back in the saddle

Since the last time I blogged, much has happened. I say that every time I take a hiatus from writing but it's true. Life continues and things progress whether I write about it or not.

But this time we added a whole new family member to the group. Calvin Scott Hunter was born a month early on February 21, 2019. He came out after 3 pushes with the cord wrapped around his neck twice. Luckily, it was only loosely wrapped and the bigger concerns were that he couldn't regulate his body temperature and his blood sugar was dangerously low. 

However, he's not one to stay down and after only 2.5 days in the NICU, he came home, looking like a baby doll in his big car seat, weighing in at only 5lbs 13 oz.

Yesterday we celebrated his 1st birthday and he is thriving. He's on the cusp of walking, pulling himself around furniture and climbing on things. He is a joy of a baby but he will definitely let his opinions be known when he wants something.

This year has been filled with other things too. We went on a family reunion trip with Jason's family to Colorado in June, I had a hysterectomy in November, a Thanksmas trip to Dallas in December and then I had carpal tunnel surgery last week.

Busy, fun and necessary describes this last year.

And through it all I've had very few mental health ups and downs. My medications have kept me incredibly steady (except for an incident with a breast feeding medication that I'll talk about later). I've had the normal hormonal issues that come from having a baby and a hysterectomy but I've stayed stable.

2019 was an incredible year and a great blessing to our family. So many wonderful and needed things happened. I know 2020 has already begun, but I'm excited to see what the rest of the year will bring. 

more of a suggestion

"You want to marry me, don't you?"

The words were out of my mouth before I had even finished the thought. 

It was March 29, 2006. What was I thinking? We'd only been dating, maybe, 3 months. And here I was blurting out the first thing that came into my head. 

We were standing in the cold, snow falling lightly around us, while we admired the Sundance Resort in Utah. Somehow the words had came into my mind so forcefully and truthfully that I couldn't stop myself from saying them. I knew they were true, just like I knew he loved me before he'd ever said it. 

Luck was on my side that night. He chuckled and replied, "Yeah, I'm pretty sure I do. But we have time for that. What about you?" I could barely nod as I said, "I think I want to marry you too."

I thought at the time that it wasn't a true proposal. No one had gotten down on one knee with a ring but it had definitely defined the rest of our relationship. From that moment on, we knew what we were working towards. 

Not too long after, I took him down to Arizona to meet my parents. They loved him right away. But the true test in my book was the 10 hours spent driving there, the 3 days with my family and the 10 hours driving back. As we pulled into his driveway after that extremely long weekend I realized I still wasn't done being near him. I adored his company above all others and he had truly become my best friend. It was a major eye-opener for me and a test of our relationship. 

 

The official proposal with the ring came a few months later. It was sweet and mostly unexpected. He had even called my father for permission. 

 

Like I said, the later proposal was sweet but I still recall most fondly that cold, snowy night when I couldn't keep my thoughts to myself. That's when I knew I could spend eternity with this man.