Homework: 2012 in Review

Back in December I received a homework assignment from my friend on twitter. Well, she was assigning it to someone else and I said that it was a good idea so she handed down the assignment to me as well. The original intent was to make a list of brave and/or cool things that happened in 2012 that were not related to baby making. For me it was a little different and served as a good reminder that I am not just living the same day over and over again like the movie GroundHog Day. That I was brave at times and did cool things. 

I had to come up with one thing for each month that was brave and/or cool.

January- We made the official decision to start co-sleeping. One night Jay had fallen asleep in our bed and before Adam carried he him up to his crib, I asked if he really wanted to. He would wake up sometime around 2 AM anyway and we'd have to go get him. Why did we keep putting ourselves through it? Because he is supposed to be in a crib? Adam agreed and we never looked back. It's been a full year and it's the best decision we have made as parents. We all sleep better. I don't know how we would have survived teething without it. (I count this as brave because it felt brave at the time-- although since then I have tried to do a lot more parenting from my gut and not worry about how things are supposed to be.)

February- In January I lost the daycare kids I was watching so February was a lot about cutting costs and trying to make it without my income. It was scary and took a lot of sacrifices...even more than the ones we were already making to pay off our adoption. I feel like we were brave just in our trying to get by. 

Jay also got a stomach bug that month and while NOT AT ALL COOL, it was new and we handled it well. You never want to wake up to your child throwing up on you. Poor little one. He was so tired and couldn't understand what was happening. We both feel so bad whenever we think about it.


March- I opened my Etsy shop. Although it would still be another month until I really listed items to sell, it was a huge step for me to open it and start making things to sell. I had no idea what I was doing or how much work it would be, but I feel like putting myself out there and trying to do whatever I could to bring money in for our family was brave.


April- We celebrated Easter. This was a big deal to me. It was the kind of day I always dreamed of while waiting to be a parent. We did an egg hunt for Jay and he did so well. He liked finding the eggs and going through his basket. We also did pictures with the Easter bunny and he started putting two words together for the first time that month. I remember at the mall when we had the pictures done he got a rubber ball and he threw it to see it bounce and then yelled "My ball!" A very cool month.

May- Adam and I went to the drive in and Jay slept at Grandma and Grandpa's house. This was VERY brave of us. In fact as we were driving to drop Jay off, Adam was saying we shouldn't be doing it. We had only been away from Jay a couple times ever and those times were only for an hour or two. An overnight was huge. (And we actually have not done it since.) The drive in was fun until the end when we realized our car battery had died and I began running around to cars and asking strangers if they would help us. We finally got someone to help and we were in a freezing parking lot at 2 AM trying to get the car started.

June- I don't really have anything for June. Had my birthday and turned another year older? That's about it.

July- This month was very brave. I went to my gynecologist for the first time since my hysterectomy. I was way overdue and it was so hard for me to follow through with it. I cried and it brought a lot of hard stuff to the surface, but I did it. And now I have the peace of mind that I am still cancer free.

August- I took Jay to Boston to visit my sister without Adam. I had my mom with me, but it was still scary taking Jay far away without Adam with us. Especially since we spent a night in the hotel just Jay and I.

September- Two toddlers started coming here for daycare. With Jay that meant I was watching three toddlers at once, which was exhausting and terrifying. Although things have gotten easier since then. We now have a routine that works well and it's great that Jay has friends to play with every day.

Also, this month we had a big Sesame Street birthday party for Jay's 2nd birthday. 

October- We took Jay trick or treating for the first time, which was so cool. We also threw a Halloween party.

November- I started planning a surprise party for my parents. More on that (including pictures!) coming soon.

We took Jayden to vote, which was of course very cool. He was a tiny baby in an infant carrier last time we voted. 

December- My siblings were home and my family was together for the holidays. There is nothing cooler than that!



Okay, so there is my list. In February. I get *some* credit for actually finishing it, right?

Now, go read my friend's list at My Lazy Ovaries.

And my other friend's list at So I Was Minding My Own Business.