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Well, here we sit. The evening of January 1st. Another year has begun. This time six years ago, I was texting with a new guy I’d just met online eariler that evening, and we were beginning to make plans to meet in person the coming Saturday. He sure seemed like a great guy, and we had a lot in common- mainly our faith, and our love of photography. Little did I know that just six years later, I’d be laying in our bed in our beautiful dream home in San Antonio, pregnant with a wonderful baby boy, while just steps away down the hall, our first would be sleeping soundly in her favorite butterfly footy pjs hugging her dearly beloved monkey, George. Yup, I had no idea then that this guy was my one true love. But I had hope.

As I look back on 2013, if I could only use one word to describe the emotional rollercoaster ride that we took, I’d have to use the word hope. We hoped we’d get pregnant again. Then when we got pregnant for the third time, we hoped we wouldn’t lose that baby like we had the second. Then, we hoped we’d make it to our first ultrasound for the fourth pregnancy. And we did. We hoped we’d be able to find out the gender before Christmas and announce to our parents on Christmas morning, and we did.

We hoped that Becca would finally begin to walk on her own and grasp the concept of balance. We hoped she’d finally be able to stand up on her own from sitting in the middle of the floor with no help. We hoped she would someday say “I love you.” We hoped she would slow down in her growing so we could finally quit buying new clothes. We hoped she would… So many things. And she did.

We hoped. About so many things. And some things did. Some things didn’t. And yet, we still hoped.

When a friend asked me to think of one word that I want to define 2014, I had to think hard about it for a couple of days. I’m bad about starting things and not finishing (my December photo challenge is a great example of this). Life gets busy. Things happen. Morning sickness, sheer exhaustion, or simply “Baby Brain” sets in, and stuff doesn’t happen because it’s not high on the priority list. But that’s no excuse. I can set ONE goal for the year that I keep.

My word to define 2014 is thoughtful.

I want to once again become that person who remembers birthdays and drops a card in the mail or sends a special email. I want to be the person who finds that perfect something at dollar tree and picks it up because it’s just right for a friend. (Dollar Tree, not Neiman Marcus- thoughtful, not irresponsible with funds.) I want to be the person someone knows they can call when they need encouragement. I want to be a better listener. I want to give godly advice when it’s requested. I want thoughtfulness to define who I am this year.

As I work this week to clean my office and organize it to prepare for another year of work to begin on Monday, I realized that I also want to be more thoughtful in my work life. I want to be the travel agent who sends thank you cards to clients who travel, to be the one who shoots them a “Happy Birthday” email, who remembers their anniversaries. Because it’s NOT about getting their business for more trips. It’s about being a person who is thoughtful and cares about each of them. Because it’s the right thing to do. If they chose to book with me again, fabulous. If not, that’s ok, too. I just need to make sure that each and every person feels the thought and care that has gone into their travel experience.

So my one resolution for the year is this- to make thoughtfulness define who I am in every aspect of my life this year. No matter what happens in my personal realm. May I be thoughtful.

What one word will define YOUR 2014?

Stockings

Our stockings are hung by the chimney with care!

This November, I’m thankful for pigtails. And cheeks. And smiles. And “nuggles.” I’m thankful for our sweet little bundle of Rebecca Joy. She’s growing so fast, and some days are stressful as teeth invade her precious tiny mouth, and pain makes her brain forget how to be sweet and kind and obedient. But all in all, she is growing up to be a thankful, polite, thoughtful child whom I believe one day will make her daddy and I proud beyond our wildest imagination. She is inquisitive and curious and never quits questioning. I have no idea what career path she will choose, but we will always encourage her to follow her curiousity and her imagination, and see where they take her. And I will always be thankful for this tiny blonde who screamed her way into our lives on a sunny June afternoon at 1:41.

This year our family has been participating in a “CSA” group – where we purchase veggies (and fresh eggs) from a local farmer’s family each week. We’re starting to feel like they are part of our family, so we were super excited when they announced they’d be doing their first ever Pumpkin Patch! After getting rained out last weekend, we were so happy to get to make the trek out to the farm yesterday!

We parked in a makeshift lot in the old cornfield, took a tractor-driven hayride to the patch, and got to pull our own pumpkins straight off the vine! It was super cool. They also had some cute little animals set up in a mini-petting zoo for the littles, and Becca got a tad too friendly with the goat for Daddy’s liking (I admit, it’s ears did look super soft…).

  

She was nervous about petting the chicks, but once Cody held one still for her, and she could pet it’s head, then she thought they were super cool.

In fact, she thought the whole experience was “wow cool” (her words while riding the hayride and watching the tractor). She loved looking at all the “gunkins,” and since “10” is her number of choice this week, she looked at the field of all the pumpkins and determined that there were ten.

HA! All in all, it was a beautiful day, and an experience we won’t soon forget. We’re already looking forward to Braune Farms’ Pumpkin Patch next year!

Aw, the joys of having a conversationalist in the family.  This girl can talk.  Her vocabulary and understanding of it is so amazing, it’s scary.  So this morning, as I finish up my morning tasks before going to get her out of her bed, I overhead a conversation between Becca and George.  (It was of course, one-sided.  Don’t think I’ve lost my mind, or anything.  I know George is not real and cannot talk.  Becca, however, I’m sure, is certain that she, like Doc McStuffins, has the power to make George come to life.  I used to have that power, too. 🙂

Here’s what I heard.

“Dorge, stay.  Stay.  Stay.  Good boy.  Come.  Come Dorge.”

“cows, Dorge.  Moo moo!”  “come!  cows.  moo moo.  wow.  wow.  E-i-e-i-o”

“wow.  wow.  Mommy?  Dorge.  Abby?  Dorge stay.  Abby bye bye.  Dorge bye bye?  No no!”

I can only guess that in her mind, she was pretending George was one of our dogs, we were outside playing with them, and saw a cow, which of course brought Old McDonald to mind.  Then no doubt she discovered that she had probably dropped Abby out of the bed at some point in the night, and she was commanding George to not jump out of the bed as well.  I love this girl and her imagination!  Now, it’s time to go get her up and put some food in her belly.  I keep hearing “waffle” mixed into her play, and she just now said “waffle, ok?”  So I think she’s ready to eat and has a menu request! 🙂  Love this girl so much.