2012 Year in Review

• Amy Cissell
• December 29, 2012
• Not Dead Yet!
• 536

1. Finish grad school (“A” goal: win the Capstone award) – SUCCESS! I finished school and won the award. Yay me!
2. Have baby (“A” goal: give birth naturally) – SUCCESS! I did not meet my A goal, but I did labor without drugs until it put my baby’s life in danger, and if he’d just come out like he was supposed to, my entire labor & delivery would’ve been drug free.
3. End 2012 weighing less than I do right now (“A” goal: End 2012 weighing the same as I did the end of 2009; there will be no scale looking until July 2012, and then twice monthly weigh-ins after that) – SUCCESS!I weight less than I did at the beginning of the year. However, I did not meet my A goal in this one. However, by the end of 2013, I should get there.
4. Learn to do a flip turn (Ambitious One – I’ll need your help on this one!) – SUCCESS! I’m not an expert yet, but I can definitely do a flip turn, and only once did I end up in someone else’s lane.
5. At least one triathlon (I’m thinking Blue Lake, end of July) – Success (lower case). I didn’t do my triathlon with the officialness, but I did do a self supported (well, Ambitious One supported) triathlon in October.
6. Half Marathon by the end of the year. – Fail.I was close. I did hit a 10 mile run, but I just wasn’t able to ramp up slowly & safely enough to do a good race.
7. Maintain debt-free, no credit card lifestyle, even with new, expensive household member. – Failish. There were some unexpected expenses that came up, but overall, not too bad.
8. Complete sub-step #1 in secret goal (this is finance related) – Fail.
9. Complete sub-step #2 in secret goal (this is marketing related)- Fail. And, with goals 8 & 9, that is okay. My priorities have realigned over the year.
10. Weekly date nights with the architect (with possible hiatus in April & May) – SUCCESS! We’ve actually done pretty well with this, even when the bean is invited on our dates. He usually falls asleep half way through.
11. Sirasana with no wall assist – FAIL! Although, in all fairness, I didn’t even try, really.
12. Continue habit of nightly work (school now) after school ends to start writing again (with possible hiatus in April & May) – FAIL! I grossly underestimated the amount of energy I would have after having a baby. Between that, my increased hours & responsibilities at work, and the post-partum depression, I have not been terribly productive outside the spheres of work & motherhood. And that is okay.

Overall, not a bad year, all things considered, right?And considering all things. Let’s check out the year that is almost over.

January.

We rang in the new year (and my 3rd trimester) with our besties at Cannon Beach. It was so much fun. SO MUCH.

 

 

Of course, the awesome start to the new year did not so much hold. January 9 I found out that tumors had been discovered in my dad’s brain. He had surgery immediately, and was in the hospital for the rest of the month.

It was a pretty stressful month. I was still finishing up my Capstone project for school, trying to get through the busiest month at work,, stay calm and relaxed for my Bean, and worry about my South D family all at the same time.

And then, this happened:

Ooh – and then our furnace stopped working. Overall, if it hadn’t been for days 1 & 2, the whole month would’ve pretty much sucked.

February

Another mixed bag of a month. I finished school! I had a birthday!

My dad was released from the hospital and was at home with mom for a month. He started his chemo and radiation, and from my end (I think there was a lot of not telling me the whole story going on), things seemed to be going better.

However, I was grounded from flying by my midwife. I started having some complications with my pregnancy (there was a lot of not telling of the whole story from both sides, maybe) and was instructed to “not leave town.” Like a suspect!

 

I ate a lot of pancakes. I got huge. I started to waddle and be excited for the whole thing to be over.

March

Yeah. March.

The Good: Baby shower of awesomeness!

And the bad: My dad was readmitted to the hospital, his treatments were stopped, he was moved to hospice care, and on March 19, he died. 10 weeks to the day that I found out he had cancer.

My mom flew to Portland the end of that week to stay until the Bean was born. Nothing had prepared me for the combination of mourning my beloved father while anticipating the arrival of my beloved son. Surreal.

April

The bean! He was born! 6 days late, and via emergency C-section because he wouldn’t come out and his heart rate slowed down to scary low levels. And there was the massive amounts of blood I lost during surgery, but we all survived! Yay!

Alvie showed up on 4/8/12 at 5:39 pm. He weighed 7 lbs, 15.5 oz and was 21″ long. Absolutely perfect.

The next few weeks were a blur. At the end of the month, we flew to South Dakota for my dad’s memorial service.  Such a bittersweet trip. It was so good to see so many friends and family members and introduce them to Alvie, but the reason for the trip 3 weeks post surgery was much less good, of course.

My dad’s service was 4/30/12, and it was one of the hardest things I’ve ever sat through.

May

I was in South D for the beginning of the month, and it was a weird, mixed bag. I got to see dear friends from college.

I got to hang with my mom & sister.

