Farewell 2009

Hi internets! It's been a while, but I'm still here, trying to squeeze one last post into 2009. Although, here is no longer where here used to be since Alex and I moved late October from our undisclosed location to a completely new undisclosed location, in a city and state that I only just visited for the first time in September. For the past two months, we have been adjusting to calling this new place home, the home where we will soon be welcoming our first child. Today, the very last day of 2009, I am full-term at 37 weeks and five days pregnant, due in less than three weeks. I made an agreement with him, my unborn baby, that he would not be born in December, and so far he has kept his end of the bargain. But anytime in January 2010 is fair game, and then, as so many seem to relish telling us, life as we know it will be over. Thing is, life hasn't been anything like what we've known for the past year, and mostly for the good.

A recap of 2009 and a summary of these past four months sans blogging:

January - Alex and I started taking ballroom dance lessons, attending group classes and dance parties.

February - My sister-in-law came to visit and I saw my first rodeo.

March - We participated in our dance studio's Festival (during which we even won an award for best costume). I experimented with drunkenness (sort of).

April - We were burglarized for the first time and tried to get pregnant for the first time.

May - Alex got his first job offer and we found out on Mother's Day that our first attempt to get pregnant was successful. The nausea kicked in, we decided to tell a few select people about the pregnancy, and Alex and I celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary.

June - We were burglarized for a second time, and we saw our baby for the first time on his 10 week sonogram.

July - I continued to experience pregnancy-induced nausea and exhaustion despite entering the second trimester, I took my first month-long break from blogging, then the nausea gradually started to subside.

August - We saw our baby for the second time on his 19 week sonogram and found out we are having a boy. I started feeling the little tickle they call quickening and became more pregnant.

September - We flew to visit the city that is now our home for Alex's official job interview, and also toured some hospitals, met with midwives and a doula, and looked for housing (unsuccessfully). I searched Craig's List for promising housing. The pregnancy became much more enjoyable with the absence of nausea, although the dramatic increase in my appetite often had me waking up starving in the middle of the night.

October - Alex went to a week-long conference then defended his dissertation immediately upon his return, we entertained his mother and grandmother (who came for the defense), Alex got his official job offer, I started my third trimester of the pregnancy, we signed a lease for one of the apartments I found on Craig's List, I had jury duty, we took our last dance lesson, some friends threw us a baby shower, and then we moved. I also became more pregnant and experienced my first unwanted belly rub from a complete stranger.

November - Alex started his first professional job while I became a house-wife and started taking belly-dancing classes at a local dance studio and prenatal yoga at the hospital of our choice. I joined a mom's group, took a class on breast-feeding, and we bought a crib and changing table. We made an entire turkey for Thanksgiving, just for the two (or three) of us, and had way too many leftovers. I became even more pregnant and started waking up more and more often during the night, and I determined that my new inability to sleep for more than 1-2 hours at a time must be preparation for when the baby is born.

December - I continued taking belly-dancing classes and prenatal yoga, and we continued to prepare for the baby, met with our doula and midwives, took several infant care classes, read lots of books on labor and birth, found a family doctor, learned how to properly install a car seat, and went to a few parties with new friends. I tried to take naps, but often found it hard to find the time. Alex officially graduated and is now a full-fledged Ph.D. I turned one year older, had my first pedicure, my first professional (prenatal) massage, and hit the full-term mark of the pregnancy after Christmas.

So that was 2009. A lot of changes. And 2010 promises to bring the greatest one of all, with the birth of our first child. Two-thousand-nine really did shine, and I have great hope that twenty-ten will continue the trend.

Wishing you all a joyful, fulfilling year ahead!