Hi!! It’s been way too long away from you guys and I PROMISE not to do that again!!! I can’t believe it’s been 15 months since I posted last!! What a crazy 15 months it’s been.
Here we go!!
May 2013: We finally sold our house to Venti and Mocha!! Can you believe it!? I don’t know why it took us that long to not think of it being the perfect scenario for everyone!! After
we made that realization we also realized that we did not want the
townhouse that had picked out and found another one within walking
distance of Venti and my parents and my sisters!! Plus my best friend lives across the street!! We put in an offer and it was accepted. We had a closing date of July 25, 2013!!
June 2013: Packing, packing and packing!! Did I mention packing? 20 years worth in a large house!! We literally packed day and night!! Some of the things were staying there for Venti which made it easier but boy was it a chore!!
Maya
July 2013: More packing!! We went to the Dominican Republic from July 12 – 19th
and so we had to make sure most things were packed before we left since
when we came back we wouldn’t have much time until settlement!! Vacation was AWESOME!!
August 2013: Settlement was delayed but we finally were packed and out the door and moved in by August 5th! Not much sooner after we moved in did Grande and Tall head off to college for another year!
September 2013: Came home to this!!
October 2013 – December: Joe had a really tough time adjusting to moving and boy was it ever some rough times for all of us. He was battling depression really bad and nothing was helping. The
doctors tried many different medications but it only seemed to make him
worse plus they took away all the daylight shifts at his job and he was
forced to work night shifts which he has done before but that on top of
moving was not a good combination.
December 12, 2013 – The day that my heart added a new love!! Meet Espresso!!! 8.2 lbs 21 ¾”! Joe and I are now Nonni and PopPop!!
Christmas with our new little love!!
January 2014: Joe ended up being admitted to the hospital from December 19 – January 27. It was such a rough time for me and for the boys. I had to be Mom and Dad, work full-time and visit Joe every day. I never again want to go through that. It was a cold long month. Thankfully my boys were home from college and Short had lots of basketball games!
February 2014: Joe was released from the hospital but still not himself. We went to a Wedding of a very close family friend and it was really nice.
Espresso’s baptism was a beautiful event!!
March 2014: Tall turned 21!!
April 2014: We celebrated Short’s Confirmation! Venti was his Sponsor!
May 2014: We celebrated Short’s 8th Grade Graduation!!
Baby lovin!
June 2014: We finished our basement for Grande! Poor thing has been sleeping in an unfinished basement for a year. Now he will never leave! Lol
Before:
July 2014: Vacation in Jamaica! It was amazing!!
August 2014: And here we are!! 15 months later! Time sure flew by fast but yet it went slow. We are finally all settled in our new house and I absolutely love it!!
Joe is gradually getting back to his old self but he’s still not there yet. Short signed up for High School Football and he has never played before but I’m very proud of him for giving it a shot! Grande and Tall are getting ready to go back to school. Grande will graduate in December and Tall in May 2015.
I’m excited to be back to blogging now that my life has hopefully settled down and I can blog on a regular basis. I missed everyone dearly and I appreciate your patience and sticking with me for so long!!
I have lots of new recipes that I’ll be sharing too! Cooking for all these boys is no easy task!!
Welcome back! I've come to check on you from time to time to see how you were. Congratulations on your new grandson. He's beautiful. I think you already know, but if not, I am a grandmother too. My grandson is 18 months. We are Mimi and Poppi. Our littlest one, Samantha, turned 3 just recently. And for the past year and a half I've been doing home shows selling Premier Designs jewelry in order to help out with the family finances without having to be gone too much since I still have so many left at home with the youngest two being 3 and 6. Love your new place. So sorry to hear you've been through so much. I will lift Joe up in prayer for a full recovery. Do you think it was moving that set off the depression?
ReplyDeleteHi Trudy! How nice to hear from you!! Congrats on your grandbaby!! Wow Samantha is 3 already? Seems like you just had her! You do have some littles left at home! That's great about your jewelery business. I hope you do well in it!! How's your hubby doing? I remember the heart problems he had.
DeleteI think it was the change of moving and his job that brought on Joe's depression. Even though he wanted to move, his mind couldn't handle the change I guess.
Glad your family is doing good!!
Holy cow! What a busy year! The baby is adorable, and now that he's a little older you can really see his personality shine through the photos! And he looks so much like Mom and Dad! Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteHilarious about the new house/selling to your son- ha! I did a double take at the beginning though because your new house looks like what I remember your old house was like from the outside. Could you put up a post about what V & M have done with the place? That was a big house! What are they two up to now? I remember V had just changed things around professionally or something, right?
