2012.

Since I've sat down to write this post, I've had to:
1) Remove cat food from Lydia's mouth
2) Start "Up" for Naomi
3) Build a Lego tower with Caleb
4) Remove Lydia from being stuck under the dining room chair
5) Get a drink for Naomi

If this post gets completed with any sense of coherency, it will be a miracle! I think kids know when we sit down. They can be playing, quietly, happily ... but as soon as Mama stops moving, some kind of little sensors go off in their brains and they suddenly need. Mama needs to just sit down!

Today is the last day of 2012. Looking back over the past twelve months that have shaped this year, I feel like I'm standing on the top of a mountain, taking in an enormous sight. We started the year with the celebration of our precious Liddybug coming into this world, pink and sweet and wonderful. I suddenly felt the impossibility of being pulled in three completely different directions and somehow, I've learned how to be in three places at once. Miraculously. We mourned the loss of our precious Aunt Pam and we felt (and continue to feel) the weight of her absence, while celebrating the person she was and the joy she is experiencing now, finding our peace in the hope of heaven. And loving the legacy she's left behind. My husband and his brother started their own business, opening new doors for possibility, with all of its potential opportunities and risks. A new adventure. I have found the friendships in my life to be all the sweeter, walking through big changes with those God has given me. I am now, more than ever, so thankful for my best friend and the joy, encouragement, and camaraderie we share together. I am only almost thirty, but wow, the value of friendship means more to me every day.

As we celebrated our Christmas this year, I found myself scanning the room, taking in the sight around me: My family and extended family, our kids laughing and playing, a room overflowing with joy and love. An overwhelming sense that this moment is fleeting, and relishing in gratitude because we are experiencing this moment, and what a precious privilege that is. If I have learned anything this year, it is to take in every sweet thing and keep it close to me, never taking for granted the joy before me.

Happy New Year's Eve, friends.

Have a lovely day!