Happy New year!

It's still the first...right? I have been sick since New Year's Eve- it started as a minor cold and in the last 5 days or so I have been completely miserable. Finally yesterday my mom demanded that I take a nap while Max napped- I didn't argue, I was so groggy and out of it from the cold medicine- so 4 hours later Max woke me up (yes he slept that long too!) Then last night for the first time since I arrived here I went to bed before 2 am (the only time mom and I get anything done is when the boys are sleeping so we rarely get to bed before 3- sometimes 5). I slept hard. I really needed it because I apparently slept off the sick. I woke up this morning ready and raring to go! It is about time. It sucks to be sick when you are the only one around to take care of 2 kids and one recovering adult. Mom did really great though taking care of the boys. I have come into the room more than once and she is holding Max- which means she picked him up by herself. She really is getting better. She has been taking baby steps every day. However yesterday she ironed a whole bunch of clothes and today her back was in excruciating pain all day. No reasonable amount of pain killers did much to help. She definitely overdid it- I don't think I'd mentioned that she has 2 fractured discs in her back- and nothing will help her but time. Sooooo... no more ironing for her! As for the house- I can't even get over her- every day she seems to have an epiphany about what things weren't working for her in her life before and what she can do to fix it. She has been steadily talking herself out of the "stuff" that she has been surrounding herself with. She is reading some self-help books and opening up to the ideas within more easily. We are looking for activities that will get her out of the house and keep her busy (so she doesn't fall back into the deep depression).
The boys are doing really well. Isaac has been struggling with behavior issues since we got here. Grandma has some sort of old-fashioned ideas as to how kids should act so it took a while for Isaac to be okay with her- it was a learning process for both of them- but I think we got it. His other issues has been due to a basic lack of playmates. Isaac is used to 2 or 3 playdates with kids his age every week. He is also used to attending preschool twice a week and MOPS every other week- the fact that there are no real playmates for him here has been tough on him. I had no idea how tough exactly until I managed to plan a play date with some old friends and their little boys. The 3 of us and all 6 boys (between us) met at the park on a nice afternoon and they ran around the playground, played tag, then found a huge area of leaves and just attacked each other in a big leaf war. Even the mommies had leaves in places we didn't realize we had when all was over! Afterward Isaac was his old wonderful self. Cheerful, helpful, polite, even my mom noticed a difference. I didn't realize it would be such a challenge to find Isaac someone to play with here! We are good now I think - they played so well together! We are looking forward to a dinner date at Mcdonald's now!
Max is great! His new word is "foot-ball!" Daddy and Grandpa are SO PROUD! We are working on "rock on!" he is almost there, he makes this snarly face and sticks up his index finger when we say it! Tonight he woke up crying like crazy so while I tried to figure out where the syringe for the tylenol was (it was that kind of cry) I gave him to Grandpa and Grandma. When I brought him the dose he was completely enthralled by grandpa's clock that projects on the ceiling. So I left him. I went back 30 minutes later and all 3 of them were fast asleep. If I thought I could've gotten away with it I would have taken a picture- it was so sweet!

That's it for now. Best wishes to all in the new year! I miss you and I'll see you soon!