Oh, Hey 2014!

*Blows dust off blog* Hello there!

It's been awhile since I posted anything here, and when I look at the date of my last entry (February 16), I remember that as far as excuses go, it's honestly not been a "the dog ate my homework" kind of year.

Around the time I last hit publish, I found out I was pregnant. Pregnant! As in, hey, you better dust the sour patch kids off your face because you are about to become a mom.

Two weeks later, my sweetheart and I closed on our first house. I've been an apartment dweller my entire life, so this was pretty huge. We found a sweet brick colonial in a writerly suburb of NYC that has an amazing library... and as an added bonus, the village is also haunted, at least in the literary sense.

We decided to do major renovations before moving in, which required a lot of time and energy, all while I was fantastically nauseous.

And since I hit two major life events, I decided to go for a hat trick and accepted a job offer a few months later. The week after moving into our half-renovated home, I started my first day, with a new role, new boss, new new new.

Home ownership. Renovations. Nine months of pregnancy. New desk at work. It's been a hell of a year for sure!

My son Max was born in late October, and now one month in, I'm finally getting the hang of infant care. Though every time I think that, the little monster throws me for a loop :)

Fox-themed story time on Max's first night home

And even though Max came early, even though we still need to hang curtains and paint some rooms, and even though I sometimes don't brush my teeth until after noon, this tornado of a year has given me so much to be thankful for. And a big fat one is the shiny love, support, motivation, and hope I find in my kidlit community.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my writer friends -- amidst the whirlwind this year has brought on, you've been my constant! I've loved reading your blogs, your books, finding out about your book deals, and typing alongside you whenever I've had a free moment!

Hope you have more than one slice of pie and a few days of holiday bliss.