Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!  I cannot believe it is 2014 already, and we are a week or less away from officially becoming parents.  How exciting and how scary!  I do not know what happened to 2013.  I think it was the fastest year of my life, and I have trouble remembering most of it.  I would say 2013 was a good year for us.

We started out the year with 21 days of prayer in January, and we began to pray about having children.  It didn't take God very long to give us our answer since we got pregnant in April.  What a surprise of our lives! We were thinking we still had years for children to be present if in fact we were meant to become parents.

May and June are blurs to me.  I was sick and crazy most of May.  We went to the beach for our anniversary, and I didn't enjoy the trip nearly as much as I hoped. I felt so bad for Michel who had to be around me, but he was so great.  We definitely need a beach do-over this year (but then there's daycare to pay for so....).  I started feeling more normal in June as we began to pack up our apartment to move into our house in July.

July and August were spent unpacking and fixing up our house.  I am glad we moved, and I had something to occupy my mind for some time while I was still trying to get used to the idea of being pregnant.  On July 4th, I met many members of my new family at my mom and Steve's engagement party.  We also got to announce our pregnancy along with my new brother and sister-in-law who are due two days before us with a baby girl.

September and October were very busy.  Michael's job kicked into high gear during his busy season, but we managed to take a trip to Arkansas and watch Samford play the Razorbacks.  We registered for McBaby and began putting the nursery together.  I started nesting in September and began organizing and cleaning, and I don't think I've really stopped since.  In October, we traveled back to Arkansas for my mom's wedding, which was really special.  We also had our first shower in October, which was wonderful, and we completed our birth classes at the hospital.

We celebrated our birthdays in November, but with all that we had to buy for the baby, I don't really remember if we actually celebrated much.  Michael went to the Alabama vs. Tennessee game as a 30th birthday celebration.  I stayed home and let him celebrate with his friends.  Being pregnant and tailgating just didn't sound too fun to me, but I think Michael had a wonderful time.  I traveled back to Arkansas again for another shower, and it was amazing as well. I enjoyed seeing my family and friends that I don't get to see too often.  Michael and I spent a quiet Thanksgiving together at home because he was under the weather, and it was nice to spend it together just the two of us.

December has flown by as well.  We managed to put up our Christmas tree and spent our last little quiet Christmas together.  Michael has been at home a lot more this month, and it spoils me to have him here.  I enjoy our time together so much.  We had his staff over for a Christmas shrimp boil a few weeks ago, which was a lot of fun.  I know they enjoy having a few more days off this time of year as well.  We have spent the last few days finishing up the nursery, buying all the necessities we still needed, making and freezing meals, cleaning the house, and packing our hospital bags.  I guess we are as ready to bring our baby home as we can be.

I have so many hopes for 2014.  More than anything, I pray for a healthy baby and a healthy family.  I hope this experience as parents brings us closer to God and closer to each other.  I want more than anything to experience the unconditional love that the Father has for me through being a mom and loving our child unconditionally.  I pray that our faith is increased immeasurably through being parents.  I hope that I slow down and appreciate the importance of every day, whether good or bad.  I want to learn to cherish every moment.  I want to appreciate my family and friends more.  Perhaps we will actually become sentimental, since we are anything but at this point.  I've heard kids do that to you, and you become the couple who keeps nothing to the parents who keep every macaroni necklace your children make.  I hope we enjoy the journey by cherishing the good times and learning from the tough times.

Happy New Year!  Here's to a fantastic 2014 for all of you!