OK ladies and gentlemen.....here I go.....

SEVEN MONTHS! Seven months since I have written ANYTHING on my blog! That is a new record for me....but not one to be proud of. There have been several times that I have sat down to write but I just wasn't in the mood. I don't feel like I am totally in the mood right now to write but I am determined to do it!! So I have decided I will break things up by month and fill you all in on what has been going on....

FEBRUARY

As evident from my last post we found out the sex of Julie's baby (who is now 2 months old!) and we were all very excited! But, I'm gonna back up to the beginning of the month when my precious niece Lena turned 3! We had a great time at her Birthday Party and getting to see some of Mike's family and seeing all of Lena's friends again. I was also excited to get to make Lena's Birthday cake again this year! Apart from the party we had a great time playing with Lena and seeing what crazy things she would come up with. The day I got to my sister's house Lena was sitting at the table eating lunch when I walked in. I told everyone hello then went to make my lunch. When I came back to the table to eat Lena looked at me with big eyes and said, "Amy, you have boobies like me and mommy!" My response to that was, "That's right Lena." Matt's response was complete hysterical laughter.

Matt also started his 6 month school internship. He was at a company about 30 minutes outside of Boston so he was able to do a daily commute. We were lucky that he found a local internship so we wouldn't have to move. I was especially not thrilled about the idea of moving for 6 months after we have been moving every year since we got married.

MARCH

Well, I did it...I SURVIVED my first New England winter!!! Still having to wear a coat or sweat shirt sometimes, but there is SUN!! With the help of our friends Stephanie and Mike, I found a new love in my life.... rock climbing! I have always wanted to do rock climbing...other than the kind you do at malls, on cruise ships, at the space and rocket center...etc.. So our friend Stephanie has been rock climbing since college and she and her husband Mike go to an indoor climbing gym. Well, they just happen to be going one day and I told them I was coming too! So, I got a crash coarse on climbing and off we went!! I absolutely LOVED it!!!! About a week later we were able to find a time when Matt was able to go climbing also. So then he got a crash coarse as well and off we went again!

We also welcomed a new member to our group of friends the end of the month. Our friends Kelly and Paul had their second child. Little girl named Claire!

Matt "falling"

APRIL

One thing about our group of friends here that I love is that all the husband are great about accommodating the wives for girl time! "My girls" and I had a Spa day which we really enjoyed. The two moms of the group especially enjoyed some time away from home! However, the newest member of the group (baby Claire) did join us later in the day so she could have her dinner.

Matt turned the BIG 3 0 this month!! For his birthday present I surprised him with a cooking class the week before his birthday. I didn't tell him what his birthday surprise was, I just told him to be ready at a certain time and what he needed to wear. Luckily he couldn't figure things out just off of that... So we took the subway (the "T' as they call it here is Boston) to get to the class and I told him to just get off when I said. After we were off the subway I gave him his birthday card which gave him a clue as to what the surprise was and the guessed it on the first try! The class wasn't exactly what I had expected but we did have a great time. Seeing that this was the BIG 3 0 for Matt I had to do something else on his actual birthday. I will try to give the short version here... One of his classmates and I conspired to do a surprise dinner out with friends. So I had been telling Matt that I was going to make his birthday dinner ON his birthday. (One thing my family does is we always have our special birthday dinner and Mom will make you whatever you want.) Well it turns out that I "didn't get that day off work" (ie... I lied to Matt and told him I was working but I really wasn't) so as far as Matt knew I was at work all day. So the day of Matt's birthday I actually did have to get up and pretend to go to work because he didn't have to leave for school until about 9am that day. Luckily my friend Rebecca was home that day so I just went and hung out with her until it was safe for me to go home. I even sent Matt a few text message about work stuff during the day to solidify the idea that I was actually at work....Now back to Matt's classmate, Juan. Juan was in charge of getting Matt to the restaurant where everyone was waiting. Well they ended up doing some group work that took longer than they thought and Juan had to almost force Matt to "go get a beer for his birthday" (ie...get Matt to go to the restaurant) because Matt was ready to just go home. So, it ended up all working out and Matt had NO clue!!

