Its hard to believe that 2008 has come and gone and now we have entered a new year and before we know it we will be faced with the end of a decade ( Lord willing).
It seems that it was just yesterday that I was holding my precious newborn in my hands and recovering from surgery. Faced with new joys, experiences and challenges to say the least. Where did the past year go.
2008 was such a great year for Josh and I. We had our first child together and we bought our second house (which we had built). Celebrated our second wedding anniversary and really grew closer to God.
I also went back to work in the fall of 2008 only to lose my job for the second year in a row. I experienced a new found frustration with the rest of unemployed Americans as I spent quite a bit of time at the VEC ( Virginia Employment Commission) in the month of Jan. I finally was awarded unemployment after several attempts over the past few months. Although I havent seen the first dime yet, the paper I received in the mail earlier this week sounded promising.
Josh and I decided after a longer deliberation and a lot of prayer that it was best for me to stay home with Connor and go back to school to pursue a degree in Nursing. This way I could hopefully finally reach my goal in working with terminally ill children. It is funny because when I tell people that I want to work in this field they look at me in one of either two ways... either they thing I am insane for wanting what they think is a depressing job and see me as if I have lobsters crawling out of my ears, or they look at me with respect that I would take on such a challenge that in the end would be one of the most rewarding things I would ever do; besides be a mom of course:)
Connor is growing by leaps and bounds. Rounding out at 24lbs and 30 inches long at his 1 year check up last month. He couldn't be healthier and we couldn't be happier. He really is the highlight of our lives and we are so blessed to have him. There was a time earlier this year when I went through a major bout of baby fever... however having a child hopped up on steroids, teething with the croup but a stop to that. They really should read you a disclaimer before prescribing such medication to children. "Warning- this will result in a restless, hyperactive, irritable child, who wont sleep, doesn't eat and potentially wants to ruin your life and especially any love life you were trying to have!!!" Thank goodness we only had to give him the steroids for 5 days. I finally came to the conclusion after day three that my son had "roid rage." Apparently it is common practice for doctors to prescribe steroids to children with the croup. However, I wish I would have known what I was in for.
Connor also cut his first two teeth the week of his 1st birthday. That was fun! Not only was I , and still breastfeeding - the middle of the night screaming was almost unbearable. He finally got through that and now he is trying to cut THE TOP FOUR TEETH!!!! It has been a rough two weeks in this household. He also woke up last Friday and vomited all over our bed. It was the most pitiful thing I had ever seen. I think he just had a 24 hour virus because he seemed to be almost OK after that first day.
We are planning to get Connor's first haircut tom. This is due to the fact that our child is growing some sort of mullet on top of his head rather than an actual hair style. We feel that it is for the best that we take him to have a trim so the ridicule in the nursery at church amongst the other 1 year olds wont be so harsh :)
I am looking forward to this next year as we await what it may bring. Even if the news is nothing but words of despair with job loss, and dwindling stock market and the price of goods in general rising to a new level. While I don't have faith in our new president I do have faith in God that he will see my family through these hard times. I know that no matter the situation we will always be taken care of.
Well, Connor is up from his nap. So we are off to eat dinner, meet daddy and get ready for the weekend as we are traveling to Nana and Pops house tom.
Here is a recent picture of Connor on his birthday. Polishing off his first piece of cake!
