As everybody probably already knows – and who wouldn’t, it’s all I talked about – the year 2007 was the year of Callie, our baby daughter. Born in September. What a miracle. What a joy. She’s so precious. It’s such a gift and privilege for Brian and I to be her parents.

We had been trying to get pregnant for about six months and were starting to get a little worried that we were going to have a problem with this. My doctor had told me in the past that there was a possibility I might have trouble getting pregnant. I was beginning to think that was coming true when we finally conceived. What a relief. Definitely part of the miracle. It certainly made us grateful. And it certainly made me more accepting of some of the classic symptoms of pregnancy that soon started coming my way. The worst of which was my “morning sickness” although it wasn’t limited to the morning. Whoa! I knew, but I never knew. What an awful feeling to have a wave of nausea roll over you and virtually slam you to the floor. Fortunately, I only actually tossed my cookies (as Brian put it) a couple of times and I was glad it was no worse. I couldn’t afford to lose the nutrition and I didn’t want to have to take medication for it.

It was fun when we finally started telling people our good news. Brian’s parents were ecstatic. So was my family. And our friends were all excited for us, too. We began making preparations right away. I already had my lists of what we needed to do to the house and all the other things we had to do to get prepared for a baby. We’d been thinking about this for so long, but it still didn’t seem real. But the reality gradually began to settle in. I started making the changes in my life that I needed to make now that I had a new life developing inside me. I changed my eating, sleeping, exercise, - pretty much just about everything about my life. I found myself considering everything I did in relation to the health of both me and my baby.

Brian was so supportive. It was a big change for him, too, but he was right on board with it from the moment we found out. In fact there were times when I thought maybe he was being a little over protective. Like, he didn’t want me putting gas in my car any more – said he didn’t want to chance me breathing any fumes. And when mowing season came, he didn’t want me mowing. Didn’t want me to get too hot and then there was the noise and again the fumes. But then I thought, hey, who am I to complain about being doted on? He’s sweet like that.

We decided to get in a vacation a little earlier than we usually do before I became too uncomfortably pregnant. So Brian and I took a trip to Florida for a week. Our whole time was pretty much centered around the Canaveral National Seashore. We stayed in a little place in New Smyrna Beach that was right on the beach there and was also close to the National Seashore. Most of our visits to the Seashore were to Apollo Beach which was just down the road from us a few miles.

We drove to the Seashore and then all the way down to the end of the road enjoying the scenery and seclusion of the park. We were surprised to find the parking lot down there nearly full when all of the others that we passed by on the way were nearly empty. We crossed over the boardwalk and out on to the beach. The ocean was so beautiful but very rough. And the sand here was a lot softer than on the beach where we were staying. But here, there was no development anywhere in sight; just the natural beauty of the seashore as far as the eye could see in either direction. And that’s what we were there for.

As we started down the beach toward the nude beach sign, it was obvious that this was where all the people were and it looked like pretty much single guys scattered all along the beach as far as we could see. We decided that since most everybody was down this way, we might as well go down the other way. I’m glad we did. Once we got past a few fishermen near the boardwalk, we were completely on our own. We walked way down, established a little spot for ourselves, and enjoyed the whole day – just us and the birdies. Such a beautiful, natural setting. We just totally immersed ourselves in it. It may not have been the official nude beach, but it sure was for us. Awesome.

Next day, the parking lot was completely full, so we back tracked to the previous one and found it just as easy to do there what we had done the day before, so that’s where we went from then on. Those were great days. Just the two of us - together, no distractions; walking, talking, planning, dreaming, and falling more and more in love.

One day, we drove down and visited Playalinda Beach at the other end of the National Seashore. But we couldn’t get anywhere close to the nude beach there – probably because it was Sunday. Busy, busy, busy all up and down that place. But we had a good time anyway. And it was so cool to glance back over the dunes and see the launch towers and buildings of the Kennedy Space Center.

It was a great trip. We did a lot of other stuff, too. We really liked the area and want to go again someday. In fact, one day on the beach we came up with the idea that maybe we should try to visit all of the National Seashores around the country since we’ve enjoyed the two we’ve now visited so much.

Back home, it wasn’t too long after that that it got warm enough to start going to the campground where we love to camp. By this time I was obviously pregnant, so there was no need to tell our good news to our friends that we only see when we’re there. They could already “tell”. But it was still fun to talk about it even though I no longer got to say, “Guess what – I’m pregnant!” I have to confess that I had a few issues with my vanity at first over this. I know, I know, I should know better. And I do. That’s why this sort of sneaked up on me. I guess it started the day I couldn’t get my favorite jeans buttoned anymore. I just had this fear that people would think I was getting fat rather than pregnant. It took me awhile to come to terms with that, and it was a lot easier (although still not easy) when I started “showing” in a yep-she’s-pregnant way.

