Unpredictable

(Written on NYE)
At this time last year, Hubbs and I were fine-dining it over candlelight at a lovely eatery with mesmerizing views of our beloved city. I was heavily pregnant and eager to have some nesting time prior to baby's arrival.

Tonight, as I stared at the long fingers and large chubby feet of my sick, sleeping Baby Loquacious, it's hard to believe how much has happened in a mere 12 months. Even harder to believe is how quickly my baby is turning into a little girl!

When I was pregnant, I was blissfully optimistic and ignorant about what parenthood would entail. I'm sure I thought that tonight, someone would be babysitting Baby L while Hubbs and I enjoyed a night on the town. For sure, I could not have imagined that I would be cleaning diarrhea and puke off my little girl while trying to keep my own nausea and bowel issues under control. I would have thought foie gras and wine, not chamomile tea and soda crackers, to be the items on our menu. And reflecting on the year with Hubbs is a conversation yet to be had, since our exchanges today have mostly been about stomach flus and the various treatments for them.

But that really captures my year in a nutshell - what I expected never seemed to match with reality, and what I planned never quite worked out the way I had planned it.

And yet this is a good thing, a humbling experience, and an exercise in trusting in the One who knows yesterday, today and tomorrow.

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Now that 2013 is upon us, I am optimistic. Sure, there may be moments of pain and grief and worry ahead, but so much more will there be moments of great joy and surprise and pleasure and delight! Because I know the One who holds the future, I am psyched to face it with Him as my guide and eternal companion. Bring it, 2013!!

(BTW this is a pic of a sick little girl. No time for fancy pics when there's laundry to be done!)