And then I turned 30.

I've always had mixed feelings about my birthday being the day after Christmas.  In some ways, it's fun, having the celebrations continue after Christmas is over, and other times I've thought about how nice it would be to have a birthday in July, when nothing else is really going on.  When I was younger I would have given anything to have a birthday in the summer so that I could have a cool outdoor party like my summer-birthday friends.  Mostly, I've always felt lucky that my family takes the time to celebrate my birthday, even though they are exhausted from the excitement of Christmas Eve and Christmas.  My mom made a point of making my birthday very separate from Christmas right from the start, so it has always been a special day, even if I didn't get to have the pool party of my dreams.

This year, turning 30, was one when I appreciated having my birthday right after Christmas.  I think I was still on that post-Christmas high, feeling all sappy and happy about what a great Christmas we had with the kids, so I did not dwell on the "starting a new decade" dread that had been plaguing me for the last few months.  Thirty is not old.  I have told myself this over and over.  But, starting a new decade, closing out the twenties, saying goodbye to them and entering my thirties, was causing some major hang-ups.  For the last few months, on the 26th of each month I would think to myself, "Well, now there are only 4 months until I'm 30,"  "Now there are only 2 months until I'm 30..." and I was seriously having a hard time with it.  When the day actually arrived...well, it wasn't so bad.

Jeff and I went out to dinner at Sakura in Canandaigua for hibachi.  When we came home, our babysitters Hannah and Katie had a little surprise party for me complete with a cake, singing candles, decorations, and party hats.  It was too sweet!  Then Nonny, Poppy, and Adam came over for cake #2!

And so, I said goodbye to my 20s.  It was a decade filled with excitement and lots of change.  A quick look back (and let's discuss the fact that there were no digital cameras when I first went to college.  Thus, there are no pictures on this computer of anything from the first few years of my twenties!):

2000: I was in school at St. John Fisher.  I made the decision to transfer to William Smith

2001: I started at William Smith and began the Education program

2002: I became an RA and just worked hard at school.  Nothing too exciting.

2003: I graduated from college, spent the summer in the Catskills working at camp Na-Sho-Pa (don't act so shocked.  Yes, *I* worked at a camp.)  I started my first job as a long-term science sub, sixth grade, at Waterloo Middle School for the first half of the school year.

 A grainy scanned-in picture of us when we worked at camp.  This was on a trip with the older kids to Washington, D.C. 

2004: I got hired as a long-term sub for the second half of the year at Skoi-Yase School, teaching Kindergarten.  Jeff proposed in June.  We went on a cruise to the western coast of Mexico to celebrate Jeff finishing college (on time!) after many bouts with pnuemonia, mono, bronchitis and an immune system deficiency that resulted in him going to three schools in four years.  Finishing on time was nothing short of a miracle....hence the big expensive vacation to celebrate.  The day we came home I found out that I had been hired for the following school year as the one-year extra second grade teacher at Skoi-Yase.

 About to leave from San Diego

2005:  We bought our house and moved in March.  We got married in August and at some point that year I got hired permanently to teach second grade.

2006:  In February I went to Italy to visit Shea, where she was doing a study abroad.  This is especially notable since I was not a very independent person at the time, yet I booked tickets on a whim, hopped on a plane just 10 days after making the decision to go, and flew by myself with layovers in Newark and Paris.  

 I can't remember where this picture was taken (Shea?  You must remember!), but I do know that we had a lot of fun on that trip, despite the fact that my luggage was missing for days upon days.

And in May, on Mother's Day, I found out the best news of all...I was going to be a mama.  I had no idea just how life-changing it would be.  I also finished my master's degree in education in August.

2007:  Started off with the birth of Claire Elizabeth, my precious little angel.

Ouch.  Lookin' rough.  It's painful to look at this picture, for so very many reasons.  But that little girl in my arms?  So, so worth it. 

My first Mother's Day as an actual mom :)

Our first Christmas as a family

2008:  I decided to switch jobs and was no longer a second grade teacher.  Instead, I started teaching Early Intervention, a new position at our school.  I no longer had my own class of children.  I began working with kids in small groups to provide extra assistance with whatever academic skills they were struggling.  I wouldn't have believed it if someone had told me we'd take the plunge to have another baby so soon after recovering from the hell Claire had put us through, but it happened!  I found out on our anniversary, August 5, 2008, that I was pregnant with baby number 2!

Cooking that baby!  We found out about a week later that we were having a BOY!

2009:  The birth of my second precious angel, Jackson William, changed my life again, in such a good way. 

  Lookin' rough, once again.  I dare you to push out an 8lb. 7oz. baby 18 minutes after arriving at the hospital, with no drugs in sight, mind you, and see how good you look.  That is not acne on my face, but rather a bazillion broken blood vessels.  Awesomeness.

My complete, happy little family.

In August, in the midst of a pretty tough bout with post-partum depression and right before I was going to be heading back to work, I took another risk and went to Cape Cod with Kristine, Jake and Ryan, and no daddies.  It was a last-minute decision and turned out to be a great one, minus the car rides there and back!  We had four kids under the age of Claire, two who were in the middle of potty-training, and two who were nursing around the clock.  Crazy?  Absolutely!!  But it sure gave us a lot of good memories!

2010: It ended up being generally a pretty quiet year.  I overcame huge fears about flying without my kids and went to Hilton Head by myself in June for Kara's wedding.  When I got back we took the kids on our first big family vacation, to Florida.

 I proved my independence once again to myself by deciding on a Wednesday that Claire and I were leaving the next day to go to New York City...and that I was driving, by myself, with no Jeff Dunham to help me!  I think I may finally have accepted that I should have more confidence in myself!

And so, there you have it, my twenties in a nutshell.  Here and gone in the blink of an eye, with so many ups, downs, and crazy moments throughout.  I'm looking forward to my thirties.  Jeff promises that these will be the best years of our lives, watching our kids grow from the babies they are now to the pre-teens they will become.  (Wait.  Crap.  I just realized that Claire will be turning 14 right after I turn 40.  That's not pre-teen...that's full-on teenager!  I cannot even begin to fathom it.) I am looking forward to enjoying our kids and doing everything possible to make sure they are happy.  Hopefully, our lives in these next few years will be fun and happy, but a lot less eventful than the past ten years.  We shall see!