reflecting

 

Happy New Year!

 

ooo...a fresh start.

 

and some changes. 

 

i love to look back at the past year.

 

it's a great time to reflect...

on the good..and the bad.

 and then move on.

 

2012 was probably the most emotional year of my life.

so many ups and downs,

twists and turns.

 

it challenged to me to the max.

 

i thought after going through three years of all the loops and bumps we had experienced that i had built up enough patience for a life time.

 

boy was i wrong.

 

often times i had to remind myself that i just needed to give things more time.

 

and time is exactly what was needed...

 

i feel like 2012 couldn't have

ended more perfectly.

 

enough talking..shall we take a look back?

 

 

well i think most of you know...that the highlight of last year was this moment.

 

with very heavy hearts, we had watched our son grow up through pictures

for over a year

 

and last April,

 

he finally came home!!

 

smile. wow...what a day that was!

 

 he's such a blessing and we are so very lucky to have him as our son.

 

gosh i just love that boy to pieces!

 

but with pure bliss came deep sadness.

 

just two weeks after welcoming Oliver home.

 

we had to say goodbye to our sweet Noah.

 

 

for almost 13 years, Noah had been apart of our family.

 

he was mine and b's first dog together and man, he was the sweetest most loveable dog

you could ever ask for.

 

saying goodbye to him and trying to keep a happy face for Oliver

 was the hardest thing i had ever had to do.

 

i really wanted to just crawl up and cry for days.

 

 i still get tears thinking about my sweet Noah and miss him so.

 

but...life had to go on and it did.

 

as each month passed, we got to see a little more of Oliver and his little (some times big) personallity. we also started to adjust to our new life as parents.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

we layed low for the first three months..keeping to ourselves and just taking each other in.

i believe these were the hardest months of the year. the challenges, the emotions..it was very raw but i'm so greatful for them because we are so much stronger because of those hard times.

 

 

before we knew it, it was summer and we were celebrating our 12 year wedding anniversary.

 

July came quickly after and we decided to take Oliver on a 12 hour car ride

to Indiana so he could meet his extended family...

 

 

and what a trip that was...

 

 

as the summer slowly fadded into fall...

we got a little giddy planning Oliver's first birthday party at home.

 

 

 

which turned out to be a big success!

 

 we patted ourselves on the back and moved on to the next activity...

planning fall adventures we could finally do with Oliver.

 

looking back at the whole year, these final five months were probably my favorite.

it was a part of life we had looked forward to for so long and we were finally living it.

in September, we went to many birthday parties...

 

 

 

and celebrated someone special, Arden...

our sweet girl who turned eight.

 

 

the first fall activity was an apple orchard that was an hour and a half away but well worth the drive.

 

 

and they continued from there..

in October, we visited the pumpkin patch...

 

 

the Country Living fair...

 

 

and hit the zoo for Halloween.

 

 

on the second to the last day of October, we finalized our family.

 

In November, we prepared for Thanksgiving by doing our very first thankful tree...

a tradition i plan to keep.

 

 

and since Thanksgiving came early and quickly, that meant preparations for Christmas came early too...

 

 

we broke out some plum.tree.studio classics...

which Oliver called "crocky" aka: frosty.

 

 

and headed back to the zoo to meet Santa.

 

in December, b and i had our first date night since before O came home.

 

 

 

and we took Oliver to Calloway to see the lights..a tradition of ours.

 

mid month, we went to Aunt "Toosie"'s house to make Christmas cookies...

 

 

and managed to squeeze in one last light show at the Botanical Gardens.

 

before we knew it,  

it was time to celebrate our first

Christmas with Oliver..

 

 

 

 

the year ended quietly with Oliver sleeping peacefully in his bed and me and b watching the glittery ball drop in New York.

 

so there it is in a nutshell...or a really long ass post...but that's our 2012.

 

before i go..i wanted to share this with you.

i love this quote, i think it really sums up this past year for me.

“A waiting person is a patient person. The word patience means the willingness to stay where we are and live the situation out to the full in the belief that something hidden there will manifest itself to us.”

-Henri J.M. Nouwen

 

Happy New Years!