So much for that!

So much for last year's return to blogging. But, like old, old friends who can pick up on the thread of a conversation after not seeing each other for years, let's let bygones be bygones and start anew. Here's what we've been up to this year:

Not a very flattering photo of Jake, I'm afraid. But yes, that big boy is Owen, 2 and a half now, and the little one is Jake: Jacob Wyatt Howard, who joined our family on June 25 (so I finally got my JuneBug afterall!)


Life is good with our boys. Busy. Owen still goes to daycare twice a week, so I get a few days of quality time with Jake, which is really nice. Maternity leave is very different this time around, it's much busier with two kids, even if one of them isn't around part of the time. But I'm loving it. Jake is a wonderful baby, even more easygoing than Owen was, if you can believe it. Right now the poor little baby has a cold. He's snotty, and coughing - he wakes up barely able to breathe, he's so stuffed up. He's too little to blow, so I'm trying to use the suction bulb and also just squeeze the yukkies out with lots of baby wipes. He complains while I'm doing it, but then I get the best smiles still.


(If I could find my missing camera cord, I would upload some recent pics of those awesome gummy grins. Oh how I've missed you, gummy grins!)


Maternity leave has reacquainted me with some old friends, too. Valerie welcomed Sadie's little brother Ridley in September, and Marie-Helene welcomed Justine's little brother Sebastian in October. A third girl from our original group, Andrea, is expecting a little brother-or-sister for Lola in February. It's nice to see all these girls again - we kind of lost touch when we all went back to work.


It's definitely not as easy to work out with two kids as it was with one, but I'm trying. Jake and I have been getting out for a run at least once a week, although that's kind of slipped lately. In January, we start a mommy fitness class, and Erica and I have a standing walk/workout date on Wednesday mornings. I'm still aiming for the Refridgee-Eighter on February 15, but I have a long way to go before I'm ready for that. I'm also hoping to do the same Try-a-Tri this summer that I did when Owen was 14 months old - that way I'll know I'm back.


I've been working on Jake's birth story for a while, when I do get it finished I'll post. In the meantime, let's see if any of my loyal friends and family have kept an eye on this page, in spite of a year of no updates! :) We're off to work on our Grandparents' Christmas gifts from Owen.