Let's Go Rays!

Here's Lydia at the Stingrays Hockey game! She had a good time :) We kept her out past her bedtime, but she had fun. She didn't start fussing until 2 minutes before the end of the game! By the time we got home, she was pooped and ready for bed.
Here's a short video of little Lydia. There's not much to it, but you can really see how much she has grown.

I've been working hard lately. Busy at work and trying to save energy for home. I did manage to clean the house today so that Lydia has some clean floors to crawl on! Gary has been working hard too - he's been doing his usual finagling with trucks and destinations and trying to get more work and fit it in! It's all worth it though :) Work to live, right?

There are many things that have happened this year. It's been quite the journey since Lydia was born. The closer we get to her birthday, the more mixed emotions I have. I'm excited to celebrate her coming so far. I'm also slowly letting go of some guilt, anxiety and worries about her development. So I'm not really sure how I'll feel once her birthday weekend rolls around. We're not sure what to do yet - I have a few ideas of places we can go and things that we can do to celebrate. I know we'll be thinking about being in the hospital and all the things that have happened. We'll be thinking about the scary NICU experience. We will celebrate that Lydia is beautiful and doing well. And we will be thankful that we're lucky. The strides she has made this year have saved me from a lifetime of guilt and burden...and for that I am thankful.