.**

Down the tube slide together!

More birthday madness

Another new tradition in our family is that the birthday honoree gets to pick the evening meal location.  Not surprising, we ended up at Chuck E. Cheese.  Now, I don't know if it's just me that thinks this place is mediocre at best, but I adored it when I was a kid.  Like, REALLY loved it.  So, I'm pretty sure either 1) it's gone downhill in a HUGE way over the last 25 years, or 2) my parents were saints for spending as much time there with me as we did.  Probably a little of both, right?

Somewhere, I have a picture of a 2 or 3 year old Justus doing this same thing.  I need to get the pics together to compare them.  It'll just make me cry.  Never mind.

Delaney wanted in on the game action, and headed for the one with the steering wheel.  Can't say I blame her.

This must have been a very serious shoot-em-up game going on here. 

Delaney mostly wanted to just wave at the mechanical mouse the whole time.

Justus thanking Delaney for coming to his birthday dinner. 

She is clearly more interested in getting to and putting out a fire.

Happy Birthday, Big Kid!

On Saturday, we had Justus' birthday party with all of his friends.  He picked out a Star Wars theme this year. A good time was had by all, I hope.

Balloons and little sister are here.

Let's get this party started...

Friends pausing from pizza for a smile.

Off to attack the GattiTown employees with balloon swords

(or lightsabers, depending on who you ask)

Listening to the Limbo directions. 
Sadly, most of these kids had never played it before.  I'm so old. 

Can you tell who is not going to do well because he's not listening??

Awesome cake, by Tiffany, of course.

Family picture time

Ready for a song, a wish, and some cake.

Ready to open presents.  Heaven help us.

Parents--seriously, I know the kids love watching their friend open what they gave him/her, but save yourself and open the gifts at home.  The kids would really rather play, anyway.  It takes a long time and there's a lot of "I can't see!!!"  Injuries happen, it gets ugly.  Just sayin...

Two of the cutest guys in town, dressed for the occassion.

Justus had a wonderful time and we are so appreciative for everyone who came to celebrate him.  He spent the rest of the day playing with all his new stuff while the rest of us rested...or tried to, at least.

Wednesday's Winning Words

Ok, so it's Thursday, shoot me.  Although, Monday was a holiday, so it sort of makes today feel like Wednesday.  Yeah, we'll go with that.

For some reason, Justus has been very interested in discussing people's ages lately.  I'm not sure why, but it could have something to do with the fact someone had a very special 5th birthday on Tuesday, so the anticipation got him thinking.  This was the first birthday he really anticipated.  I'm talking counting the days down, like an Advent calendar kind of anticipation.  What was the first birthday you remember getting excited about?  I think for me it may have been 6, but I can't remember for sure.

As an unfortunate result of his curiosity, he's been asking me 1) how old I am, 2) how old Daddy is, 3) how old his teachers are.....you get the idea. 

The other day he tells me: 

"Mommy when I am 5, you will be 35 and Daddy will be 38 [true statement]...

and when I am 17 you will be 100."

Pardon me? 

We will be increasing the amount of time he spends on math in the near future.

  Of course, later in the same day, he told me:

"Grandma told me she is 45." 

 Grandma.  Really?

I'm pretty sure he's never had this conversation with his Grandma, and we've discussed not asking adults (ladies, in particular) their age.  But, this child is obsessed with people's ages. 

Can't wait until he asks a complete stranger.

Five. An Open Letter to Justus

Five. Years. Old.

I can't believe that five years ago today, I began this unbelievable and inexplicable journey known as motherhood.  What is it about "five" that makes him seem like such a big kid?  Is it because he will be going to Kindergarten this year?  Is it because he doesn't need us to do almost any major life skills for him anymore?  Is it because he'd rather play with his friends (real or imaginary) than with me?  Is it because he says the funniest things, that sometimes make him sound so grown up?

Whatever it is, I'm still not sure how I feel about it.  It's kind of a love/hate sort of thing.  My little man is five, and I somehow feel like I couldn't think of him as a "little" kid anymore even if I wanted to, forget "baby."

Justus--

*You, my child, are ALL boy.  Your favorite things right now are anything superhero, Star Wars, John Wayne, Cars 2, Hot Wheels...

*I love that you spend a good bit of time talking about what kind of "community helper" you want to be when you grow up.  That lesson at school particularly resonated with you.  We've heard policeman, fireman, oil well firefigher (thank you Daddy and John Wayne), and Interpol agent (you know, so you can catch bad guys all over the world). 

