Happy 2009!

Happy New Year, everyone!  It's hard to believe, but 2008 is over and 2009 is here - giving us all a new year to look forward to.  It's a time to reflect on all that happened in 2008 and look ahead to all that will/may come in 2009.  2008 was a very, very good year for me.  Just a few highlights of the year (and yes, I know this is long... but I guess I'm just in the mood to write today) :)

1. We celebrated our 1-year anniversary with a wonderful week-long vacation to Napa Valley.  I got to spend a week with my wonderful husband drinking lots of really, really good wine, relaxing, and eating amazing food.  :)

2. We found out in July that we were pregnant with our first child!!!  It was the most amazing day, even though it didn't play out exactly how I had planned it in my head.  I realized on this day that I can't plan everything, and it still ended up being perfect.  It was a day of sheer happiness and from that day on, my life has never been the same. I instantly felt this connection with this tiny little apple seed growing inside of me, and I felt this incredible sense of responsibility and wanting to protect this baby from day one.   I was going to be a mommy. OMG - I was going to be a mommy!!!!! :)

3. We heard our Sweet Pea's heartbeat for the first time.  It was the most surreal and amazing sound we had ever heard.  Hearing his strong, perfect heartbeat solidified for both of this that this was very, very real.  A life was growing inside of me!

4. We got to see our little Sweet Pea on the ultrasound. He was so perfect and healthy.  We were so excited to see him bouncing around, playing with his umbilical cord and developing just as he should be.  Finding out that we were having a son was also a huge highlight of this visit.  We both cried as we found out and we could finally stop saying "he/she" and start calling our little guy a "he".  We are SO excited to be having a baby boy!!!

5. I became a Godmother again for the second time.  My best friend, Alissa, had her son Gentry on December 13th. He is healthy, beautiful and perfect and I couldn't be happier for them.  They deserve all of the happiness in the world and they have been blessed with a beautiful son.  Our Sweet Pea and Gentry will be best friends!! :)  I was so honored when Alissa & Robby asked me to be Gentry's Godmother. It really meant so much to me.

Those are just a few of the highlights of a great, great year.  There are SO many more, but it would take pages to write!  I've had a wonderful pregnancy so far and have been so blessed along the way.  We are now officially in the home stretch before Sweet Pea gets here.  We have the nursery painted, we're waiting for our furniture to arrive and I am in my third trimester.  We only have a couple more months before we welcome him into this world.  We cannot wait.  Not only are we incredibly excited, I know both of our families and all of our friends can't wait for his arrival. 2009 will be the most wonderful year for us and we are looking forward to everything it has to bring us.  While 2008 was amazing, I know that 2009 will surpass it with the birth of our son.  This brought me to tears last night as the ball dropped, because I know that it will be the best year of my life.

I hope all of you can reflect back on 2008 and realize the blessings in your life, and I wish you all the happiest of New Years and good fortune for 2009.

Last, but certainly not least - my New Year's resolution:  I resolve to put the toilet paper on the holder, instead of leaving it on the back of the toilet.

Happy New Year!!!

Love,

Lauren