2014

One of our best years yet!!!!

 

This year has been full of some really great ups, but also some really sad lows. We lost some amazing people in our lives, but we also gained one of the best gifts we could ever ask for. 

Winter

The year started off rough, though, with the death of our friend (and fellow CFer), Jeremy. It   was really hard attending the funeral of a peer as opposed to an elderly person because his life was cut too short, but we know that he is at peace now, no longer struggling for every breath. He left behind is wife, one of my good friends, who's been coping and learning how to live without him this year, but she's one of the strongest women I know.

The rest of the winter, we happily spread our news of my pregnancy, and finally made it "Facebook official" in February.

Spring

In March, we celebrated Tim's great-grandma's 100th birthday! I also hit 100% compliance with all of my treatments for an entire year! In April, I was halfway through my pregnancy and feeling amazing. We attended the Bloomington Great Strides and I hit 410 days of compliance. In May, I entered my third trimester of my pregnancy and my 100% compliance streak ended at 448 days because I forgot to pack my albuterol, duh! 

Summer

The rest of the summer slowly crept by as we awaited the arrival of our daughter (and also the birth of our niece, Alayna). Our friends and family threw us some wonderful baby showers, and I spent the entire summer nesting and preparing to meet my baby girl. August 8, 2014 was one of the best days of my life! The day that our sweet little Anna Lily arrived!!!

 

Fall & Winter

In September, we took Anna camping for the first time, when she was only 5 weeks old. :) In October, my maternity leave ended and it was back to work for me, and to Grandma's for Anna. We also celebrated her first Halloween with her cousins and family. We also celebrated Anna's first Thanksgiving, and her first Christmas where she was spoiled beyond belief.

 

 

And at the very end of this year, on December 30th, we lost an amazing woman. Anna's great, great grandma, Anna Danner (who she was named after), died at the age of 100. I am incredibly lucky to have known her and so proud that our daughter will carry on her name. She was so kind, friendly and funny. She enjoyed her share of jokes, and would love to make people laugh and smile. I'm so happy that the births of Anna and Alayna kept her holding on just that much longer to meet them several times. It's not too often that someone can get to know their five great, great grandchildren. We have so many memories and photos that our family will cherish for a long, long time. She will be greatly missed.

Danner meeting Anna for the first time when she was six days old :-)

 

One of their last pictures together on December 21st when Anna was 4.5 months old

It's pretty hard to top the birth of our first child in 2015, but watching her learn and grow this next year is going to be quite amazing. :)