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| Theo and Mae (October 2014) |
Some 2014 highlights...
First, I was pregnant for most of the year. Highlight? Not really. Just a fact that affected my experience. We found out almost immediately after the turn of the year, initially an anxiety-ridden surprise that soon morphed into a source of joy.
- We joined a new church that is about one-sixteenth the size of our former one.
- My brother's band, Escondido, played Founders! We all went to cheer them on.
- Jude played soccer with the parks and rec program and had a good time running around a field in a mob of short teammates. We made some new friends watching the games.
- Jono and I saw The National play a show at Calvin and we were six feet from Matt at one point. He'd been drinking. The show was incredible - Mae's first, in utero.
- My side of the family took a rainy, buggy camping trip to Sleeping Bear Dunes. It was kind of a pain and we decided never to tent as an extended family again.
- The kids and I took a trip to Iowa with my family for my cousin's wedding.We caught up with family and canoodled with a tiny pig at one of their farms.
- We went to Lake Michigan for our anniversary and just sat on the beach for two hours, undisturbed. Our new idea of luxury since having kids.
- We decided to send Jude to our neighborhood school, after a two-year process of mulling over all of the options, and even enrolling him at a different school first, until we saw there had been a tuition hike. He was off to kindergarten at Congress Elementary in early September!
- Two days later, I gave birth to Mae Leona, and our family is complete, God willing. I took three months of maternity leave, and we spent our days feeding, sleeping, walking Jude to school and back, meeting great-grandparents, and going on fall hikes at Aman Park, Seidman Park and some trails near an orchard.
- We went to Lake Erie to be with Jono's dad and step-mom for Thanksgiving. We hiked out to Point Pelee, the southernmost tip of Canada, and spent time gazing out at the lake from the two picture windows on their back porch.
- We followed our new tradition again this year of getting a Christmas tree at the farmer's market, on foot.
- I went back to work in December and things got real. Jude had his first Winter Program at school, which was kind of a mess, but also cute.
- We were interviewed by our public school system for a promotional campaign that includes a set of parents from each school around the city. Suddenly as of January, we are on a local commercial, the radio and a billboard. The resulting fame has been overwhelming (just kidding!).
So there it is, 2014. We loved you. I hope you're grateful for your life this year as well, even if nothing is perfect.
