That’s right friends, it’s true. Yesterday I overheard a coworker talking about how it was Canada Day. I immediately reverted back to two years ago when I began this blog. It has officially been one year since I have completed my daily holiday extravaganza. Do I miss it? To be completely honest, no. I got really burnt out towards the end of that adventure and life got real crazy not too soon after I finished (more on that later….). I do miss some aspects of it though. I miss the actual joy of the celebrations and I really miss the pictures I took every day. The blog gave me an excuse to document my life and the life of my growing baby boy. I now have another little man who I feel is already getting the short end of the stick. He is growing up super fast (10 months already!!) and I feel like I am missing the boat when it comes to giving him new and exciting experiences. I thought about bringing back the holiday celebrations, but not quite to the scale I had done them previously. The cumbersome aspect of blogging every single day is not going to pan out at this point in my life. My mom gave me some sage advice after I gave birth to Leo and then had a major emotional breakdown the first time I took both of the boys out of the house on my own. (Roman had decided just before leaving that it was a good time to ‘paint’ the kitchen floor with some nail polish he found in a drawer….yes, this is funny now, but at the time I could not stop crying about it. Mothers – you know what I’m talking about….newborns/pregnancy/labor make you a blubbering fool.) Anyhow, I digress; Mommy told me that the next 5 years of our lives were going to be a blur. A wild, fun, emotional, what the hell is happening here blur. It has been nothing short of what I was warned about. I love my family and I love where we are at right now in our lives, but sometimes it is just too much and I just want to push fast-forward. Rich and I have done a pretty good job with finding time for ourselves. This is an important part of parenting/marriage as well as maintaining your own personal sanity. My blog was a little piece of me every day. I had made the commitment and I accomplished it and I have wonderful memories forever. I want something like that again. I need it. So, in that vein, I have made a few new commitments. One actually just fell right into my lap this morning. I sort of took it as a sign that I need to do it. Some of the Western Wayne Fire Authority (WWFA…you will be seeing this acronym a lot so get it straight in your brains!) wives are going to run the Tough Mudder obstacle course next year. This thing is hardcore. I have been quite the lazy lady these days and I needed something to give me some fitness motivation. This is going to do it….or it is going to kill me. Either way, it will be a fun adventure getting there. I made the commitment and I will stick to it. Mark my words – one year from now you will be seeing pictures of me and all the other tough firefighter wives covered in mud and loving it! My second commitment is going back to my holiday blog. As I mentioned earlier, this will be nowhere near the daily posts I had required of myself before. I will commit to celebrating a holiday weekly. This may be a daily holiday that falls during that week (no repeats from before!), a weekly holiday (yes, those exist too!) or a monthly holiday. I am going to be a lot more flexible with it this time around. My only constraints are that I have to post at least once a week. I am not going to be nearly as organized this time around either. I am not going to keep track of how much money I spend or figure out every holiday a month ahead of time. My sole purpose here is going back to why I did this in the first place – to find happiness in the everyday. I want my kids to have these memories and this blog forces me, in a good way, to 1) take more pictures and 2) write things down. The simple act of recording what at the time may seem like a small, unexciting event is really solidifying an awesome memory for both me and my children. That, for me, is more than enough reason to start it up again. So, readers, this blog is a bit more ego-centric and personal than my last one. I invite you all to read and follow along and I welcome your comments and participation as always. I’m excited about this and I’m ready to start a new chapter in my life. Now, back to my ‘more on that later’ statement earlier, here is a quick and dirty wrap-up of the past year in the Dege Family:

 

Leo – Leo Peo Pizza Pie (this is his weird nickname for no apparent reason) was born on August 23rd. He is a good baby, but he unfortunately gets sick a lot (downside of daycare). He has already had 3 ear infections, boo. When he is not sick/teething/tired/hungry he is actually pretty great to be around! We thought he was going to be the calm child….he is not. He is getting crazier each day and I fear what is going to happen when he starts to walk. He adores Roman. The feeling is not mutual. He is tall and built like his daddy – tough! I am currently trying to decide on his 1st birthday theme. I cannot believe he is almost a year old!!

 

Roman – Roman talks….a lot. He talks about everything. He will give you the play by play for the most mundane task. “Momma’s making banana bread. Oh, she’s melting butter in the microwave. That’s sugar in the bowl. We’re gonna mix it up. There it goes! She’s mixing it up!” Yeah…..no filter whatsoever. We love it though, he is hilarious. He has a love/hate relationship with Leo. I think he secretly likes him, but he does a good job of hiding it. We are currently working on potty-training with him. It is not going well.

 

Rich – Rich made it through his one year probationary period with the Westland Fire Department. Yay! He loves his job and we are all extremely proud of him. As most of you readers may know, the Westland Fire Department lost one of their own in a structure fire in May. It has been a really difficult time for everyone and this tragedy has opened our eyes to the true dangers of his career. On the other side of things, this has really brought the WWFA firefighters and their wives together. It is a true brotherhood and family and I am taken aback each and every time I see the support everyone has for one another. Rich is lucky to have his dream job and we are lucky to be a part of something much bigger than our little family. In other Rich news, he is doing a fantastic job with his second occupation – watching our boys on his days off. I love that they have this time with their father and I am eternally grateful that Rich is such a great dad to our boys. He’s just the best!

 

Hayley – The most major thing that has happened to me over the past year is moving to a new position at work. I made the choice to leave the department I was in and take a lesser role at the same company. I am much happier now and I am glad I made the move. Less stress is always the way to go. Speaking of less stress, we FINALLY closed on our Garden City house last Wednesday. Yes, that is correct, it only took 14 months to go through that process. It was awful but it is over now and we can now move forward and start really settling into our Farmington Hills home. Yippee!!!

 

Other News – My brother and Vanessa got married in April. Rich, Roman and I were all in the wedding (Leo stayed home that day) and we were very happy to officially welcome Vanessa into the family. My mom quickly turned Steven’s old room into what is now referred to as ‘Roman’s room’. Talk about spoiled grandchildren, both Leo and Roman have their own rooms at my parents’ house now! Over the past year we have welcomed 3 more (4 more if you include Leo) posse babies into the mix – Pierce, Cole and Morgan. Babies everywhere! I am sure I am missing some major events here, but these are the biggest things I am remembering right now.

 

So, that’s all the news that’s fit to print for now. I feel good writing this and I have only positive feelings about this new undertaking!!!

 

Be Happy!!!

*Hay*