Reflections on The Last Year

Last year I did this post in early January, but this year I'll do it a bit sooner, allowing me to reflect on the last year for Ellen's writing prompt.

As per last year, the rule is - post the first sentence from the first blog post of each month of the previous year. I'll include the first sentence in italics, with my comments below.

January
I don't usually make resolutions because I generally don't keep them, but this year I plan on making some "lifestyle changes" that I hope I can follow. I'm going to include the actual resolutions from the post and then I can comment on whether I did them or not...

• Exercise more (exercise at all in fact). Not really. Bit of yoga and lots of walking for the CP challenge, but other than the exercise involved in hauling Asher around, no, I haven't done enough structured exercise. 
• Remove myself from negative people. Yes! I'm happy to say that I have done this! I surround myself with people that bring positivity to my life, and am learning to forget about anyone who does not.
• Spend more time playing with the kids, and less time worrying about them. For the most part. I still worry, but not as much as in the past.
• Go on more dates with my husband (babysitting offers anyone?) - Care of our respite worker -- YES!
• Don't let the Canucks stress me out. Well maybe if there were a season this year they'd be stressing me out, but since there's not, I'm good. As for last year, I handled the first round loss pretty gracefully. All in all, I'd say I achieved this one.
• Accept my life circumstances - the good and the bad.  Work in progress. Definitely improvements made.

February
When downsizing the boys' baby stuff I am generally thrilled to toss things into the donation bag. This post was specific to their comfort cloths - the little blankets they had in their isolettes in the NICU. But yes, I have continued downsizing and donating. Feels so good to get rid of stuff! By the way, I haven't done anything with the comfort cloths yet.

March
March is Cerebral Palsy awareness month so I have taken on a bit of a challenge. Oooh did I ever! I blogged about CP awareness every day for a month. Some days I wondered what I had gotten myself into, but in the end I was so proud to have done it.

April
Taken for granted by most families, synonymous with a healthy birth, is the day you bring your baby(s) home from the hospital. That post was written on the anniversary of the boys' homecoming (April 2). I still can't believe it's been almost three years since we've had them home. Homecoming day will always be a special day for us.

May
Well I was tempted to call this the worst day ever, but sadly after all of our really, really bad days we've had worse than this. This post was about the day of Asher's failed MRI - more specifically when he stopped breathing from the sedation. That was a horribly scary day, but since Nolan's similar reaction to the same drug (Propofol) after surgery, it helped me understand Asher's "episode". Both very stressful days at the time, but no one was any worse for wear (well except for me).

June
Last time I wrote a post like this it was easier. I'm totally cheating here. The first few posts of the month were just photo posts so didn't count anyway. So instead of moving on to the first "real" post, I skipped ahead to a pretty monumental one instead. Because if I didn't include this one in a recap of 2012, it wouldn't be a very accurate reflection on the year. This is the post where I tell everyone Nolan has CP. A pretty big deal. In hindsight however, it really hasn't been a big deal at all. Yes, accepting both of your twins has CP has been hard in some respects, but other than that, it has been status quo. Therapy and Nolan being Nolan, CP or not.

July
When Rio was born I became a mom - just mom, plain and simple. This one's about all the labels I have as a mom. It's true - having special needs kids gives you some new, atypical, not necessarily sought after labels that I would trade in if it meant life were easier for the boys. But at the same time, I believe I was meant to be their mom so that helps me embrace all of the "special" parts of the job.

August
This leg of the trip took us from Montana back up into Alberta Canada. Fun! This one is about our road trip! Traveling through BC, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, and Alberta was definitely a huge highlight of this past year. We made amazing family memories and spent some much needed time together without the worries of CP and therapy, plus all the regular, day-to-day 'life' stuff that bogs you down.

September
I am so excited to announce that in honour of World CP Day on September 4th, I am participating in a 4 week challenge to raise funds and awareness for CP. What a fantastic month that was. I signed up on a bit of a whim (dragging my teammates who didn't have much of a chance to say 'no' with me) not realizing how much I would enjoy it. Yes we met our step challenge, and far exceeded our fundraising goal, but more importantly, I spent the month as a proud CP mom who showed off my boys and all their awesomeness every chance I got!

October
Asher's language has blown up recently. Has it ever! I can't believe now that there was ever a time we were really worried about his speech. This morning he said a 13 word sentence - totally grammatically correct (I wish I could remember it, but I counted the words at the time!). I love the way both of the boys now talk - to each other and to us. They are real little men.

November
Last night we had a rough night of sleep. This goes to show how badly we have been sleeping in recent months (Well not so recent actually. 14 months more like it). The first post of the month should have been for Asher and Nolan's birthday (Nov 1) - and it was - but apparently the sleep situation was so bad I started the post by talking about that. Pretty accurate really.

December
In the midst of Nolan's recovery, Asher's sleeplessness, and mama's exhaustion, we tried something new this week - why not throw something else on our plates, right?! This was referring to trying out Strong Start - a local preschool type program. I still have high hopes for it, but we've only managed to make it once! Between me being sick, and then the boys, and then our volunteer's daughter, and now the boys again, we've missed every opportunity. But we plan to start up again in January - barring any more illnesses.


All in all a good year! We had our tough times, but we accept that challenges are part of life, and the good times are prevalent in this family too. Here's to an even better 2013.