First, the biggest deal: My sister and Brian had their baby! Her name is River and she's perfect. She was born around 4:30 in the morning, when I happened to be lying there awake feeling my own new baby kicking and wiggling. My sister is doing well, which is really awesome because the last time she gave birth it did NOT go smoothly - but this new little girl made a nice gentle entrance into the world. I can't wait to meet her.
And second, court! The summary is that nothing changed. The weird part is that this sort of feels like a victory.
M's mom didn't show up, which wasn't unexpected. They adjourned her part of the case for two weeks, to give her another chance to show up. They surprised me by not adjourning the full case, and having the hearing for the dad's side.
There was a different lawyer there for the dad; I don't know if his usual guy couldn't make it (they changed our court date, so our worker couldn't be there either) or if he now has a different lawyer, but this guy actually said the dad's name correctly in the courtroom, so he's definitely more on the ball than the last one. This lawyer asked for increased visits, and suggested to the judge that they have the county inspect the dad's new home and then come back for another hearing in a few weeks to discuss having visits at said home. The judge pretty much shot that down cold. He (the judge) pointed out that the worker could and would increase visits and change location when that was warranted by the dad's involvement, so no, he didn't see a reason to do that.
The lawyer then asked if we could still have another hearing in a few weeks, so the court could hear about the dad's house being inspected by the county. The judge just stared at him for a minute, and said that even if the house is fine and the dad makes all his visits for a few weeks, they're not just going to move the baby in with him in a month. I loved the judge so much right then, you guys.
The lawyer understood that, but still thought maybe we could "evaluate the situation" again in a few weeks or a month. The judge again just stared at him for a minute, then said, "I'm not going to micromanage this case. I don't do that." And then he set our next hearing for JULY. I assume the judge realized that the lawyer was banking on the dad's habit of trying really hard in the few weeks before court to keep the dad moving forward, and the judge wasn't cool with it.
We'll actually be in court before July, because they'll be filing the paperwork to terminate parental rights in April. Apparently when they finish and file the paperwork on the termination of parental rights, it generates a court date or something, but we don't know when that will be until after the paperwork is filed, and we don't know how far behind the county is on writing those. I'm just hoping they don't schedule it for while I'm in labor.
And now, I have a sincere question for you all: Do you like these blow-by-blow recaps, or would you prefer a shorter summary?
I ask because I know I like to read as much detail as I can about how the court stuff works in other jurisdictions, but if most of you just skim this to get the basic gist, I'd happily cut it way down and give you an overview.
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Saturday, February 9, 2013
Before-court sort-of-update
So last time I posted I told y'all about the new kid I'm working on, but didn't mention much about M's case. Those of you familiar with the foster care world probably realize that's because there's really very little to report between court dates. We go to court for a permanency hearing on Thursday (what could be more romantic on Valentine's Day than the Family Court waiting room??) but here's what we know as of now.
1. M's dad is moving into/has moved into his new place. He has said since summer that he wanted to be "in and settled" in his new place before filing for custody of M, so this feels like a pretty significant step in my eyes. I know that really, he still has a lot to do before the county would advocate for moving M there, but a lot of it is logistical and so I feel a lot more anxiety about the real possibility of her leaving now that he's achieved this. Of course, the week he moved, he also missed both visits (and tried some sneaky nonsense like showing up seven minutes past the cutoff time for visits, and then telling the worker he'd been there the whole time - dude, you know they have cameras. Why even bother about lying about something that will be disproved in minutes?)
2. Permanency hearings are scheduled every six months and they're basically a chance to review why the kid came into care, why the kid is still in care, what progress has been made, what still needs to be done, and what the goal is for permanency. Two weeks before court, a packet summarizing all of that is mailed to the bio-parents, the foster parents, the attorneys, and the judge. That arrived last Friday, and the first thing on it is a huge paragraph - like half a page - listing all the ways M's mom has failed to make progress on M's case. I got a phone call that afternoon from the worker that she had heard from M's mom right after the packet arrived. M's mom was overwhelmed by seeing this giant list of her failures, is done with the case, and wants to surrender her rights. To me, this is mostly just sad, because I really don't think M's mom sees any possibility of success for herself. Also, even if this actually happens, it doesn't really change anything for our case, since the lack of progress pretty much means she hasn't been an option for custody of M for a long time. We're still listed as the county's "Plan B" so the worker had to get our permission to put in the surrender paperwork that we'd agree to provide a picture and a letter on M's progress every year. I told the worker that she's authorized to agree to visits on our behalf as well, if that's what the mom's attorney counters with. We really do want M's mom to be a part of her life, but we know that has to be the mom's choice.
