Goodbye 2011, Hello 2012

2011 in review

Big Events & Milestones:
• Expectant status – Upon our announcement in early January that we were expecting our first child in July, we quickly found ourselves wrapped up in the “expecting game”. The out-pouring of support and encouragement from family and friends was reassuring to both Eric and I, as we wondered how a new human was going to fit into our lives. Throughout the course of our pregnancy, we inherited loads of advice (most of it solicited and helpful) and boxes full of baby gear (thanks to generous friends who already embarked on parenthood – it definitely paid for us to wait). The tasks felt overwhelming, but we paced ourselves, took things as they came, and found ourselves “ready” for Speedbump by the due date. And then we got to wait, and wait, and wait….
• Eric brings home the bacon again - 2012 marked Eric’s completion of his master’s degree in structural engineering. He finished in February with a scintillating presentation about buildings connected by sky-bridges and how wind impacts their movement (see, I did pay attention Eric!). He resumed work at KL& A in March, the engineering firm he worked for prior to graduate school. He enjoys his job and appreciates the company.
• New family member – Oh, have you heard about that one yet? Harper Anneliese Richards joined us at 7:11am on Tuesday, July 19. To say she’s been the highlight of our year is an understatement.
• Let the juggling act begin as modern working parents – After Harper’s birth, Eric returned to work the next week. I was fortunate to be able to take 3 months of maternity leave, and then I returned to my work on a partial appointment (75%). When I returned to work in October, we found ourselves having to juggle a bit more than we were used to. Not only do we now work, walk the dog, make dinner, and clean up in the evenings, we also get to care for Harper’s needs AND try to go to bed early (since sleep is more precious than ever). The transition to work went more smoothly than expected, and while we definitely feel busier than we were “P-H” (pre-Harper), we are managing quite well. Our daycare provider is fantastic, which makes leaving Harper much easier. We leave each morning (in our cars – booo!) armed with diapers, bottles, lunches, my beloved breast pump, and enough snacks to feed a school bus full of hungry children.

Travel & Stay-cations:
• San Diego – BabyMoon – To celebrate Eric’s completion of his master’s degree and prior to him starting work and not having any time off, Eric and I flew to San Diego in February for a week of chill-axing. We got to stay in my cousin Chase’s hotel, which was way fancier than our typical travel fare. Getting away to a new place with warm sunshine and lots of fun things to explore was a great way to celebrate Eric’s accomplishment and make some special memories before adding to our family.
• Haley’s trip to New York – For spring break, I flew to upstate New York to visit friends. In addition to quality friend time, I also learned a ton about the Amish, which was fascinating.
• Kansas – Of course we made a few trips to Kansas to see our families. In May, we attended McPherson’s All School’s Day Parade (in cold weather) and played as much as we could with our nephew, Gavin. Eric’s family also threw us a baby shower in Wakeeney. After Harper was born, we ventured back to Kansas in September, where we had a series of “meet Harper” parties. I got to stay a full week, and it was so nice to have more time to visit friends. We rounded out our year by traveling to Kansas for “Harper’s Holiday Tour”. It was so much fun to see Harper and Gavin interact. They are going to have so much fun as super-special cousins!
• Summer in Fort Collins – Typically, we travel a lot in the summer. Whether we have scheduled trips out of state / country or planned camping / hiking trips in the mountains, our summers are usually pretty full. At 30+ weeks pregnant and with a teeny-weeney baby this summer, our summer consisted of “stay-cationing” in Fort Collins. Instead of traveling, we hung out in Old Town, attended festivals, checked out the farmer’s markets, and did some light hiking in the foothills. It was nice, although we are already antsy to take Harper camping in 2012.
• Family visits – For some reason, we found ourselves with a lot of company this year. Both sets of parents and my sister and her family were able to visit in the week after Harper’s birth. We have hosted both of our parents multiple times throughout the year as well as my group of high school friends.