*You are my chatterbox.  I'm not quite certain how that could have happened, it's not like anyone in our house is long-winded (ahem!).   I love discussing things with you, but you presently have this tendency to repeat yourself, and repeat yourself, and repeat yourself, and repeat...  Let's just say your dad and I have looked for the "off" button.  It's not there.  Sleep is only a slight interruption.

*You play by yourself better than any kiddo I've seen.  You can turn any situation into a dream world of fun stuff to do.  You seem to prefer to play by yourself quite a bit too--mostly because not everyone else wants to play by your rules....and you do like your rules.   Apparantly, the dogs do ok with your rules, so you play with them quite a bit.

*You are a bit bossy with your friends, and we are working on that.  It is tough for you to understand that not everyone wants to do it the same way you do.  I get it. I feel the same way to a lot of the time, but compromise is a skill we must continue to develop. 

*You are a good eater, when you get something you want to eat in front of you.  Still working on eating what we are eating, but you are much better about it.  I'm certain that your propensity to sustain solely on hotdogs and blueberries is entirely my fault.  You must be going through a growth spurt because you have been eating A LOT lately.  It frankly terrifies me a little to consider your consumption as a teenager. 

*You are "long and lean" according to Dr. H., just as you always have been.  We'll get your official stats tomorrow when we see him, but you wear size 5 pants, solely for the length.  You could still wear a 4 (or possibly even 3) around the waist, I'm sure.  Depending on where I get them, you wear a 5 or 6 in shirts.  Many size 5 shirts are too short for you to wear, but some 6s are too big.  So, sorry you look a bit sloppy right now in a lot of your clothes, but you are at a weird size.  You wear a size 13 shoe...we may start calling you bigfoot.  I love it though, I hope you grow to be 6 foot 5.  I kind of like the idea of my "little boy" towering over me some day.  And you'd have to be about that tall for that to happen. 

*I cannot emphasize enough how much you love your little sister.  You are a phenomenal big brother-- better than I could have ever hoped for.  You ocassionally get a little rough with her, but it's obviously never intentional.  You want to help her around the house, be silly to make her laugh when she is upset, and hug and kiss her every night before bed.  You play very well with her and her toys (which you sometimes forger are HER toys).  The two of you laughing together is about my favorite sound in the world.

You are a kind soul, which I just love.  Your silliness is unparallelled--may you never lose that.  You love to dance and sing and be happy.  You want everyone around you to be happy too.

You were our first miracle, and I thank God every single day for the blessing of getting to be with you as you experience all that life has to offer.  I thank you for the new and different perspective you have brought to my life--it is a gift for an adult to ocassionally see things through the eyes of a child.  You have truly amazed me since day one and it has been an honor and a pleasure watching you develop into the very special young man you are.  Each day is an adventure with you.  I look forward to all that this year has in store.  I love you so much more than you will ever, ever know.

January 17, 2007

 1st Birthday

2nd Birthday

3rd Birthday

4th Birthday

Happy Birthday Justus!  Love, Mommy, Daddy and Delaney

Wednesday's Winning Words

At Kidd's work, they had a bunch of toy guns that were going to get thrown out, so he brought one home for Justus.  This toy gun does nothing other than look like a gun and make a popping sound when the trigger is pulled.  Justus is determined that said toy gun is his golden ticket to rule the universe.  It has gone everywhere with us since he received it.  Sunday, on the way to church (no, he wasn't allowed to take it IN to church, just in the car--we're not that bad, people), Justus was playing with his gun.  Keep in mind that he has been admonished since the moment toy guns/knives/swords, etc. were deemed acceptable play items in our home, that they are never to be pointed or aimed at people.  So, as we are almost to church, I hear this pop of the gun, and then:

"I did not shoot my sister."

Me:  "Ok, good.  But, I don't think anyone accused you of shooting your sister."
J:  "Ok.  Because I did not.  I did not shoot my sister."

Guilty conscience much???

The Help - in a different time and place

Let me preface with the fact that I read so much in my career, that I hardly ever read for pleasure anymore.  I love to read (at least I did), but between the time I spend staring at pages upon pages of words during the day, and my inclination to automatically doze off once everyone is home, dinner is done, kids are in bed, the house is sort of picked up in preparation for the next day, and I finally sit down....well, let's just say I can't remember the last book I read in its entirety.  There are several that I have started, and I think they are all probably pretty good.  But I wouldn't know, because I never finished them.  Sad, I know.  I was an English major, so this has been hard for me, but I am finding it's the trade-off for being a lawyer.  At least one with small kids. 

