Hello 2012

The house is quiet... I hear only the hum of the dryer going (because that chore never stops) and Toby's quiet gnawing on a toy near my feet.  Okay... maybe I can also hear my husband snoring across the house, but the former, alone, sounded so dreamy!

The house is fairly dark... just the warm lights of the Christmas tree and my laptop illuminate the family room.

We spent the evening with friends, eating delicious food, chatting away and policing children as they darted excitedly around the house.  It was a great way to spend the last evening of 2011.  Now, only Toby and I are awake; everyone else is tucked in and will officially welcome the New Year when they rise in the morning... John sooner than anyone, since he has to get up at 4:30 for work.  (The baby is also awake - - busy as can be - - training either for the UFC or an elite gymnastics career, I can't really tell for sure. I only know he is wild and, as of late, has been sending my body into fairly regular contractions each evening.)

This night is always a reflective one for me.  I think of the highs and lows of the past year... and remain grateful for both.  The highs are (obviously) easy to be thankful for and the lows always teach perspective and allow more appreciation for the highs (and, quite frankly, allow me to see more things in each day as a miracle rather than just a moment).   

The last nine days have been a whirlwind of celebration, starting with the arrival of Nana and Papa from Pennsylvania, to an amazingly thoughtful surprise baby shower last Friday night that left me in tears on numerous occasions throughout the evening, to a wonderful Christmas Eve celebration with dear friends and their extended family, to Christmas Day itself (when Preston sang, unprompted, "Happy Birthday" to Jesus upon waking), to our family celebration of Christmas (Santa came, of course) on Monday, to dinner out on Tuesday with great friends (our second dinner date since moving here three years ago... thanks for watching the kids Nana and Papa!), to tonight's New Year's Eve dinner with friends and neighbors.  I am reeling from it all, both giddy and exhausted... and so very grateful. 

I am grateful for the many blessings of this year... Gracie's stable health during the last four+ months (knock on wood), the surprise (yet longed for) news of our little TieBreaker and our newest, four-legged family member, Toby.  I am grateful (now... not necessarily in the moment!) for the many challenges we faced during the year.  I know they've left us better equipped to handle future hurdles and have added to the perspective that gets us through the day-to-day challenges that can sometimes feel so heavy as they are happening.  I look back at the beginning of  2011 and see how much Gracie and Preston have grown and changed, and though it makes me wistful, it also warms my heart.  I am grateful that we've ended this year in such a better place than we started it and look so very forward to the many exciting changes (and, undoubtedly, challenges) that 2012 will bring.

As is tradition for me, I wish you A Happy New Year... Happy New Day.