New Year's Eve

Well, 2010, it's been real.

What to say about this year that brought me a daughter and grew my baby son into a boy?

I've learned this year that two is more than one. That I love being pregnant but really don't love sleep deprivation-- in case I had any questions about that before... I have watched in amazement as my boy has grown, I have laughed at the things he says and felt my breath catch in my throat at his sweetness and despaired at his obstinate streak. I have been awestruck at just how much I love him and how perfect he is, this creature we have made. And I have held this baby as she has grown, in my belly and in my arms. Soft skin, smiley cheeks, blue eyes... a person as-yet-undiscovered but slowly I am learning who she might be, this girl who is a daughter to me.

And while we're at it, what to say about this decade? These ten years that have brought me through my 20's and into my 30's, from youth to motherhood, from an unformed future to a career path, to Winnipeg and North Dakota and back again, through three apartments and 3 houses and 3 continents. Travels to NYC, Salzburg and Italy and China, Skiing in Denver and New York; parties with friends at the Shaker House and TJAP's and the Cove house; reading and learning and teaching to a Master's Degree and interviewing to 2 different jobs. Moving and a house and a dog and a dog park; another dog and a puppy and moving again; a house and a wedding and a pregnancy and an auction; moving again and a baby and a baby again... It's been a decade, hasn't it?

What have I learned from all at the end of these years? That time does not stretch as far as it did in my 20's, that I can't fit quite as much into my 24 hours. Or, that what I do fit in, looks so very different. That friends and lives cannot remain the same. That we grow and change and our relationships do too. We've seen so many friends leave, move, drift. We've made so many new friends. We've held on to the relationships that matter the most to us and they've grown and stretched and blossomed into the new that this decade has brought. What once was centered around late nights and bonfires and beer now focuses on mornings and playdates and lots and lots of juice boxes.

I have learned that sleep is a very, very valuable thing.

That life changes.

That change is good.

That life is good.

Happy New Year, everyone.

xoxox

Jack and Ivy's mom