2011

This is my 2011 year in review... what I wish I would have known in a letter to myself.

Dear Me,

I know you are incredibly pregnant and uncomfortable. Keep up the walking. It gives you something to do while you wait for that sweet baby. Don't spend the entire day of January 11th crying because it's your due date and you haven't had her yet. Tomorrow life is about to get real. When your water breaks at 1am make sure you have pads ready so you don't have frantically search for them in the middle of the night, tired and totally freaking out. Oh and you should eat something bigger than a granola bar on the way to hospital. You are in labor for 16.5 hours and it'll be 24 hours since the last time you ate before you get to eat a real meal.

I know that being a new mom kind of sort of... really freaks you out. Don't be so hard on yourself so much. Take more naps during the day even though you feel guilty because Troy is working and going to school and you are just sitting at home. You aren't just sitting at home. You are taking care of baby! Plus, you are the one who has to get up every few hours to nurse {painfully} in the middle of the night. By the way, nursing hurts a lot those first few weeks. It does get better. I promise. And that tear {you know the one} it will take a lot longer than 6 weeks to heal. But it does.

Don't worry so far Izzie is a pretty easy baby. She starts sleeping through the night earlier than you think she will. And then you won't feel so crazy.

It'll take you a long time to find a job but you will find one! So will Troy. And you'll both get them about the same time and of course you won't find them until the very last minute. All of the insurance stuff will work out too. In fact, pretty much every thing you worry about works out in the end. You should really stop stressing about things all of the time.

Your new job will test you and you'll have a few days when you cry in the car. Who would have guessed that kids could be so harsh? They don't mean to be. They are just brutally honest. Keep trying! Speed Stacks don't go over as well as you hoped.

December will be a really rough month in several ways. It kinda sucks. Troy's car breaks down on Christmas day. Just be prepared for that. And for the first time ever you will be over drawn on the checking account. You'll miss dad in a new kind of way this Christmas. Izzie's laugh as she discovers the fun of knocking down block towers on Christmas night will erase all of the worry from your mind. You'll be surprised and touched by all of the people who reach out to you this month.

2011 is an amazing year. You'll be tested in so many new ways. But I promise you that you've never been this happy!

Love the most awesome person you know,
You