A Little Reflection on 2013

I figured the last day of 2013 is a great time for me to write my first post in over two months. I've been a slacker {only when it comes to the blog, believe me} I admit it. I vow to post regularly again in 2014. That said, 2013..... wow. wow. wow. WOW. I cannot believe this year is already coming to a close. I've always gotten a bit emotional when we close one year and prepare for another. It all started in the 2nd grade. I remember {just like it was yesterday} coming back to school in January after a long Christmas vacation. My teacher, Miss Christine Davis at Heritage Christian School, had a big calendar in the classroom. You know the kind where you change out the month each month? Well, this time she took the year off and threw it away {she didn't save it like she normally did the months}. I semi freaked out and asked why she threw the year away, couldn't we use it again? That's when she explained that we would not use it again because 1994 was over. After I asked "Can't we use it when it comes back again?"and she said No. I remember feeling all sad and sentimental inside as I watched her put up 1995. True story. My little 2nd grade self was legitimately sad that I would never see 1994 again.... and I have no clue why? Anyway, whatever the reason, so began my emotional attachment to years. I'm a sentimental sap to everything else so it doesn't surprise me in the least. This year though... this year I have all the more reason to be emotional. This year is the year I became a MOMMY. What a year it has been.

All my life, I wondered what I'd be like when I was a mom. I wondered what I'd look like, what my husband would looked like {hit the jackpot there for sure}, what my babies would look like {again, jackpot}, where we'd be in life, what I'd feel like, etc. Let me say that I could not have imagined that life would be any more wonderful than it is right now. Not only did this year bring us our precious Caroline Anne in August, but Bennett got a wonderful new job in the spring making the switch from pharmaceutical to technology sales. Great career move for him and our family. Then in the early summer, I was promoted to management with my company. I will say, I always knew I'd feel great when I got promoted at Altria but getting promoted while preggers made me feel pretty dang good.

Life since August has changed in more ways than I could begin to name. It is amazing how much having a baby changes your entire world. Bennett and I still joke that pretty much the whole first month is just a blur. I think we just consider it a success that all 3 of us survived that month. It was HARD. I definitely realized then that I totally underestimated how difficult being new parents would be. Happy tears were shed, but there were definitely a good amount of stressed out, emotional, don't know what the heck to do, please just make my baby stop crying tears shed as well. Then we moved into the second month. The, "Ok... I think we can do this" month. That's when she finally decided to quit being an owl and actually sleep at night. HALLELUJAH. The third month is what we like to call the "This is getting fun month". Her little personality just started blossoming and it has been beautiful to watch ever since! The smiles, the giggles, oh how they melt my heart. The fourth month was a hard one for me. That was the "I'm now a working Mommy" month. I returned to work on October 28 and am pretty sure I cried every single day for the first couple weeks. One day, I burst into tears when I got home? Why was I crying when I was home and holding her? No idea. It was a hard month. Hence why I haven't blogged much. I finally feel like we are in more of a routine, but it has been tough. On a happier note... she also began rolling over during the fourth month and just continues to GROW. At her 4 month doctor appointment she was in the 95th percentile for both weight and height! Month 5 has been by far my favorite, but I won't talk about that yet.. stay tuned for that post. {she turns 5 Months on 1/3}

I could go on forever. I'll sum everything up by saying that 2013 has been the most happy, exciting, challenging, emotionally draining, full of love year in all my 25 {almost 26!} years. Tears fill my eyes when I think of how the Lord continues to bless every aspect of my life, of our lives. So yes, I am sad to see 2013 go because of all the wonderful things it brought to me. However, I am FREAKING PUMPED to welcome 2014..... Because 2011 brought me a fiancé, 2012 brought me a husband, 2013 brought me a baby.... So what is 2014 going to bring me? Stay tuned. It's going to be an awesome year!!!!!!!!!!

And now for some pics of my girl from our NYE photo shoot earlier today. How precious are her little "Tiny and Bubbly" shirt and sparkle boots?!