Its Post Christmas clean up, bleh!

Yes.. its the beginning of a new year and the feeling of cleaning up and clearing out. I know some people think Spring is a great time to clean.. yes.. that's fine, but for me, a new year means some organization that didn't always happen before. Yes.. that's me.. never ever organized. Its cost me money and stress and time I wish I could have spent with my family... but nevertheless.. a new year and a new chance to claim an organized room, home, or even a suitcase for this flight attendant mommy?!

I have to say when we moved to Kentucky this past May/early June.. I thought I would clear out and be uber organized when we moved into our new home. Wow, was I in for a surprise! Little did I know or wasn't willing to admit.. when its JUST you: you got this. When its you and your spouse: you both got this. When its you, your spouse, and 3 kids: you DON'T got this... in organization speak.

I never in my wildest dreams imagined having the amounts of kids clothes and toys, stuff, and more stuff. Who accumulates all this? Well, apparently a family of 5 does my friend! And its all in how you manage it and work through the "take home" process that I have come to acknowledge is my weakest link. For example.. the mail.. throw away the ads and promotional stuff because I know it won't make it anywhere. The cards, keep. Bills, keep and PAY! All this to say.. it takes small steps and I am mastering them one at a time.. yay!

School Season.. Aka: Heartbreak Season

It's crazy. First off.. School starting in August.. And then.. 2 of my 3 are now in school?! When did this happen?!

I know it would happen eventually but no one warns you when you are planning nursery colors/details, etc, that your heart will break every year because time is flying! Ok.. Maybe someone said something like.."don't blink!" But in all honesty.. Didn't know the heart could handle so much!

Drake is 6 which means he is starting first grade! Wha?! We just met Mrs Denney and Mrs Jones at King Springs like... Yesterday? For kindergarten?! Yikes!!

And now Mailey is starting kindergarten..  She is extremely excited and can't wait to ride the bus with Drake.. Oh my..

Colton has a couple more years (maybe just 1?) with me and his Grandparents caring for him before preschool and Kindergarten.. So we are not yet an empty nester for school but almost!

Promise I will post pictures from their first days!!

Moving on up... to Northern Kentucky!

It's true.. about two months ago.. my husband and I decided to make a change for our family and move to Northern Kentucky in June (2015). We are waiting for our son to finish kindergarten in May and we will pack it all up and make the move.

This move has been on our hearts for a long time.. we wanted to wait for a few things to be in place and the timing to be right. At one point in all this waiting.. a family member said, "why not now?" meaning this next Summer.. and we both said, "why not?!" We have both families blessings and most of our friends knew it was inevitable.. we both are very excited!!

Drake will finish up kindergarten this Spring and be in 1st grade (time is flying!). He has enjoyed (and still enjoys) riding the school bus and coming home every day telling me the color he got in class, which describes the day he has had behaviorally. He reads very well for his level, which I should have known he would be able to do one day, but its mind boggling for me all at the same time. I want time to slow down.. its all going by so fast!! He is so proud of his work and when he doesn't have a good day... he is very quiet because he knows he has to work harder.. its fun/heartbreaking seeing him grow up?! I know I am not the only one?!

My Mailande.. sweet 4-year old Mailey.. what can I say about my artistic, singing, pre-K girl?! She is very (VERY!) excited about going to school next year with "her Drakie." She is excited to use her new backpack and lunchbox (purchased early due to a sale, yay!). She is currently being homeschooled by our wonderful friend Shawmeeka (who also cares for Colton) and she loves telling us what she has had for lunch/snack.. every.single.day : ) She is articulate for a 4-year old which is good.. but has me on alert for words I didn't know she has learned... and songs, for that matter, lol! She came home one day singing, "I'm so excited! And I just can't describe it!" I gently asked her what she was singing.. she said, "You know.. that song when you are SO excited!" I smiled and said, "Do you mean.. I'm so excited! I just can't hide it?!" That was the one : ) 

And finally an update on my 3 year old, my Colton. He is our silly-sweet-wild child-holds-you-tight Moose.. I can't describe how much I love him and am amazed by him all at the same time. He is literally the one who trumps the house rules and dances because he thinks that will excuse him from some questionable behavior. I can say that he has us on alert at all times because we never know what to expect from him... he is 3. That is all that needs to be said..... hahhahahahaha!!!!

That all said.. I will fly out of Atlanta for a while.. teaching some flight attendants some days and being a regular flight attendant for the Great Delta!! I love my job.... didn't know I could have so much fun and have SO many wonderful "family" friends to work with... I can't complain... I love my job and the people that I spend so many days with... just love it!!

I will miss my Georgia fam and friends.. but we will always be able to drive/fly home to see everyone every so often.. so I know we won't be too far away?!

Happy 2013!!

Its a good year so far.. only had to work one day in the first week and I have already started my running program. Not quite sure how far I want to run but we'll see!!

This past week was particularly sad for us.. we had just sent out our Christmas/New Year cards when I mentioned in our updates to friends/family that we still had Beau, our black lab, and how sweet he is, etc. Beau's health took a deep turn for the worst the following days, not eating, barely getting up, and it was difficult for him to move around, etc. For a 12yr old lab their movement can tell you a lot about their health.. and the not eating part was never really something we expected. All this to say, my husband and I made the decision to say goodbye to our sweet boy. I never knew how hard it would be for both of us.. a pet really gets into your heart and your life! We want to have a pet again in the future but we both need a big breather after this past week. Fortunately for our kids.. they are very young to even know the full impact just yet. Our lil man Drake knows he wasn't feeling very well, and we haven't had any questions just yet.. so I am not sure of the impact this has had just yet, so time will tell?!

