Where did 2 months go?

Apparently I am incapable of being a mom, working only 2 days a week, AND maintaining a blog. I'm not sure what that says about my mental capacity or my time management skills (I'm going with the latter). But needless to say, there are a ton of updates to be put up. I feel like I should try and go back to where we left off and fill in each little gap that we missed. However, that would take waaaay to long.

So I'm going to touch on each subject, and post more later :)

-My baby is now 8 months old!
       When did this happen? Six months seemed ok. Not too old, but not a little baby either. Seven months, ok. A little bit on the older side. EIGHT months!?! He's almost a year old! For some reason this age puts me over the edge about him being such a big man. I've already been searching for first birthday party ideas (probably in place of updating this). I'm a terrible party planner/decorator, and have several friends who rock in this area and will also be having first birthday parties for their own little ones this summer. So I'm feeling the pressure to make his first birthday an "event to remember". We'll see what comes out. I'm sure I'll have looked and planned so hard, so only have a so-so actual turn out. Disappointing for me. Either way, Declan won't care or remember. Only what we have in photographs. All I know from my first birthday party was that it was outside on my grandparents patio with my family and a few kids that I can't name. Point being, I'm going to try and not be so critical of myself and focus more on having a good time with D-man on his birthday, rather than be so concerned if the party theme turned out how I wanted :) (more on D later!)

LOVING the new play table!

-Valentine's day came and went with no big celebration. Matt was in Chicago. I was working. And D was hanging out with Julie (our new nanny, well, new back then. She's been around a few months now!) This was all fine with me. I'm not big on the chocolate and flowers and card bit. I'd rather just have a relaxing family night in.

-We had plans to go to Napa Valley at the end of February but instead Matt went to San Francisco without me (only because his flight left before mine). I was stuck on the runway in a plane that couldn't take off. D was home with my mom who drove up here to watch him for 4 days, and my in-laws were snowed in at our house as well because their flight to Las Vegas was cancelled. So our weekend getaway turned into a 2.5 hr drive home in blizzard conditions (praise the Lord I actually made it back home), D was sick with something awful, my in-laws and mom snowed in at our house with us, Matt flying to Springfield, MO the next day and driving a rental home with no sunglasses on (he claimed snow blindness after that trip). Not as relaxing as I had hoped. Matt's dad shoveled our driveway about 3 times that weekend because it just kept on snowing! (He should have just waited until the whole storm was passed, but I think it just gave him something productive to do.) And of course, it snowed again a few days later after everyone left and it was just me and D. Then it was my turn to shovel and clear the way out after the nice snow plow left a 5 foot drift at the bottom of the driveway :/ I was missing Matt's dad that day!

Just the 2 of us, watching it snow.

I didn't have a snowsuit that fit, so a jacket
and blanket made do for a quick picture.

Watching it snow some more, but from the
inside this time :)

My backyard...

-There's officially been 3 'snowmageddons' here in KC this winter (just since February actually). As I type I'm watching the third round of snow slowly seep into the ground. We only got 9" this time around, as opposed to the 22" we had accumulated from the last two snows (see previous paragraph). I'm done with snow for this year, seriously. Easter is less than a week away people.

-Hold on to your socks, because this announcement is a doozy..... Matt and I are already planning for Baby #2!!!
       For a long time, Matt and I have known that adoption would at some point be apart of how we built our family. Well, with how long things can take (ex. paper chasing, waiting, traveling, court dates) we decided that if we wanted D and our next kiddo to be somewhat close in age, then we would need to get things started. We officially started the adoption process with our adoption agency at end of January. If things go relatively smooth (which they never do in adoption, or rarely at least) we'll be looking to bring home our child in the summer of 2014. This is quite awhile from right now, but we're not ready for another baby in the house just this minute anyhow :) (more on this will follow!)

-We recently spent an extended weekend in Memphis with Matt's brother, Dan, and his wife, Kelsie. Not sure why I thought flying solo with a baby was a good idea, but lucky for me, D is easily entertained by total strangers. Matt flew down from Chicago, and I met him at the airport with D in tow from KC. I was pretty nervous about how he would handle the flight. I just didn't want him screaming the entire time as other passengers glared at me annoyed. I honestly think the worst part about the actual travel was my fretting over it. The people on the flight there were very kind, and willing to make funny faces, and talk to D. He was amused and gave out a lot of smiles and giggles. Everyone around me thought he was pretty great. The sweet young lady next to me kept poking him and trying to tickle him, and even went so far as to offer him her Goldfish snacks. I declined on D's behalf since I figured I didn't want to add choking into the picture. We had a great time in Memphis. It's always nice to see Dan and Kelsie and catch up. I imagine the 4 of us all growing old and vacationing together, playing cards together every Wednesday night (I assuming we live in the same city, because in my dream world we do), and just being old and crazy together. The flight home didn't go quite as smooth, since D was about 2 hours overdo for a nap during the flight. But he did finally manage to go to sleep shortly before we landed, so the 10 minutes of fussing wasn't all that bad.

Arriving in Memphis and waiting on Dad.

We had our very own 'Harry Potter' sleeping
in a closet under the stairs. We shared a room
with him and there was no way he was going
to sleep as long as he could see us, so we put
the crib in the closet. Much better as strange
as it sounds!

This is a whole new level of cheese...

There was no one next to us on the ride home, so we took
full advantage of the space!

Landed back in KC with one tired baby boy.

And that brings us up to date for the most part. Matt's birthday is this weekend, and I'm hoping to make it better than last year (we were in the middle of our hospital stay for D's heart). It's also Easter!! We're making a trip home to celebrate with our families, so I'm pumped for a great weekend :)