2007 Round-Up

So, Wes has been really quiet today, to the point of worrying me, and I barely got the required 4 movements out of him after a glass of cold sparkling cider and laying on my left side for an hour. We even busted out some spoons to try and jerk him awake (a little trick they taught me at the hospital: set one spoon on your stomach and whack it with another spoon. It's supposed to be loud enough to wake up a sleepy unmoving baby, but no dice). Eventually I got a few halfhearted rolls and I decided that was good enough since I'm going to the doctor tomorrow anyway.

And then I laid down to sleep and he started rolling and kicking so much I can hardly take a breath. Go figure. At least I'm not expected at work in 6 hours because I'm not sleeping anytime soon. Inconsiderate baby.

And so, a New Years meme while I wait for him to cool his jets and go back to sleep!

1. What did you do in 2007 that you've never done before?

Got pregnant. Ate tofu. Went to Costa Rica.

2. Did you keep your New Year's Resolutions and will you make some for 2008?

I made 10 resolutions for 2007. Here's how I did on all of them:

Write a book-this was mostly a "wouldn't it be cool if..?" and it's something I've always wanted to do. Then, a few months ago, Aaron and my dad really started pushing to do it and they even gave me a really great premise. So I jotted some things down. It's not an entire book, but it is the start of one! Which was a lot more than I really expected of myself.

Work out 4+ days per week- I was working out 5-7 days each week until the morning sickness set in sometime in late June. When it backed off I managed a few weeks of working out most days until breathing became difficult (inconsiderate baby gotta be all up in my diaphragm). I think I did remarkably well on this one, all things considered.

Cook more often- I'm not really sure if I did or not. I should have quantified this one because I don't remember how much I cooked in 2006. I pretty much stopped cooking once I got pregnant though. Eating was iffy, cooking was out of the question.

Make an investment- Aaron and I made a fairly decent sized one together. Thus far it hasn't made any money, but we're in it for the long term anyway and it makes me feel good to know that we don't have all our eggs in one basket.

Make more friends in our ward- I'd say, out of all my resolutions, this one was probably my greatest success. Due in large part to this blog, actually. At some point I mentioned to Bethany that I had a blog and we exchanged addresses. And then other girls from the ward found me through her. And we ended up with our own little ward blogging community that has really helped me get to know people that I otherwise probably would have been too shy to speak to (yes, I'm a little shy sometimes, believe it or not. Y'all are intimidating).

Read my scriptures everyday- This is a resolution I make every year because I'm still not perfect at it. I really suck at reading my scriptures, actually. I don't know why, it's not like I don't enjoy reading them. It'll be a resolution for this year too. I wasn't even close, though I think I may have done better than any other year, so it's progress.

Be kinder- This was a yes and no. I'm sometimes not a very nice person and a lot of times I only realize that I was unkind after the fact when I'm replaying something in my head. It's a continuing effort but I think I made some progress this year. There were some definite setbacks though. I'd call this one a draw.

Scrapbook more- Unfortunately I did hardly any. I did get one started for Wes though, so it's a half success. I'm kind of hoping that naptime will be good scrapbook time after he's born.

Be a better wife to Aaron- I'm pretty sure I accomplished this one. Our first year of marriage was a little rocky, so it wasn't too difficult to do better in 2007 than I did in 2006. We had a really great year, actually. I'd have to ask him, but I feel like I did pretty well.

Aaaand my number 1 resolution for 2007: get pregnant- totally rocked it.

For 2008 I'm keeping it simple since I plan on being fairly busy. My resolutions are 1. read my scriptures every day and 2. re-do our bedroom. Because it's unfair that the baby has the nicest room in the house. I'd really like to organize the office as well, but I think that might be a little ambitious considering the state it's in. Maybe in 2009.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

No one in my family, but a couple good friends did!

4. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007?

A son! And I'd like to have a lack of morning sickness (should be easy enough).

5. What dates from 2007 will be etched in your memory and why?

I don't want everything to be baby related, but June 14th was the day the positive sign showed up on the test and it's kind of imprinted on my brain. Also, May 26th, the day Nikki got married!

6. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

The nursery. When we first moved into our house Aaron and I agreed that we could each have a room to do whatever we wanted. Aaron took the office and painted the walls blue and gray and hung his snowboard up and called it good. I never got around to doing the guest room until I knew it was going to have a purpose. Then I went all out and I'm really happy with the way it turned out. I put a lot of time into it, most of it was done by me all by my lonesome, and when I walk in I just feel like I really accomplished something.

7. What was your biggest failure?

The setbacks I referred to under my "be kinder" resolution.

8. What was the best thing you bought?

My silver beads and my maternity jeans. I could LIVE in both of them.

9. Whose behavior merited celebration?

Weird question. But I'd say my brother. He turned 16 in February and is growing into someone that I am very proud of. He hangs out with really good people. He's done well in school. He seems to have really committed to pole vaulting. At an age where my sister and I were kinda iffy (me moreso than her), he is a strong, dedicated individual with a good head on his shoulders. Plus I had some real conversations with him this year, which is a big step over the grunts of last year. That alone merits celebration.

10. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

Lindsay Lohan. Growing up people used to tell me I looked like her (it was the freckles and the long hair, I think) and I was always kind of proud of that. Until this year when she turned out to be a total screw up.

11. Where did most of your money go?

The mortgage company. But I'm pretty sure the answer at the end of 2008 will be "the hospital."

12. What did you get really really really really excited about?

Costa Rica! So incredibly awesome. I love that we made kind of a snap decision to just go. And then we did. And it rocked.

Also, my maternity jeans.

13. Compared to this time last year, are you a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer?

I am happier, though that doesn't mean I wasn't happy last year! But the prospect of a baby and semi-retirement do tend to make one feel pretty chipper. I'm far, FAR fatter. 30 pounds hanging off the front of me fatter. And richer, for sure. Aaron spent half of 2006 finishing up his masters, which meant he was a student. And we all know what being a student means.

14. How are you going to celebrate New Years Eve?

Well, since it already passed, I'll just tell you what we did. We decided to celebrate it on my parents' couch instead of our couch (which is starting to get a bit old). I wore sweatpants. I started reading Capote's In Cold Blood while "live" footage of Times Square played on the TV and no one watched. I stood up long enough to count down with Aaron and my parents while the ball dropped and we toasted with some sparkling cider. By 12:06 we were in the car on the way home and by 12:30 I was in bed. That's how we roll around here.


I think he might finally be sleeping again, so I'm off to bed. Happy 2008 everyone!