3. To complicate the possibility of surrender, M's mom told the worker she's not planning to come to court. The only place she can sign the surrender papers is in front of a judge, so she knows if she actually wants to be done with the case she needs to come to court. Also, because she hasn't ever missed court, if she doesn't show up, it's very, very likely that the judge will just adjourn for a week or two, even if the county attorney tells him that she said she wasn't coming. Which means I'll be taking the morning off of work to sit there for hours to be told to come back in a week. The worker says this can happen more than once.
4. Even if the mom shows up and goes through with the surrender, it's unlikely that anything will change with M's placement, at least immediately. The dad's new place is progress, sure, but he still needs to be able to prove that he can do all of the parenting of his two other kids without the help of his mom, whose house he's moving out of. It's possible? likely? that the judge will want him to have more or longer visits, but that's not definite, since he is still only attending about half of the visits. But naturally, all of this is conjecture and there's no way to know what the judge will decide.
5. M is even more awesome as she gets older. Her top two front teeth have broken through and I am a little freaked out about how big she looks on the daily. She's a delightful, funny kid and has finally learned that "more" applies to more than food, so her new favorite thing is to ask for more tickling. We've pretty much always had her nap in the living room (we used to hold her, then about four or five months ago we started putting her down in her playpen), and she usually takes about an hour to finally settle down and go to sleep. On a whim today, Andy put her down to nap in her crib, and she was out in five minutes. This kid amazes me.
1. M's dad is moving into/has moved into his new place. He has said since summer that he wanted to be "in and settled" in his new place before filing for custody of M, so this feels like a pretty significant step in my eyes. I know that really, he still has a lot to do before the county would advocate for moving M there, but a lot of it is logistical and so I feel a lot more anxiety about the real possibility of her leaving now that he's achieved this. Of course, the week he moved, he also missed both visits (and tried some sneaky nonsense like showing up seven minutes past the cutoff time for visits, and then telling the worker he'd been there the whole time - dude, you know they have cameras. Why even bother about lying about something that will be disproved in minutes?)
2. Permanency hearings are scheduled every six months and they're basically a chance to review why the kid came into care, why the kid is still in care, what progress has been made, what still needs to be done, and what the goal is for permanency. Two weeks before court, a packet summarizing all of that is mailed to the bio-parents, the foster parents, the attorneys, and the judge. That arrived last Friday, and the first thing on it is a huge paragraph - like half a page - listing all the ways M's mom has failed to make progress on M's case. I got a phone call that afternoon from the worker that she had heard from M's mom right after the packet arrived. M's mom was overwhelmed by seeing this giant list of her failures, is done with the case, and wants to surrender her rights. To me, this is mostly just sad, because I really don't think M's mom sees any possibility of success for herself. Also, even if this actually happens, it doesn't really change anything for our case, since the lack of progress pretty much means she hasn't been an option for custody of M for a long time. We're still listed as the county's "Plan B" so the worker had to get our permission to put in the surrender paperwork that we'd agree to provide a picture and a letter on M's progress every year. I told the worker that she's authorized to agree to visits on our behalf as well, if that's what the mom's attorney counters with. We really do want M's mom to be a part of her life, but we know that has to be the mom's choice.
3. To complicate the possibility of surrender, M's mom told the worker she's not planning to come to court. The only place she can sign the surrender papers is in front of a judge, so she knows if she actually wants to be done with the case she needs to come to court. Also, because she hasn't ever missed court, if she doesn't show up, it's very, very likely that the judge will just adjourn for a week or two, even if the county attorney tells him that she said she wasn't coming. Which means I'll be taking the morning off of work to sit there for hours to be told to come back in a week. The worker says this can happen more than once.
4. Even if the mom shows up and goes through with the surrender, it's unlikely that anything will change with M's placement, at least immediately. The dad's new place is progress, sure, but he still needs to be able to prove that he can do all of the parenting of his two other kids without the help of his mom, whose house he's moving out of. It's possible? likely? that the judge will want him to have more or longer visits, but that's not definite, since he is still only attending about half of the visits. But naturally, all of this is conjecture and there's no way to know what the judge will decide.
