Half way over?

It dawned on me this morning that today marks the official end of the first half of 2011. Really??? Where did the time go????? I've been really hard on myself lately...feeling like I should have all the boxes unpacked, walls decorated, floors scrubbed and house perfect by now. Oh, and of course, all the laundry should be done and perfectly balanced home-cooked meals should be on the table 3 times a day. RIGHT??? Um, no!!!

Honestly, I feel like the first half of this year has been one giant marathon. In January we started the nearly 3 month process of doctor appointments and tests that eventually led to several diagnoses for our Noah. February was full of doctor appointments and March was one long parade of family coming to visit which was a lot of fun. April was busy with all kinds of stuff for the new house, John traveling and kids being sick. May was more of the same, combined with a crazy amount of stress at work and then at the end of the month we finally moved! It's no wonder I'm tired! Moving with 2 little boys while working and doing all the little things that need to be done when you move has been exhausting, to say the least.

Needless to say, all of this has taken a toll on our family and we desperately want for the second half of the year to be a little less strenuous than the first! But, for now, there are a few positives that I need to focus on:

• We loooooove our house even though it feels like the project list will never end
• Noah qualified for the regional center 0-3 program for speech therapy which  will take a big financial burden! In order to qualify when you're under 2 (which is in August), you have to have a 33% delay in one area of development. His speech is 33.5% delayed!!! We will start within the next few weeks.
• I am escaping with a girlfriend and spending a "24-hour kid/family free" day tomorrow night and Saturday which will be very good for both of us!
• The kids are healthy!!!!

Here's to a less stressful second half of 2011!