I'm hijacking Melanie's blog to update everyone on our family's 2009. Once again, we failed to send anything out, and I'm sure everyone is just dying to know what went on in our little world this year.
Biggest news of course was the discovery that Melanie was pregnant again. I believe it was about March when we found out. We were very excited to say the least. Melanie was beginning to get a little discouraged with the whole ordeal. We had seen about 4-5 close friends/family of ours either give birth, or get pregnant within the last couple months and we were starting to get worried. It all worked out in the end, we welcomed little Borne William to our family on October 13th. He was a full term baby and the 'normal' pregnancy/birth experience was something we will never forget. Borne's not quite the easy baby Ian was, but still we are loving him and doing great. I enjoyed getting six weeks paid following the birth to help out around the house and do a couple of other things I've been meaning to get done forever. Melanie just returned to work and was looking forward to getting back to work. No, not really.
Sometime in the spring I got a random call from someone at Universal Studios in L.A. about the possibility of using a song I wrote in an upcoming movie. The film is a new Ridley Scott directed Robin hood movie starring Russell Crowe and Kate Blanchett. I still don't know if they will use the song, but they have asked for the rights and the lawyers assured me they were 99% sure they would use it. Not a big part in the movie, but will still be good to get my name and my bands name in the credits. Made for a hectic couple of days for sure.
Ian continues to grow and test our patience. I never realized 4 year olds could be so intuitive, anal, lazy, obnoxious, sweet, loving, focused, ambitious, outgoing, silly and all around awesome. He started preschool this year, and immediately began questioning his parents roles as authority figures. We are still trying to get that respect back! It's ok though, he makes our lives so much more exciting and interesting. He does something to amaze us every day and we are so thankful for having him in our lives. It makes me very sad to know he will be starting Kindergarten next year, but hopefully that opens up another exciting chapter in all of our lives. He absolutely adores his baby brother and we had no issues with him becoming adjusted. I can't wait until Borne is old enough to play with Ian.
We had probably the busiest summer of our short adult lives this year. Started off hitting Colorado to take part in Melanie's brother Marcus' wedding. Melanie was a pregnant bridesmaid (a very pretty one!) and Ian was the ring bearer. We had a blast to say the least and are happy to welcome Meghan into the family.
The day after the wedding, we packed up and headed up the mountain to Estes Park to spend a couple days in some cabins for Melanie's dad's annual family reunion with his sister and their families. We enjoyed the weather, company, food and just being able to wind down after the wedding.
Melanie's dad got remarried this year and had a huge bash in Grand Island to celebrate the occasion. We had a great time seeing the family and congratulating them on their day.
Later in the summer we headed back to Estes with our camper this time for my mom's Hanigan family reunion. Unfortunately it rained almost every day, and since we were camping, it wasn't the most relaxing time, but still awesome.
Melanie turned 30 this year and spent the year almost all of it being pregnant. Again, she had a wonderful experience with it all. No sickness, slept well, and for the most part didn't scream at me too much. She still works for Lincoln Industries as a communication specialist and continues to plug away while her company wades through these economic challenges. She is excited to start playing volleyball again, and likes to donate her time by volunteering with Junior Achievement, the Lincoln Backpack Program, and was proud this year to be named Lincoln's top fundraiser for March of Dimes for 2008.
I am in my 8th year at Pfizer here in Lincoln. I still work in the microbiology labs, and for the most part enjoy it. Again, the poor economy has been affecting us for about 4 years now, so the atmosphere is always challenging, but in all, I have nothing to complain about. I have also been doing a couple side projects here and there, remodeling bathrooms and other odd jobs. Most of my free time is spent writing and performing music in my band "The Killigans." We worked most of the year on a new album, and playing shows a couple of times a month. I have also recently started working towards a Masters degree in Biology. I hope to have it finished within 3 years.
So, I guess that about wraps it up for 2009. Hope to see all of you in 2010. Life is moving so fast nowadays, I'm hoping we can try and slow it down and really enjoy it. Stay tuned!