5. M is even more awesome as she gets older. Her top two front teeth have broken through and I am a little freaked out about how big she looks on the daily. She's a delightful, funny kid and has finally learned that "more" applies to more than food, so her new favorite thing is to ask for more tickling. We've pretty much always had her nap in the living room (we used to hold her, then about four or five months ago we started putting her down in her playpen), and she usually takes about an hour to finally settle down and go to sleep. On a whim today, Andy put her down to nap in her crib, and she was out in five minutes. This kid amazes me.
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Pregnancy update: halfway there!
Today I'm 20 weeks along, which means I'm halfway through the pregnancy. Which is nuts.
I haven't blogged much in general lately and haven't really discussed much about the pregnancy, so I thought I'd give you a thorough rundown.
- First, the big thing: it's a girl! We are over the moon about her. Knowing she's a girl makes it totally different to talk about her and to think of her as a person. And Andy has felt her moving three times now, which is fantastic.
And now a more mundane list of what's been going on:
- My skin is always dry, especially on my back. I've been using hippie pregnancy skin toning oil shit (see this post) but am constantly itchy. It's driving me nuts.
- I get up at least once a night to pee. Often it's twice. Sometimes if I wake up for no reason (pregnancy-related insomnia), I can trick myself into going back to sleep by getting up to pee even if that's not why I originally woke up.
- She is getting big enough that my guts are getting squished. My stomach is getting squeezed and I can't fit as much into it, but that doesn't stop me from trying. And then I get heartburn and/or indigestion.
- So far I HATE the maternity pants with the wide elastic waistband. I don't know what it is about my shape that makes the waistband fold in half and then dig in all day. I like the full panel, even though I spend all day hitching them up. Can't wait till it's a little warmer and I can wear dresses without freezing.
- I have horrible baby brain and forget words for common things (pocket: "um, the place on your pants where you put things"; playpen: "the... box... in the living room... where we put the baby?"). I also forget whole interactions and do things like offer Andy some of my water immediately after I offered him some of my water and he accepted, had some, and handed it back.
- I'm still really tired all the time. I went to bed with my contacts in last week. That hasn't happened since college, and hasn't happened sober probably ever. I even got up twice to pee in the night and didn't notice that I could see stuff. I discovered the error when I couldn't find my glasses on my nightstand the next morning.
- I'm always at least a little thirsty. I'm tired of drinking water all the time. I also have developed a taste for citrus sodas - 7-Up and Squirt in particular.
- I'm in that awkward stage where everyone who knows me well insists that I look pregnant, not just weirdly fat, but I still feel weird and flabby. I'm wearing mostly maternity stuff now, to avoid stretching out my old stuff, and find myself doing that horrible pregnant-celeb "hand always on the belly in public" thing to make it more obvious to strangers that yes, it's a baby, not just holiday leftovers.
- I almost passed out twice during the most recent ultrasound. This isn't unexpected: when you're pregnant and lie on your back, your enlarged uterus presses against the major blood vessels that carry blood to and from the lower body. I had forgotten that, since I'm a side sleeper, but man, it felt awful. I had to roll on my side until I felt better, while the tech tried to continue the ultrasound by awkwardly reaching over and around me.
- I suddenly really like whole milk. I can drink a big glass of milk happily, which hasn't happened since I was a kid. We usually get 1% for us and whole for the baby, but I've usually been drinking hers.
- I haven't really gained any weight. I'm still in the same five-pound window I've been in for about a year, despite eating pretty much whatever strikes me as sounding good (which, granted, is usually not terrible junk food). I asked my doctor about not having gained much, and he said, very cheerfully, "Oh, don't worry, you will!" so I'm not too fussed about it. Also, I really don't like that I actually feel good about not having gained weight, as if it's some sort of accomplishment instead of some weird genetic stroke of luck (my mom only gained 12 pounds with her first pregnancy).
- Andy has been a fucking hero for the last several months. He's attentive and kind and thoughtful, even more than usual. He picks up little things to make me happy whenever he's at the store. He's pretty much totally taken over dinner preparation. The first time I could feel the baby moving from the outside, I happened to be reading in bed, so I texted him to come quick so he could feel it too, and he literally ran from the other side of the house. He comes to bed early when I get tired so I can snuggle him, even when he's not tired. I am so sincerely grateful for him.
So that's what's been taking up a significant portion of my brain lately. Anything you cats want to know that I haven't mentioned?
I haven't blogged much in general lately and haven't really discussed much about the pregnancy, so I thought I'd give you a thorough rundown.
- First, the big thing: it's a girl! We are over the moon about her. Knowing she's a girl makes it totally different to talk about her and to think of her as a person. And Andy has felt her moving three times now, which is fantastic.
