Year End Review

With 2011 rapidly approaching, I wanted to do a recap of 2010.

January we found out we were expecting! John celebrated his 31st birthday. Uncle Tom came to visit. John went to Cincy for a Bengals playoff game. Mom and Dad came to visit. They stayed with Nathan while John and I went away to Miami for the weekend for the Pro Bowl.



February we spent a few days in Crystal River with my parents. They are went snorkeling with the manatees.





April was a big month for us. Steve and Heather gave us a new member of the family. Our nephew Dawson Lee was born. We made our only trip home for the year. Cheryl and Ed were married bringing John a step dad and the boys a Paupie! And we found out our second bundle of joy was going to be a boy!





In May Aunt Emmie and Uncle Matt came to visit.



June Scot and Sue were down here and we got to visit with them.



July Mom came to visit. We celebrated Nathan's 2nd birthday!



August Mom and Dad came to visit and we spent a week in beautiful Siesta Key! John and I celebrated our 3rd Wedding Anniversary! And John went to Chicago for their annual Men's weekend.



September we welcomed Logan John into the world!!! Third best day of my life :) (1st my wedding, 2nd Nathan's birth) Grandma came to visit and take care of Nathan. John's Grandma went to be with God. And Mom came and stayed with us for 6 weeks to help with everything.





November John was promoted! Grandpa and Jane came to visit. And I celebrated my 28th birthday.



December we celebrated Christmas all month long as usual. And we got to spend our Christmas as a complete family of four :)

I am excited to see what 2011 has in store for us. I pray for health and happiness for all!

Kominsky Family Christmas 2010

Christmas was a HUGE success! And so much fun! Nathan really didn't understand the whole Santa concept but was excited none the less. He got a ton of presents! He was very cute about it and kept saying thank you. We could have stopped after he opened his stocking and he would have been just as happy. That is what I admire about children the most. They are happy and satisfied with the smallest and simplest of things.






I also got spoiled as usual. My favorite gift is always my card from John. I love reading what he has to say. He is always so sweet :) I am very blessed to have such a great husband and partner in life. God sent me such a wonderful man to spend my life with :)

Nathan had a blast playing with all of his new toys. The biggest hits of the day were his drill from Grandma, his Thomas the Train set from Santa, and his Buzz flashlight from Nana & Pop Pop. He was drilling everything! And I think the train batteries are already almost dead! Hearing him squeal with delight just made me so happy. We are very blessed that we are able to have such a nice Christmas.





We would like to send a big thank you and lots of hugs and kisses to our families! Even though miles seperate us we are all together in our hearts. Hopefully one day sooner than later we will all get to spend the holidays together again.

Christmas Eve!!!

It's Christmas Eve! I wanted to blog before Christmas and catch up on the past week before all the excitement of tomorrow morning hits.

Wednesday I baked (John helped a little) about 20 dozen cookies for his work. That's a TON of cookies! I think they turned out wonderful considering a few years ago my cookies would always turn out like concrete. I think John even had fun helping me decorate the sugar cookies! Then that evening we went to Christmas at the Zoo. It was much better than last year. The boys enjoyed looking at all of the lights. And Nathan rode his first roller coaster!




Yesterday Nathan smacked his nose on the coffee table. As far as we can tell it's just scratched up. It really scared me but he is acting and has been acting completely normal. It's not the first and certainly not the last time he is going to hurt himself. I guess I need to buy stock in Neosporin and band aids since I'm a mother of two little boys!

This morning Nathan and I baked and decorated sugar cookies. I think more of the icing ended up in his mouth than on the cookies. I kept catching him slurping it from the tube. Tonight we are going to build a ginger bread house.



We are so excited for tomorrow morning!! I just can't wait to see the look on Nathan's face when he sees that Santa came!!

Anita C. Holman aka My Mom :)

I feel that in life we don't always take the time to tell our loved ones how we really feel about them. My mom is one of the most important people in my life. She is the most important woman in my life. I may not always tell her but I love her dearly! God could not have given me a better person for a mother. She is the most loving, self giving, patient, kind, (the list goes on and on) person in this world. I am not just saying that because I'm biased. Everyone who meets her just loves her. And anyone who gets the chance to really know her has been blessed by God. She really is an Angel on this Earth. She would give the shirt off her back to a stranger in need and not think twice about it.

There have been several times in her life where she has had to make sacrifices and put her own needs aside to take care of others. And she has NEVER once complained about it. She really is the strongest person I know. Most people could not have done half the things she has. She doesn't have a selfish bone in her body. And many times her sacrifices and hard work goes unnoticed. But I notice Mom, and most importantly God notices :)

Growing up I rarely ever saw her angry. She was always so patient with us kids. I was never afraid to talk to her about anything and I'm still not. She really is my best friend. My best confidant. She has never judged any of the choices us kids have made. She is always there to offer advice if we ask it. She lets us live life and praises us or picks up the pieces afterwards. I really admire this about her. And she always knows the exactly perfect things to say.

She was there for Nathan's birth. She witnessed our first miracle. And when Logan was born she stayed with us for 6 weeks. Not many people would leave their job, their husband, their dog, their house, their life to travel a thousand miles to take care of others. And Nathan and Logan just adore her. She goes above and beyond for my boys.

I just pray that one day I can become half the woman that she is. She has showed me what real pure love is. She has been the best role model as to what a mother should be. I hope my sons someday feel the same way about me that I feel about her.

So Mom even though I don't always say it thank you for always being there. Thank you for showing me what it's like to be a real mom. Thank you for loving my sons so much. Thank you for treating my husband like one of your own. Thank you for appreciating all of us just the way we are. Thank you for loving my Dad. Thank you for loving Emily, Jonathan and myself unconditionally. Thank you for always picking up the phone day or night. Thank you for always making me laugh so much it hurts. And thank you for being my best friend. I love you!!!

