Boy am I glad 2007 is over!  It was one crazy rollercoaster of a year!

Now that January is just about over it’s almost sureal that Geno will be coming home in a little over a month - you’ve heard me right!!!  I have his “tentative” schedule so those wanting to know send me an email or give me a call.  I, of course, don’t have exact dates and Geno doesn’t either. In fact, I doubt the Army even knows.  I’m just excited at the thought of him coming home!  Maybe things will settle down a bit - ok, who am I kidding!

DERRICK

He seems to be doing well in school.  Most of the papers he has been bringing home have been A’s…so hopefully no surprises when his report card comes out on Feb. 12th.  His basketball team has been doing ok.  They have had three games and have lost 2.  The first lost wasn’t by to much. However, today they got STOMPED. Derrick trys for 3-point shots to often and gives up the “easy” two points.  He isn’t the only boy on the team to do that though.  He is very talented and I can tell he really loves the game. He’s also growing like a weed! We just bought him size 14 pants not to long ago…well, needless to say he’s grown out of those and he’s now in size 16.  The kid has long legs!!!  I went ahead and got his school uniform “upsized” now I need to get him a couple pairs of jeans and sweatpants.

XAVIER

My little man…he is a riot.  We had snow here last week and all he wanted to do is eat it.  No worries, I steared him clear of the yellow, brown and black snow!  He enjoyed brushing off the car and trying to scrape off the ice from the windows.  He also graduated to a twin size bed. Since about 3 months after Geno left for Iraq Xavier started sleeping with me. First, it was just for my comfort. Then it got to the point where I would get a foot in the head or elbow to the nose. I tried to move him to his toddler bed but he moved around to much and it was obvious he was to big for it.  Well his BIG boy bed came Thursday morning and by Thursday night he was sleeping in it. The first night was easy….last night wasn’t so easy. However, much to Geno’s surprise I’m sure, I’m NOT backing down.  Xavier has to start sleeping in his own bed. Now is as good as time as any.  He has also decided to count in spanish. He can count to 5 in spanish and almost 10 in english.  Sometimes he skips seven or eight but we will go back and say it right.  The spanish I’m sure comes from daycare and watching Dora and Deigo.  He’s also very inquizitive about his surroundings. He will point and ask you what EVERYTHING is around him. Most of the time he knows what it is (bridge, tree, building, window).  Other times he wants to know what KIND of building (house, school, etc).  I can’t believe the child is going to be 3 in 3 months!

SARAH

Well, other then running around with my head cut off trying to get everything ready for Geno’s homecoming I’ve also been still searching for a job and starting to train again for upcoming spring races.  I’ve been out of practice for a couple months because of the cold and I realized that tredmill running was not for me. I turned 29+1 on the 12th.  No, I’m not scared to say “30″ but I don’t want to “officially” celebrate my birthday until Geno comes home. It’s just a stepping stone and I want him here when I take that step.  Nothing really new…still looking for a job…looking REALLY forward to Geno coming home and spending the rest of this year as a complete family!

Here are a few pictures of Xavier, Derrick is still really hard to capture…

Xavier’s marker fun…