Thursday, January 3, 2013

B,B&E's Year in Review: 2012, Part One

2012 was a good year for us here in the Newman household.

First and foremost, E's debut into the world was obviously the highlight of the year. Looking back, we can't imagine life without him.


And, while that was quite the event, we did accomplish more than just having a baby in the past year so here's a summary of our 2012 (or at least part of it, I'll post the other installments in the next day or two):
























January was full of anticipation. And snow. I remember looking out the window for almost a week straight, hoping each day would not be the day E would join our family because I didn't know how we'd get to the hospital in one piece if we had to drive on the roads the way they were. Luckily, the snow melted a week before any midnight rushes to the hospital were necessary.

I also remember being adamant that E wait until at least the day after his due date, January 27th, to be born. Turns out he's stubborn and does things when he wants to do them despite what I may think is best. Since he decided to join his family before my "planned" date of birth Ben got to spend E's first week studying for his big Pharmaceutics exam. The day of Ben's test, E and I made him a banner and hung it with balloons to greet him when he got home. While he may not have aced it, he passed! And that's all we really wanted because passing that class was VERY important.

My visiting teacher threw me a beautiful shower and I had so many of my friends come! It was wonderful. Unfortunately, our ward is very transient and, as I looked through those pictures, I realized so many of them have moved away since then. I hope to keep in touch with them all but even if I don't, I hope they know how much our friendship meant to me while they lived in our ward. Thanks to all of you and I wish you all the best.

And finally, even though I already mentioned it as the number one highlight of the year, I still have to mention it again because it happened in January: E was born! I can't believe he was ever that small. I don't remember him growing up but these pictures prove otherwise.



February was one of my favorites. It was full of all sorts of firsts. E met three of his four grandparents, one of his great-grandmas, his "Aunt B", as well as Christy, Cory, and four of his cousins for the first time. I was obviously still recovering but the grandparents who came to visit made the transition to parenthood an easy one.

E also ventured outside for the first time since leaving the hospital. Turns out a newborn doesn't really like the sun and he kept his eyes closed tight until we made it back inside. After that first adventure outdoors we decided to be a bit more brave and took E on his first hike. Not only did he get to see Sylvia, the tallest tree in King County but he also got to hang out with Mary: I'm pretty sure she was his first friend, and she was definitely the first friend we got a picture of him with.

Oh and in case you can't figure out what that sticky note is a picture of, that's my Valentine's Day present from Ben: a little reminder that no matter what, he'll always be able to make me laugh.

And lastly, other happenings in February: Sleep. Lots and lots of sleep. Unfortunately, none of it seemed to come at night and it usually didn't continue for too long but it happened often enough that I was able to get A LOT of pictures of it.


March was full of smiles. In fact, we captured one of E's first real smiles on camera! It made all the sleepless nights before and after worth it. I'll never forget the night he woke up around 2am wide awake. I was so mad at him and I set him on his changing table, grumbling and angry. Turns out E is smarter than I realized. When I turned on the light and he looked up at me and gave me the biggest smile I'd ever seen from him. He was so happy to see me. It didn't matter that it was 2am. It had been too long! Needless to say, I felt awful and I immediately picked him up and hugged him tight.

I fell more in love with his hair this month. Looking back, I'd forgotten how fuzzy and crazy it was, especially after a bath.

Speaking of baths, we finally perfected bath time in March and E took to the water like a little fish. Nine months later and nothing's changed! Bath-time is his favorite part of the day.

It may have been February but either way, we learned just how much we loved E's swing. We got a lot more sleep because of it then we otherwise would have.

A few other events that happened in March: Shots, and then a very sad, sleepy guy who fell asleep--pacifier in mouth--in less than five minutes; E's first church attendance, which went much better than expected; walks around the neighborhood with E in a carrier that was a bit too big for him; and I got MASS EFFECT 3! That last one was a huge thing for me. I've been waiting for the final installment in the Mass Effect series for two years and it didn't disappoint. I get lost in the story sometimes. The series as a whole is my favorite media (game, movie, song, etc) ever!

Unfortunately, this first part of the year is little more than a blur. I remember that we had family visit, I remember how much I loved E when I first saw him and I remember being exhausted but I honestly don't recall a whole lot else. And that is why I'm so grateful for pictures. I'm so grateful to have hundreds of pictures of E sleeping. I never want to forget how small he was. Just seeing his tiny feet and hands reminds me of those first few blissful, sleepless, adrenaline filled weeks. If it weren't for the pictures I'd have a hard time believing he was ever smaller than he is now.

Stay tuned: Part Two coming soon!

2 comments:

Fran said...

So are you saying E is the best part of 2012?

BrookeJean said...

Looking over the pictures, even if it wasn't obvious before (which it was) I think you are most definitely right!