Grandma King has always held a special place for Sam & I, as she is our last living grandparent between the two of us. Also she is hilarious, kind, and always has chocolates when you come to visit.
Ever since I told Grandma I was pregnant, she's called about every other week just to ask how I'm feeling and to say that she's praying for us. We had the opportunity to meet her for a "window visit" in October and it was so special! I hope we can get down for another window visit once Bean is born. When we asked her for some parenting advice during our visit, she said "Hang in there. It's a long road but it's worth it."
0 Comments
How does one reflect on 2020? I guess I need to begin with gratitude. Although we've struggled with isolation, jobs looking differently, and unemployment, we have been extremely fortunate. Everyone in our families is healthy and alive. I still have a job, and one with health insurance. We have still gotten to celebrate certain milestones, like graduation, and holidays with some amount of family (usually just Sam's parents/sister, with many, many precautions). We even got to celebrate a really big life step, becoming pregnant with our first child. Highlights:
- Finding out we were pregnant with baby Bean on July 10! - An incredible 2-day birthday celebration that Sam threw for me, the perfect cities date + a surprise party! - Graduating with my Masters in Education in July - Getting to spend a weekend with my sister & her (now) fiancee Brent before COVID lockdown - Being back in-person teaching this fall. Nothing has felt so special. (Seeing the kids is special. Being terrified of giving/getting COVID daily is not so special.) - Hearing the heartbeat, seeing the Ultrasounds & feeling the kicks for the first time Favorite Quarantine Past-times: - Morning walks on the path near our house - Sunday baking experiments (especially bagels & pretzels!) - Reading, reading, reading! - Rediscovering Yoga with Adrienne -Cookouts - House projects!!! - Weekly phone calls with Holland Favorite Experiences: - Kayking in my very own inflatable kayak! - Getting and raising 4 ridiculous chickens - Telling my sister I'm pregnant - Getting wedding photos taken for our 5-year anniversary Favorite Books: *I would also like to note that I accidentally joined 3 book clubs in 2020! One stopped reading books once quarantine hit, thankfully. so I had a little less to keep up on. I highly recommend joining Weeze's book club! - Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo - American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins - Anxious People by Fredrik Backman - How to Be Less Stupid AboutRace by Crystal Marie Fleming - Such A Fun Age by Kiley Reid - The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett - Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb - A Place for Usby Fatima Farheen Mirza - Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman OOOH there were too many good ones this year! Follow me on Goodreads! Grieving: - The all-too-quick hustle to get "back to normal" in the midst of protests and calls for racial justice - The losses so many have had this year... losing parents, children, jobs, financial stability - Wednesday evenings & Sunday mornings with my church community, laughter, liturgy & music - Eating, drinking, making food with friends/community - Good sleep Looking Forward to in 2021: - Baby snuggles - A new president in office! - Getting to spend time with people outside again - Getting Bean in the water for the first time! I can't believe that last Thursday marked the first day of my third trimester! This pregnancy has gone incredibly fast, especially the second trimester. Highlight: Probably the biggest highlight was getting to see Bean on the 20 week ultrasound! Sam wasn't allowed to join me because of COVID protocols, which was unexpected and really difficult (especially first thing on a Monday morning). He missed about the first half of the ultrasound, but we eventually got the video chat connected and he got to see Bean's tiny hands, feet, and some profiles as well. The very next day I felt the first kicks! Bean hasn't stopped moving since. Nesting: No room in the house was safe from me first trimester. The whole 2nd floor got rearranged along with most of the first floor. We did some painting, purchased a few new items of furniture & I had the best time organizing EVERYTHING, obviously giving my label maker a pretty good workout. Other Highlights:
- getting to eat real food again, even braved a burger and fries - going on some hikes with Sam - getting to see the bump grow! |
Archives
December 2022
I'm guessing I'll have it all figured out by the time I turn 30.
|