I am so sorry to hear about Joe. You know how awful my depression was, and they tried to hospitalize me but I wouldn't consent and they couldn't force me. It is a truly awful place to be- to live in a world without hope. But that's how it feels. I can only imagine how draining it would be to take care of someone in the throws of something like that. Joe has also lost a lot of weight! That was really apparent in the photos too. The same thing happened to me. I dropped like 30-40 pounds in a really short time period. Unfortunately when I got better it all came back! Ha! I hope he continues to get better and keeps working on things! I know for me, when it came to medication, it was really important I try out a particular med for at least 6 months. We'd do a long, slow wean on to the med for about 3 months until I was at a theraputic dose, and at least 3 months on the med past that ti monitor symptoms. It can take the full six months to even see any benefit. Daily mediation is not a quick fix. It takes a long time for an imbalanced brain to get back to a normal level of hormones and function the way it's supposed to. Hang in there. It took me over 2 years to find a medication that worked, and then, another full year of being on it before my brain "remembered" what it was supposed to do. I'm not on any meds now and doing great.
It cut off the end of my message!
DeleteAnyway, the one big thing you left off of your update was about you! How are you doing?! How is work! What have you been up to? You are important and matter too!
We've missed you! I'm looking forward to reading again! Also, update your email address- Every time I comment I'm getting an email saying your email account has been closed!
Hi Em! I was so happy to hear from you! I have the same email and I tried commenting and didn't get an email saying the account is closed so I'm not sure what you mean? Help. Lol
DeleteI'll be sure to do a post on me next time and I'll update you on Venti and Mochas house!
DeleteI remember clearly about your depression and I'm so happy that you are better! I know it takes time. Joe has also lost 40 lbs. Just hoping he's better soon! Hugs!!
nice to see everyone survived the year and is looking well and healthy. good to see you blogging again.
ReplyDeleteHi Joanne! So nice to "see" you! Hope you are well and thanks for visiting!
DeleteJava it is so nice to see you after this long 15 months :) lots of family fun and trouble (sorry for your honey being sick)
ReplyDeletebut glad he is doing better now...beautiful baby :) (This is Gina used to be my life in a blog) ((((HUGS n welcome back)))))
Hi Gina!! How wonderful of you to stop by!! Thank you! Hugs to you too!!
DeleteWhat a time you've had. Congratulions on your beautiful grandson. Don't you just love the perfect smooth brand new skin on a new born? The Christmas photos are lovely. House is gorgeous,houses over here in the UK seem to be getting smaller. We are in the middle of selling our house and moving away and downsizing so I know how stressful it can be. I do hope your hubby is getting better he has such a warm and loving family to help him. Good to see you back.
ReplyDeleteHi Anne! Thank you!! Yes his skin is just beautiful!! Moving is stressful and I wish you lots of peaceful, smooth and an easy transition! Thanks for visiting!! Hugs!!
DeleteGlad you are back. Sounds like a lot of wonderful things have been going on for you. Just so sorry about Joe. Hope he is able to get the help he needs. These things are so hard. All the best to you and your family.
ReplyDeleteMy hubby is doing very well. He has completely recovered and has reversed his heart disease and healed the damage that was done to his heart. It's been 2 1/2 years since his heart attack. He works very hard to stay healthy. He is very disciplined with his diet and exercise to prevent another occurrence. I admire him for that and am also very thankful. You and Joe hang in there. Please let him know that many of us out there are thinking of him as well as praying for him and that we care and to not give up. Change is hard and can throw anyone into depression. Let him know it will get easier in time and to take it one day at a time. He has so much to live for and to try to focus on that and those who love and need him. Take care of yourself and try to remain strong. I know it's hard to see a loved one suffer. It takes an emotional tole. I will pray for you too. Thank you for the update and sharing your beautiful family with us. You are so very blessed. You are a beautiful person inside and out. Much love to you and your family.
ReplyDeleteWelcome back. Looks like you've been busy. Espresso is gorgeous. I'm glad to see you back to blogging. You're going to love being a grandma.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lot going on with you and your family in the past long 15 months! Espresso is adorable.
ReplyDeleteWelcome back Java - you've been missed!
ReplyDeleteWould love for you to connect with us at Friendship Friday at Create With Joy! :-)
Create With Joy
http://create-with-joy.com
Espresso is just beautiful! I will be praying for Joe. :)
ReplyDeleteI read every word of this post. It is so nice to see you posting again.
ReplyDeleteI am now at http://ditchingthedog.wordpress.com/