Reflections on 2012

2012 has been a crazy, busy, happy, interesting year on so many levels. If you're my facebook friend, you've seen all these pictures, I'm sorry to repeat! But I sit here on New Year's Eve reflecting on what a blessed year this has been for us, and felt like I needed to document it a little better!

January continued our secondary infertility journey. I don't like to color the whole year with that brush, but starting in January, the big guns of true fertility medications came out. It was a scary, unknown time in my personal walk with the Lord and little did I know how long it would last and how much it would change me! Of course, we also had to watch a little football!

February saw my sweet little man turn two years old. We had a Thomas the Train birthday party, and on his actual birthday we took him to All Aboard in Little Rock for dinner. He loved it and it was a sweet time for us! After dinner and some shopping, poor guy was worn out! Precious little guy - time truly does fly and I can't believe his third birthday is only a few weeks away! He has grown up so much this year!

 March was an interesting month! We found out we were pregnant mid-March. At the end of March, my (then)future-sister-in-law had her senior recital in Nashville at Belmont University, so we made the trip over! This was our first time meeting her family and Jackson couldn't handle all the excitement! :) Anna-Catherine has a beautiful voice and it was lovely seeing how she and my brother complement each other in so many ways, including musically. While we were in Nashville, I began having a miscarriage, which was devastating to both me and Tyler. We had not really told any of our family yet, so we had to explain to everyone who was there, which was particularly difficult.

April, I'm sure I was simply trying to cope with my disappointment and heartache over losing my pregnancy, and finish up Tyler's MHA program. It's kind of a haze.

May - the beginning of the summer of road trips! My brother Brennan graduated from Belmont University the same weekend that my brother-in-law graduated from UCA. This meant divide and conquer: I went to Nashville with my family, while Tyler and Jackson stayed in Conway for his brother's graduation. We had a great time in Nashville & I enjoyed staying in a hotel suite with just the 6 members of my immediate family! So proud of my brother and how he truly follows God's call on his life, and watched his heart-dreams unfold.

June started with another road trip - this time 16 hours to Athens, Ohio with my in-laws, where Tyler was graduating from Ohio University. After two long years (basically the entire time Jackson had been alive), taking a full-time course load while also working full-time, many late nights after Jackson had gone to bed and spending every weekend completing projects, it was such a proud moment when he walked across the stage! Tyler handled the whole program with such grace and confidence, always putting our family first, being a wonderful dad and provider, while still managing to pull off the equivalent of 16-18 hours a semester. This was a MAJOR milestone for me & Tyler in our marriage and family, and I am so glad to say it's behind us! It's changed our family life drastically to have Tyler free on weekends & nights!

July was a chilled-out month, thankfully. We needed a little R&R at the pool and spent some quality time with friends, just enjoying all things summer.

August! 6 hour road trip back to Nashville for my brother's wedding! Such a crazy experience to see your little brother all grown up and embarking on the journey that is marriage. We spent the weekend of course, and it was such a precious time for me because I got to spend some quality time with my brother and also his new wife. We also had a lot of fun with my family after the ceremony once the lovebirds left on their honeymoon!

In September, we loaded up for another 16-hour road trip, this time for a much-needed family vacation to Disney World in Orlando, Florida! This was a decision made over the summer, maybe in July, so we did it on a budget. We spent 6 nights at Disney World. Many people discuss whether or not it's worth it to take a 2-3 year old since they "probably won't remember it." Our trip proved every one of them wrong! Jackson had the time of his LIFE while he was there, and I'm telling you, we talk about it EVERY SINGLE DAY since! He asks when we are going back all the time! I grew up going just about every year until I was 17, but this was Tyler's first time (and obviously Jackson's). It was just as magical and exciting as I remembered it from growing up! Maybe even more so, seeing it through a 2.5 year old's eyes. We made some great memories and want this to be an annual thing for our family, as well. I can't adequately convey how special this trip was for us! 

October started the new normal in some ways - our road trips were over, Tyler's school was done with, but his work schedule was gearing up for a big project that would be going up in November, so his hours started getting crazy and Jackson and I were left to entertain ourselves quite a bit! We had some fun doing pumpkin patch and the normal fall things. October also brought some unexpected changes to my job, as census dropped off and since I am PRN there, I was unable to come in to work. About the same time this happened, we found out (after five rounds of Clomid *six is the limit* and adding acupuncture!) that we were pregnant again! Praise God for His timing, though I was suddenly without a job and now adding another member to the family... He always provides! I think He likes to  show me that HE is in control, that HE is the one providing for us, because sometimes I get wrapped up in my own little world here and forget. 

November and December - more of the same! For me, battling morning sickness and fatigue (for which I am extremely grateful as it means the pregnancy is going well!). For Tyler, working 80-100 hours per week throughout November and December. He was working nights through Thanksgiving and we did not get to spend any time with his family, who live out of town. My family came down here for Thanksgiving. We loved having my brother & sister in law stay with us a couple different weekends in November! Christmas, of course, was a lot of fun and we celebrated for several days in a row! Then, on Christmas Day, it started snowing... and we got 11 inches at our house! There hasn't been a white Christmas in Arkansas in 80-something years, so this was a BIG deal! We had a great time playing in it, but now I'm ready for the rest of it to melt outta our yard and let's have it be June already - I need some sunshine!

It has been a great year full of happy moments and some heartache as well. We are blessed beyond measure, and the one thing that is constant in our lives is the fact that the Lord our God is faithful to us. He provides, guides, and gently shepherds our hearts. I have been blessed with a husband who loves me, serves our family, and is a wonderful father. I have a sweet, intelligent boy who amazes me every day with his personality and tender heart. I am truly thankful for the precious babe in my womb, who is growing every day. I am getting to treasure and soak up these moments of being pregnant, and the moments I have with Jackson before the new little one is born. God has shaped me this year, as a wife, a mother, and a daughter of the King, and I hope I am ending the year more pleasing to Him than I began. I look forward expectantly to the things He will do in 2013!