Don't let the door hit you on the way out, 2010

What a year 2010 has been. It began smoothly enough, with my begrudging acceptance that we were, in fact, going to be parents to twin girls. I was having a great pregnancy, described by my OB/GYN as one I was "breezing through." Then came Jan. 21, and my baby A's water broke.
In many ways, 2010 was a great year. Against all odds we brought home two beautiful, healthy, thriving girls. I moved into a wonderful new position at the American Cancer Society which allows me to work part-time and mostly from home. Shawn is doing well at work. Brady, after a few tough months, continues to be a sweet, compassionate, funny little man and terrific big brother who's blossoming before our eyes.
But in many more traumatizing ways, the 11 months after Bayla's water broke would be filled with unmeasurable anxiety, turmoil, and change, and that's hard for any family to take. As I've documented before on this blog, it's tough to have infant twins and a 3-year-old. Your sleep suffers, which leads to your life suffering. Your marriage suffers. Your older child suffers. You suffer, because there's no time off and no time for yourself. Your finances suffer (understatement). Thank goodness for Facebook, because otherwise your friendships would suffer greatly too. You're constantly fearing your family will become sick. You're carting your kids from this doctor to that doctor. Your clothes don't fit, and stress from your life is leading to emotional eating, which isn't helping your clothes fit better (just me?). It's a constant juggling act. I can't even get across in words how crazy our lives are right now. Not that we would take any of it back, and not that we don't love our kids dearly, but it's hard. (Luckily, we have some amazing friends, family members, and neighbors who have gone out of their way for us a million times over. Visits to the hospital and home, dinner for the family, even just taking the babies off our hands when we see them-- they're a tremendous help and blessing.)
Shawn and I are ready for the psychological clean slate that a new year will bring. Surely in 2011, the girls will sleep through the night. Surely in 2011, Brady will become more self-sufficient and confident. Maybe in 2011, Shawn and I will inherit a vast fortune from a distant, previously unknown relative. Definitely in 2011, the girls will go off formula and Prevacid, and we will be comparatively rich. Definitely in 2011, the girls will grow and mature, and our lives will get easier.
So the girls are waking up, and my blog time is over. Now on to dinner, bathtime, and bedtime!