Daily Life:
• Tanner’s adjustment – It hasn’t been all puppies and flowers for our dog, Tanner this year. He has been demoted to “dog” status. He still gets to go on a walk every day, and he still gets cuddle time in the evening before bed. But, he does not quite receive as much of our attention as he did prior to Harper’s arrival. For this, he is quite depressed. For now, things are going well. Tanner ignores Harper and spends his days/evenings on “his” couch in “his” room.
• Help, help, help – I’m not sure how we are so blessed to have so many amazing, generous people in our lives. We seriously could not have survived without you! For the first half of the year, we received so much support, loving advice, and baby supplies. For the second half of the year, we received tons of baby stuff, cards, and meals. Generous friends and co-workers provided us with delicious, home-cooked meals 3 nights a week for 3 months. From friends and family afar, we received so much love and encouragement. The out-pouring of all of your generosity was truly humbling.
• Reprioritizing – One of the many lessons we’ve learned this year is that everything takes longer with an infant in the house. Accomplishing everyday tasks (let alone ones on our “to-do” list) require a great amount of planning and strategy. Sometimes we find ourselves playing “pass the baby” to make sure we are feeding ourselves and keeping our house as clean as minimally possible. Yet, having Harper around has prompted us to be spontaneous. I remember one Sunday in September when we spent an hour just laying on a blanket in the shade of our backyard. We never would have done that “P-H”. What a lovely gift! Our priorities have changed, and we’ve found that while we do still have to get stuff done, we do also make time to just “play” in very simple ways.
• The world’s most boring people – Ask us if we’ve seen any good movies lately or been to any good concerts. Nope - not since July. Any epic outdoor adventures this year? Well, we did do a couple of Yurt Trips in March, but other than that – not really. The question “what’s new in your life?” is guaranteed to prompt a response involving Harper and her latest trick. Eric and I joke that we have become the world’s most boring people, and that’s ok for now. We feel truly blessed by the opportunity to create a life and humbled by the responsibility of raising another human on the planet. I know most of you would agree that becoming a parent is not “boring” at all – it’s just a very different world from the one we lived in one year ago.

If you made it to the end of this – congratulations! We’ve had an amazingly blessed 2011, and we hope you had a terrific year as well. Sending our most sincere wishes of love as we start 2012.
Love,
Haley, Eric, and Harper Richards

birth announcement

Here's a link to our birth announcements . . . coming soon to a mailbox near you.

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AZM2bhk5cMmLng&cid=SFLYOCWIDGET

Harper's First Photos

More Harper photos....

She's here!

At 7:11 am on Tuesday, July 19, our lives were changed forever when Harper Anneliese arrived. Although she was 5 days past her due date, was she ever eager to meet the world. We will spare you the details of birth, as some people are not comfortable hearing words like contraction, pushing, etc. You can ask us to tell you the story, and we will gladly fill you in, as we love sharing our experience. We will say that she came quickly (less than 1 hour after being admitted to the hospital), and that both Mom and Harper did very well.

Harper is now 3 weeks old, and we're just now getting to the point where we have moments to breathe and update things like a blog. I try to post photos occasionally on facebook, but in between feedings, naps, cuddle sessions, etc., it is difficult to keep things up to date.

How are we doing? We're adjusting to the typical new-parent experience of less sleep, a schedule that is not our own, etc. We've been very blessed to have a lot of family and friend support helping us out and making sure we are eating well. Overall, I can say that Eric and I both are overwhelmed with love for Harper and the miracle of creating new life. This is definitely the most life-affirming experience of my life thus far.

We'll do our best to keep you posted on how things go. Stay tuned....

Lots of love from
Haley, Eric and Harper

Sitting around . . . waiting for our lives to change

Today is July 13. Our due date is July 14. We know that less than 5% of babies are born on their due date, so we have no expectation for tomorrow. But, it's been so interesting the last few days to know it really could happen anytime.

Up to this point in life, most of our "big" moments have been well-planned. Or, if they were not that well planned, there was a definitive start or end date. This big event has a tentative date, but we have absolutely no control of when it actually will manifest.

