I'm Still Here and I Still Love You

I have been receiving emails from concerned individuals wondering where I am.  I'm here!  Right here in my house!  Between the pile of laundry and the baby swing.  Can you see me now?

Seriously though, do you really want to hear my long list of excuses for why I haven't updated my blog?  You do???  Good!

This is my number one reason:

Meet Jude.  Isn't he cute?  He's the newest addition to our family.  He is quite possibly the happiest baby on the planet.  He doesn't sleep very much, but he's so cute that we forgive him for that.  And actually, he is finally starting to sleep a little better.  (knocking on wood)

Here is proud big brother Conor, who also keeps me very busy.

As many of you already know, I left my full-time job in May to stay home with my boys.  It has been a big, but wonderful, change for our family.  We are having a fabulous summer, and I'm so fortunate to be able to  stay home with them.  For some reason, I thought I would have more time for jewelry/blogging when I left my job, but I am not finding that to be the case.  My 4-year old hasn't napped since the baby was born, and the baby likes to take 15-minute naps.

Shortly after Jude was born, my computer crashed.  That certainly put a damper on my website updates and blogging endeavors.  I just got a replacement a few weeks ago, so that is a relief.  And I switched to Mac!  I really like it so far, but I'm still working through the learning curve.  Earlier ,when trying to add a photo to this post, I accidentally opened Photo Booth instead of iPhoto.  And when I tried to close it, I instead took a scary picture of myself.  Scary because I'm still in my jammies and wearing a dumbfounded expression and yesterday's eye make-up.  No, I'm not going to share that picture with you.  Are you crazy?

We traveled a lot in July.  And I mean a lot.  For 2.5 weeks, we traveled via car and train from Massachusetts to Florida and back, with stops in Virginia, South Carolina, and North Carolina.  In case you're wondering, I highly recommend travel via the Auto Train from VA to FL.  The vacation deserves its own blog entry, but I will just say that the boys were superstar travelers, the weather was amazing, and we saw tons of family.

We celebrated my grandmother's 100th birthday in Florida.

The boys enjoyed the Carolina beaches.

We have also taken a lot of little day trips and have just been generally enjoying summer and everything that New England has to offer in the summer.  We have to live it up now and make the most of the summer, so that when we're having a Nor'easter in January and I question why in the world we live here, I can reflect on the fabulous summers we have.

I'm really flattered to know that there other followers who look forward to reading my blog.  I didn't realize that I had more followers beyond those who follow me publicly.  You know who you are, and I love you!  

Since I'm such a procrastinator, I kept telling myself that I would get back to blogging and jewelry-making after the baby was born, after I figure out a new routine with the boys, after I get a new computer, after vacation...and before I knew it, six months had passed.  It's really kind of ridiculous.  I know you're saying, "How long does it take to write a simple blog entry anyway?"  The answer is 6.2 days.  That's right.  Because I start it, and then the baby needs to eat, or Conor wants to play a game, and then I forget about the blog until the next day, and I pick it up again until someone needs help on the potty.  You get the idea.

So for now, I'll say that I should finally be able to post more regularly.  You know, after I get back from my trip to PA next week, and as soon as Conor starts preschool again...