It’s crazy that 2012 is already in the past! Overall, it was a great year. I did some things I’ve never done before, and we got some exciting, life-changing news in the summer. Here’s the recap month-by-month:
January: Mom finished chemo, which we were all thankful for, and started radiation at the end of the month. Alabama won the National Championship in a rematch with LSU. We watched the game with friends and had a great time, even though it would have been awesome to see it in person. Travis and I started running several times a week to train for a half marathon in April. We also hung several pairs of blinds on windows throughout the house.
February: We hosted some families for church for supper, and we went to a Valentine’s dinner at the Hesters’ house. We had new fans installed in our bathrooms. We went to the annual Vestavia singing and spent the weekend with my parents. We also continued running every week and ran 8 miles at one time!
March: This month, we spent a lot of time in the dirt…literally! Just about every weekend, we spent hours digging up weeds in the flower beds and planting new shrubs and flowers. We also lined the flower beds with rock. It was a long project but well worth it! Another big event was Mom finishing up radiation. Mom was a trooper throughout the whole process, and we were so proud of her!
April: We finished our landscaping project…finally! It made me tired just going back and reading about all the time we put into it. Whew! We also ran our half marathon at the end of the month. It was one of those “hurts so good” things that you never thought you could do, but are so glad you did it anyway. Yay!
May: Jenn and Alisha graduated from college, and we went to both of their graduations. We also celebrated Mother’s Day with our moms, which was even more meaningful than normal because of my mom’s victory over breast cancer. Jenn also came and spent the night with us, and we made a really yummy Pink Lemonade cake while she was here. Memorial Day at the lake was a nice way to end a fun month.
June: This month, we spent a lot of time away from home…and away from the kitties. Poor Gabby and Felix. We spent a night and day in Savannah before heading to Fripp Island for my family’s annual beach trip. Although it rained most of the week, we still had a great time! We even managed to surprise Mom with a party to celebrate her finishing cancer treatments. Later in the month, we spent a few days at Lake Guntersville as camp counselors. It was fun and encouraging too! Right before we went to camp, we found out some exciting news. I was pregnant!! It was hard to keep it a secret, but we decided to wait until after our doctor’s appointment before telling anyone.
July: After what seemed like forever, we finally had our first OB appointment, and we got to see Brooklyn’s heartbeat on the ultrasound for the first time. It was surreal! We then planned how to tell our families the news and surprised them with poems that spilled the beans. It was so exciting to see everyone’s reaction! Cheryl also sold her house, and we helped her move into a rental house not too far away.
August: We hung ceiling fans in the guest bedroom and nursery/study. I slept a lot this month…that was my only pregnancy symptom at the beginning—just feeling really tired! I was lucky not to have any morning sickness! I was wanting to do a gender reveal party, so we got a couple of guesses on the gender of the baby, only to find out later than one guessed “boy” and the other guessed “girl”. Whoops. We also found out I was a carrier of Factor V Leiden Thrombophilia, and I started daily Lovenox injections. It was no fun at first, but it soon became pretty routine.
September: My bump started to become noticeable, and I had to start wearing maternity clothes officially. Luckily, I got some great deals and didn’t pay full price for anything! We found out for sure that we were having a girl and decided to scratch the gender reveal party. Instead, we told our families using cupcakes with pink filling in the middle. It was a lot of fun! It didn’t take long before I picked out the CUTEST baby bedding ever, and Mom and I ordered it.
October: I bought more maternity clothes and baby clothes at another consignment sale. Shopping was becoming a dangerous habit! :) I also painted a nightstand for the guest bedroom. We went to Andrew’s wedding in Gatlinburg, and we ran the Liz Hurley 5K on my birthday. I (slowly) managed the run the whole way! We also went to Megan’s wedding in Tennessee.
November: I bought a baby book for Brooklyn and started filling out some of the pages. Speaking of Brooklyn, we officially decided on her name this month. We also bought a changing table, which the kitties immediately claimed as their own bed. One of the most exciting moments of November was our 4D ultrasound…getting a sneak peek of what Brooklyn looks like! We spent Thanksgiving with my family before heading to Orlando for an early anniversary trip. It was a really fun week!
December: The last month of the year absolutely flew by! I started getting stressed out by our lack of progress getting the nursery ready, but we got a lot done in a short amount of time. We also bought a new camera in hopes of getting some good pictures of Brooklyn here before too long. We spent Christmas with our families and New Years Eve with Matt and Maggie. It was a fun way to end an awesome year!
Now, I’ll review my 2012 goals. What’s the point of making them if you don’t see how you did at the end of the year, right? :) It keeps me honest, at least!
1. Keep up with the daily Bible reading at church – I actually kept up with the schedule for the first half of the year. I never started the second reading schedule. Guess I did ok on this one!
2. Run a half marathon – Check!
3. Send one card per week to someone – I did really well for the first couple of months, and then I slacked off majorly after that.
4. Invite someone to our house for supper at least once a month – I would say we had someone over for supper maybe 1/3 – 1/2 of the months in 2012.
5. Enjoy the present – Hard to evaluate. I think I did pretty good with this, but I can always do better.
So, there’s definitely room for improvement in 2013. Here are my new goals for this year:
1. Lose the extra “baby weight” I’ve accumulated by the end of the year.
2. Send one card per week to someone who needs encouraging. I’m going to do better this year at this!
3. Cherish my time at home with Brooklyn because I won’t be able to get it back after it’s gone.
4. Make time for Travis even though things will be different with a new baby!
We’ll see how I do. I’m really looking forward to what this year brings!!! It’s going to be a great year! :)