And now a more mundane list of what's been going on:
- My skin is always dry, especially on my back. I've been using hippie pregnancy skin toning oil shit (see this post) but am constantly itchy. It's driving me nuts.
- I get up at least once a night to pee. Often it's twice. Sometimes if I wake up for no reason (pregnancy-related insomnia), I can trick myself into going back to sleep by getting up to pee even if that's not why I originally woke up.
- She is getting big enough that my guts are getting squished. My stomach is getting squeezed and I can't fit as much into it, but that doesn't stop me from trying. And then I get heartburn and/or indigestion.
- So far I HATE the maternity pants with the wide elastic waistband. I don't know what it is about my shape that makes the waistband fold in half and then dig in all day. I like the full panel, even though I spend all day hitching them up. Can't wait till it's a little warmer and I can wear dresses without freezing.
- I have horrible baby brain and forget words for common things (pocket: "um, the place on your pants where you put things"; playpen: "the... box... in the living room... where we put the baby?"). I also forget whole interactions and do things like offer Andy some of my water immediately after I offered him some of my water and he accepted, had some, and handed it back.
- I'm still really tired all the time. I went to bed with my contacts in last week. That hasn't happened since college, and hasn't happened sober probably ever. I even got up twice to pee in the night and didn't notice that I could see stuff. I discovered the error when I couldn't find my glasses on my nightstand the next morning.
- I'm always at least a little thirsty. I'm tired of drinking water all the time. I also have developed a taste for citrus sodas - 7-Up and Squirt in particular.
- I'm in that awkward stage where everyone who knows me well insists that I look pregnant, not just weirdly fat, but I still feel weird and flabby. I'm wearing mostly maternity stuff now, to avoid stretching out my old stuff, and find myself doing that horrible pregnant-celeb "hand always on the belly in public" thing to make it more obvious to strangers that yes, it's a baby, not just holiday leftovers.
- I almost passed out twice during the most recent ultrasound. This isn't unexpected: when you're pregnant and lie on your back, your enlarged uterus presses against the major blood vessels that carry blood to and from the lower body. I had forgotten that, since I'm a side sleeper, but man, it felt awful. I had to roll on my side until I felt better, while the tech tried to continue the ultrasound by awkwardly reaching over and around me.
- I suddenly really like whole milk. I can drink a big glass of milk happily, which hasn't happened since I was a kid. We usually get 1% for us and whole for the baby, but I've usually been drinking hers.
- I haven't really gained any weight. I'm still in the same five-pound window I've been in for about a year, despite eating pretty much whatever strikes me as sounding good (which, granted, is usually not terrible junk food). I asked my doctor about not having gained much, and he said, very cheerfully, "Oh, don't worry, you will!" so I'm not too fussed about it. Also, I really don't like that I actually feel good about not having gained weight, as if it's some sort of accomplishment instead of some weird genetic stroke of luck (my mom only gained 12 pounds with her first pregnancy).
- Andy has been a fucking hero for the last several months. He's attentive and kind and thoughtful, even more than usual. He picks up little things to make me happy whenever he's at the store. He's pretty much totally taken over dinner preparation. The first time I could feel the baby moving from the outside, I happened to be reading in bed, so I texted him to come quick so he could feel it too, and he literally ran from the other side of the house. He comes to bed early when I get tired so I can snuggle him, even when he's not tired. I am so sincerely grateful for him.
So that's what's been taking up a significant portion of my brain lately. Anything you cats want to know that I haven't mentioned?
Friday, January 25, 2013
Internet famous.
Hey, here's a cool thing: I did an interview with the lovely Cassie over at [Witty Title Here] about my experiences as a foster parent.
I tried to keep my answers short, but dang, that was tough! Cassie asked really awesome, thought-provoking questions and I really liked working with her. You should go ahead and bookmark her blog, because it's really brimming with delightful things. Oh, and to my regular readers (all three of you): In the interview, I referred to our foster daughter by her first initial, M, and am going to go ahead and start doing that here. I think that'll help differentiate her from the new kid I'm growing and feels a little more personal than "the baby," which I've been using for over a year.
If you found your way here because of the interview, welcome! Sometimes I cuss a lot. I used to write about really hard-hitting topics like my opinions on custard donuts and why camping is stupid, but now I mostly write about foster parenting and being pregnant, because I don't have the energy to even think about other things. I really like getting comments and I post less often than I wish I did. The end.
