Ringing in the NEW YEAR

Well, as I sit here with my cup of brownie mix and a spoon, it's hard not to reflect on the changing of the guard. Bringing in the new, saying goodbye to the old. Hold that thought, need more brownie mix....You know, these things will never make it into the oven. I think my husband is eating his with frosting. Anyway, 2006 started out really really bad. In a matter of two months, I lost 5 real estates deals - I wont tell you how much money. It was ugly. And depressing. But I seemed to have finished the year with a BANG and will be starting this one with a new contract. Not bad. And everyone thought that people were done buying real estate in FL!! Actually with 1000 new residents every day or every hour or something scary, well we dont have to worry about that. Especially not where we live - 3 blocks to the water and 3 blocks to downtown. Smart move. Maybe we'll actually sell our house this year and see some of that profit.

What else. Well there was that emergency surgery I had. Who knew a simple birth control appointment could send you to the hospital? Although, it was nice to have a night in a bed all to myself for some peace and quiet!!

What else did we do? We went to WA twice this year, GA twice, and FRANCE once. Not bad at all. Maybe this year, we can make it back to Cali. I find myself missing CA sometimes. I miss a few of my friends, the mountains, the pedestrian lifestyle and my husband MOST definitely misses the snow. But so do I. Zoey is old enough to start skiing, and if we stay in FL, the chances are high that she might end up like her momma - a flatlander, someone who should never strap on skiis. And I think that might depress her father.

My girls. Well, when you're only 1 and 4, a year changes you ALOT. Zoey really lengthened this year - she looks so skinny to me. She lost her babybelly. She loves to wear dresses and things with flowers. Last year I discovered a brand of clothing called Keedo. www.keedousa.com They are of course her favorite clothes. Perfect for our climate, light, breezy, and beautiful colors. She's just such a girly. She seems to have gone out the princess stuff now, and is right back to where she was before - obsessed with animals. Mostly kitties. She loves those my littlest petshops. The bugs, the kitties, the snail. The snail. A funny story from France. She had one of those little toys in Paris - it was the snail. She was obsessing about the snail - it went with us everywhere. On our way to the Louvre one day, it had taken us about 3 hours to make it a half mile since her sister wasn't cooperating in the stroller. We passed a small cafe and Zoey goes momma I'm hungry, can you get me something to eat in there. And her father goes no, they eat snails in there honey. Youre snail wouldn't like it. She of course had to verify this with me, and quite frankly, it was the truth. That bullet was dodged (dont worry we had like a grocery bag of food for her to eat in the stroller - she just didn't want it). However, she did lose the snail that day in Paris, never to be found again. We did of course tell her that someone probably ate him....and before you go thinking we're bad parents, I just found her a replacement snail....

Then there's the little one. She's currently getting FIVE new teeth - mostly molars. ARRR. The mindnumbing brutality of teething is something that I can NEVER get over. I guess we were lucky with Zoey in that she got most of her teeth early. So by the time she was one and half, she was cute, fun, smart and just soooo amazing. That is in fact how we ended up with baby number TWO. It's a good thing we dont want anymore kids. Audrey is cute, smart, fun and so amazing as well - only most days, the teething issues will really put her and us over the edge. I sold my maternity clothes. Yeah, I mean it - I'm done. I dont really want to go through the "baby" thing anymore. Neither does my husband. I'm ready for the next step. Fun things like more traveling, owning a boat, eating a meal in public, going on a date with my spouse. These aren't huge things to ask for (well maybe the boat...). Oh, this paragraph is for Audrey. Well, she's adorable. All 30lbs of her. Yep, a 30lb one year old! Zoey only weighs 37lbs and she's 4. The ped assures me that's she is proportional - and she is - her height AND weight are both in the 90%s. She seems to have some early budding sports abilities. Not ones seen in her sister. It's kinda cool. The other day, she was kicking a ball around the backyard. It never left more than 12inches in front of her foot and she never missed it. The control of the ball had me in awe. I played soccer for years and could never do that. Plus, for her speed, she was running. Impressive to say the least. So, I guess she's going to be our little sports player. I hate to typecast my kids so young, but its just that her sister would rather pick flowers in our yard. They are both so much like my husband and myself separately - its kinda funny. Not only does Zoey look like me and Audrey look like CJ, but their personas seem to also reflect us. Of course, being our kids, they both have traits of the other person too...but still, some of the similarities are uncanny....

Our health in 06. The girls spent most of 2006 in a doctors office! Zoey had her adenoid removed and tubes put in her ears. We discovered she was suffering hearing loss due to retained fluid. We just did the surgery in Nov - she has a follow up hearing test next week. Audrey was put in glasses, after a brutal few weeks which involved discussions of scary possibilities like cancer, blindness, etc. It's wasn't good - but glasses, well, not so bad. Nope, she's not sick, going blind or anything too tragic. Just has a little problem focusing...Not to mention that she is doing splendidly with wearing them! And of course she is soooooooooo cute and stylish. My husband took to working out heartily again, and I finally went back to running. I think you can say this family is active. In the last two months, I have currently done 2 races while pushing the kids in the double stroller. No I dont expect to win, but they do enjoy the excitement and I enjoy the motivation. And as for my husband, I think he's feeling pretty good about himself too. Funny story, a couple girlfriends came over one day this month and were commenting on my husband's upper body strength. Words like large and buff were being used; there might have even been a hot. I think I mentioned something like yeah, you should see his butt!

Our plans in 2007 - more success in our jobs is the obvious top priority. Paying the mortgage is always nice. Things will depend on some large plans we are currently developing - nothing I can divulge now. But stay tuned. Otherwise, I would like to be a more organized mom in 07. A full time job and two kids and a 2500sqft house kinda has me overworked, overbeat, and worndown. Not right at the moment, since I've eaten like 3 whole brownies during this post. But I'd like to keep things more organized, stable and by all means, healthier!! More running, lots more running for me. I'm loving it. Especially with this little invention called the IPod!

I would like to make a toast in closing to the family and friends that made 2006 for us. Thank you for the love and support you give us, each of us!! May 2007 bring you joy, peace and good health....

Hugs and kisses to all...