Goodbye 2010, Hello 2011

2009 ushered in lots of changes by way of a pregnancy and a new baby, but that was no match for 2010. Change was the name of the game! Steve got a job offer in early April and our move back to MN was instantly set in motion. A month later we had said goodbye to Chicago and hello to South Minneapolis. It’s been a whirlwind since then – settling into a rental house, exploring new and old neighborhoods, and just generally getting the hang of our new normal in Minneapolis.

It’s astonishing to me how little changed in the seven years that we were gone. Most days it feels like we never left! And as much as we loved Chicago, Minneapolis has it beat in terms of a place for raising kids. We love our yard, the lakes, the pools, the parks, all of the free and accessible parking and of course, the proximity to our families. On the other hand, we have been reminded that the mosquitoes definitely cut summer nights short and the snow is an all-around pain in the rear. There’s absolutely no arguing that winter is harsher in MN than Chicago.

Overall, life has been incredibly good to us in the past 12 months and I speak for us all when I say we are grateful for our good fortune.

In a nutshell, here are the highlights and lowlights:

Highlights:
--Watching Elliott learn to smile, eat, crawl and say Momma. Up next? Walking and talking!
--Starting Sam off at school in September, and watching him discover the joys of learning (he also fell in love with birthday parties and Santa Claus, which was a lot of fun too)
--Cracking the code on potty training. One down, one to go!
--Being able to pop in to see friends and relatives on short notice.

Lowlights:
--Coming home from vacation to find that the garage shelves had fallen on our newly-purchased car while we were gone. So much for saving some dough by buying used!
--Our house in Chicago was sold....for about five days. And it's STILL on the market now.
--10 ear infections that culminated in tubes on Dec. 27. So far it’s been smooth sailing, so hopefully we’re headed for a turnaround!
--Sam’s dog bite right out of the gate in February. I’m really, really hopeful that is the only time we’re forced to visit the ER.
--The six weeks between Nov. 1 and Dec. 15. We were plagued with colds, ear infections and stomach bugs. YUCK.


Here we are ringing in the new year at the Rose Bowl.