2008: The Year in Review

Happy New Year, everyone! I just bought Time Magazine's Year in Review, and I thought I'd do that before I throw out my old calendar.

January: This month was mostly about getting ready for the new baby, constantly checking my blood pressure and sugar levels, fretting about clothes not fitting, excited about the new child coming. Of course we did our January family weekend...AND Big Sissy had her first dentist visit. Little Sissy also moved out of the crib and into her "big girl" bed.

February: Little Buddy arrived and we spent the month getting adjusted to our new "normal" in our family. We were so blessed with meals and visits from friends while I recovered. We fell in love with this little boy immediately.

March: My parents went to China, Hubby's aunt Grace passed away, and we celebrated a snowy Easter. We started practicing getting out with all the kids.

April: I discovered a twist in my spine and started my VERY frequent chiropractor visits. Big Sissy reached the peak of her 3-year-old tantrums and nearly drove me insane.

May: This was a big one. I celebrated my first mother's day as a mother of 3, I attended my graduation ceremony, and we did a family vacation to Arkansas and Branson. Chiropractor visits continued, and Hubby went out of town for the last week. I survived.

June: We joined Hubby for a business trip to Springfield, and we went back to Silver Dollar City. We were otherwise busy with normal summer stuff: zoo, buttterfly house, parks, VBS.

July: I started working at Mother's Day Out on an as-needed basis. It was nice to have a little extra income, but after a few months I realized it wasn't working very well. This month my dad retired, Little Buddy moved out of his baby carrier and started solid food, and we celebrated Independence Day with Hubby's brother and family in Indiana.

August: More summer stuff--Muny, Raging Rivers, Bethalto Homecoming, Hope Church shindig. Little Buddy finally rolled over, and his laugh became the highlight of our days.

September: Little Sissy turned 2, we decided not to send Big Sissy to preschool but she started her preschool choir, I became a discussion group leader for the new year of M.O.P.S. Big Sissy's tantrums seemed to get better, but then all the deep questions of life started. And so did the rain in Missouri. We experienced a lot of flooding in our area.

October: We started our weekly excursions to Pizza Street, we enjoyed dressing up in preparation for Halloween, the rain continued...

November: Big Sissy turned 4, the girls got bunk beds, we had a monumental presidential election, and we went to Branson again with Hubby's family. The stock market dipped to an all-time low, and the holiday festivities began.

December: Shopping, cookie days, celebrations. An official recession was pronounced, and the year finished as Missouri's heaviest rain year in history, including the flood of '93.

As with all years, this was a year of great highs and unsettling lows. I'm thankful for perfect peace that sustains us through both, and I look forward with anticipation to what 2009 will bring.