A million little reasons...

Hard to believe it's been nearly an entire year since I've last updated this blog... It makes me sad to see how long I've neglected it, since I truly enjoy blogging and catching up with friends online... but NOW it feels like Cole and I have a million reasons to get with the program and blog regularly!

I had a post written about our trip to Yellowstone, but never quite finished it. I could have blogged about our fun trips to Table Rock Lake last summer, but it just didn't get done. Life is certainly busy, and my mind hasn't been very focused on blogging this past year. We spent over a year trying to get pregnant, and it was emotional roller coaster - especially for me. Throughout the process, Cole managed to be the calm, steady one... I'm sure he thought his wife was going nuts - more than once! It's possible that he even told me that. He was just so sure that nothing was wrong with either of us, faithful that God's timing would be just right, and he kept reminding me to relax and be patient. This is one time I don't mind admitting that he was RIGHT!

We are expecting a baby girl March 15th, and couldn't be more excited! nervous! unprepared! Don't get me wrong, we are so ready to be parents and mostly just very excited for the future, but we know, as tiny as she will be, Baby E is going to rock our world! Life will change dramatically in March - ready or not! :)

Making her debut March 15, 2012! :)

As if having a baby isn't a big enough game-changer, we learned a few months ago that Cole was nominated and accepted to a foreign exchange program through his job.  So our little family of three will head to Veniano, Italy in late June. (For one year.) Veniano is a small town of about 3,500 in northern Italy, near Milan. We will be about one hour from snow skiing in the Swiss Alps and one hour from the coast. (I'm dying to capture the scenery and can't wait to take lots of photos!)  So, we'll spend our very first year as a family of three together in Italy - it still sounds crazy, even to me! We are thrilled with this opportunity...  truly a once-in-a-lifetime chance for us to experience another culture.

Bring on 2012! I'm, um, pretty sure we can handle it...