I got to watch my son grow and change, almost before my eyes. He started sleeping through the night at about 6 weeks, and that was amazing, because then I could, too! YAY!

I was able to get back in the pool, which was so nice – I’d really missed swimming.

And I got to gaze at this face every day.

 

June

My last month of leave! We drove to Seattle for my friend Brian’s graduation from UW and did a little sight seeing.

 

The architect’s father & his father’s girlfriend/long-term partner/what-have-you came to visit and meet their grandson.

 

 

He had his first shots (miserable) and I went back to work.

Oh – and because June had been apparently going too well, the architect was placed on indefinite furlough at work.

July

July started out with a bang! (ha!)

We hosted our annual bbq and fireworks.

Alvie Bean started going to the nanny’s, and adjusted pretty quickly. He was there with two other older kids, and they taught him all sorts of tricks. By the end of the month, he was rolling over like a pro!

August

Alvie turned 4 months old and got to have more shots! Yay!

My mom and her brother drove out to see us (and to attend my graduation). And I graduated! Woo! (And, not incidentally, won the capstone award.)

Alvie had his first swim, and loved it!

 

I had a garden graduation party with hats! (And babies!)

 

 

Alvie started sitting up, wit some assistance. And apparently checking out the ladies…

My anxiety started getting really bad, and I slowly started being avoidy. I stopped returning phone calls and emails.

September

September brought big changes at work. Things started to get super busy for me. AND, the architect was unfurloughed when his firm got a huge contract (not incidentally due to one of the architect’s designs…he is awesomesauce).

Alvie started eating foods! And making messes! And not staying put anymore.

We had some fun play dates.

There was scooting. And sitting up unassisted for short periods of time.

Oh – and there was that triathlon. The one I didn’t so much do.

The anxiety just kept getting worse, and by mid-September, things were starting to get scary in my brain. Fortunately, I had been seeing a therapist since my dad was diagnosed with cancer in January, and she was able to get me into a psychiatrist relatively quickly (i.e. about 4 weeks). But it wasn’t quite soon enough.

I managed to keep it together fairly well-ish through September and the beginning of October.

Oh! and I got new hair.

October.

Yeah. This month. I’m pretty sure things happened. I went to work every day. I did do my make-up triathlon.

I was doing my best to fake it ’til I made it. About mid-month, that all went to hell. I was still working with the shrink to get the right balance of meds. Difficult to do when breastfeeding. October was the month I stopped pumping (so Alvie went from 1 formula bottle/day at the nanny’s to 3).

I skipped book club. I didn’t read. I didn’t watch any movies. I did manage a couple runs with friends and did some pumpkin carving. I canceled my Halloween party, which is apparently cause for alarm.

 

Alvie had his first Hallowe’en, and the architect and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary.

 

Things were bad. They could’ve been worse. I have the best friends ever – they, along with the architect – were my lifeline. I cannot thank them enough for not letting me stay in my head.

November

This is when things started looking up – kind of. The architect got pneumonia at the beginning of the month and was scary-sick for a few days.

I went wine tasting with my best girls the first weekend to celebrate Sarah’s birthday.

 

Alvie Bean mastered the sitting up without assistance.

I started to feel as though I was getting my mojo back by the end of the month. I had some great trail runs with the Ambitious One, a fantastic 10K turkey trot, and a cold but gorgeous 8 miler.

 

My mom & sister flew in for Thanksgiving, and we had a lovely time.

Overall, a much better month. Much better.

December

Alvie Bean has been an overachiever this month. He got his first tooth. He pulled up to standing. He started cruising. He can stand (briefly) with no support, and can walk with his new walker. He signs milk, diaper change, and more. And today – 12/29/12 – he got his first haircut.

 

Also this month – the 3rd annual gift exchange with my besties. I love these girls more than words can say. My secret santa got me the awesomest gifties ever! A gorgeous bracelet, a Shakespearean insult mug (love it so much!), and the icing on the cake (ha!) – this:

I managed to make it to book club this time, and a good thing, too! There were only two of us left who hadn’t gotten to choose a book for our 2nd go round, and we decided to settle it via mortal combat! (Or an arm wrestling contest.) The winner (me!) unfortunately had to take on all challengers and did not fare so well against the others in the group.

We had a great Christmas. I have the whole week off, and have been spending some quality time with my books, my coffee, and my child (not necessarily in that order). Fun gifts were given and received (new wedding ring to replace the one I lost). Sleep was caught up on. (I was in bed from 6:30 pm – 9 am, and asleep for 12+ hours of that time.)

Christmas Day, we had some friends over for spicy chocolate cake, cocktails, and a few rounds of the best game ever invented.

 

And now – I’m looking forward to a lovely weekend getaway with the aforementioned/pictured besties. Unfortunately, not all will be able to join us. 🙁 BUT – they will be there in spirit. And maybe in stick figure form. Still working out the details of that.

So – happy end of the year! I am so ready for 2013.

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