2011

Today has felt so strange. All morning I was so down, and I couldn't figure out why. Cabin fever, sickness, a toddler who picked today to test all the limits several times, who knows? But after Siah's nap and finally talking to someone closer to my age I felt a lot better. So here goes.

2011 is going to be a potentially huge and great year for the Hood family. We'll be having little baby girl Hood, we're hoping to buy a house this spring, and also hoping TJ will be able to get onto the first shift at work now that he's been at Tokico for a year. I'm really excited, and a little nervous about everything. Buying a house is such a big move, and we want to make sure we make the right decisions and don't do anything we'll regret later on down the road. Fortunately we have a lot of friends and family who are smarter than we are in this area, so we have a lot of people to go to for counsel. It's been a lot of fun looking at houses online right now, though. :-) It doesn't even really seem like a possibility to have our own house and be able to paint walls any color or style I want. It's going to be so fun. I hate white walls. And landlords aren't superfun either. The apartment we've been in this year has been ok, and is very nice, but not so much sealed against the weather. I'm so glad I'm pregnant and running a little hotter than usual, otherwise I would probably feel like an eskimo! Of course TJ, Joe and Josiah are all pretty warm-blooded, so they like it. Some days I have to fight with Si to keep his socks on. He really likes to see his toes. :-)

I'm still a little nervous about having a girl. TJ and I were both shocked when the ultrasound tech said it was a girl. I actually asked if she was sure, and had her show me. :-) We have several friends who thought they were having girls and ended up with boys, but more than that, I had completely convinced myself that this was another boy (even though this pregnancy has been totally different from Josiah, and all signs pointed toward a high likelihood of a girl). I think because there were so many people hoping I'd have a girl that I was afraid I'd be disappointed if it was a boy, so I told myself that it was definitely a boy, and got really excited about it. We've had so much fun with Josiah, and as far as I'm concerned, boys are way easier than girls. Especially as I'm looking further on down the road to middle school and high school. But now I'm getting really excited, and starting to look at all the cute stuff girls come with. We were pretty nervous about being parents the first time, and that went ok, so I think this will be good too. There's no denying she'll be spoiled rotten!

And in all this happiness and excitement about the future, I'm so very much aware of the people around me who are hurting. I'm so very blessed, and even when I look at the news, I wonder why I got to be blessed with such a wonderful life and family and friends. It's made me thankful, and I'm trying to hold it all loosely even as I recognize how precious the life I have and the people in it are. I just want to make sure I don't waste this life, and that I make God glad he entrusted me with it.