Happy New Year!

We are solidly into January 1 of a new year. There will be many changes to come, both big and small, as there are every year. From our family to yours, we hope you had a merry Christmas and wish you a happy New Year!

Remembering God's Goodness

One year ago today we had just been discharged from the hospital for Annie's emergency surgery. Somehow the significance of the weekend's date had gone unnoticed by me until Friday.

 

The feelings of seeing her symptoms and feeling helpless hasn't left. 

The sadness of seeing her asleep after her surgery and just wanting her to wake up so we could hold her hasn't left.

The memory of seeing her hooked up to wires and monitors hasn't left. 

The feelings of joy mixed with exhaustion come flooding back when seeing the pictures (this picture above is the first time we were able to hold her.)

The joy of having her still with us is also still there.

When she has any of the symptoms from that August 25 date, our hearts still jump. Nate and I still talk about the overwhelmingness of the event. How quickly everything happened. How God supplied our needs through the nurses and doctors. How He sustained us in the wee hours. How He showed His care for us through meals lovingly provided. We are grateful and try not to take our time with her for granted. And we try to hold her in open hands, as a gift entrusted to us to care for.

tmm

My Sweet Girl

Last week I took a few pictures of my sweet girl in the backyard, now 13 months old. They said it would happen, the time would fly -- and they were right. Here are a few of my faves.

tmm

Christmas festivities

Anyone who knows me knows I love Christmas. I love the food, the traditions, the trees, the lights, the baking, the real meaning.... all of it! Today was our work Christmas lunch. Annie and I traveled downtown with Nate for a day at the office, aka an excuse to see and catch up with everyone. Annie did great and got to see her old friends. I enjoyed seeing everyone, too.
tmm

Endings, Beginnings, and Change

Today begins a new chapter in my life. In our lives as a family. Yesterday was my last day of full-time employment.

It is a decision I made - it was not forced upon me - but if you know me at all, you know how much I hate change. (Strangely, I rather like change of the coin-sort. Go figure.) It is the right decision for me, right now. I do not regret it, but I will miss my coworkers, my friends, my family... those whom I've worked with for over 13 years and love, whom I've celebrated with and cried with. I will still have a connection with them, working part-time from home, but it won't be the same. 

But it's the right decision.

And my reward is to see this sweet face each day.

tmm

First day at school

Today we went to my sister's new classroom to help her set it up. She will be teaching 5th grade this year. Yay! I'm so excited for this school year for her.

Annie got her first view inside the classroom of any kind and seemed to enjoy it. She didn't care for the chair so much, but was getting a grasp on grammar. You can see her contemplating the best helping verbs to use in her workbook. Watch out, world!

tmm

Final Weeks of My Pregnant Life

Here are the final weeks of my pregnancy. (I didn't realize how big I was until I looked at these pictures.) As you can see, I didn't make it to 40 weeks. But I thought it'd be fun to continue the pictures to the end. Annabel "Annie" Wren McMillan was born May 22 at 10:12pm CT. She weighed 7 pounds, 1 ounce and measured 20-1/2 inches long.

Weeks 37-40

tmm