The Past 12 Months...

Shad and I have had ONE crazy year. It has been filled with so many ups and downs (mostly ups!) and so many new things for our little growing family. I have been reflecting and thinking a lot about what has gone on this year and cannot believe that we have been living with my family for a YEAR now (almost) and how much has changed in just 12 short months. I thought I would recap the year...

-April 2011: In April of last year Owen was just learning how to walk. He was toddling around our Spokane apartment and finally getting brave enough to take those few cute steps on his own. (Was that really only a year ago!?)Also in April Shad and I packed up our Spokane apartment of almost three years and moved on over to the west side. We said goodbye to all our dear friends we made in Spokane, and all those law school memories. We made the move over the Easter holiday, and Shad went back to Spokane to finish up his finals and school for two weeks.

-May was probably the CRAZIEST and most emotional month of all!! It started out with reuniting with Shad after a being apart for two weeks, in Utah. My best friend, Kambria, got married in early May and we all made the trip down to her wedding. Even Shad, who was in the middle of finals still! Shad finished up his finals the next week... and then the following weekend we headed back over to Spokane to watch Shad graduate from law school! It was awesome to celebrate such a GREAT accomplishment with friends and family! Then Owen started walking all on his own in early May! And the moment Owen started walking it was like he became an entirely different baby! He was so grown up and so much fun!! I loved that early walking stage! And finally, over Memorial Day weekend Shad and I discovered that I was PREGNANT! We were pretty shocked, and super excited!

(Owen May 2011)

-June brought a lot of studying for Shad, continuous studying for the bar exam. He started his bar prep class, and was hardly available for anything else! Luckily to pass the time, and help ease some of the overwhelming tiredness I felt (those first few weeks of pregnancy! oh man!) and to help pass the time, my other best friend, Kirsten, came for a visit! She, and her 9 month old daughter McKinley, spent a whole week with us! So fun.

-July: The entire month of July consisted of Shad studying... non-stop. It was miserable, for all of us! So stressful for Shad. And the last week of the month Shad took the THREE DAY bar exam!! Some other July highlights: As my first trimester came to an end, we announced our pregnancy to the world!! (via blog!) And Shad and I celebrated our 5 YEAR anniversary. Our Anniversary and the 4th of July were the only two days that Shad took somewhat of a break from studying!

(Owen announcing our big surprise July 2011!)

-August brought a well earned VACATION! The day after the bar exam we jetted off to Finland for three weeks! I was SO stressed out about this trip with Owen. Bringing an 18 month old to Europe really seemed like it was going to be miserable. Fortunately, Owen was a champ!! He did great on the travel, adjusted well to the time change (better than any of us!), and warmed up to family with no issues. It was very sweet to see him with my dear Grandmother, and I was so grateful that we were able to take that trip together. I will cherish those memories.

-September: We came back to amazing weather here in Seattle after vacation! September was so warm and fantastic! We spent a lot of September outside enjoying family time together, playing in the park and in the sun! We also found out that we were having a BOY...which was so exciting. (Just what we wanted!) This was also the month that we were left waiting.... waiting for those bar exam results, and waiting to hear back from ANY potential job. Shad spent day after day applying for jobs, revising his resume, making contacts, etc.

-October had some highs and had some lows. The lows were the job market was looking bleaker and bleaker. Shad wasn't getting any good hits on the job market. As our bank account was getting desperate, I also decided to start applying for jobs. Mid-October a few things happened: I accepted a part-time job at Old Navy, which was both good to have income and hard to leave Owen. Shad found out that he PASSED the bar exam!! Also, we celebrated Shad's last year in his 20's, when we celebrated his 29th birthday with a trip to see our beloved BYU cougars beat Oregon State! Also, at the end of the month Shad was officially sworn in as a lawyer in the state of WA! And Shad had an interview at a small Tacoma firm...which we thought had some potential!

(Shad's birthday weekend!)

-November was the hardest month of all... I was working a lot of hours at Old Navy and really feeling the effects it had on my pregnant body. Shad wasn't hearing back from any jobs/interviews/contacts. Christmas and baby were both coming fast and we were really starting to feel defeated. The highlight was Thanksgiving... it was perfect timing for us to really reflect on all that we really did have to be thankful for!

-Early December we FINALLY heard back from that small Tacoma firm and were elated when they offered Shad an associate attorney position! WHOOO HOOO! What a huge relief that was and answer to our prayers! I was still working a fair amount of hours at Old Navy, and was getting bigger and more pregnant by the second!

-January: Shad was thrown right into work at the firm! I only worked a few days here and there in January, because baby could come ANY DAY! We had a huge ice storm and were stuck inside for almost a week. And the BEST thing of all is we welcomed our sweet little Nathan on January 29th.

(Nathan at 2 weeks old)

-February and March: I will just lump these two together, because it seems like we are finally starting to have some normalcy to our routine and our lives! February and March went by in a blur. Having a baby really puts you into a time warp... The days and nights run together and those sweet newborn moments go by way too fast! Owen turned 2 in early February... and has changed so much over the year as well. He is so smart and is such a little boy now! What happened to my baby!?! Shad and I have started to entertain the thought of buying a HOUSE (YAY!) and are ready to settle down our family.

(Our cute boys just last week!)

I am just in shock looking back at this year. So much has happened. So many BIG things have happened. So many changes. We have been truly blessed and are so grateful for everything we have been given. This past year, while it was hard, had so many ups and good things come our way. Wow... how much can change in a year! It has just FLOWN by!