Welcome, Fall!

Oh my goodness--September is going to be such a busy month! I am excited for all of the new things to come...Connor will be starting soccer, and pre-school, both of our birthdays are this month, I start teaching again mid-September...busy, busy, busy!

As fall approaches, and summer comes to an end, I find myself becoming a little nostalgic. Four years ago at this exact time, I was on bed-rest with Connor--our first little bundle of joy, waiting (quite impatiently :), for him to be born. August was an especially HOT month that year, and September did not give way to cool weather as I had hoped. I was H.U.G.E and pregnant...seriously--if I weren't so disorganized with pictures, and had actually transferred all of our files over from our old laptop, I would post one here. When I think about these feelings of nostalgia, I have to laugh. At the time, I was miserable. I was scared for my health, my baby's health (I had high blood pressure and tons of swelling), I was so fearful about having to return to work, nervous about bringing home a new infant...our life as we knew it was about to change in every tiny little aspect.

I think the reason I become sentimental when I see the first leaves start to turn, or when I begin to hear the count-down for the re-emergence of college (a.k.a. OSU football), or when I smell and autumn-scented candle, is that I treasure that time in my life soooo very much. It was the hardest, most intense thing we have ever done--going through a difficult pregnancy, having an extraordinarily rough delivery, having to return to the hospital five days post-partum because my blood pressure was out of control, and then being released on my 27th birthday--a clear sign from the Lord to me that He was always holding us in the palm of His hand, and then finding our two months later that Connor would need to have surgery....intense, to say the least. But, oh, the joy....I cannot begin to describe the joy.

Bringing a baby home is soooo incredible, and I'm so thankful to the Lord that He is given us this amazing opportunity two times. I will always love this time of year, as summer gives way to fall. As we get ready to begin a new school year, and the schedule fills up. I will never forget laying on my couch, surrounded by books and TV, magazines, my lap-top, and lollipops (helped to encourage the baby to move so I could keep up with my "kick-counts" :). Those were the last boring and quiet days of my life for many, many years to come. The last time I searched for things to fill up the very long days...waiting, anticipating what was in store.

Welcome, fall! Welcome, September!!! I'll have much more to post about, very soon!!!!