Looking Back, and Looking Ahead

So, it's New Year's Eve, and this inspires me to think about what an amazing year 2008 was. A year ago Chris and I were flying back from spending the holidays in California, and discussing our dreams for starting a new family in the future. How lucky we are that those dreams became a reality so quickly, and we get to ring in the new year with our healthy, happy and really just phenomenal baby boy!
We are still up in Massachusetts and I am watching the tail end of the expected 5-8 inches of snow fall in my mother's backyard as I type-- Mother Nature's way to help us realize that we are in the northeast and not California or even in DC. It's really beautiful and peaceful, or at least it was peaceful before I indulged a bit by chucking snowballs to the dogs (Mom's golden retriever, Piper, and Joe and Bub's lab/golden mix, Allie). Harkening back to some of my favorite childhood memories, Bub and Joe just made homemade peppermint stick ice cream... YUM! Sean is taking a long nap that started on my lap and now enables his father to read Sports Illustrated while parenting. We (Sean's Gramma, Bub, Joe, Kate, Brian, Jen, Chris, Sean, and I) are heading out to a big and early dinner at Gibbet Hill in Groton in an hour or so, going slowly in the snow.
2008 was obviously a year of big changes. My body is somewhat back to the same version I entered the year with, and folks seeing me walk down the street would have no idea that I had gotten pregnant and therefore much larger, given birth after 38+ hours of labor, tackled the beginning stages of the challenging and incredibly rewarding "job" of breastfeeding, and went through the last 2 months with a lot less sleep than I'd typically have. I've learned so much and discovered how much more I have to learn. But, I am trying to take solace in the fact that I didn't know all what I've picked up over last 12 months and I'll somehow understand how to parent our growing and changing child.
2009 will likely include Sean's first teeth, crawling, solid foods, walking, words, swims in a Maine lake and elsewhere, and a Presidential Inauguration to boot. In the short term, it includes lots more of what is about to call me away from this post... liquid meals! With that, I end this post with a wish that everyone enjoy a wonderful New Year's Eve, and that 2009 include challenges and rewards for all as this year has for our family!