2007 was a year of milestones and firsts, and some major ups and downs, which have changed me forever. I liked Amber's approach, to break it down month by month:
January: Lucy learned to roll over, and so began the start of a child who loves to be on the move!
February: My cousin and his wife had a son, Ryder Jay; Ron and I both reconnected with a few of our old friends.
March: Lucy started sitting up, we went the "cry-it-out" route and taught her to sleep through the night... it only took one night of a 52-minute crying session to improve the quality of sleep for all of us! She graduated from bouncer to high-chair for her solids, and into a sitting ring for her bath time. My Grandma Shirley turned 80 years old!
April: Lucy turned six months old, and we celebrated with a little half-birthday party. Kelly and Heath visited that weekend, and we invested in a play-pen finally... which made our lives easier with our semi-mobile baby. We learned that taking Lucy to the ophthalmologist to explore her heterochromia was a giant waste of time, and my sister biked some beautiful parts of Ireland with her friend.
May: Our niece, Annika, was born on May 1. My mom and I brought Lucy to Holland to experience Tulip Time, Lucy began crawling and pulling up on furniture, I celebrated my first Mother's Day, and saw a Whitecaps game with my sister, Heath, and Ron (on my 26th birthday). Ron's grandmother in England passed away - she was 96 years old, and we were all thankful that his mother was able to be there during her last days, and take part in celebrating her life and mourning her death with her other relatives in England. Lucy learned to clap, and also put her little feet in Lake Michigan for the very first time.
June: We banished the TV from our living room, to help make it appear larger and less cluttery - since we decided to list our home for sale! We got a barrette to stay in Lucy's whispy little baby hair, and she also became able to stand on her own for several seconds! Lucy went in our pool for the first time, and I got my hair cut shorter than I ever had before.
July: I painted Lucy's toenails, we did the Grandville 4th of July thing (even though we missed the fireworks, our little girl was too scared and tired), I was selected for Jury duty but got excused since I would be going on a trip to Baltimore later that week with my mom, sister, and aunts. Lucy mastered the Sippy Cup, and we threw a surprise 40th anniversary party for Ron's parents.
August: Kelly completed the Whirlpool Steelhead 70.3 Triathlon - a half-Ironman length race! We were all there to cheer her on at the finish line. It was one of the biggest highlights of the year for us to see her conquer such a challenge. Ron and I celebrated our third anniversary, with dinner at Via Maria and a play at Hope College. More "Big" news - we sold our home and found the one we would move into! My cousin and his long-time girlfriend got married, and a couple days later we all learned that his mom and dad would be getting a divorce. Lucy took her first steps on the 24th, and we started practicing every day with her.
September: Ron went back to teaching, and we were finishing up packing to move. Our friends lost their baby daughter who was born at 19 weeks, and none of us really knew what to say or do. It really reminded us how blessed we are. I am still heartbroken for them. We gained possession of our new house and started painting, cleaning, etc. Our friends' daughter turned one, and we celebrated at her party the day before we moved all our stuff with a U-Haul to the new home. The following weekend we had Lucy's 1st birthday party at my parents' house!
October: Continued working on the new house, and basically lived in a disaster area for a few weeks. It was all worth it in the end... Killian got sprayed by a skunk, and we visited Kelly and Heath in Evanston. Lucy did her first scribbled piece of artwork, and toward the end of the month was painting on my grandparents' slider for Halloween. She dressed up as a little witch, and even wore the hat!
November: Oh... I broke my foot - 3 small fractures - by falling down some steps at GHS. The next day we went to our friend's wedding and reception, and I managed to have a great time - even on crutches! We got all our new flooring in this month, just before Thanksgiving. My cousin had a small appearance on Desperate Housewives, and Ron and I managed to actually go out on a "date", leaving Lucy with a non-relative babysitter (teenage girl) for the first time.
December: Our house finally looked like a home, and was decorated for the holidays to boot! I tried to photograph Lucy for the "perfect" Christmas card photo and realized how difficult it is! We got two cars in the garage for the first time since we've been married, and had a whirlwind Christmas Eve and Christmas with our families. For New Years, we had our friends Eric and Jen over, and we had a very, very low-key get-together with the four of us, plus Ryan Seacrest.
Now on the first day of 2008 I cannot imagine what is in store for us... I hope many joyous things, and few tragedies - for us, and all of our loved ones. Happy New Year!
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