Farewell 2009

2009. . . what another exciting year to say goodbye to, only to revisit in memory~

The year started with the girls and I being in Florida enjoying the warm weather, we went back two months later to re-visit that warm weather and that time to visit Disney with Derek and his family.

The year also saw Derek and I get married :)-- visit Las Vegas twice, once on our honeymoon and then again with two of my favorite peeps in the world, Me-Me and Mikey.

My babies turned 4 and 7 this year! Abigayle enjoyed her first root-canal compliments of candy and sugary drinks! Amelia was put on a lovely diet of Miralax for habitual constipation and has not had any problems since (trust me, this is a point worth noting as it was a big part of our year with a few emergency room visits).

We went fishing on a charter boat and caught LOTS of big fish, we raised a "capatatiller" from worm to beautiful Monarch, named her Teresa, and cried when we let her go (with the promise she'd come back in the spring to say "hello"), we added a beautiful new family member named Francine Von Fluffy Bottom who is a white Himalayan, I discovered my new love of Botox and Latisse, Derek and I were welcomed into an awesome small group, Amelia got her hair cut very short, the family went horseback riding, I went back to school and can not wait to be writing this next year and say I GRADUATED college!!!!!!

Our sewer pipes broke and we went two days with very frequent trips to Me-Me's and Mikeys --thanks guys, HOLLA!!! Amelia, at 4 years old weened herself of her nightly bubba and moved up to a sippy cup (hmmmmm. . . . .no comment!) We hosted our first family Christmas for the Ortiz side, Abigayle went to the WINGS program in the summer, I was asked to be on the school board and definetly accepted.

I was told this past year by my doctor that I am maternally mature and if I'm going to have more babies "get to it", Amelia moved up to a big-girl bed (that was a sad day), We enjoyed a summer with our new "blow-up" pool which helped Abigayle learn to swim underwater, and did I mention We got married???

What a great year! I'm sure I could write on and on but I won't, I'm just thankful for another year filled with wonderful memories and spending it with the most wonderful people on Earth and thanking God daily for it :)

Abigayle in the front seat

So, I don't think I'm violating any laws here as I've let my oldest daughter Abigayle ride to school in the front seat of my car the past week. The airbag turns off if the seat doesn't register enough weight and the seat belt adjusts to her height so with all the safety issues covered here goes~

It is has been an amazingly insightful week for me as I've enjoyed a co-pilot every morning. I think Abigayle has felt almost on par with me as she has sat cross legged sipping her morning "milk" and listening to NPR-- which eventually turned into a request for Hannah Montana.

I was informed on the first day that Miley doesn't really want to be Hannah any more because she's getting older now and Hannah is kind of for little kids.

The second day I was informed that certain toys are for babies and she doesn't really need to play with those anymore (She killed me with that one)-- I responded with "You know Abigayle, Mommy played with dolls and my little ponies and strawberry shortcakes until she was in 6th grade"-- a moment of silence-- "YOU DID????!!!!"

The third day I watched her rock out and when I say rock out, I mean ROCK OUT to Hannah Montana-- hair wiping around, window down, music blaring-- and I just smiled and enjoyed :)

Today I heard about hurt feelings and misunderstanding and I had to explain "life" in a soft mommy sort of way-- which was taken very well. . .

Thank you Abigayle for such an interesting week, I will treasure it forever :)