Another 'Year in Review'

I saw this on a blog I follow (a very positive one - see #2 on my list of resolutions) and thought it was too cool to not share.

The idea is that for each month of the year previous you share the first sentence of the first blog post of that month. Fun, right? Well I think so and it's my blog so here goes. (Text from original post is italicized and my current comments follow directly.)


January: Live in the NOW, slowly, each small step at a time.
Obviously a new years resolution. Hmm, that's funny, didn't I just claim I don't make those? Anyway, was I successful in doing this in 2011? A little bit, yes. I think partly because 2011 threw so many curve balls at me I didn't have a choice but to live in the now or my head would have blown right off. I'm not in the present as often as I'd like though (far less time is being spent in the past but still a bit much in the future), so this is a work in progress.


February: Jordan and Rio went skiing again and it was another huge success.
Rio continued to ski throughout last winter, loving every minute of it (especially the fries afterwards). This was the first thing we saw her engage in with real confidence, and that was a huge step for her. First trip of this winter is in a couple of weeks, with several more planned between then and end of season.


March: Some days physio is hard.
Enough said. Still rings true in many ways and I'm sure will continue to.


April: Since tomorrow is "homecoming day" thought I'd share some more writing on the subject.
Many of the products of my writing class were about the boys and their hospitalization. On this day I was sharing the second part of a two part piece I wrote about the day they finally came home. April 2 will always be a very, very special day to me, though not sure we'll "celebrate" beyond that first anniversary.


May: Something was said to me recently that implied Asher was not healthy. 
Assumptions about Asher are something we're always going to have to deal with. Good thing he's so remarkable it will be pretty easy to set people straight.


June: Next Wednesday, June 8, is a huge day for our family.
It was! Rio's kindergarten orientation and Asher's first surgery. But we all survived and the outcome was excellent. Rio is thriving in school and Asher had not one, but two successful surgeries. 


July: Today the family enjoyed the neighbourhood Canada Day festivities, including the world's smallest (and lamest) parade, an outdoor market, and best of all - a pancake breakfast! 
Oh my, what a ridiculous parade that was. Even more ridiculous of a parade? The lantern festival/parade we found ourselves part of on Pender Island on New Years. That is a whole story in itself. I will never look at a small community parade in the same way again.


August: I can't stop looking at this picture.
That was a gorgeous photo of Asher and Nolan, and what a nice distraction since my thyroid surgery was the next day so I assumed that's what the first post of August would be about. Clearly I had my priorities straight, showing off my two beauties and not wallowing in self pity about the upcoming surgery. (I'm sure I was wallowing in my head just not sharing it on the blog!)


September: It's been a busy week, trying to cram in appointments and friend visits before the start of school. 
That week was the end of an era - baby/toddler/preschooler Rio was flying the coop to go to kindergarten a few short days later. It was sad, but a good step for her. It also gave the boys and I more chance to spend time together instead of following big sister around.


October:  First attempt at auto-publishing while we're in Mexico.
Well that's a lame start to a post isn't it? But you know what wasn't lame? Our trip to Mexico. 


November: Asher and Nolan are two years old today!
Well we can pretty much guarantee that the first sentence on the first post of November every year is going to be about Asher and Nolan's birthday. Aside from the obvious things to be thankful for on their birthday (2 future neonatologists/models-in-their-spare-time), how about the fact that we get to celebrate that our boys are ALIVE?! Sure, I suppose that every birthday is a celebration of life, but not in quite the same way the parent of a formerly 2 pound/ventilated/on death's doorstep for a while-baby gets to!


December: Asher and Nolan have been back together since Tuesday.

Oh lord, the sleeping. At this point we had separated the boys (Nolan bunking with Rio) and were putting them back together. Not sure if this was for the first or second time, but we have had only moderate levels of success getting Asher to sleep regardless of what we do. The only real configuration that works in our house is status quo - the boys sharing a room. So we'll see what the future brings, but so far in 2012 sleep still sucks!


Pretty cool how much of our year each of those statements captured, eh?!