Thank You, 2012

Well...I had vowed to not be one of those people that couldn't find time to blog - my friend Mandy is so good because she just adds little tidbits - little notes that make you feel like you know exactly what is going on in her life.  I guess all this time I kept thinking that I needed to chronicle everything that Everett had been doing these last SEVEN MONTHS (I cannot believe my little man will be 8 months in just 2.5 weeks)!  But it hit me the other day that it didn't matter...I just had to start...somewhere.  And seeing that it's New Year's Eve, and I'm being introduced to the wild night that is NYE post-kids (I'm sitting on the couch about 2 feet from my husband with a breast pump attached to my front, a computer on my lap, a computer on his lap, and football on the television - yikes!  at least we each have some wine) I figured now was as good a time as ever...

But in the interest of keeping it simple, since that's the only way I'm going to keep up with this blog, I don't really have much to say other than what I wake up and say in my head every single morning...THANK YOU. 

Thank you God - who has humbled me this year by giving me the greatest gift I've ever received: motherhood.

Thank you, husband - who has made me fall in love with him a thousand times over, has awed me with his patience, and wowed me with his uncanny ability to father our child; as if he was made for the job. 

Thank you, mommy - who has given of herself every day, literally, whether in action, through taking care of Everett, words, or just listening to me hash out the web of tangled over-informed thoughts that is a new mother's brain. 

Thank you, daddy - for being right there with mom in her tireless efforts to support us, and being one of Everett's favorite people. 

Thank you, mother-in-law - who has loved all of us unconditionally through all of our adventures. 

Thank you, big sister - who has always being willing to step in and help no matter what has been going on in her life, and carrying herself so gracefully through having to devour the poop sandwich life has doled out to her for 2013. 

Thank you, b-team girls - whom after 11 years, many moves and life events, feel closer to me than ever. 

And lastly, thank you Everett - who radiates joy from every inch of his little body and makes every single day, no matter how tired or sick or angry or frustrated or scared or {insert adjective here} I am feeling, perfect and beautiful and worth living.

I can only hope and pray that 2013 will bring me such blessings as those I have been given in 2012. Talk at you in the New Year....

My little angel holding the smiley faces from Grama Hope, lounging on G-Buds lap...thanks again for this moment captured on film