I tried to keep my answers short, but dang, that was tough! Cassie asked really awesome, thought-provoking questions and I really liked working with her. You should go ahead and bookmark her blog, because it's really brimming with delightful things. Oh, and to my regular readers (all three of you): In the interview, I referred to our foster daughter by her first initial, M, and am going to go ahead and start doing that here. I think that'll help differentiate her from the new kid I'm growing and feels a little more personal than "the baby," which I've been using for over a year.
If you found your way here because of the interview, welcome! Sometimes I cuss a lot. I used to write about really hard-hitting topics like my opinions on custard donuts and why camping is stupid, but now I mostly write about foster parenting and being pregnant, because I don't have the energy to even think about other things. I really like getting comments and I post less often than I wish I did. The end.
Monday, January 21, 2013
Products in my life right now
I am currently loving these things:
I got this sweater in grey from Target, a size up from my usual, and have worn it at least one weekend day every weekend since I got it. I can't find a picture in grey, just this weird periwinkle, because Target's website is truly awful.
I can't find it anywhere online except for at this site, which I can't vouch for in any way, but I got the baby girl this shirt on sale at H&M and love, love, love it. I sent her to a visit wearing it, which made me feel sassy, and she wore it to general acclaim at the party we had this weekend to celebrate having had her for a year. I think all little kids should have a shirt that says this.
This has been a very exciting post.
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Very brief fostering update
The worker told us yesterday that the big thing that might prevent the dad from getting custody of our girl has been declared unfounded. As in, it's been dismissed, basically.
And he's moving into his new three-bedroom place next week. He has been saying since June that he wanted to get into his new place and settled before he filed for custody.
And the worker told me today that the dad doesn't actually have to file for custody to be granted it; the county's goal is "return this child to a biological parent" and his filing would just make his intentions clearer. The judge can still decide the kid's going to her dad even if he doesn't file.
There are things the dad still needs to do to prove that he can adequately parent the kids he does have and maintain a home safe for a very young, very active toddler, but this is a huge change in circumstances. The worker was sure the big thing was solid (and, in fact, it almost certainly did happen and was a huge thing, but the same hospital that misdiagnosed our girl THREE TIMES said that the marks they saw weren't consistent with the report on how they got there). Aside from this and his constant missing of and lateness to visits and doctor's appointments and stuff, there's nothing, really, to indicate he can't provide a minimal level of care. We are now looking at the very real possibility that the girl we've had for a year on Saturday will be leaving us.
Fuck.
Nothing is for sure, and she's not leaving until the judge says she is, and all that, but you bet I cried when I was rocking her before bed last night. This is my daughter and my very heart is facing losing a big part of itself.
And he's moving into his new three-bedroom place next week. He has been saying since June that he wanted to get into his new place and settled before he filed for custody.
And the worker told me today that the dad doesn't actually have to file for custody to be granted it; the county's goal is "return this child to a biological parent" and his filing would just make his intentions clearer. The judge can still decide the kid's going to her dad even if he doesn't file.
There are things the dad still needs to do to prove that he can adequately parent the kids he does have and maintain a home safe for a very young, very active toddler, but this is a huge change in circumstances. The worker was sure the big thing was solid (and, in fact, it almost certainly did happen and was a huge thing, but the same hospital that misdiagnosed our girl THREE TIMES said that the marks they saw weren't consistent with the report on how they got there). Aside from this and his constant missing of and lateness to visits and doctor's appointments and stuff, there's nothing, really, to indicate he can't provide a minimal level of care. We are now looking at the very real possibility that the girl we've had for a year on Saturday will be leaving us.
Fuck.
Nothing is for sure, and she's not leaving until the judge says she is, and all that, but you bet I cried when I was rocking her before bed last night. This is my daughter and my very heart is facing losing a big part of itself.
Monday, December 31, 2012
Resolutions 2012 recap!
So for the last two years I've set some goals for myself for the coming year. Last year's post was written exactly one week before our foster daughter arrived, and about five months before I got pregnant the first time, so it's kind of funny how little I got done. Let's take a look:
1. Get our kitchen knives professionally sharpened.
Still a no, but I did call two different places to at least try. One of the places only does commercial stuff, and the other never responded to my emails.
2. See a dermatologist (bonus points if he/she uses primarily natural stuff).
Nope, but I started using only organic and hippie-type shit on my face and my skin is way happier than it's ever been. I wash my face with raw honey and I use an organic lotion, to which I add a bit of jojoba oil because my skin is really dry, and most of the issues I had in the past are cleared up.
