Year in review

My buddy Amanda did a year in review like this, and I like the idea so much I'm stealing it for myself.

2008 In Review

January - I was 4-5 months pregnant and I turned 31. Keith and I rented a yurt for the weekend to celebrate and went there ALONE. As in, Ava stayed home with Grandma and Grandpa. It was a first, and it went really well. We also (on my birthday) learned that we were going to be having a little boy. And, though a strange twist of fate involving the death of a friend's dog, we realized this little boy would be named Alder.

February - One of my very dear friends committed suicide. This was a hard blow and to this day, I still see her ghost ALL OVER campus. We were workout buddies so her presence is especially strong in the gym. I missed her memorial service because we (the family) flew to Virginia to visit my folks during this time. We all got extremely sick the second we stepped off the plane, so the entire week-long visit was spent just trying to survive. Ava met my Grandmother for the first (and probably last) time, though she was in a feverish haze and probably had no idea what was going on.

March - Sinus infection hell for me. I finally give in to antiobiotics - something I prefer to avoid when pregnant (well, I prefer to avoid them at all times actually). I finished my final term as a full-time student (because it was the last term I had an assistantship for). I attended an awesome birth for a dear friend.

April - I'm writing writing writing and trying to finish as much of my dissertation as possible before the baby comes. This is the final month we have Ava in daycare as well. The house gets rearranged in prep for the new baby. Keith turns 35 and I throw him a party, despite feeling like a giant whale with my growing belly. We decide to tile the backsplash in the kitchen as one list big project before life gets crazier.

May - We spend Cinco de Mayo in a yurt on the coast when I am 36 weeks pregnant. It is not the most comfortable experience of my life. Ava loves the beach, as always. My Blessingway happens on Mother's Day at 37 weeks pregnant. Five days later, Alder comes blasting into the world. It was a fantastic birth and is the highlight of the year.

June - My parents come visit to meet their new grandson. It is wonderful to have them here to help with the kids. Most of the month passes in a blur as we adjust to living as a family of four.

July - Ava potty trains at just under two years old. We brave the wilds on a camping trip WITH BOTH KIDS to Sunset Bay. It was tiring, but fun. Ava looooooooves camping. Ava turns two at the end of the month and bawls at the candle smoking on her cake.

August - I get myself back at school more frequently now, back on the track to finishing. My wonderfully generous in-laws agree to watch both kids for half-days three times a week. Wow. I attend a surprise premature birth on the very same night Alder sleeps straight through for the first time, so he didn't even know I was gone. I am struck by a terrible case of tendonitis in my right foot and can only limp short distances. I We brave another camping trip, this time down a looooong and nearly impassable (for Honda Civics anyway) primitive road at Olallie Lake. It was another great trip.

September - We cram in one more camping trip before the weather turns fowl, this time to Ice Cap Creek. We've got camping down to a science now, so this is the most enjoyable one of the summer. We actually get to relax a little. At the end of the month, Keith and I celebrate our 3rd anniversary with a nice dinner out ALONE. I attend a really awesome midwife assistant's training. And as always, I'm working hard at school.

October - We head out to the Wallowa Mountains for a "deluxe" cabin trip. It is glorious out there, and since it is late in the season, almost no one is around. On the drive out, I get a call from my brother that my aunt and godmother is dieing. Our vacation is cut short so I can fly out to Virginia to be with her. On Sunday, October 14th, after four days of providing hospice care alongside my mother and brother, I hold my aunt's hand as she passes away. At the age of 58, she died of liver and kidney failure after decades of depression and alcoholism. I brought Alder with me on the trip, so she got to meet him before she died. We return to Oregon and proceed to do nothing for the next several weeks as I process this loss.

November - Back at school, trudging along. I finish my dissertation (a draft anyway). I attend another amazing birth for a good friend. Alder turns six months old and gets his first taste of food, which coincides exactly with him starting to sleep through the night almost all the time. And I finally admit to both an eating disorder (and I'm not ready to say anything more about that right now) and long-standing depression. I find myself a good shrink.

December - Constant work on the dissertation. I'm very near the end now. Just revising based on comments I've gotten on the final chapter. But it is still a slow process. Both kids start attending daycare two days a week again, and the in-laws drop their care down to two days a week. So now I have four days to work. We spend a little holiday time up at a cabin in the snowy mountains. Ava loooooves to dig in the snow. We all get sick this month, for pretty much the entire month. Ava gets croup, Alder gets an ear infection that bursts. I have a sinus infection. Keith gets food poisoning. And when those things weren't happening, we all had colds. I ring in the new year with just Keith as company, as our guests for the evening left before the ball dropped.