2014 was such a triumphant year for us. Things started out a bit rocky. In early January, Alec ended up in the emergency department at CHOP with fluid in the lungs, a minor complication from the open heart surgery he had in November. At the time, I feared little ED visits, such as that one, would become a regular thing for us. Little did I know, that we would make it through the rest of the year without one single hospital visit. Alec has surpassed my expectations. He has reached every milestone right on target and a few slightly ahead of the curve. He is such a bright, charismatic little fella and I feel so proud to be his mama each and every day. Every month gets more exciting, more fun and I can't wait to see what amazing things he learns to do in 2015.
Last Winter was a long one. We had an abundant amount of snow. Every time it felt like things were warming up a tad and an outdoor walk was in our future, we got another Winter beating. We lived with my parents from January to early May and I will admit I thoroughly enjoyed the company. But despite the help, those days were long, and sometimes just downright hard. Alec was still so little and with all the snow it was a challenge to get out the house. There was also little we could do when we did get out because of Alec's condition. The risk of exposing him to germs was just too high. Alas, we spent much of our time tucked away at my parents and we both went a bit stir crazy from time to time. Lots of tears on both ends. But once Spring had finally sprung, life got real good again. We moved into our new home and getting settled kept us very busy. Along with many household projects, we spent many of our warm days outdoors…lots of long walks, and fun-filled beach visits.
Come Fall, we had the heart walk and Alec's first birthday to keep us busy. Followed by the Halloween Sea Witch Festival, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. It was a good year overall, probably one of my best yet. I am so looking forward to what 2015 has in store for us.
Last January, I made a list of a five goals for the year. I did an okay job with one, two, and five, but I'll be the first to admit that fitness was not made a huge priority in 2014. Keeping active is very important to me, so I did manage to take long walks just about every day that the weather would allow The fresh air really did us some good. For the year 2015, I have decided on a few things that I want to focus on, nothing super crazy, just little things that I feel will improve my life a bit.
1. Say our prayers. I've been wanting to add this to our nighttime routine for some time and we officially broke out our bible of verses about a week ago. Prior to bedtime stories and his 'baba', I read aloud one verse from our bible and we name one person that we would like to pray for. I realize that Alec doesn't quite grasp it just yet, but I want him to grow to be a gracious, thoughtful individual and I definitely think a little prayer could help with that. Plus, I truly believe that prayer is one reason why Alec has thrived so well. He has been surrounded by so much love and so many prayers have been said for our little boy.
2. More Me Time. Attempt to do one thing for myself a week, whether it be exercise, a pedicure, a bubble bath, I honestly don't care. Just do a better job of taking a personal time out here and there.
3. Spend more quality time with those that I love. Not only do I think I could be more present at home with Alec and Kiel (put down the iPhone! walk away from the laptop!) but I also feel that I could do a better job of keeping in touch with many of my friends, some of which live a long distance away. This year I plan to work on all my relationships by being more present than ever. At least, that's my plan anyway.
That's all I got so far. Wish me luck. And good luck to you all on your own resolutions.
THE FUTURE IS SO INCREDIBLY EXCITING. THE WORLD IS YOURS.