Having said that, I have been dying to see The Help.  We don't get to the movies very often, and I think the one time while it was out that we did, I just didn't feel like crying.  And, I heard you cry.  A lot.  Pretty sure we Kidd opted for Rise of the Planet of the Apes instead.  I'm not going to discuss that.  Anyway, we finally got to rent The Help Saturday night, and I must say, it was AMAZING!  Kidd loved it too (why does he doubt me??).  Talk about getting so many mixed emotions going at once.  Wow.  It got me thinking.  About a lot really, but specifically, about the help we had growing up.

For those of you that don't know, my mom passed away when I was six and my brother was 11.  To say that my dad worked full-time would be a gross understatement.  My mom stayed home.  It was obvioulsy a difficult time for me then; but now, with the retrospect of a grown, married, woman raising my own kids, I cannot even begin to imagine the void this left in my dad's life, and the burden he faced on top of a terrible loss.  Clearly, he was not equipped to do this by himself.  We had help in the form of grandmothers that was so appreciated, but that was no long term solution.  So, he hired The Help.

Our first "housekeeper", as we called them, was actually a cousin named Elizabeth.  I loved her.  She was young, fun, and it was great just having another girl in the house.  I don't remember how long Elizabeth was with us, but eventually she moved on and another one came, and another, and another.  At one point, I noted to someone that we'd had more housekeepers than the Von Trapp family (this will make sense for you Sound of Music afficionados).  By my count at one point, a total of 19 women entered and exited our lives between the time I was six and 16.  Some stayed for years, so it makes you wonder about the others.  I think the one who stayed for the shortest amount of time was with us only 3 hours.  Never even moved her stuff in.  I believe there was something about a bird, that was not mentioned until the day she was set to start.  We were not bird people.

The review of this cycle in my head led me to consider it in comparison to The Help as portrayed in the movie.  In many cases, these women stayed with their employing family for years and years.  Sometimes, raising generations of the same family.  They did not live in the homes, probably for the same pathetic and illogical reasons they were not allowed to use the same toilets the families did, but they did raise those babies and keep those houses in order.  Really--where's the logic?  You are not good enough to sit on the same toilet upon which I sit, but I expect you to raise my baby (which invariable requires touching, holding, cleaning, kissing, feeding), clean my house, and prepare my food.  Sure, makes perfect sense!   In a world that made no sense, I guess it did.  They were paid next to nothing and treated like trash so often, but they were the heart and soul and influence on those impressionable young children.  As Mae Mobley said to Aibileen at one point in the movie, "You are my real mama."  Their touch upon a household was felt every day in every way, all the while their bosses made an inexplicable effort to treat them as though they didn't exist.  These bosses, who were deemed the pillars of society.  Note: I am ignoring the fact that the villaness in the movie is president of the Junior League.  She'd never make it in our League (although, I think Skeeter would have fit in nicely)!

Our housekeepers may have lived with us, cooked our meals, chauffered me around to my various activities, run the errands needed, grocery shopped, and been at the house to meet the cable guy or other service tech, but they were no substitute for the parenting that was done in our house.  My parents were at every softball game, every choir concert, every band concert, every volleyball game, helped me with my homework, disciplined me, loved me, and parented me.  I think some of our housekeepers loved me, but I never looked at them as having a more important role in my life than my parents.  And now, if pressed, I couldn't tell you half of their names.  I'm sure it wasn't always the ideal situation (obviously, or there wouldn't have been so many), but good for my parents for structuring it in a way that gave them somebody to take care of all the household things that needed to be taken care of, so that they could work their very busy jobs and parent.  Maybe it is because it's another time and place, but that makes more sense to me than hearing my child cry, only to send someone else to respond while I sit there doing nothing.  Our help truly was a "house" keeper.

Now to a new time and place.  I often joke that I need "a wife like me" to help.  I do have a bi-weekly cleaning woman, but I would love to have someone cook, run errands, grocery shop, straighten the house, etc. so that I could spend more time doing fun stuff.  And, by fun stuff, I mean hanging out with my family all day.  We do have help.  We have tremendous help.  We aren't quite (and probably never will be) ready to have live-in assistance, nor do we have someone who takes care of our children while we whisk away to our more *important* lives.  Alas, I continue to be the primary errand-runner for our household, but we have wonderful young ladies who help.  I may have mentioned a time or two that we have great sitters for our kids.  And we do!  We are blessed with amazing young women who truly love our children, babysit for us when they could be out doing more age-appropriate things, bring our children safely home from daycare, attend birthday parties, and the list goes on.  They are our Help and they are every bit as important to our family and livelihood as the Help in the movie, because they allow us to function in the way we need that best suits our family situation.  We parent our children (as it should be), but it is beyond comforting to know that if something happens in the middle of the night, we have someone to call who knows our kids well enough that we can leave them with this person without a shred of concern that any need might not be met.  The toughest part is that they are usually college students, and they go and move away (yes, Maurcie and now Meagan, I'm talking about you!).

