It’s already half way through January. What the what? Between my new role as a super sleuth (that gets lost in Redditt rabbit holes) cracking the “Making a Murderer” case, and my {real} life- it seems I have taken quite the blogging hiatus. Oops.
Before too much of the new year has passed, I did want to kind of revisit the last year in a post. My blog serves to be many things, but one important goal for me is to have something I can look back on and remember where I was. 2015 was such a rebirth for me in so many ways. Every year has its challenges, but last year was especially peaceful for me (emotionally). In part, I think I care less about the opinions of the general public. I think that partially comes with age and maturity. I don’t have questions or doubts about the wonderful people who I call family and friends and I don’t find myself obsessing over “what people think”. Nearing thirty years old, I finally feel comfortable in my identity, my past, my choices, and the way my life looks. 2015 was the first year of such confidence and it felt amazing.
For kicks, here is my year in sum.
/ January /
Pregnant. Brand new pregnant. I rang in the new year at seven whole weeks pregnant. I also had just started a new job in Labor and Delivery at a nearby hospital. Early on, it certainly felt like a different pregnancy. I was totally exhausted and was plagued by nausea like I had never known. Would it be a girl? I didn’t know. But. Grayson did! He told me around this time that he knew it was a girl because God told him. (The cuteness. I can’t.) Anyway. We enjoyed our one and only Georgia snow and Tyler received word of a new job opportunity. My brother, who was a new college graduate, moved in with us while he looked for a job.
/ February /
In early February I had genetic blood tests that confirmed that I was in fact pregnant with a GIRL. We were so excited and secretly hoping for a girl to add to the mix. So, we really wanted to visit Disney with Grayson. He had never been and lets be honest, any excuse for us to go be kids again is A-OK with me. Tyler had a few days off before starting his new job, so we decided on a whim to go to Disney for a long weekend. We decided on a Tuesday, left on a Thursday. We drove 7 hours and stayed two nights. We stayed at Epcot one day, and Magic Kingdom the next. I couldn’t ride EVERYTHING which was kind of a bummer, but we still had a BLAST. Most importantly, Grayson was in heaven. We made the best memories and took a ton of photos.
/ March /
March was relatively quiet. Tyler was getting settled in his new job and I was still working nights. We registered Grayson for Kindergarten (!) and enjoyed a few Spring festivals. At this point in pregnancy, I was in my second trimester. I had my first 3D ultrasound of baby girl and had graduated from nausea to horrific migraines.
/ April /
My Dad retired at the end of March, which was a nice reprieve for him. He came to visit for G’s spring break in early April and we had a great time. On April 24th, Tyler and I eloped at the courthouse. It isn’t something we felt we had to do, but we knew we would eventually, so we decided to make it official before Charlie was born. We totally chose this day at random, as it was a guess as to when Tyler would have any time off during courthouse hours. (Super glamorous, right?) Nevertheless, it was precious. The judge officiated a quick and sweet ceremony around Corinthians 13 and we said “I do”! Grayson was there and gave us our rings. It cost practically nothing, and it was just us, with no distractions. We went outside, set up the timer on the camera and snapped a picture to document the day. I was feeling extra pregnant and large, so I was good with minimal photo documentation. My sweet great-grandmother also passed away in April. She was steadily such a positive person in my life and I miss her.
/ May /
My brother got a job and moved out sometime in April. This means I got to start working on the nursery, which was formerly his room. (Yay!) May was the month that Grayson “graduated” from preschool and officially started the emotional rollercoaster of losing my “baby”. Both mine and Tyler’s birthdays are in May. If you know me, you know I LOVVVVE to celebrate birthdays. There were plenty of things to celebrate and be excited about in May. Pregnancy-wise, I had transitioned to some pretty nasty hip problems that were debilitating, which was kind of annoying considering it was the beginning of summer and school was out. May also brought my first visit to Labor and Delivery triage for preterm contractions.
/ June /
I vividly remember this being the juncture where I swore off any more summer babies. I was mostly just hot and exhausted this month (and subsequent months). I was miserable and contracting constantly. Grayson went to baseball camp and fell in love with the sport. At the end of the month my sweet sister-in-law threw me a beautiful baby shower that couldn’t have been more perfect.
/ July /
July was kind of the last hoorah. I had one month until my due date and Grayson started Kindergarten. The further along I got in my pregnancy, the more uncomfortable and incapacitated I became. It was rough. Working nights became impossible. The lack of sleep and prodromal labor put me out of work earlier than I had expected. As often as I could, we visited the pool or the lake or the playground. July brought two more beautiful baby showers and the finishing touches to Charlie’s nursery.
/ August /
Grayson started Kindergarten on August 3rd. Baseball season started August 5th. At 38 weeks exactly, I went for my weekly OB appointment and was admitted directly to the hospital with regular contractions and elevated blood pressure. I contracted all day until 6pm when I was rolled back to the OR to have a repeat C-Section. At 6:24 pm on Thursday, August 6th, Charlie was born. One of these days I will post her birth story. The next few weeks were a blur. Between having a newborn and a Kindergartener, baseball, and tons of appointments for Charlie- it was a whirlwind. My best friends rotated weeks and stayed with me for the first month…. a HUGE blessing.
/ September /
Charlie was diagnosed with a vascular defect on her face shortly after she was born. She had to be admitted to the hospital for an MRI when she was six weeks old to rule out any other defects/syndromes and then begin her medication to slow the growth of the lesion. The hospital stay was the last hurdle after many appointments to figure out exactly what her diagnosis was and the plan. Grayson continued to play baseball and actually did really, really well! At the end of September we celebrated his birthday a little early and he was surprised by Tyler and his Uncle Zach with his first camping trip. He was beyond ecstatic.
/ October /
On the fifth, Grayson finally turned SIX! Charlie celebrated being two months old by smiling more and starting her obsession with the ceiling fan. October was filled with fall festivals, pumpkin patches, baseball, and family time. Grayson’s last game of the season was at the end of the month. For Halloween, Grayson dressed as Darth Vader and Charlie was Princess Leia. It was AMAZING.
/ November /
Whew! A break from baseball every night. I’m always hurrying the holidays, and this year was no exception! I decorated before Thanksgiving. We enjoyed lukewarm temperatures and twinkly lights. We started our Thanksgiving Tree tradition and did a lot of snuggling. Charlie was three months old and cooing more and eating her fist for meals.
/ December /
At the eleventh hour, I decided to fully resign from my job and be a SAHM. This was immensely terrifying, but I am so thankful that I am able to have made that choice. Charlie and I went on our Asheville girls trip early on in the month. Grayson and Tyler went to their first NBA game with my Dad and Brother. As the year came to a close, we had lots of quality holiday time with family. We shopped, looked at Christmas lights, made homemade hot cocoa, listened to Christmas music, attended tree lightings, and shopped some more. Charlie was now four months old, rolling over, babbling, and showing her sweet affection for us. We all had a perfect Christmas and Grayson got everything he asked for from Santa. He even heard sleigh bells outside his bedroom window!
These images tell my little story from last year. Here’s to an even better 2016.
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