Another year gone...

Is it just me or does it seem like the older we get, the faster the years go? It certainly feels this way to me. I remember back when I was in school (which wasn't really that long ago) the years would just drag on and on. I remember sitting on the bleachers at my freshmen year orientation feeling like 4 years was a lifetime. And it did feel that way until June 11, 2004 while I was sitting on the track with my classmates in my cap and gown about to graduate! At that point it was hard to imagine where all that time had gone. High school is not one of my fondest memories, but there were some good times, but a lot of anger and frustration in those years as well. My little brother is about to turn 20 on January 10th and I have told him several times not to feel so bad about leaving those teen years behind. My 20's have been waaaay more fun than the teen years!
So let's get to the reason I am writing this blog. The year 2009. The first thoughts that come to mind are, "WOW! What a wirlwind!" If someone told me last year on New Years that I would be where I am right now at the beginning of 2010 I would have probably laughed and thought no possible way. The year 2009 has been one of the best and also hardest of my life. There have been loved ones lost, new ones born, relationships that have fallen apart, new friends that have come into our lives and then some that have fallen out of our lives. The year started out very rocky for Raynor and I. At the time I was have issues at work, really hating my job at the time, our bad financial desisions had finally started to bite us in the butt, and Raynor's hours had been cut nearly in half at work. Towards the end of January, we made the tough decision to move out of our condo. Soon after that, we got the biggest suprise of all. Two little pink lines on a pregnancy test. And it could not have come at a worse time. We found out right when we were in the middle of packing up our condo, about 2 weeks before we had to move. At a time when we needed eachother more than ever we were parting ways. Not breaking up, but I was moving home to my parents house and Raynor moved in with a friend. We decided it was the best option, so we would have time to save up our money and pay off some debt. That was probably the worst part of the entire year. It was also one of the best decisions we have ever made, as hard as it was. We were able to build our savings, and pay off some credit cards. As the month of April started to approach, and I got further into my pregnancy, we decided we were ready to find a new place. At first it was really discouraging. It seemed like everything was out of our budget. We had found a perfect apartment in Wilsonville that we fell in love with, but they didn't allow dogs. I was SO upset! About a week after that I was surfing Craigslist for places and came across an add for an apartment complex in Tualatin that Raynor and I had actually toured about a year earlier. We really liked it, but it was out of our price range at the time. However, because of the bad economy they had dropped their prices a bit and were running some killer specials! The very next day we headed in to check it out. We liked the apartment even more so than we had before. Its 2 bedroom 2 bath and very spacious. To make things even better the application fees were only 15 dollars each, they waived the move in fee, and we got our first month's rent for free. We wasted no time applying, soon got approved and moved in at the end of April. Finally it there was some light at the end of the dark tunnel! I still absolutely love where we live. This place feels more like home to me than anywhere else we have ever lived, even the fancy condo.
The spring and summer of 2009 were awesome. Well except for the heat. I was very miserable during all that heat! Of course one of the hottest summers in history was the one that I was pregnant haha! But it was all worth it. In May I transferred to a new branch. I stayed with the same position, but the move was a good one for me. I had been working out in Cedar Mill for 9 months and it was ok, but the drive was long and the robbery that we had in November of 2008 had really got to me. So when the market told me they wanted to transfer me to the Washington Square branch I was more than willing. I was there from May through September when I went on maturnity leave and I loved it. The rest of the summer kept us busy with an awesome vacation to the Raynor's family cabin on the snake river, baby preparations, and lots of family time. Before we knew it September snuck up on us! On the 9th of September my doctor decided to pull me out of work because little miss Alexxa was wanting to come out earlier than she was supposed too. It wouldn't have been a terrible situation because it was so close my due date, but they wanted her to wait until at least 38 weeks idealy. He didn't put my on bed rest, due to the fact that it was so close and she would have been fine. But if she did come earlier than 38 weeks I wouldn't have been able to have her at the hospital I wanted too, and my doctor doesn't have privilages at Emanuel (where we would have gone if she came early) so I didn't want that at all! Instead of bed rest he told me to take it really easy. Doing light chores around the house was fine, going to the store, family's houses stuff like that was ok, but I wasn't supposed to be doing any major activity. I of course took his advice and layed low for a few weeks. I still had majorly painful contractions though and it was really miserable! Finally at my 37 week appointment I asked him when, if ever he would be willing to "help" me go into labor so I could stop being miserable. He said he would induce me at 39 weeks considering everything seemed favorable at my 38 week appointment. He went ahead and scheduled the induction for October 6th, contingent on the 38 week appointment being all good. To my luck it was, and we were able to go ahead with October 6th. I remember that morning just like it was yesterday morning. I only slept until 3am and after that I was too excited to sleep. I called the hospital at 5am as my doctor had instructed me too, and they said there was room for us and to come on in at 7am! Raynor packed the car while I showered and got ready. It was so surreal leaving our apartment knowing that when we came back we would have a baby with us! Sure enough at 9pm on October 6th Alexxa Rae come into the world. It was a wonderful, perfect experience. I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.
The last few months have been like a dream. Bank of America has a great family leave program. I have been very fortunate to be able to spend the last 3 months at home with her. She amazes me more every day. I can't even believe that in 2 weeks she will be 3 months old. So crazy. All she does is laugh and smile now and she has gotten so chubby! I was looking at her newborn pictures this morning and all the baby pudge is certainly new! She was such an itty bitty thing when she was born.
Wendesday the 6th of January I will be going back to work. Raynor and I came up with the best situation we could pull off and I think it will work out nicely for now. I am not going back to the bank as the Sales and Service Specialist. I decided to step down to a part time 25-30 hour teller. It will be nice, I will not miss the stress of my old job. My work days will be Wendesday, Thursday, Friday, and half a day Saturday. My very good friend Ticia will be watching Alexxa on Wendesday and Thursday and Raynor will have her Friday. My mom and Raynor's mom will rotate Saturdays and other than that I will be home with her. Our goal is for me to eventually be home with her full time, but until that is possible this arragement will have to work. I'm actually looking forward to getting back to "normal".
I'm so excited to see what the New Year will bring. I have a feeling its going to be great. Hopefully the economy will start to turn back around, and there will be more jobs. Its hard to believe that this time next year I will have a little 1 year old toddling around. Its a crazy world we live in!