I guess in different generations the idea of the Help is different.  I am relieved that the blood-boiling situations presented in the movie are no longer the acceptable norm.  Even more, I am relieved that I was not raised with that as an example of appropriateness.  I liked what I had growing up, but could have done without the live-in person in our house.  Presently, we have what works for us.  I love that these ladies are a part of our family, they know they are always welcome, the kids always love seeing them, they are all on Justus' prayer list every night, but we are still the most important grown-ups in our kids' lives.  With that, I send a HUGE shout out of thanks to Meagan, Shanon, and Maurcie for all they have done and continue to do for our little family!!  Please know that you are more than just The Help to us.  We love you girls!

Maurcie moved away awhile ago, and I don't have any pictures I can find of her with the kiddos (note to Maurcie--we must remedy soon!!)  But, here are a few of Meagan and Shanon with the kids.

The kids with Meagan and Shanon at Halloween

Meagan and Justus at Delaney's baptism

Meagan helping Delaney walk

Delaney with Shanon at WDS Christmas Program



Justus and Shanon at Santa's Wonderland



It's a good news kind of day

In my attempt recently to do some catch up blogging, I failed to share the good news we got Tuesday about Justus' ear.  We went back to the ENT for his hearing test, the first since his surgery this summer (had to wait for total healing).  You may recall from an earlier blog post that the doctor told us he expected that a normal loss in Justus' left ear would be about 50-60%.  So, we were all anticipating that.  We have not been *as* hard on the boy about not listening to us because we haven't been sure yet about how much loss there is, and therefore, how much he is actually hearing us clearly.  We've had lots of discussions about "Did you hear what I said?"  "Ok , tell me what it was."  to verify that he heard us when giving directions.  Let me just say, that boy is in some serious trouble!  The doc told us that even he is surprised by how well the results came back.  Justus' hearing in his left ear is almost in the completely normal range.  Hallelujah!  He said he almost never gets results that good, and he was just as thrilled.  So, the truth is that he's just been ignoring us.  For now, I will take that happily because that means my baby is doing great!!  Aside from living with a tumor in his ear that will require fairly regular attention, all is well and the result is pretty outstanding.  Everyone's prayers are so appreciated!!

In other great news....we have a walker!!!  Sort of.

We are so thankful for our blessings!

Wednesday's Winning Words

Justus had a doctor's appointment yesterday morning, so I got him back to school late.  When we walked in the building, Delaney's class was in the gym playing.  He walked by, stopped, backtracked and dropped to his knees.

He looked up at me and said "Mommy, I see BEAUTIFUL Delaney in the gym!"  and then he proceeded to wave feverishly through the glass at his sister. 

We walked on toward his room and again, stole my heart with "Mommy, my sister is so pretty!" 

L*O*V*E*

I guess it's not the first time he's admired her on other side of the glass. 

*smile*

Holiday Hangover settled--UPDATED

**Picture overload--this is your fair warning!**

We hope that everyone had an amazing Christmas and a Happy and safe New Year's Eve celebration...and that 2012 is off to a fabulous start!!  I know that if I were a good blogger, I would have updated over my week "vacation" with precious pictures of all the fun Christmasy stuff we did, and then again on the 1st with our rockin' New Year's Eve celebration (which consisted of the kids in bed, Kidd sleeping in the la-z-boy, and me reading a book with a glass of wine while the Dick Clark special was on).  Alas, I sorta suck at this.  SO, I bring you good holiday cheer--1) you will find a representative group of pictures below, demonstrating moments from the whole break, and 2) part of my New Year's resolution is to be more consistent with my blogging.  Don't be surprised to find random short entries on a pretty regular basis.

We had a wonderful holiday, which passed much too quickly.  Typical.  We started on Christmas Eve morning with our mini Christmas at home.  Since we travel for Christmas, we designated this time to exchange our gifts to each other so as not to have to load them in the car and then bring them back.

Delaney was less impressed with the morning's events...

