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Happy Holidays!
I have one word that summarizes my past year
MAINTAINENCE. Most of my time is taken up with trying to maintain
my sanity, emotional stability, patience, my flabby figure and all
around rosy outlook on life. As some of you may know, we welcomed
our fourth child into the world in May. Like the other three, he
was unplanned but very much loved. I spent from January to May
wearing maternity clothes from my past three pregnancies and five
fashion seasons ago. I was trying desperately not to have to buy
anything new. I must say I looked pretty stylin' in my stretch
pants and oversized sweaters.
In February we found a house that could actually
fit our entire family especially with a new baby on the way. So we
began the long stressful process of putting our lovely "cracker box"
on the market. With no garage, three bedrooms (the “master”
bedroom, in the loosest sense of the word, doesn’t have a closet)
and one bathroom (the ceiling slants so much you can’t stand upright
in the shower),--oh the amenities are too numerous to list, it was a
challenge. But I digress. Let’s just say we still haven’t
sold the house. Add the stress of moving at eight months pregnant
with three kids five and under and you have one cranky, very
unstable mommy. Luckily we got moved in before baby #4 arrived.
On May 6th we welcomed little Samuel Michael into
the world and began to adjust to life with a new baby and becoming a
family of six. The three big kids did quite well. If you don’t
count the many hours they had to watch TV and remain quiet while mom
tried to calm the always-crying infant, they adapted quite nicely.
Other highlights of our year include:
Jack (our 5-year-old) eating our
daughter’s poop (in his defense he thought it was a fruit snack),
finding half of our daughter Elise’s wardrobe on the Lost and Found
table at school during conferences, Tommy’s constant antagonizing
of Jack and endless fighting between the two, and Sam’s average
three-times-a-night wake-up calls. All and all it has been a year
to remember and cherish. Even with all the chaos and frustrations,
we are a very happy family (really!) and love each other very much.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New
Year to you and yours!
The Braswell Family
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About the Author: Allison Braswell
lives in Mankato Minnesota with her husband Ben and four
children: Elise, Jack, Tommy, and Sam. She received her
Bachelor’s Degree in English from Minnesota State
University and has been an at-home mom since the birth
of her second child. In her free time she
enjoys reading, spending time with her family, and long
walks (alone) around the neighborhood, since there are
no beaches in Mankato. 