Winds of change

Things will be changing again today.

I'm tired, and overwhelmed, and excited, and scared, and nervous, and sad, and happy.

I'm even a little superstitious I think. On the day Sabine arrived, Lawrence lost his job. On the day Tamara started as our nanny before that, I broke my foot. Both knocked us off our feet for 3 months. Pun intended. Heh. I'm downright scared of getting a new person to care for our children! :)

Julia comes today, I pick her up tonight at midnight. Sabine will still be here until Tuesday. Five more days. It's bizarre that this year went so fast. And what a year it was.

We lost a job, and got a job, and had a baby, and made it through a pretty life changing year. Nothing earth-shattering, but hard and different and great for us, nonetheless. It's nothing that hundreds or thousands of people aren't going through right now. And we had this girl, this young woman, who arrived, and lived with us, and experienced it all with us. Typical American life? The ups and the downs. She knows us. She KNOWS our kids. She was an extension of us and our love, discipline, and even frustrations with them. And at times, with each other. She was easy and kind and respectful. And she loved us. And we loved her. Love. Past and Present.
And future.

And now things will change.

A new girl, a young woman, is coming today. And she is going to experience the ups and downs of this year with us. We don't even know what they are yet. And I'm sure we will love her and she will love us. She will come to know us and vice versa. And it will be totally different, and totally great, and another chapter in our life.

With this change comes uneasiness for me. I'm happy about it, I'm sad about it. The beginning of one thing stems from the end of another thing.

And on top of it all I've got a lot on my plate. So I'm a little overwhelmed. To give you an idea. As I said before, Julia arrives tonight, tomorrow I have financial statements due to Mr. Gates, who, you know, just invested a lot of money into my little company, then I will food shop for the parties I am throwing this weekend. Yes, plural. On Saturday, my brother, Matt will arrive, we will prepare for Sabine's going away party and Julia's goodbye party. There are 29 people expected. At my house. Which is, by the way, messy and covered with smokey and sandy laundry from camping last weekend and swimming this week. And toys and towels and WEEDS in the backyard. On Sunday, I will say goodbye to Matt and then host a baby shower for my friend Shawna, together with her mom and another friend. On Monday, it's back to work for me, where the hardest worker in my staff is on vacation for 2 days. Tuesday I take Sabine to the airport at the crack of dawn. And somewhere in there I will get to know Julia and teach all the ways of the Herman house and family. And I haven't added Bryson to the handbook, yet, but I should since he requires the most time and effort. Other than Addie who has been nearly impossible as of late.

So my blog is run-on. And my heart is excited and sad. And my party might not be in an immaculate house. Or in a weedless yard. And the food might just be the basics. And the baby shower games might be played on regular paper rather than fancy paper. And the brownies made from a box. And the gift bought on the way. And I will meet my work deadline somehow, I always do. And Julia will be great, the kids will love her, they will give her a hard time at first, but they will love her. And Sabine's family can't wait to see her again. And Matt will be okay. And he WILL come home. And I have some of the best friends and women in my life, family too, some who live far away and support me no matter what. Who let me have that big long cry I needed to have on the phone rather than in their arms. And isn't it fun to be at the other end of THAT call. And, oh yeah, there is a vacation planned this month.

So if I can just make it one week. Things will settle and I can "relax".

And at the heart of it all, I have my Lawrence, my Lily, my Addie, & my Bryson. They are the faces that make the winds of change more carefree and full of hope of happy days to come.

Waiting for Cohen

We went to a baby shower for our wonderful friends, Nichole and Rob, on Saturday night. Their friend's, Sean and Darcy, hosted it at their home and it was wonderful. Hands down the best baby shower I've been too. Men were invited to, so it was a little more of a party celebration rather than a shower, but they got showered with lots of great gifts and lots of love from their friends and family, and that's what it is all about!

Nic looked absolutely beautiful, she does have the glow. Her due date is April 28. She is smiley and her usual positive wonderful self. Rob is a cute proud daddy to be who still thinks he won't be changing any diapers, ha. Lawrence doesn't understand why men don't want to change diapers. He says it is the one part of parenting that is cut and dry. There is a beginning and an end, along with a sense of accomplishment, all within a relatively short period of time. There aren't that many things you can say that about in parenting! Josh and Shawna (and Rachel) came over to watch our kids for the evening while we went out and enjoyed some adult time (at a baby shower, how ironic!). Lawrence couldn't keep away from the yummy dessert table Darcy had set up. His eyes almost popped out of his head when he found a brownie on a stick.

I think Lawrence might have also got roped into doing Hood to Coast again this year as Rob's replacement. I told Rob not to stop training even if he doesn't do it. He said the sweetest thing, "I'm training for Cohen, not for Hood to Coast". Ahh. Lawrence said he was doing the same thing, that he didn't want his belly in the way when he bent down to put on snow boots. Good job dads, getting healthy for their babes! :)

These photos don't show the masses of people and love they had, there must have been 40-60 people there. It was a very fun night for a very fun couple.

Cohen Dean we can't wait to meet you little guy!