2008: A year of change

Okay, so I know I'm not the only one to use the 'Change' slogan this year, but I do believe it is 100% appropriate in our case as well. While this year certainly seemed like it was only about six months long, I still can't believe all that has happened. I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't have believed in January that the year had so many changes in store for us, but it certainly has.

Obviously deciding to start our family this year has been the biggest event of our year. Who would have guessed that the first of many conversations last January would lead me to be laying here (yes, everyone, I'm laying down like I'm supposed to), nearly 34 weeks pregnant, a mere 12 months later? Pregnancy has been quite a journey and certainly not the journey I envisioned, but every hick-up has been for the best and things are going to work out just fine. And besides, very soon (but not too soon! ;) we are going to be able to meet this new little person face to face:

29 week ultrasound: That's his face, front and center, if you can't already tell...and yes I know its also mildly kinda creepy, but its nice to see those chubby cheeks and chin. Hopefully he doesn't really have marbles for eyes ;-)

We also took a couple nice road trips this year, one to Mammoth Mountain in March to snowboard (and ended up getting my credit card number stolen at the motel - stupids) and our bigger vacation to Utah in May/June. Both of these trips also marked big turning points this year, as we decided to "officially" start trying for our family the week we left for Mammoth (which led to lots of silly name discussions on the ride up). And we brought back the best souvenir of all from Utah...the microscopic beginnings of our new family. I was also able to sneak away to Hawaii in September for Shan's wedding, which was so much fun! (She can also vouch for the massive changes this year has brought ;-)

As for the economic changes this year - all I can say is: wow. Belts have been tightened and my rock solid job, is currently anything but. However, despite the occasional money freak-out, all I can do is count our blessings. We still have a roof over our head and food on the table. We have health insurance and all of our basic needs met. We also settled into some good money saving routines, including our continued and very free Sunday outings to the park. Both of us (I can't yet speak for Jenny) are super excited to return to this weekly ritual with baby in tow.

And while this year has been absent the normal year-end wrap up queues (Thanksgiving and Christmas were anything but ordinary!), here we are at the end of the year regardless. Once again, I am so thankful for all the kindness and thoughtfulness that has been shared with us over the last few weeks. Its so easy to get lost in our regular lives and times like these are an excellent reminder of why it is so wonderful to surround ourselves with cherished friends and family. We've received so much strength from others in these weeks and know that it would have been infinitely more challenging if we didn't have you all in our lives.

So, with that, I will wrap up this last post of 2008 and wish you all the very best in the new year.