In all honesty, I hadn't even thought about my annual wrapup post until the other night when I noticed others posting theirs. Oops! I suppose it's safe to say my mind has been elsewhere lately.
Without further ado though, here it is. Enjoy! :)
After having a pretty rough 2010, I have to admit that 2011 was a pretty good year for the Kadzban family. Aside from Lukas's arrival, which made the year wonderful all on its own, we had lots of other things to be thankful for.
January
As we started out the new year, Mike and I debated on whether we were ready to try for another baby yet. After months of not feeling quite ready, we realized that we were and then found ourselves very disappointed to find out near the end of the month that we hadn't gotten pregnant. Liana got to go sledding with Daddy for the first time this month after the Blizzard of 2011 gave her plenty of snow to do so in. And my baby was a 'mommy's girl' through and through....
February
The second weekend of the month brought great fun as we ventured to the east side of the state to visit with the Kranz's in celebration of Charley's birth and Lily's 2nd birthday. I realized this weekend that my fears about Liana not being ready to be a big sister were unfounded as she was quickly fascinated with Charley and didn't mind sharing her mama's attention with her as she had done with all other babies in the past. About a week later, on the 23rd, Mike and I found out that we were expecting our own baby! My heart was so excited but so scared at the same time. The final weekend of the month, we headed east one more time to be there for Lily's party.
March
The month my baby girl turned two! This is also the month where she officially became a "terrible two". Opinions became loud, tantrums became frequent, emotions became wild. Through it all though, I found myself loving her even more. We celebrated her birthday by taking her to Frederick Meijer Gardens to see the butterfly exhibit and having a quiet day at home, just the three of us. Two days later, on the 26th, we had our family and friends over to celebrate. The pregnancy kept me on my toes all month long as I was anxious about the things that could go wrong. We had a miscarriage scare on the 9th, which coincidentally was the night before I had to take my already-stressful licensing exam. I'm not sure how I made it through that test, let alone pass it, but I thank God that I did. Later that day, Dr. LaGrand did an ultrasound and for the first time, I laid my eyes upon one sweet little baby and one beating heartbeat at six weeks. My heart had never been put to ease so quickly.
April
This month, we passed the ten week mark and I finally started to feel safe within our pregnancy. I helped to throw a baby shower for my dear friend Jessie. On Easter Sunday, at 12.5 weeks, we finally announced our pregnancy to the world!!
May
This was an emotional month for me for a number of different reasons, both good and bad. Our baby would have been born in May and as a result, I was in a major funk for the first two weeks as I tried to navigate the miscarriage waters one more time. Our friends, JJ and Jess, gave birth to their daughter Madison near the end of the month and while I thought this would send me into a tailspin again, it actually did the opposite. Holding Madison made me feel excitement over everything that was still to come with our own baby. The end of the month was busy for us as we had Liana's two-year photo session and then my peanut and I traveled to the east side of the state again over Memorial Day to spend a long weekend with the Kranz's. We visited the Detroit Zoo and had a ball... well, aside from the many tantrums both two year olds gave us the pleasure of dealing with. ;) My family also experienced some hardships this month that left things a bit uncertain for a while. Finally, we remodeled our kitchen this month and transformed the center of our home from a blue abyss into something beautiful and warm!
June
The start of the month brought us something we had been anticipating since February... our 20 week ultrasound on the 13th! It was at this ultrasound that we discovered we'd be adding a baby boy into our mix and I saw pure relief wash over my husband as he'd now have a son. I don't think I'll ever forget the smile smeared across his face when we left our doctors office and it sunk in that he'd actually have someone to share his passions with. At the end of June I celebrated my 28th birthday. And as a gift for my mom's birthday & Mothers Day, I bought her a mini session so that she and Liana could have their pictures taken together which turned out great!
July
July was a month of chaos for us. In preparation for baby boy, we put ourselves into full gear to get the house ready. As my projects usually go, one project became another and pretty soon things started spiraling out of control. Liana got to experience her first "real" 4th of July this month as this was the first year that she really got into the festivities. Brittany and I went to the Taylor Swift concert on the 28th and while I was incredibly uncomfortable sitting in those small stadium seats at 26 weeks pregnant, I still had a blast. Finally, Mike and I celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary on the 1st! We didn't do much for our anniversary (and honest to God, I can't even remember why...) but regardless, it was a milestone that meant a lot to both of us.
August
A month of changes!! Liana's "big girl" room was finished and she officially moved in on the 18th. It was so bittersweet!! I couldn't believe my baby girl wasn't so much a baby anymore and that it was time for her to leave her crib behind. We also got her a swingset soon thereafter and I swear the kid thought she had died and gone to heaven. In addition, we ventured into the adventures of potty training this month.... and failed miserably! Friendships changed this month and unfortunately, not for the better.
September
We started this month out by taking our first and last vacation as a family of three to Chicago over Labor Day weekend. While there we visited Brookfield Zoo & Shedd's aquarium, both of which Liana loved. It was so wonderful to be able to get away with my little family for a few days and truly enjoy each others company. Liana became officially potty trained the last weekend of the month. We finished the nursery and also painted the downstairs bathroom. I threw a baby shower for our cousin, Laura, who was due just 3.5 weeks after I was. Mike celebrated his 28th birthday on the 19th. Also this month, I became hugely pregnant and while I felt physically ready to have our baby, I was far from emotionally ready as I just wanted to soak every second up with my family of three before we became a family of four.
October
The month it all came down to. My hormones were raging throughout October as my body prepared to bring a baby into this world. I couldn't sleep, couldn't eat well and was just pretty miserable overall. While potty trained, we still struggled with certain aspects of it and Mike and I were quite nervous that adding a new baby into the mix was going to detonate the "potty training bomb". I anxiously prepared for my maternity leave at work which couldn't have come at a better time as I was definitely ready for a break. Lukas Ryan was born on the 27th and brought an immeasurable amount of joy to our lives once again. I did still find myself remembering the baby that I had lost exactly 364 days before he was born and while I knew that Lukas could never replace that baby, he did help mend my broken heart.
November
Our first few weeks at home with Lukas flew by. I had forgotten how much work a newborn was and how exhausting they could be! Mike stayed home with Liana, Lukas and I for the first week after we came home from the hospital and then my mom was here to help for the second week. I healed quickly from my c-section and found myself so thankful that I had chosen to go that route even though it wasn't easy at the time. Around the 10th we noticed that Lukas was becoming much more fussy as he cried a majority of the day and after taking him for his 2 week checkup, we discovered that he had reflux. It was terrible to see my baby in so much pain all the time and listening to him cry constantly really did a number on all of us. He remained like this throughout the remainder of the month. The Kranz's came for a long weekend to meet baby Lukas and my heart beamed at seeing Liana and Lily play together like the best of friends. On the 14th, our cousins Laura & Matt welcomed their little girl, Kate, into this world and the Kadzban's couldn't have been any happier for the Pridgeon's on the beautiful addition to their family. :)
December
December was most definitely one of the best months of the year for us. While the first few weeks remained tough with regards to Lukas, he began to settle down around the middle of the month. It was at that point that we got to see more of his personality emerging and we loved what we saw. I found myself loving my time at home with the kids more and more as each day passed. The holidays came and went in a flash, which was both good and bad as I had a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit this year.
No comments:
Post a Comment