Year End Reflecting

2011 was a year of change. Physical changes in my children were perhaps the most noticeable.
Brennan went from snuggly, smiley, newborn to not-quite-a-toddler.Cate lost the little bit of toddler she still had left in her face and is a full-on kid now.
She's one tall, lean, drink of water and I'm fairly certain she's going to be the object of many a school boy crush. Other changes were obvious too-- Eric's change in work, my 8 months as a stay-at-home-mom (which I think made me both a better mom and a better teacher, if that makes any sense), Cate starting school, Brennan starting to crawl, the physical changes as I dropped some baby weight and then A LOT of weight with all the crap I dealt with in November and the first part of December (mostly under control now-- I wouldn't mind a redo of November and part of December though).

Eric's job change gave us the blessing of being able to spend the summer at home together. We spent a lot of time at the pool in summer of 2011.
2011 was the year that Eric learned to brew his own beer.
It was the year Cate learned to write her name, and the names of others since she knows her letters.
Brennan learned so many things, it's a whole other post in itself (well, actually they're all mostly documented in various posts on this blog).
I learned to knit something other than scarves and dishcloths.
I found beauty in the silence before the kids get up and I have a hot cup of coffee or tea in my hands...or in the silence after they go to bed, when Eric and have taken to watching DVDs and playing games (like real Scrabble, not Words with Friends on our iPhones).
I found peace and focus of a gentle yoga practice (I'm really, really, loving yoga right now).

We explored art with Cate.We explored our neighborhood.
We camped.
We canned.
We read.And we loved. Oh my, did we ever love. My heart is full to overflowing with the love I have felt this year-- for my husband, my children, my family, my friends. I laughed hard and cried hard this year. I played hard and prayed hard. And I left no room for regret.
I'm excited to see what 2012 has in store for us. I'm ending this year feeling incredibly blessed and lucky. I'm ending this year feeling hopeful.

Wishing you all peace and blessings this New Year!

~Melody :-)

PS...Here is a link to the resolutions I made last year. I'm happy to report that I've gotten much better at being more "present" in the moment, did learn how to knit more (still kind of sitting on the same set of sewing skills though), and experienced tremendous spiritual growth through prayer, study, and following a read-through-the-Bible in a year plan. Not sure yet what I want to resolve to do in 2012.