A letter about 2014

Dear friends,

This year we left California and came back to NYC. It's become our home base. NY -> Boston -> NY -> Fresno -> NY. We go, we come back. Remember that crazy situation we had with moving and having a baby in the same week? It happened and we survived. Our family is balanced now (2 on 2) but kind of unmanageable. Just going outside takes all kinds of work and almost always ends with me ready to stay home and give up. Winter, you were not made for kids. However, fall here was unreal.

Rinnie was born in June and I still catch myself looking at her thinking - wait, we created you too? How did we have another one? And why are you so happy? Is life really that cool? She rolls, she laughs, and she goes with the flow - mostly. Second baby, I needed you. We needed you. Some teeth should be coming soon and her head is the fuzziest. We all adore Rinnie. (Although tonight, as I'm writing this, it's the end of another long teething?/growth spurt?/sick? day. It's been a lot of candy and Gilmore Girls)

Alta is as wild and hilarious as can be. All girls/women are "little mommies" and all men/boys are "little daddies." One of my more favorite sentences was strung last week while we were out to dinner - "That little mommy...is going in there...to make some quesaDILLAS!" (We were having pizza.) She was born to run around outside and throw dirt in the air. She survived our move and loves Rinnie except when she touches her. She also has a best friend in the building named Sam who she plays with almost everyday. We're starting to look into preschools for her and whoa. Intimidating.

Dave is living the continued sad life of Dave, the doctor. I don't think he realized how long and hard the sacrifices would be on this journey (nor did I :)) BUT. Good news, it seems better to be actually doing what he wants to do - Ophthalmology. He works at clinics, he's on call at lots of different hospitals, he helps in surgeries that will blow your mind, and he does stuff with us. Next up is the OCAP exam in March and a soccer team in the city.

And me. I'm adjusting to a double stroller and enjoying exploring Riverdale, Fieldston, and Kingsbridge. After spending months trying to find a different apartment, we ended up exactly where we needed to be. (In the cheap, nice, Montefiore housing. I shouldn't have fought it!) I've always got some project, idea in the works and I do my best to fit those into the 20 minutes or 3 hours (depending on the day!) of extra time I have. Seriously, two kids = no predictability and I'm not used to that. I did finish that Kickstarter that I mentioned last year and I hope to do more things. (Let's keep it vague.)

This year Dave and I got the best christmas present of all - no moving! Here's to a year full of doing other things that are not moving :)