I say easier rather than easy because there were still times throughout my pregnancy that somebody would make some sort of comment or something about how I looked that would internally start to get to me. Even some of my girlfriends. In fact, it even created a little bit of dread in me when the girls I’ve written about from the campground made a special point to be there the last time we went this summer, because as they put it they wanted to “see me pregnant.” I had less than a month to go and while I was looking forward to seeing them since it had been such a long time, I was dreading that first encounter and all the comments that would come out of it. But, we got through all that and it was a great reunion. We took Beth, Brian’s sister with us that weekend. It was good for her to get a chance to meet girls there who were closer to her own age and hang out with them.

It became a little more difficult each time we went camping for me to handle the heat and trying to get comfortable in a sleeping bag in our tent. We had an air mattress and that helped for awhile. But before the summer was up, we were shortening our camping weekends to just staying over one night and even that had its challenges. I had to curtail a lot of my physical activities or at least cut down on the exertion level and that took me a little while to adjust my attitude for. But the upside of that was that by just hanging around in the shade at our camp site or at the pool, it made for a lot more occasions to visit with people as they just happened by. I got better acquainted with a number of nice people this summer and that might not have happened otherwise had I not been forced to slow down a lot and then of course I had an obvious conversation starter.

That carried over even to our neighborhood at home. Brian and I would go out for a walk most evenings and there would always be people out and we would inevitably stop to visit and as a result we got to know quite a few of our neighbors a lot better during the summer; so much so that we continued some of our socializing into the indoor season as well. There are some really nice families living around us.

I mentioned having to slow down my physical activities as my pregnancy progressed. I went from running a lot to running less and walking more and finally to walking only. And as an alternate lower impact activity, I started doing some swimming again. Nothing strenuous; just slow, steady laps at the community center pool where I used to work. It was fun to get back to that a little bit; especially since it was summer and the outdoor pool was open. But you know, anytime I started to feel a little bit sorry for myself at having to slow down my exercise and activity, if I felt my baby move, that immediately set my thinking straight about why I was doing this and that it was a privilege.

I have another confession of sorts to make. Another of my naïve thoughts about things. I thought at the beginning of my pregnancy that since I was pretty healthy and fit, that I wouldn’t have many of the side effects that go along with pregnancy. Well silly me, I had to think again because I’m telling you, I think I had ‘em all! Bizarre cravings. Unpredictable mood swings (Brian, I’m sorry.). My back hurt when the baby dropped. My feet and ankles swelled. You name it. This was a very, very humbling experience and it taught me to have a lot more compassion for my sisters that have been through this before me. Any future pregnancy, and I hope there will be, I hope I’ll remember and apply all these lessons learned.

At any rate, as my pregnancy wore on, my anxious thoughts of giving birth were gradually replaced with a why-can’t-we-just-get-this-over-with mentality. It was all I could do to keep from screaming when someone asked the same old same old questions: when are you due?; do you know if it’s a boy or a girl? I knew my patience was lacking and there were times I felt I was becoming a very bad person.

But I want to stop right here and now and tell you what a wonderful husband I have. He was so supporting and caring all the way through this. Anytime I was down or anxious, he was right there encouraging me; telling how proud he was of me; telling me how beautiful I was even though I didn’t feel that way. He took over some of the more strenuous things around the house I had been doing. He went with me to a number of my doctors appointments. He totally embraced our impending parenthood, talking about raising kids, reading books with me and discussing them, etc. He is so wonderful. I know I’ve told you all this before, but I’m telling you, just when I think he can’t possibly get any better, he does! I’m so lucky. I love him so much.

Well, with all the anxious moments, I was looking forward to my due date. Finally the day came…and went. I was so bummed because I was so ready. We had done everything we knew to do to get ready and now we were just waiting. It was like my whole life was on hold. Then my maternity leave began. I was more than ready not to have go to work all day, but I didn’t really have anything much left to do at home, and I guess that was fine because I didn’t really feel like doing anything anyway.

On my first day of maternity leave, I was really feeling down and my best friend Julie called and just dropped everything and came over. It was her day off and even though she had tons of things to do with her wedding planning, she decided she was “just gonna come over and rub my feet.” I’ll tell you all about her and Jeff and their engagement and wedding in a minute. But that was just so sweet of her to spend all that time with me that day. I really needed a friend to spend some time with. I did not let her rub my feet – I’m too ticklish for that anyway. In fact, I accused of her of offering to rub my feet just because she knew it would tickle and I was in no shape to fight her off. But anyway, it was a great day. We had lunch together. We spent some time out on the deck sunbathing. It had been a long time since we’d had that much time to spend together just talking at length about anything and everything like we used to. It was great.