3. Take a picture of every item I knit.
Ha, not even close. I do have pictures of the baby wearing the things I've made for her, but that's it. Um, I can't actually think of anything not-baby-related I've finished, though, so I guess that makes this a maybe?
4. Knit myself a sweater.
Nope. Didn't even finish the sweater I started for my mom LAST Christmas. Oops. Turns out parenting takes most of my free time, and when the kid's asleep, pregnancy has made me too tired to even think about figuring out the weird pattern issue that stalled that project.
5. Take at least two overnight trips with Andy.
YES! This is one that we did and it was as awesome as it always is. We went on that awesome weekend trip to a farmhouse in Endicottville with our good friends, and we went stupid camping, and we went to Virginia for my great-aunt's funeral (which hardly counts as us-time but was still an overnight trip), and we went to visit the Kid her family. Here's hoping we keep doing overnight trips even with a second kid in the coming year.
6. Get tattoo (and artist's mockup, for customized stationery, because that's so badass).
Nope. Not even close. I've spent half the year pregnant, so that's part of it, and the other part is that suddenly spending money on a tattoo seems a lot less reasonable when there's a kid to feed and clothe and stuff.
7. Take multivitamin, fish oil, and Vitamin D supplement at least five times a week.
Pretty sure I did meet this goal, if you average the whole year. I was super dedicated for most of the year but have been SO FORGETFUL with this pregnancy that I'm taking them more like twice a week. Oops.
8. Find some sort of health/fitness class to do at least once a week.
Sort of! My mom and I just signed up for AQUA ZUMBA and have had one class so far. It is ridiculous in the best ways possible.
So, in total, I met three out of the eight goals. I'm going with "hey, that's not bad!" with all the extra shit that's been going on in our life. I haven't even thought about goals for next year, aside from "keep parenting this baby as best we can for as long as they'll let us" and "do the best we can with NewBaby too".
I really like reading year-end reflection posts, but all I've got is that Andy and I are stronger than ever and work really hard on communicating clearly, and that our life together is so much more full with a kid than we could have ever imagined.
1. Get our kitchen knives professionally sharpened.
Still a no, but I did call two different places to at least try. One of the places only does commercial stuff, and the other never responded to my emails.
2. See a dermatologist (bonus points if he/she uses primarily natural stuff).
Nope, but I started using only organic and hippie-type shit on my face and my skin is way happier than it's ever been. I wash my face with raw honey and I use an organic lotion, to which I add a bit of jojoba oil because my skin is really dry, and most of the issues I had in the past are cleared up.
3. Take a picture of every item I knit.
Ha, not even close. I do have pictures of the baby wearing the things I've made for her, but that's it. Um, I can't actually think of anything not-baby-related I've finished, though, so I guess that makes this a maybe?
4. Knit myself a sweater.
Nope. Didn't even finish the sweater I started for my mom LAST Christmas. Oops. Turns out parenting takes most of my free time, and when the kid's asleep, pregnancy has made me too tired to even think about figuring out the weird pattern issue that stalled that project.
5. Take at least two overnight trips with Andy.
YES! This is one that we did and it was as awesome as it always is. We went on that awesome weekend trip to a farmhouse in Endicottville with our good friends, and we went stupid camping, and we went to Virginia for my great-aunt's funeral (which hardly counts as us-time but was still an overnight trip), and we went to visit the Kid her family. Here's hoping we keep doing overnight trips even with a second kid in the coming year.
6. Get tattoo (and artist's mockup, for customized stationery, because that's so badass).
Nope. Not even close. I've spent half the year pregnant, so that's part of it, and the other part is that suddenly spending money on a tattoo seems a lot less reasonable when there's a kid to feed and clothe and stuff.
7. Take multivitamin, fish oil, and Vitamin D supplement at least five times a week.
Pretty sure I did meet this goal, if you average the whole year. I was super dedicated for most of the year but have been SO FORGETFUL with this pregnancy that I'm taking them more like twice a week. Oops.
8. Find some sort of health/fitness class to do at least once a week.
Sort of! My mom and I just signed up for AQUA ZUMBA and have had one class so far. It is ridiculous in the best ways possible.
So, in total, I met three out of the eight goals. I'm going with "hey, that's not bad!" with all the extra shit that's been going on in our life. I haven't even thought about goals for next year, aside from "keep parenting this baby as best we can for as long as they'll let us" and "do the best we can with NewBaby too".
I really like reading year-end reflection posts, but all I've got is that Andy and I are stronger than ever and work really hard on communicating clearly, and that our life together is so much more full with a kid than we could have ever imagined.
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