text: Holiday.
  
  Well hey there. Long time no talk, huh? I guess I ended up taking an unplanned – but much needed – hiatus for a short bit. The holidays came and my family was here, and I couldn’t bring myself to lose time in front of my laptop instead of watching DVD’s of family videos games and winning board games.
  
  And then they left and I was sad, but Casey’s birthday was just a few days later and we were busy celebrating and enjoying having him home from the office for a few extra days.
  
  And then we had some major drama with our dogs that sort of unraveled everything for a few days and left me feeling both physically (so.much.crying) and emotionally drained. New Year’s Eve came and went and we spent our evening eating Thai takeout, reflecting on the year behind us and planning for the year ahead, and staying up until 2am for who knows what reason.
  
  And then New Year’s Day came and we packed up and headed a few hours south for a few days away with friends. The timing couldn’t have been worse, and at the same time couldn’t have been better. We had a lot going on here that needed to be managed and dealt with, but at the same time we desperately needed some time away to regroup, de-stress, and seek perspective.
  
  And here we are – January 5th and I just took down my Christmas tree this afternoon. So you can see that this isn’t the only space that I’ve neglected recently. The good news is that I finally feel like I’m on the upswing. We’re working on hopefully resolving the issues between our dogs, I’m finally seeking some extra childcare help (that should definitely help me be more present here – a major 2014 goal!), and I feel really hopeful and optimistic about the year ahead.
  
  Now that we’re back from our first mini-vacation as a family of four, I’m feeling really excited about jumping into this new year.
  
  So happy you got a much needed break. I read about the dog issue- my heart breaks for you on that. That is a tough tough call to have to make. I hope everything works out for you and any transition goes smoothly. Blessings to you and your beautiful family.
  
  Sounds like a stressful holiday, but at least you had time with family! Looking forward to seeing more posts in the new year. I have a little one that’s 2 weeks younger than Graham. I love that his little personality is starting to show and he’s able to “play” a bit now. And geez you feel so amazing when they give you a smile.
  
  So happy to hear from you. Life has a crazy way of going from 0-100 in just minutes which then leaves us hanging on for dear life! I am glad you had a chance to regroup, take some time to focus on your adorable family and get some perspective (and hopefully a little rest too). You are such a wise mom and I love your blog but I am glad you can step away when you need to.
  
  I’ve really enjoyed reading your blog for the past year or so. It has been especially fun to follow your pregnancy and Graham’s birth because I was pregnant and giving birth to my son on nearly the same timetable.
  
  I was so sorry to read that your dogs are having problems though! I went through some horrific fights between my two pups, and I know how stressful and heartbreaking it is. My husband and I were living in Seattle when we finally decided that we needed to seek out a trainer’s help. We went with Steve at Nitro K-9, and we couldn’t be happier. (There is more detail in my Yelp review: http://www.yelp.com/biz/nitro-k-9-seattle#hrid:OVi5LcJ6kE_QtUImt36WoQ.) It has been over two years since we did the training with Steve, and our dogs are continuing to get along well (plus they are better behaved in general). Just a thought since you’re in the area. Good luck with your pups!