I pray that we can take a few months off and maybe take in a rescue pet very soon?! We'll see.. no rush but I do want my kids to experience a pet in their life and the love they give so freely!!

Sweet Beauregard!

Where did this year go?

Its already December 17th and I am now addressing some Christmas cards.. thankful for old fashion bribery for a great shot with 3 kids!! I am not ashamed because, well, you gotta do what you gotta do!?

It is December and we now have a 4yr old (Drake), a 2yr old (Mailey), and my 13mth old..Colton is past 1!! I haven't posted since he was 4mths old and that tells you how time goes by SO fast!!

Drake is doing really well being a big brother and loves everything about airplanes and computers.. I am glad my job (flight attendant) lends to his airplane fix! The computer/iphone/cellphone fixation drives us insane sometimes but what can you do? It entertains them for a few minutes and allows for some development in some area in his brain... right?! I am sure of it?!

Mailey is my mini-me.. every where I go..she goes. Let me just say that this thrills me and sometimes does not help me. I love that she loves her baby brother and wants to be with me when we change his clothes, diapers, etc. But sometimes mommy needs to stand next to the stove and doesn't need help.. see where this is going?! I do love my little princess.. she loves putting her doll to bed, and everything else for that matter.. the kitchen spoons, the remote, the phones. When I say she puts the items to bed she lays a blanket over them (or a kitchen towel) and then walks away, leaving mommy and daddy to search for many items (remote, cell phones, etc)!

Colton is my little cowboy.. he bucks and kicks and screams while he does it!! So truly named is that boy that is a little scary!! He is actively moving around and trying so hard to walk that he is almost there. We are in no hurry with him walking, as mentioned above, I am sure things would be moving with him at a very lightning speed and I am ok with waiting : ) He loves his thumb for going to bed, I was hoping to have a paci kind of boy.. but both my boys are thumb suckers.. thats ok, I am sure we will be visiting an orthodontist in our lifetime for something : ) He squeals when he is happy and is pointing in all directions while saying a number of grunts, words, whatever you would like to call them. He says DahDah when we can work it from him and MuhMuh when we want to hear Mommy.. lol!!

My sweet hubby is currently an accountant for a nationwide payroll firm for their Atlanta office.. he is happy to be putting into practice what he has been studying for the last two years! We are thankful that he is done with school and now we are headed to CMA/CPA exams and getting those out of the way.. but no pressure.. just enjoying things one day at a time!

I am still at Delta and flying usually a few days a month.. I teach training more often than not because it allows me to be home on a regular basis. I actually enjoy teaching, too, but I never knew I would have so much fun with a full time job, even after 16 years?! I love my job and what it allows me to do, both personally and professionally!

We hope you and your family have a most wonderful and Merry Christmas and Blessed New Year!!
The Meenach Family

Christmas 2012

4 months now..

This is our little man.. yes, I know he is on a pink blanket but he was lying on the floor just playing..AND where he rolled over for the first time yesterday, yay!

Colton is very healthy, happy and just always grinning (unless he is hungry, or diaper needs changing?!).. he is such the happy camper! I should write his birth story on here very soon.. don't want to forget it : ) I just wanted to post how cute he has gotten since we brought him home this past November, and because I want to keep up with this blog, its very hard, ya know?!

As for the rest of my clan.. well, we are waiting for my husband to finish his internship at an accounting firm in Northern Kentucky and then he will graduate with his second degree, which is in accounting, from NKU. The past two years have been a long road we took when we decided it was best that he return to school.. lets just say that without family, brothers, sisters, cousins, etc we could not have done what we did, especially with our kids : )

Waiting for tax season to be over.. any day now... just waiting! Hoping to update this blog a little more frequently.. so, maybe in a week I will post some pics from a trip to Louisville!

Last night as a mom of 2!

Well, tonight I will go to bed for the very last time as a pregnant mommy.. we go tomorrow morning and have our third and final child. We are expecting a sweet baby boy, Colton Matthew! I am so excited, yet nervous, all at the same time!

I want to say that I documented every bit of this pregnancy but I am afraid I only did it a few times, like pictures and blogs, etc. I don't think I did a great job of documenting any of my pregnancies..so maybe its just not in me to do all the writing and journaling that I have felt so guilty about lately. I am going to look back and be able to tell my kids all about when they came into the world.. just not when it was happening.. does that still count? Lets hope!

Our son and daughter are at their grandparents.. one is with one set and vice versa. We didn't want to overwhelm either set..like that Airtran commercial http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASg9dlhrjEc. That commercial makes me giggle!!

I am going to enjoy these final hours with my little bundle inside me.. I am SO blessed and thankful to have been able to carry all pregnancies to term and be healthy at the same time. I know many women (and some are close friends) who try so hard and want a child of their own and I do not take it for granted. Nor do I take it for granted that every checkup for my little ones have a clean bill of health.. many children could only hope for a quick visit to the Dr's office and leave with a lollipop. Those are the ones (parents and children) who I pray for.. especially those I have a personal relationship with.

I can only pray that this baby, Colton, will be just as healthy and happy as my other two.. I will keep you posted!!

DM