Hello 2011

I was so happy to say Good-Bye to 2010. The year held some blessings of course, but I'm sure I'll always look back on 2010 as the year that Jesus took Michael & Gabriel Home.

I'm looking forward to 2011 with a lot of hope - I am 2 months away from the birth of this baby, and now that the Christmas season & all of our celebrations are over, my mind is completely filled with what we need to do before the arrival of this baby. I always thought with 2 months left, I would feel like I had plenty of time, but I catch myself thinking, "what if this baby comes early??" I even had a dream not too long ago, that we had this baby, but no clothes to put him/her in! I guess that's probably normal in the late stages of pregnancy. Derek assures me we have plenty of time.

I have to believe that 2011 is the year that we will hold a healthy baby in our arms. But sometimes... those thoughts seem to creep in. What if it's not that easy? What if God has other plans for this baby? As I start collecting things for this baby, a tiny voice in the back of my head says, "I sure hope you don't have to pack all of this away, without a baby to use it for". The devil is pretty sneaky that way, making me think those thoughts are normal... making me worry about the well-being of this baby.

I've been sick with a cold for the last few days (courtesy of my husband!), and I think it may have made our baby sleepy, because yesterday and the day before, the baby wasn't moving quite as much as he/she had been. There were little movements, here and there, but I was actually starting to get concerned. Thankfully, last night as I dozed off to sleep, baby seemed to wake up & started kicking & rolling around even more than before! What a relief. If it's possible, I feel like I'm appreciating all of these movements even more.. it's like Baby is telling me - "No worries, Mama, I'm doing well in here!" :)

So, here's to 2011. Hoping that all of you are blessed in big ways this year.

D.