Spa day with the girls

MAY

My family came to visit for a week this month! My parents had gotten a small RV a little while ago and they decided that they would DRIVE to Boston! You will have to talk to them for all the details of their driving adventure, but they had a great time. Julie, Mike, and Lena however, flew to boston.... The first night everyone was here we had a giant slumber party at our apartment (that's 6 adults and one 3 year old.... in 728 square feet....) because the hotel rates for that first night were about double what they were the other nights. Even though it was crowded we had a great time. Just like last years visit, Lena didn't stay at the hotel with Julie and Mike. Instead she stayed with us at the apartment! Matt and I really enjoyed the extra alone time with her in the mornings before everyone came over. Just wish they could have stayed longer.

My favorite part of the trip was swimming with Lena!

Daddy is always happy to have all his girls together!

Duck Boat Tour

early morning cartoons

JUNE

Once again the husbands came through and let the girls get away from it all!! My girls (minus Rebecca) and I had an overnight trip to Provincetown, MA. We did a lot of walking and just enjoyed the culture of this town. We also did a lot of eating and drinking!!

Later in the month Matt and I went back home for my 10 year High School Reunion. I had left a few days before Matt which ended up giving me some extra time to spend with my BFF who was also in town for the reunion. It was fun getting to catch up with people I don't talk to on a regular basis. I was surprised at the large amount of people who still looked the exact same as they did in High School....but I bet that number will be less at the 20 year reunion!!

Drag show in Provincetown


Valerie and her husband Sam

JULY

4th of July was uneventful for us this year.... I had to work that day and the day after so we just hung out at home together when I got off work. We did manage to see some fireworks from our apartment window though. The great thing about me working on the 4th was I get paid a Holiday premium!!

We did however have some excitement the week after 4th of July....Julie was having frequent and painful contraction which she believed to be the real deal, so we hurried down to Alabama to be there for Davis' birth! BUT he didn't come..... The day we left to come back to Boston, Matt told Julie that Davis was to be grounded first thing since he had teased us all into thinking he was coming. Ultimately, Julie was scheduled to be induced and I made another trip home (without Matt this time) to be there for his birth. Well, Julie got induced and they found that Davis was breech. Thus Davis arrived via c-section. Both Julie and Davis did well. However, Julie probably did well because of the nice little morphine drip she had after! Lena was very excited to be a big sister and was so very sweet to Davis!

AUGUST

Well let's just say that this month I worked my butt off!! (look mom...I said butt, instead of another choice word, just for you!) I had several extra shifts which resulted in multiple 48 and 56 hour weeks in July and August. BUT is was all so that I could have off 2 weeks of work without using my vacation time. So the first part of my two weeks of vacation was spent in Colorado visiting Matt's side of the family. We hadn't been to Colorado in almost 3 years, so it was time for a visit! The other half was spent in Alabama....mostly in Birmingham with my sister. We spent most of our time playing with and helping to take care of Lena and Davis...and we loved every minute of it!! We also got a chance to meet up with my friend Jessica and her family while we were home, and got to meet the newest addition to their family. Getting to see Jessica made me realize how much I really do miss her! But also that I am glad we aren't studying for nursing tests together anymore!!

Matt also finished his internship this month and had a nice long break from school. However, he did use much of his time off to get most of his thesis written.....and he played some video games too :)

When you play legos with Uncle Matt...you don't just build towers...you build suspension bridges!!

SEPTEMBER

WOW! I did it!! I made all the way through the last 7 months!!!

Well, its back to school and back to work for us...... We have been spending a lot of time with our friends when we can and are excited to get to see some friends who have been gone for their internships. Matt is also working hard on looking at companies to work for after school.....recruiting is already starting!!

Well, I have said it before and I will say it again.... I am going to try to do better and write on here more often....but who knows what will happen.... Maybe I'll start with trying to write at least every 3 months!! Hey that is better than every 7 right??!