Christmas is in a week!

Christmas is a week away! I really can't believe it! Nathan has so many presents under the tree and hidden away it's crazy. This kid is so spoiled. Or as my mom likes to call it "overly loved". I am excited to see his face when he starts tearing into all these gifts. He isn't going to know what to do with himself. I'm slowly trying to weed out some of his toys to make room for the new ones. The hard part is sneaking things out of his room without him seeing. He feels like he needs EVERYTHING.

I just have to get through four more days and then we are in the home stretch. John actually has Tuesday evening and Wednesday afternoon off. I am counting down the hours! We all really miss him!

I read a book today that I picked up years ago. It's called 100 Simple Secrets of Happy People. It really sent a light bulb off in my head. It really is simple to live a happier more fulfilled life. Many things in the book I am already practicing but I also learned a few things as well. I will start applying more of the principles in the book to my everyday life.

Christmas is approaching way too fast!!

Christmas is right around the corner! This season always goes by soo fast. I'm sure John would beg to differ. Wednesday we went to the mall for a few odds and ends. We decided to start the Elf on the Shelf tradition with the boys. I think it is such a cute idea! We named our Elf Griswald. Nathan still doesn't exactly get the concept but I think he will come around.



Thursday we took Christmas pictures of the boys. Nathan didn't want to cooperate but we did get a few cute ones.







Last night John and I had a date night! We went to see Trans Siberian Orchestra. We left the boys with a sitter. Logan's first time. I was really nervous all week but he did just fine. Maybe I will start to slowly loosen my grip on the boys. I just can't help it. They are my life. I did enjoy myself at the concert. It is really important for John and I to have time for ourselves. It's nice to act like teens again and forget our worries for a few hours.



Nathan has started talking to full sentences. I'm so proud of my big boy! He is super smart! Yesterday he said to me "That's Dadda's shirt." (I had on John's sweatshirt) I said yes I know I'm wearing it bc I'm cold. He said "why don't you take it off." And while he was eating lunch I asked him if he wanted to bake cookies. He said "Not yet momma. I finish my pasta first."

I gave Logan applesauce for the first time yesterday. He LOVED it!! He couldn't get enough. Looks like my baby is ready for solids. And he is "talking" and moving around so much. He's going to be going to college before I know it!

Logan

My baby boy is growing up way too fast!! Every parent always says this. I just can't believe how time is flying by. I feel like just yesterday I was counting down the days until his birth. Now I'm looking back and thinking where the heck did the last three months go??? He is such a healthy happy baby. He is bigger than Nathan was. He is also calmer and more laid back than Nathan was at his age. And you ready for this...he is already in his own crib and has been there for a few weeks now!! He gives me a 4-5 hour stretch at night and if I'm lucky 6. It is wonderful!!! And Nathan is sleeping in his own bed about 90% of the time. So John and I are actually getting some sleep two and half years into parenthood!!




It is hard for me to swallow sometimes that Logan is my last baby. And no that does not mean that it makes me want more. I am very happy and content with my two boys. Just a little sad that the second time around is going even faster than the first. I'm just trying to cherish every second of Logan (and Nathan). And it blows my mind that Nathan will be going to school in a year and half (VPK)! That scares me more than anything. It will be very hard for Mommy not to know what is going on every second of his life.



God has blessed me such wonderful children and an awesome husband. I couldn't have hand picked a better family. All three of my boys bring me such happiness that I cannot describe. Of course we have our moments but that's just part of making memories. I will end with this quote "Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."

December is finally here!!

Soo since we only have one vehicle we have to cram in as much stuff as possible on John's days off. He was off Wednesday and Thursday and we had so much to do. BUT it was fun stuff and we all really enjoyed ourselves.

Wednesday morning we went and got our family pictures taken. The one we picked turned out pretty great. I just love my little family :) Then we had a new family ornament made and had lunch at the mall. On the way back home we stopped to get a Christmas tree!!! John and I both grew up always having real trees and have continued that tradition throughout our adult life. I just love the look and the smell of a fresh tree. We wouldn't have it any other way. And half the fun is picking out the tree every year. Nathan had a blast running through all the trees. We got home and set it up. Then John worked on getting the outside lights up. When he came back in we decorated the tree. Nathan was way too excited and couldn't keep his hand off of anything. I just hope most of our decorations survive this year :)



Thursday morning we headed out to Orlando. The Millenia Mall has the BEST Santa ever! He is the REAL Santa...I'm convinced. And the photographers do such a great job. We bought the CD of candid shots they did of the boys. SO cute!! On the way back to Tampa we stopped at Downtown Disney to get Logan a baby's first Christmas ornament. Nathan has one from Grandpa that is super cute. They are going to mail it to us when it's ready and I can't wait to see it. When we got home John finished up outside and then we got started on inside. The house is probably 95% done at this point. Just have a few finishing touches left.







This Christmas season is my favorite so far out of the past 8 that I have shared with John. I will borrow a comment from one of my friends - Children make the holiday season magical. That is so true. Looking at how Nathan's face lights up and how excited he gets for as he calls it "Christmas Stuff" just warms my heart. It makes John and I feel like kids again and really enjoy all the little things. Right now Nathan is obviously still too young to understand the true meaning of Christmas but I plan on getting him his first Bible this year so I can begin to teach him about God.

And the weather has been great the past couple of days...cooler!! It actually sorta feels like Christmas outside!! John's next days off are next Wed and Thurs again and I can't wait to spend family time with him having more Christmas fun :)

Oh I forgot to mention that Nathan was terrified of the Dinosaurs at the T Rex restaurant. He loved his little dinosaurs and plays with them all the time. But when he saw the huge moving ones he freaked!!