Then we headed off to Lytle to be with Kidd's Grandma Granberg, and the whole Granberg family.  It's always a great time--all the aunts and uncles and cousins that can attend do, and it usually ends up being around 30 or so people.  Kidd is the oldest grandchild (of 15) in this family, and the youngest is now a junior in high school.  When I first started attending Granberg Christmas, roughly 13-14 years ago, Kidd and the cousins around his age were the "kids" table and the little ones ran around.  Now, we sit with the other grown ups, those "little ones" who are between 16 and 20-something are the kids table, and there are 11 great grandkids...well, 11.9 since one is due in the next couple of weeks!  6 of these great grandkiddos got to play and run around together this year.

Justus, Hanna, Jake and Freddy

Delaney got to spend time with lots of the grown ups, since the big kids understandably (and probably to everyone's benefit) didn't have much interest in playing with her.  Here, she's getting some quality time with her great grandma. Funny point of interest--our kids have two living great grandparents--both wonderful women named Dorothy!  Hmmm, something to that?

Late Christmas Even night, we hopped back in the family truckster, and Justus and I pulled up my Santa Tracker app (wow, times have changed!) only to find that Santa was on his way to G-Daddy and Darla's house.  So, we raced over there and got immediately into bed so Santa would be sure to stop by with a few trinkets for the kids. Which he did.  Despite Mom and Dad's threats that he may not. 

We woke up to find that Santa had come.

I particularly like that Santa reminds them to mind their parents.  Smart man!  There was a partially eaten cookie left, but Justus decided to finish it off for him before I got to take a picture.

Santa footprints from the fireplace all around the room.

Christmas morning was a great adventure as the kids tore into their loot, to find that Santa brought exactly what was wanted.  How does he do that? 

The beloved Tiger Castle. 

Not sure what it does, but it was specifically requested.  Note the Santa pj's.  Kissing up, perhaps? 

I will be the first to tell you that Justus did not get much on his first Christmas.  He was 11 months old and had no idea what Christmas was.  We decided there was no point in doing all the hoop-la and would save it for when it really mattered to him.  We did the same for Delaney last year since she was all of 3 weeks old at Christmas.  If it were up to us, we would have done the same this year since she still is oblivious.   However, previously-mentioned-now-almost-5-year-old was having none of that.  There have been a few conversations about what Santa would bring Delaney.  So, I have now identifed the one, and so far, seemingly only time the 2nd child actually gets MORE than what the 1st child got at same lifestage--we had Santa gifts for Delaney this year so that Justus wouldn't question why the big man from the Northpole didn't leave his little sister anything.  I suppose if I were more clever, I could have come up with some explanation about Santa not bringings gifts to babies because they don't know, etc. but I just wasn't.  So we did.  It was fine.   But no pictures, because as expected, she didn't really care.  We did take a few pics before they changed out of pj's to get ready for lunch.

 They had fun playing that morning with toys and each other and just hanging out. 

 

Delaney and G-Daddy chillin'

                 Darla helping Delaney down the stairs with a  newly acquired microphone

My brother, Jason, and his family came over for lunch and we had a great time.  They have two boys that Justus loves to play with, even though he is in between ages of them.  All three boys played and had a great time...and didn't destroy the Barger home.  Cute family, huh?

 Christmas night, we took Darla and the kids down to the river barges in San Antonio to look at the lights on the river. 

Cold, but excited.  Can't you tell?

Being a San Antonio native, I have seen the river lights, river parade, and have been on the river barge...a time or two, but it wasn't something we did a lot of.  It was a great time taking the kids down there and pretending to be tourists.  I actually learned a lot about the Riverwalk area.  And, I would much rather have done it in cold weather than the 100+ temps we get down there in the summer.  One note--if you do this, take a military person, senior, or local with you.  They all get discounts.  Not that it's pricey, but a discount is a discount.  The fact that I was born in the Alamo City and lived there for 18 years got me nuthin'.  Hmmm...

We hiked it back to good ol' Aggieland the day after Christmas and Kidd went back to work while the kiddos and I had time off.  Justus went to Powersports and ran himself tired with new friends while Delaney and I ran errands and took down Christmas decorations.  And just spent time together.

New Year's Day was great family time--we went on a walk, ate the required New Year's Day foods, and just enjoyed hanging out.  We even watched a little football, I think.  Delaney watched the dogs, mostly.

It's funny to me to notice the pictures that get snapped before I do her hair in the morning.  I am beginning to think this will be a lifelong issue for her.

Now we are back to the hustle and bustle of regular life, but in the year 2012. 

We await all the wonderful adventures and remarkable moments it holds for us.