2020- The Year No One Will Forget

2020 is a year that will undoubtedly go down in history. Oddly enough, this is the first year in a long time that I haven’t wished away. It certainly had its challenges, but 2020 brought me so much growth and blessing.

This year brought loss.
My Papaw passed away in February.
In February, we also celebrated and remembered the due date of our first baby.
Several friends lost their babies- big and small.

This year brought sickness.
I got the flu while pregnant.
I was placed on bedrest for the final five weeks of my pregnancy.
Seth, Jaclyn, my mom, and I ended the year with COVID-19.

This year brought virtual education.
March 13 was our final normal, in-person work day.
April 6 we returned to work virtually, creating our first ever NTI ESL program.

By the end of the first week, we had a lot of new interest from word of mouth (meaning our students are friends outside of class), unenrolled students “snuck in” to Zoom classes after getting the link from their friends, and there was a request for a student’s fiancée to enroll from Africa. We’re in a worldwide pandemic and these students still amaze me.

I was thankful to represent Adult Education with my own I AM JCPS video.

This year brought virtual socializing.
We were blessed to have three Zoom baby showers that were oh so special.

All of our major holidays were spent in quarantine because of COVID-19. Thankful for FaceTime and Zoom.

This year brought growth and pushed my physical boundaries more than ever before.

This year brought me the best gift of my baby girl.

I was able to take 13 weeks off to fully focus on my girl during her first three months of life. Now she is nearly 7 months old and I’ve been able to telecommute to work. So I get to have lunch with Jaclyn every day and she comes to visit me when I’m not in meetings.

This year brought us our dream home.
Our first home went on the market on a Friday evening. That Sunday we accepted an offer after 16-18 showings in 2 days and a total of five offers. The following Wednesday, the offer on our new home was accepted after another multi-offer situation.

Due to the pandemic, it took six attempts to close while I was 8 months pregnant. But we are now close to my parents, who watch our sweet baby and in a home that’s felt like ours since the moment we moved in.

This year brought SO MUCH learning about being a mama.
Baby sleep tricks and training thanks to Taking Cara Babies.
Breastfeeding is hard and not for everyone.

I breastfed but I did not nurse. I exclusively pumped and bottle fed my baby breast milk for a little over three months. We tried breastfeeding for the first week of her life with at least 5 different lactation consultants, but it remained a difficult traumatizing experience for both of us. I was an over supplier as you can see. I spent 2-3 hours each day pumping, storing, washing, and organizing my pump supplies. To exclusively pump, is to be a champion.

Baby Led Weaning for solid foods thanks to Feeding Littles, Solid Starts, and Baby Led Wean Team on Instagram. I suppose this is still new and everybody has all the thoughts that I don’t have time for. So I’m trusting my gut and talking to the pediatrician as we teach our girl to eat.

So thankful for my other new mama friends– shout out to Daphne in Texas, Sujata in New York, and Hao in Vietnam. Love you and your babies and so grateful to be in this phase of life with each of you.

This year brought an awakening of what we value, how we want to love others, and how we hope to live our lives. There’s still so much learning, unlearning, and action to be done.

As we close out 2020, I will be celebrating with my loves. We are beyond thankful for the unique opportunities of family time that we’ve been given. We are grateful for this year and excited to see what new adventures 2021 will bring.

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