2009

First off - Who won the 15,000th Visitor Sweepstakes?! You little turd for not posting! lol

We survived another year here at the Z's. What did we accomplish...

1. First and foremost, we survived being a family of 5 :o) Victor is such a sweet addition to the family. Such a good boy. Dirk loves smothering him with kisses and playing catch with him. Eve loves to sing and "mother" him. We've been blessed with three, beautiful (but definitely BUSY) children :o)

2. Ryan's been back to sales for just over a year now and loves it - and is REALLY good at it! I'm proud of him.

3. Ryan also started a new journey in his life and is on track to become a professional bass fisherman! It's a journey that will take him a few years, but I know how competitive he is, and once he puts his mind to something, I know he'll be great at it. So, surprisingly to many, I'm behind him 100%. I'm not sure why that is surprising to so many, why wouldn't any wife stand by her husband and support him in whatever he choses to do? I'm a firm believer in "God puts dreams in your heart for a reason." If you have a passion for something, who am I to put a damper on that?! He is all signed up and ready for his first co-angler in March. I can't wait to see his success!

4. We paid off 2 debts this year (one medical and one student loan). I hope that by the summer of '11 we'll be completely (well, not the mortgage on the duplex lol) out of debt! This Christmas we paid with 100% cash, not even using the debit card! I'm thankful for finding a way for us to accomplish this that we can stick to and that is super easy :o) In the beginning, it was tough and I wasn't sure it was going to be doable. But as we made the first steps, everything fell into place and we've made MORE money than we thought! God's rewarding us :o) We're on the right path, and I'm hopeful that it is all paid off well before the summer of '11 mark! I'm ready to move on from living here and moving into a home that we fit in lol!

5. Dirk has made it thru half a year of Kindergarten. Where did the time go?! He's doing much better now that a routine was set and he figured out his limits. He's definitely my son! lol Hopefully the return to school after Christmas break will be no problem. He has brought home so many cute things! I love the pic he drew of our family, and I want to frame it. He drew Dad tall with hair on the sides of his head only, Mom with long hair, Eve with short "girl hair", himself with lots of hair on top of his head, and little victor crawling! Too cute! I thought he drew a pet or something at first. But since Victor doesn't stand up by himself, he drew him crawling like he usually is!

6. Eve. There is never a dull moment when she is around. She is always singing, which Victor loves to do also, so we have a little duet on our hands. I cannot tell you how much she loves My Little Ponies, I think she just about gave herself a heart attack opening ponies on Christmas! She is slowly getting into Barbies. She will talk your ear off if you let her. And she has absolutely no fear. The other night we had a "Tickle Fest" with the kids and Eve would hug herself and then leap at you like a football player (shoulder first)! It knocked the wind out of me once when I didn't see it coming! She is definitely the gymnist in this house. My little monkey girl.

7. Little Victor. I just LOVE holding this little guy. He'll crawl up to you when you're sitting on the floor and lay his head on your chest or tummy and say "huh" and give you a hug. It's the sweetest little thing. He is the best cuddler. And I love that he will giggle almost uncontrollably when he is overtired, just like Dirk did. We survived him breaking in 15 teeth this last 9 months, and we're working on #16. Such an overachiever lol! His absolute favorite toy in the world is a ball. We just bought him a football with birthday money from GG Athman and he LOVES it! Second favorite toy is his shapes sorter. It's cute watching him learn how each shape goes into a different slot - especially when he tries to put it in the wrong one, stands up, and leans on it to try to force it in! :o)

I hope 2010 brings you lots of peace, love and happiness! I'm excited for what this year will bring for us! Only time will tell!