A Look Back on 2008

As with most people, 2008 was a year of ups and downs for our family. The best part of 2008 for us would definitely have to be the birth of our daughter, Kylie. So far she has brought many blessings and happiness to our family. Katelyn joined gymnastics this past year. She has done fantastic with it. She has learned to tumble, walk the beam, and even hang upside down from the bar.

We had some weird and not-so-great moments in 2008 as well. The worst part would have to be my getting the HELLP Syndrome after delivering Kylie. It was a scary moment for all of us and a long recovery. I had a lot of ups and downs with friends during the past year, and it's left me feeling a little empy, but at the same time it left me with an insight as to who I am and what I want/need in my life. We had a scary moment with Katelyn splitting her head open toward the end of the year. And my sister, Coryn, has moved away from us to California. I will miss her so much, but am so incredibly proud of her.

But with the bad came a lot more good...

We had a lot of little wonderful moments this past year. We got a new yard, so now the girls have a place to play outside. The girls have grown and learned so much. Katelyn speaks so well now. She even throws in a little humor into our conversations. She has learned so much. She's almost able to ride her tricycle by herself and swing by herself. She knows the letter "k" and a few others, but "k" is her favorite. She can count to 20 forward and back from 10 to 1. She can sing just about anything and loves to sing. Kylie has learned so much as well. She can sit by herself, clap, give hugs and kisses, roll all over the place, and she's beginning to crawl. She scoots across the floor on her belly. Kylie has blessed us with her big and happy smile. When she smiles the room lights up.

All in all, I think 2008 was a good year, but I am glad to move on to 2009 with a new beginning.

Lugo Christmas

Another Christmas has come and gone. A part of me is a little sad, but at the same time I am happy to get out of the Christmas rush. I always feel like things slow down a bit after Christmas, and it's a nice breath of fresh air.

This year was Kylie's first Christmas. She had a blast opening presents. Of course, she was more interested in the wrapping paper than anything else. In fact, she ate some of it. Oops! Her favorite gift so far is a Winnie the Pooh toy that lights up and spins around. She gets so excited when we turn it on.

Christmas with Katelyn was so exciting this year. She really got the hang of the Santa thing this year. She was so excited when she saw that Santa brought her a big red wagon. But her favorite toy so far is a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse race track. It has kept her busy for most of the day.

I have to say, one of the things I enjoyed most about this Christmas was that we could not afford to get gifts for ourselves and others like we had in the past. It helped us to really appreciate what we have and what we got. Watching my girls enjoy their gifts was the best gift I could have ever gotten.

Katelyn's First Trip to the ER

Last night we had a little scare in the Lugo household. We had just finished eating dinner and Katelyn went in to play the piano. The next thing we hear is a thud followed by silence. Then as Charlie and I went in to see what happened, she started screaming. We thought she just hit her head and was being a little dramatic. Then I saw the blood on her shirt. Charlie looked at the back of her head and she had split her head open. She had fallen off the piano bench and hit her head on the window sill. He started cleaning her up and we got ready to go to the hospital. As we were strapping the girls into the car, Katelyn started throwing up pretty badly and acting really strange. Charlie told me to call 911. We both ended up trying to call and couldn't get through, so since we were already in the car, we drove her to the hospital.

She was a little dazed in the car, but was doing ok. I talked to her the whole way there to keep her from falling asleep. We finally got there and got back into the room. She ended up having to get 4 staples in the back of her head. She got a CT scan done, and we'll hopefully get the results of that back tomorrow. The dr. thinks she suffered a mild concussion.

She's doing much better today. She's not acting quite herself, but she's playing and running around. It was a pretty scary night for all of us.

Busy, Busy

I just want to write a quick update. It's been a while since I've posted anything. I am now back at work. It was very difficult the first week or so, but now we're getting into a routine. I miss the girls so much while I'm gone. I'm glad Thanksgiving is coming up so I'll have a few extra days off to be with them.

Katelyn is still in gymnastics. She's doing very well. She has a little bit of trouble listening, which has caused her to get hurt (minor) a few times, but she's sticking it out and loves it.

Kylie is sitting up now, but still falls over once in a while. She loves to play on the floor with her toys. She's getting so big. She's 6 months old today! I can't believe it.

I'll try to give more detailed updates later. Going back to work has kept me very busy.

Trip to the Farm

On Thursday Katelyn, Kylie, and I met up with some friends at a farm. They all had a blast. Katelyn is obsessed with farm animals, but much to my surprise she was very reluctant to touch any of them. She did milk a cow, though! She would not hold any of the ducks or chicks. She didn't even want to touch the pigs, which is her favorite animal. She loved the hayride and train ride. And before we left we got to pick out a pumpkin. So it was a great day at the farm.

New Pics of Our Girls

Here are some recent pictures of Katelyn and Kylie. The last pic is of Kylie's first time eating solids.

One of those days...

Today has been one of those days that I was warned about when people found out I was pregnant with Kylie - having 2 children is not easy. On one side of me I have 4 month old Kylie crying because she's tired, and on the other side is 2.5 year old Katelyn crying because she's tired. This was at 11:00 am. I finally just stuck Kylie in her crib to cry-it-out for a while, and I put Katelyn in her room because I was really about to lose my patience. After about 10-15 minutes of putting the pacifier back in Kylie's mouth, she was asleep and quiet. Around that same time frame Katelyn calmed down, too. So, that situation just goes to show that putting them somewhere safe while you take some time to calm down really helps. I felt much better after a 10 minute break.