2009

*farewell, 2009*

These are the major events I remember blogging about. First, I just have to say that I am glad I have kept this up. Though it's not a high traffic blog, nor particularly clever or thought provoking, it is essentially about my little family and our day to day living. I love that I can look back and reminisce about certain things I felt the need to write about at the time. I also enjoy the community I feel more apart of now, through the internet. It is quite a little support group, especially for me as I have transitioned into the tricky realms of marriage and motherhood. I feel confident that I have not been too open in my writing to the point where I'd regret having any of this on the internet one day. I hope those of you who read this fairly regularly have enjoyed watching me grow, as well as my little beanie baby, as we certainly have done a lot of growing this past year between us.

January - Moved from Pullman back to Seattle with the cute, newly graduated husband. Fretted about being ready for the baby....but forgot to read a single book about bringing the baby home or breastfeeding :) (I guess I figured it'd be natural and easy!) We also waited with an extra dose of expectation after my OB was convinced I'd deliver early...

February - Met the 2nd love of my life, Louisa Ann Corrigan. Born on the 8th, she was 8lbs 9oz of wonderfulness. Though she nursed like crazy, she dipped in weight 11% in three days and we couldn't help but worry (hey, we are 1st time parents.) When my milk came in she slowly gained her weight back, even though ultimately it took her almost a month to get back to her birth weight. After a few weeks the soreness I experienced when nursing started to go beyond what it should have been and it occurred that perhaps I needed help. I did get help but it still took...oh, I'd say about 3 months until I felt like nursing was a pleasant experience.

March - Mike went back to work so I had to adjust to being home all day with just the two of us (even though I still had family close by to lend a hand if I truly needed it) Learned a lot about myself and just what it takes to be a mother. Lou was also baptized at St. John Chrysostom on the 29th!

April - Had the opportunity to visit Kelly, Ryan, and Katie on the East Coast. Louisa was actually a great little traveler. Still a newborn, she was still relatively easy to put to sleep and was pretty much content the whole time. I got to see the capitol for the first time.

May - Celebrated our 1 year anniversary! Some people had told us that the first year of marriage is the hardest...hmmm....not so much. We ate the top of our cake and dined on our tiny deck while Louisa slept. Also, our godson, Isaac was born. (On the same day as Mike's birthday, yay!)

June - My good friend from elementary school, Aubri, got married! My dear Sarah visited and got to meet Lou for the first time. Mike's contract job ended at the end of June, so I got to be spoiled by having him home again for a time.

July - We went to Leavenworth for a mini-vacation. Swimming in their pool, we discovered that Lou loves the water. Later in the month our lovely friends from WSU, Amy and Preston, got married and many of our college friends got to meet Louisa for the first time.

August - Isaac, that lovable godson of ours, was baptized. We got to attend his baptism in Oregon. This was also about when we started introducing solid foods. Louisa took some time to be receptive of anything that was too textured. Loved bananas and applesauce from the get-go, though!

September - Another wedding! This time we headed over to Walla Walla for Steve and Mel's country-style wedding (lots of swing dancing and beer!) We added in a trip to visit our friend Elliot at his family's cabin on Lake Chelan. Mike went inner-tubing for the first time in his life...so fun!

October - Mike started working downtown again. We attended Salmon days in Issaquah (most certainly going to be a tradition for us!). We visited Pat in Pullman.

November - First tooth for Lou (and teething has not been fun for her). I started sewing more - I even made something from a pattern. I also did some embroidering.

December - First Christmas. Lots of family. Lots of fun. By the end of the month Lou has 4 teeth.

Goals for this blog in the next year? I have a few. The biggest is that I would like to write more about the traditions we start in our home, particularly the spiritual ones. Louisa will began to understand more about the world around her, and Mike and I believe that one of our biggest responsibilities is teaching her the faith. I hope that we are able to live up to the expectation God has for us when it comes to our family's spiritual life. I would also like to respond to comments more, improve my photography, and not post on the weekends (those days should be focused entirely on family). As for my goals outside of blogging, I have a few of those too...but this post is already too long so I'll save that for later!

God bless you all, and Happy New Year!