Reasons

As I mentioned in my last post, this is the first time in 4 years that I have not boarded a plane for Romania immediately after Christmas. There were two main reasons why I didn't go this year. The first was that I'm trying to save money. I have some big plans for the spring and I'm trying to funnel my fundraising efforts into that. The second is that my sister-in-law was due to deliver my nephew (my first!) on Jan. 9. Since I don't get back from Romania until Jan. 7 that would have been cutting it close. Plus, the closer we got to Christmas the less likely it seemed she would actually make it to Jan. Low and behold...

Baby Levi Harold is here! He arrived right smack in the middle of the afternoon (12:16 p.m. to be exact) on Sunday, December 28.

Little man weighed in at 5 lbs. 14 oz. and was 19 3/4" long. And, yes, he has blonde hair!

Levi and daddy

It's a little surreal seeing my "baby" brother with a baby of his own but I couldn't be happier for him and my sister-in-law.

At home with mommy

This is one proud Auntie and I'm so glad that I was here to love on him in his first moments of life.

Welcome to the world, little Bubby! Aunt Melissa loves you!

A Different Kind of Day

Normally on the day after Christmas I would be doing something much different than what I am. Normally I would be rushing around throwing last minute items into suitcases, trying to put a few more gifts into nooks and crannies, packing another pair of wool socks, and getting prepared to head out to the airport for 14+ hours of travel halfway around the world to my second home, Romania. Today is different though. I'm not doing any of those things. For the first time in 4 years I'm sitting in my pajamas, knitting, and watching movies. I'm torn. My heart wants desperately to be with my kids. I want to see my friends and tramp through muddy snow and hand out Christmas gifts and get snotty noses rubbed on my sleeve. At the same time, I want to enjoy my family and friends. I want to enjoy my time off and relax and reset so that when I have to head back to work I can keep a somewhat clear frame of mind. I know that 2015 is bringing big changes to my life and that one day I will look back and realize that not spending 10 days with my little ones is nothing at all in comparison to what day to day life will be like. But, for right now, I'm feeling bummed. A bit sad. A little lost and pretty upset. I have already let the kids know but I wonder if they feel any disappointment. If it even comes close to the disappointment I feel. Anyways, I'm having all the feels and I hope that you will be a little understanding of me at this time as I try to process everything that is going on in my life right now.

Heading out (Christmas 2012)

Accidental Hiatus

It would seem I have dropped off the face of the Earth for the last month or so. Nothing could be farther from the truth however. Unfortunately, I had gotten into an unhealthy cycle of waking up late, rushing to get ready for work, working like a mad woman all day (including, most days, through lunch), coming home and working more or being so tired I would just sit around and watch T.V. until bed time. Not terribly exciting or productive. The blog isn't the only thing I have been neglecting though. My quiet time, exercise routine, and knitting have all gotten put on the back burner as well. I realized earlier this week that I need to work on getting that work/life balance back in check. I know that, naturally, certain times of the year will be busier than others but I feel that the work part of life is starting to take over. It's not that I needed to put in a few hours one weekend to get caught up...it's that I have to work *every* weekend in order to get caught up. Not good. Anyways...the struggle continues...

In other news...I *finally* finished all the knitting for my kids' Christmas gifts (remember I started on these back in November) and sent them off yesterday. I'm praying they reach the kids by Christmas. One of those is a gift for M. who lives at the severe special needs orphanage. If the present is late in getting there she may have to wait awhile to get it since Heart to Heart (who will be delivering the gifts) doesn't go there as frequently as the other orphanages. I have a lot of emotions about not seeing the kids at Christmas this year so I think another blog post may be in order to process all that.

My allotted 15 minutes for blogging is up so I must be off to get ready for work. Hopefully, I will be back, with pictures!, soon.