"2010 in Review" or "The Year I Grew Up."

I'm looking back through old blog posts and waxing nostalgic at who I was a year ago. In the last year so many things have changed, I've changed, my life has changed. It's interesting to go backwards. So, in my nostalgia, I'm taking you with me. Hope you enjoy the ride.

January:

My very first post of the year was an obituary for my brother-in-law Gary. Gary killed himself right after Christmas last year. I had never dealt with death as an adult, and I didn't really deal with his either. My mother was in the hospital for surgery, and it was up to me to kind of coordinate and take care of everything. I was the grown-up, and soldiered on. I was so blessed to be gifted 5 days of paid time off at work to take care of my sister, and I had free babysitting from my cousin. It was so good to see Bobbie and Rex, but sad circumstances.

February:

I got pregnant! Though we didn't tell anyone until April, I got knocked up about Valentines day, and had a positive test to show Honey by the 22nd. I was so excited to get to do this surrogacy for my best friend. It really did define my year, as everything that happened later was all about me being healthy and safe, because I was caring for my best friend's son's life.

May:

We got to see Daemon for the first time, and saw he was a boy! My own life seemed to be slowly falling apart. I couldn't tell what was going on at the time, but things weren't happy around my house. I watched TV all the time, I'd lost a lot of weight from stress and morning-sickness. I wasn't being much of a mom, because I was so sick, tired, and unhappy. Not a good few months there...

July:

When it all went down. Discovered the affair, and the plans for a divorce attorney. Moved the hell out of dodge... and in with my mom. We decided I'd stay there until Daemon was born... she'd take care of me. And I really needed it. During July I lost 15 pounds, while 6 months pregnant. All my levels were bad... and my midwife was worried. Luckily some home cooking and some mommy healing made things better. I did get to spend more time with my boo, which was nice.

October:

The month of so many things! My birthday, Halloween, and the last month of Daemon's incubation. It was truly the longest month of my life. I started having false labor on the 8th, and it continued until Daemon's birth in November. I always thought labor was iminent. I felt terrible, huge, and sick. I was so ready to have this baby! I mean... look how huge I was! I thought it'd never come time...

November:

I went past my due date of Nov. 5 by 8 days!! Daemon was FINALLY born on November 13, after 60 hours of labor. I wrote my labor story out earlier in the blog, so I won't rehash. But it was life-changing. As was completing a family. I am so blessed to have gotten to be a part of this journey!!

And then? Then I got to move into my house! It's amazing. If you haven't seen it, you're missing out. I'm just sayin...

And now December:

It's been fun re-writing all our traditions for two. Bekah and I have had a lovely holiday season. We did a fun advent calender, went and saw Santa, and had Grammy over for Christmas Eve. It was lovely, and I can't wait to continue other traditions with Bekah. She's a pretty cool kid, and I love her so much.

So now this is my life, and I can't even write how much things have changed for me. It's like a new life, and I'm happy/thrilled/terrified about it. I can't wait for the next year of adventures for us... I hope you'll enjoy the ride as much as I do!