Moving forward a few more days, that’s when things picked up. Throughout my pregnancy, in the reading I’d done and then in our classes, I wondered if I’d know for sure when I was really in labor. I knew. We took our time getting to the hospital – it wasn’t far – and by the time they checked me, I was already making good progress so I was hopeful that it would go fast. No such luck. It was a long labor and delivery. An all-nighter. They said I was a good patient, but I remember saying at least a couple of things I had to apologize to Brian for later. But he was right there with me every minute encouraging me and trying to comfort me; wanting to help any way he could. Which of course he should! After all, who do you think got me into this! OK, I was an equal and willing partner.

But anyway…just when I didn’t think I could go on any longer…I heard my baby cry. That was the most amazing sound. My heart leaped. Everything changed in that instant and hasn’t been the same since. And when they handed her to me and I held her in my arms, I knew her instantly. I’d never seen her (other than ultrasounds), but I knew her. I held her close; talked to her; shielded her eyes from the light. She stopped crying and settled right down. Awake, alert, moving, accepting my comfort. She was so beautiful; so perfect. Brian was right there and was so moved, just as I was. I told him to stand where she could see him and to talk to her so she could hear his voice. I knew she’d recognize our voices. We examined her; talked to her; talked to each other; began bonding with her. We were (and are) both so grateful that she was healthy.

After that, it was all kind of a blur for awhile. Later, back in the room, she and I figured out breast-feeding with Brian and a nurse looking on. Actually not much to figure out, although it felt a little awkward starting out; it seemed to soon come naturally for both of us. I’m grateful for that, too.

She was born early enough in the day that when word got out to family and friends we had a lot of visitors that first day. I was tired and looked a wreck, but I was still glad to have so much love and support. It was a joyous day for sure as the three us got to know each other and received a lot of visits, too. The surprise visit came from Brian’s parents. They had said early on that when the baby was born, they were going to wait to come over until after we were home and settled in. But the hospital put up pictures of her on their website pretty quickly and Brian sent them a few more via his phone. After a couple of phone calls telling them all about her they couldn’t stand it any longer, so they jumped in their car and came on over. They got here that evening. It was so fun introducing them to their granddaughter. They were beside themselves with love and joy. They stayed until the next evening. We’re so glad they came on over. They had said they always wanted to be involved in special occasions and birthdays. Well this was kind of a big one!

The three of us really enjoyed that first week at home. Brian took the week off and I’m so glad he did. We really did a lot of getting acquainted and bonding and growing together as a family of three. She was pretty good to us, usually only getting us up once a night. That first week Brian would get up and go get her and bring her to me. I’d nurse her in bed. We would change her when she finished on one side. Then we would put her back to bed after she finished and tuck her in carefully. So sweet. Those are precious memories. After Brian went back to work, he couldn’t really get up with me during the week, so it was just she and I doing the late night/early morning feeding. But that was OK. Brian is still very much a hands-on daddy. He doesn’t shy away from anything that needs to be done. He usually gives her bath in the evenings. It’s so cute to see them together. He’s such a good daddy. And he’s so proud of her. I’m telling you, she has her big strong daddy so wrapped around her teeny-tiny little finger. I can already see how this could be a problem down the road, but it’s really cute right now.

When she was about five weeks old, we presented her for baby dedication at our church. Both mine and Brian’s families all stood up with us and that was a very special time. She slept right through it though. Then we had everyone over after church. It was a fun day.

Life was good being Callie’s mommy and being available to her whenever needed and always being able to take as much time with her as needed without rushing or being on anybody else’s schedule. I dreaded the day I’d have to go back to work and leave my baby with someone else to do what I had been doing all day every day. We had talked about me staying home prior to her birth but didn’t really think it feasible or practical. But something happened that allowed us to re-think that. Brian’s employer offered him a significant opportunity for additional responsibility. We’re fortunate in that he works for such a great company who recognizes his abilities and potential and appreciates him. They approached him with this offer of a major increase in responsibility saying that it would be a stretch for him at first, but they would mentor and support him. They warned him it wouldn’t be easy and assured him that he was free to turn it down if he felt it was too much too soon and that it wouldn’t count against him later. This was a lot to consider. And based on what we decided about that, we then needed to consider what to do about me and my job. Whew! Lots to think about. But we worked through it every way we could think of, prayed about it a lot, and sought out the wisest counsel we knew. Long story short, Brian accepted the increased responsibility and I resigned my job. This was all pretty scary on several levels. Still is. But we’re glad we did what we did and we’re so grateful that we had opportunities and options to choose from.

