Dear Family and Friends,
2012 was a year of highs and lows. The worst was Ma dying in April after 3 months of fighting. I still miss her. Missing her makes me miss my other grandparents too.
So much happened this year, or maybe I just remember so much more than last year because Amber started sleeping through the night in January, and so I did too a couple weeks later! Couple that with her learning how to read 7 on the clock, and not wake Mama before there’s a 7, and I’m a mostly well rested happy parent. Other big news for Amber is going into a toddler bed, learning numbers through 11 (counting and identifying), learning letters and how to spell Amber and reading her own name, learning colors, opening doors, and in November: potting training! At 18 months she was talking like a 2 year old, at 2 years old she was talking like a 3 year old, 3 months later she’s talking almost like a 4 year. As for her interests, between Cinderella and Minnie Mouse, Disney has my daughter neatly wrapped up. Disney owns Winnie-the-Pooh too. Outside of anything with these characters on it, Amber also loves pretty dresses, books, purses/bags, being outside (when it’s not cold), swinging and tumbling, going to the grocery store, painting, and even enjoys baths now – so long as no water gets on her eyes/head. She “reads” books by herself too. She’s also singing songs she has memorized, which thrills me. I love to hear her sing, or say “I love you” first, or hug me, or any number of other things. She’s so smart, and cute, and funny, and wonderful, and caring, and crazy, and I just love her so much.
As for me, I started donating platelets again this year, managing to get 8 times in. I also ran 3 blood drives at my job! I became a deacon in my church in February. It’s not what I expected but I like it. I started reading non-little kid books. I paid off my last student loan early and my car note in August! The house and yard both got a lot of improvements, but still need some more. In October I was “downsized” out of a job. Thankfully, with a great support network and connections, I had two job offers two and half weeks later. I now work at Amplifinity on Main street in Ann Arbor. I love it. The people are great, the work is interesting, and even though it’s not any programming language I know the concepts are the same, and it’s fun learning new things. And in December I ended up in the hospital with a rare side-effect to a new medicine my doctor started me on. But I’m better now.
A big high of the year was our Disney cruise at the end of August. The cruise was nice and Alaska was awesome! Not only did we get to see a glacier from the ship, which was entrancing, Michael and I took a helicopter ride out to walk around on one! It was truly AMAZING. I didn’t know glaciers were so alive, like a mini ecosystem. Another way cool moment was playing with Amber on a play ground surrounded by nearby mountains – one only hundreds of feet away. Wow. Juneau was very different then I expected too, so cute, and with bear proof trash cans! If I hadn’t gotten sick and hurt my back, I might have enjoyed the cruise itself more. Amber liked it, and was excellent on the airplanes too.
Hope your holidays were wonderful! With Love,
Jennifer
P.S. – Forgot that I also broke a nice chunk off a tooth, twice this year (2 different teeth).