A(nother) New Year!

What a year 2009 was for us! What a year it was for me!

I experienced every possible emotion, had to learn a few hard lessons and I was blessed in so many ways. I am able to say that I have experienced the best day of my life, hands down. I have grown not only as an individual, but as a part of a unit. I have been pushed to my emotional limits and have learned that I can push my physical limits further than I ever imagined.... I still don't think I know the full potential of those physical limits.

I have learned, sometimes the hard way, the importance of faith. Faith in God, faith in family and faith in friends. I've learned that sometimes you just need to "let go." I decided to surround myself and my family with positive energy in every way. I started to pay even closer attention to how I treat others and how to live a life I'm proud of. To encompass the traits that I believe so strongly in: acceptance, love, kindness, compassion.

I want so much for this new, beautiful year! I want to learn as much as I can... An idle mind is the devils playground. I want to work towards my dream of helping other women bring their babies into this world... to be able to help educate society on what a truly amazing miracle creating and birthing a baby is. I want to teach my son how to help other people... you're never too young to understand that. I know most people have dreams of their children making a difference, but I want to help nurture that dream until it becomes reality.

I think forward on the year ahead and wonder what life will look like this time NEXT year! Max is already growing so fast. He has two teeth now, his bottom front (be careful what you wish for... we asked Santa for chompers... two days after Christmas, the first one arrived!) He is "creeping" now, which is the step before crawling. He rolls and pushes himself EVERYWHERE. He is talking up a storm... saying Mama with fervor now! I just can't believe how fast it's going by... I'm already missing my little baby. He's growing into a little boy!

Watching him change from day to day makes me think of his future, constantly. I want to cultivate his dreams. I want him to know that he can do whatever he wants to do, he just has to work hard! I want him to give back to others that aren't as blessed as he is, regardless of his situation. I'm hoping that this next holiday season, we can take him down to serve meals to the homeless, or maybe we can help him pick a few of his own blankets to take down to the needy. We might not have much right now, but we still have so much more than so many others. I want him to realize the importance of helping your fellow man... even if it seems that you don't have enough to help yourself.

I have so many (possibly very lofty) ideas and dreams. It took for me to have a child of my own to realize just how important those dreams are. I don't think you're ever too old to work towards making your dreams a reality! I intend on working towards my own, while I continue to help my husband and son work towards theirs. I know that I can make a difference... it's just going to take some perseverence.

I want this year to be full of love and joy for everyone in my life! My wishes are that we all realize what's truly important... Our faith, our families, our health and our happiness. All that other stuff is just icing.