2011

And alas, the year I thought would never arrive (and then never end) has done both of the above. I see 2011 off with a sigh and a smile as I am left with a potty trained 3 year-old, a busy toothful 11 month old, a rambunctious dog and a brand new coffee maker. Life is good.

This time last year, life was a big question mark. I riddled with questions about the new person about to enter our lives – when, where and how they would arrive and, most importantly of all, WHO they were.

And now we know. She turned our lives and our hearts upside down and is now hard at work at doing the same with our house. We have wooden construction pieces strewn all over the floor, a partially decorated tree with countless broken ornaments scattered at its feet and bite marks on the wooden furniture. But we also have the sight of her huge smile to wake up to every morning, the sounds of her and Toby’s laughter entertaining us after dinner and the smell of her sweet baby-ness as we snuggle her to sleep at night.

It all seems so simple when I write it on my blog – “it was tough but now it’s better” doesn’t quite apply to babies OR toddlers. There are still many moments when I want to pull my own or one of my children’s hair out. There are other moments when the Tina Fey scenario – drinking a diet sprite alone in a motel room – still sounds like absolute bliss. Some days the hours go by so quickly I don’t have time to breathe; other days 20 minutes in the playroom with both kids seems to last for hours.

I don’t expect any of that to change in 2012, but I feel a bit more prepared for what lies ahead than I did this time last year. I greet the New Year with crossed fingers for healthy children and for the supposed 99% efficacy of our chosen method of birth control.

Wishing health and happiness to you as well in 2012! Thanks for reading along on our journey….

See you next year!