Now let’s get back to Julie and Jeff. They were engaged on Valentine’s Day. How romantic is that! He completely surprised her in a most romantic way when he proposed. And she accepted. I could see it coming but didn’t really expect it quite so soon. But they were ready. Ready to make the commitment. And they knew it. Anyway, they decided on a December wedding and immediately set about making plans for their life together and their wedding. She asked me to be her maid of honor and I considered it a privilege and honor to accept. I know, technically, I was a matron of honor since I’m married, but Julie makes her own rules about these things and so all of her attendants were maids even though a couple of us were married. Anyway, a wedding in her family was a very, very big social event and she and her mom got right on all the planning. I had my assignments as well and I needed to stay on top of those so that I could work around my due date. Julie sent me to her dressmaker right away for measurements before I got any bigger even though she hadn’t finalized exactly what she wanted. That meant the pressure was on after Callie was born for me to be back to my pre-maternity size or as close to it as possible for the final fitting.

But they kept things moving along all year. The only sad news was, they decided to live down in the city not too far from where she works rather than in our town. That meant there would less stopping by to see each other after she moved out of her apartment. Also, it never worked out that they could join us at the campground this year. And we all missed that. But we’re planning on it for this coming summer.

Jumping ahead, the wedding was beautiful. She was beautiful. Everything was beautiful. Their wedding was elegant and serious, yet joyous. And the festivities surrounding it were so much fun. There were so many people there, many that we hadn’t seen in a while – some for a long while - and it was fun catching up on each others lives. Julie and Jeff and her parents did such a great job of making people feel welcome and at ease. It was a good time.

And I owe an especially big thank you to Brian and other family members for helping me so much with Callie during all the goings on so that I could fulfill my maid of honor duties and enjoy my role in that as well as handle my mommy responsibilities, too. It all worked out and it was such a fun, happy time. We sent the newlyweds off on their honeymoon in style and with warm wishes as they took off for someplace very tropical and romantic. They are so happy together. It’s so cool to see your friends find that kind of happiness.

The holidays were fun this year, getting to spend time with family. Callie of course wasn’t really into it yet this year, although she was often the center of attention. We have some really cute pictures with Santa and family amid all the festivities. I’m sure next year will be different.

Well, there you have it. That was our year. Probably not very exciting to read about, but it was pretty exciting to live out. These were some big BIG changes. Some I was anticipating – like giving birth to our first child. We wanted that so much. And others, well they just suddenly presented themselves, like having the choice to become a stay-at-home mom. I really struggled with that decision. On the one hand, I wanted to be the one to provide all the care for my baby. I had no doubt that was best for her. On the other hand, I worried about whether I would feel fulfilled without working and bringing in a paycheck. Would I miss the challenges and interesting aspects of my work? Would I miss just getting out to be with and work with other people all day? I know a lot of that sounds selfish, but I knew that if I didn’t feel fulfilled, I wouldn’t be as effective as I should be in my wife and mommy roles.

So just like with Brian’s decision, we, - yes, Brian was equally involved in this decision –talked about it, prayed about it, and talked to a number of other wise people about it. In the end, the answer came down on the home side. And I have to say, I haven’t regretted it once. Not even from the financial aspect. Yes, Brian received a very generous increase in pay when he accepted his new responsibilities, but that didn’t completely make up for my paycheck. However, we’ve found that with careful managing, we’re doing just fine. Along with caring for Callie, I’ve thrown myself into managing the household and the day-to-day finances with all of the thought and energy I use d to devote to my job. Also, I’ve grown a lot closer to a number of other people and their families in my neighborhood and we’re forging some really meaningful friendships. That’s something that would not have happened, or at least not have happened this quickly and naturally, if I’d continued trying to work AND be a good mommy. We often get together or call during the day and we’re able to help each other out with errands or watching kids or any number of things.

But of course the most important thing is being there for Callie. That is what is truly fulfilling. Being available to her to provide what she needs when she needs it and not having to rush anything concerning her. Just keeping my priorities straight and savoring the moments. I get to see her changing and growing right before my eyes. She’s such a joy. And she’s becoming so interactive and her own little person. I love her so much. I’m still amazed that I have the privilege of being her mommy. And I think this allows me to be a better wife, too. I truly can look forward to Brian coming home. I can plan for it such that he can come home to an orderly, peaceful, happy evening (well, usually – there have been a few exceptions) where the three of us can enjoy our time together. I’m so grateful and so looking forward to whatever life may hold in store for us this year.

We sincerely hope that all of you have a wonderful year, too.