The First 1/2 of 2008 Update!

OK whew, so now that I have transfered all my information from my update to this blog I guess it is time to update on 2008. I will be cancelling my website most likely in December to save money as well as blogging is much easier to post.
PJ is now 9 and 1/2 months old. He is crawling, pulling himself up and standing next to furniture. He is an absolute joy and the whole family is in absolute love with this boy. It is so sweet and makes me get teary when I hear Peter talking to him and calling him "son." PJ has6 teeth so far. 2 on the bottom and 4 on the top. He loves to eat. It is funny how God blessed me with two children that ABSOLUTELY loves to eat......Anya and PJ. Then I have two children that do not like to eat, Galina and Mary. PJ will eat waffles, cheese, ham, eggs, pancakes, cheerios, ANYTHING. He is a very happy baby and started saying dada in July.
Mary had her fifth birthday in June (how can that be?). She has had such big changes this past year. Such a big girl. She started riding a two wheel bike in April and though she learned how to swim last year (more like learned how to not sink) this year she has really strengthened her swimming skills so she is confident in the deep end of pools. She is very goal orientated wanting to become an astronaut and fly the space shuttle when she grows up. I cant believe she starts the first day of kindergarten in one week from today. She is very excited. I am a little sad.
Galina finished her first year at the catholic school in the area and it was such an incredible blessing to have her go there. I was actually shocked how much more programs they offered her at this school vs the public school she went to the first 2 years in America. She also learned how to ride a bicycle this year (in February). She has been in Karate since February and earned her yellow belt. She is learning her new role as big sister. While Anya and Peter were gone for 2 weeks she was a wonderful mothers helper with Mary and PJ. She has grown so much.
Anya will be 16 in December. She finished her first year of high school and just Monday we registered her for her sophomore year of high school. Time with my teenage girl is going much too fast. I wish it would slow down with her because in just three short years she will be in college. I want to just stop time with her and teach her everything she needs to know. She sure does like the boys which gives mommy a bit of a stroke. She played water Polo during the winter and loved it and swam during the spring and loved that as well. I am so proud of her , she got a 4.0 at the end of this last semester. She is a very smart girl. Last month she packed her bag (all 25 lbs of it) and headed to World Youth Day in Australia with her Daddy for two weeks. The first two weeks they stayed in Melbourne for Days in the Diocese. The second week they stayed in Sydney. They had a wonderful time and had the opportunity to see the Pope on three occasions. For a special vigil mass they hiked a little over 6 miles and got the opportunity to hike over the Sydney Harbour Bridge as part of the pilgrimage. After getting to their destination they set up camp for over night and slept outside with about 500,000 other Catholic Youth. Over the two weeks In Australia they attended catacethis, watched live stations of the cross, and much much more. The stories they share are amazing especially trading trinkets and religious items with people from all over the world. What an amazing journey these two made and shared with each other. A journey all the more special because it was shared between a daddy and his oldest teenage daughter.
Peter is doing great (heck he should be he just got back from Australia hee hee). Still working as a CPA for the local firm. He was diagnosed this year with three slipped discs to his back. This diagnoses only came after walking like an old man for 10 years with out hardly ever complaining about pain. I finally said enough is enough you need to get checked out. He still has not gone for any treatment as we are still trying to determine what kind of treatment to do. He did participate a little with Galinas karate but with his back he had to keep that to a minimum.
I started back at work after having almost a year off earlier this year. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately with changes in my department and new hires I have been getting called off work a lot. I have been hired on to work extra hours at the two local hospitals. Still waiting to orientate to these hospitals. The kids keep Peter and I incredibly busy with homework and sports but we would not have it any other way. Earlier this year we went to the dark side and purchased a SUV. It was out of necessity because my sister with four children and I (with four children) baby sit share and needed a nine seats to carpool 8 kids plus me to drive. It was a very sad day to get rid of our Toyota Seinna, but I have adjusted. Other than that we are doing great. Busy but great! I am hoping now that I have this blog I will be able to do more updates and typos :).