Eric and I are typically "do-ers". We like to be active and make things happen in our lives. It's a novel situation for Eric and I to be playing such a waiting game for one of the most significant events in our lives.

For now, we're just trying to get lots of rest and relaxation, enjoy the present moments, and honor the process.

Stay tuned.......

Becoming. . . .

The process of pregnancy is one of preparation, anticipation, and growth. The months have passed quickly, and while we may not appear "ready" in the realm of having all the stuff washed, folded, organized, etc., we have felt much more emotionally connected to this process in recent weeks. In the time of one year, we've gone from "if we ever have children" to "we'll see if it happens that we have children" to "OMG we're going to have a child" to "we'll be excited to meet our child in July" to now "we are going to meet our child in a couple weeks!"

As much as pregnancy is a physical process, it's also a huge emotional, mental, and spiritual process as well. I (Haley) took most of the day last Sunday to go on a "pre-motherhood" retreat. It ended up being a bit more exciting than I planned as Speedbump and I got caught up in a thunderstorm and were thoroughly soaked in the course of 30-40 minutes. But, it was a lovely day. Work is busy right now with new student orientation, and our evenings are filled with birth classes, social engagements, and just trying to stay on top of things around the house. I needed some time to get away from my to-do list, reflect on this major change happening in my life, and just "be" in my sanctuary - the mountains.

For my retreat, I ventured to Lory State Park right outside of Fort Collins and went on a 2 1/2 mile hike. It was a great day: moving slowly along the trail, stopping to rest when needed, and just listening to the birds, the breeze, and myself. I also took my journal and got some writing in.

Along the way, I reflected on what becomming a mother means to me so far. Obviously there will be additional thoughts to this in the coming weeks we we get to experience birth and meeting Speedbump, but for now, this is what has "become" during pregnancy:
1) Becomming a mother is a leap of faith - I truly believe bringing a child into the world is the single most hopeful experience of my life to this point. I could not do it if I didn't believe the world is ultimately good, people are ultimately good, and that the future can be amazing. There are so many uncertainties out there, but with faith in the universe, God, and the power of the human spirit, I believe Eric and I can do this.

2) Becomming a mother gives me wonderful amazement for my body - Throughout much of my teen and adult life, I've pushed my body to do many things and take me many places, and I am so very thankful for it. However, this experience is unlike anything else I've ever done, and I am in constant awe of the physical process of growing a human inside of me. It's so freakin' amazing!

3) Becomming a mother fills me with feelings of connectedness to family and important women in my life - I've always had strong relationships with my family and feel so lucky to have amazing life-long friends. However, pregnancy brings women together in a way that I would have never understood prior to this experience. I view pregnancy and the upcoming birth almost as a spiritual rite of passage - something that unites me to my mother, grandmother, and all the other important women in my life who have gone through this process.

4) Becoming a mother has been an exercise in values clarification - I always felt like before I could become a mother, I had to know myself well. Waiting until 31 to have a child has enabled me the time I've needed to experience a lot of things and really develop myself. I feel good about where I am in life now; who I am, what I believe and value. Thinking about raising a child leads me to thinking about what's most important to me AND what will be the most important things I want to teach and pass along to Speedbump.

5) Becoming a mother has helped me recognize my limitations and realize I can't do it all - Ok, so Eric would argue that I still have a long way to go in this area. I definitely agree that this is going to be a tough journey for me. I've always been able to juggle a lot, but I've had to slow down a bit these last few months, and I know I won't be able to pack as many things into my day as I have in the past when Speedbump arrives. It will require setting priorities and being ok with the unknown. These are great lessons I look forward to experiencing to a greater depth in the coming months and years.

32 Weeks!

Wow, 32 weeks have passed since Speedbump came into being. It's so crazy to think that we'll get to meet Speedbump in about 2 months. The pregnancy has gone by incredibly quickly, and I'm sure the next few weeks will go even faster.

We hope to update our blog more often now for those of you curious about our growing family. Stay tuned for more updates about our preparations, our musings, and the bit arrival!

Love,
Haley and Eric