It’s the last day of one of the craziest years many of us have ever experienced. I don’t really think many people are sad to be saying goodbye to 2020, and I, for one, hope 2021 looks a little brighter.
2020. A year much, much different from what most of us expected. I began the year thinking about all the fun things we’d be doing. We had a family vacation planned, I looked forward to taking Kezia on adventures, and I thought about how cool it’d be if we had a 2020 baby. In late January, I discovered that the idea of a 2020 baby would become a reality when I saw two pink lines on a pregnancy test. Mark didn’t believe me at first, but we were excited about this new family member.
January and February were both filled with a lot of sickness, both from pregnancy and from those nasty winter bugs. I remember thinking about how ready I was for spring to come so we’d finally be healthy and able to do things again. I didn’t even know what was about to hit. I had heard bits and pieces about this terrible virus that had been affecting a lot of people, but I figured it was just another big news story that was blown out of proportion.
We all know what March was like. Toilet paper hoarding, pantry stocking, and preparing for two weeks of sitting at home in our pajamas. Mark started working from home, which meant I was tasked with keeping a toddler quiet all day. We soon got into a routine, which admittedly involved more PBS Kids and sugary snacks than I would have liked, but hey, between the constant nausea and the husband working in the basement, that was about all I could do. In late March, I moved into the second trimester of pregnancy. My belly started to look more like I was pregnant and less like I had indulged in too many snacks, although I was home all the time anyway, so it didn’t really matter.
We spent a lot of time outside beginning in April. We went on walks, played in the backyard, and saw friends from afar. It was hard to keep Kezia from her Mini BFFs, but we made it work with driveway hellos and messages on our phones. My belly continued to grow, we celebrated Easter at home, and we told our friends and family that we were expecting. We really could have kept that a secret the whole time, but we couldn’t wait to tell everyone.
May brought lots of sunshine and green grass. We celebrated Mother’s Day, found out that we were having a boy, and started planting our garden. We ate a lot of popsicles, spent a lot of time on the swingset in our backyard, and started a Sunday tradition of going on family walks around town while watching our church service online. Mark and I joined a 100 mile walking challenge, so that gave us both motivation to get moving.
In June, we brought out our tiny swimming pool. Kezia loved splashing around and playing in the water. We kept walking around town, usually stopping at Panera for a to-go order of free coffee and a bagel for Kez. We realized that the whole social distancing thing was going to stick around for a while, so we joined two other families for a “quaranteam.” Allowing Kezia to play with her friends again was well worth it, and I am so grateful for our little pod.
July was much of the same–distanced visits in the backyard with family members, a lot of FaceTime calls, catching up with the neighbors from across the fence, and tending to our garden. I was very obviously pregnant and felt baby boy wiggling around. I wished I could share the joy of feeling baby kicks from the outside with other people, but that’s not really doable from six feet away.
In August, we packed up and left town with some of our closest friends. We went to a house in the middle of nowhere and let our kids run around, play in sand, and just get away from reality for a minute. It was so nice to have a change of scenery and to share time and space with those we love. Mark and I celebrated our anniversary that month with a to-go order of Panera, a trip to the park, and bees swarming our food. Kezia tagged along for our date and she wore two dresses at the same time, because why choose just one?!
By September, we started to clear out our enclosed porch so people could come visit on colder days. That porch is one thing I’m thankful for this year–there’s a window that goes from the porch into our living room, so family members can safely visit from a distance. We had a “quaranteam” baptism for our friends, bought a minivan (thanks, Mark) and prepared for our son to arrive. Waiting for a baby is one of the most nerve-racking things. I wasn’t ready to be done being pregnant, but I was also anxious about him becoming too big. September is my least favorite month, though, so I was really hoping he’d stay in until October. So many mixed feelings, and no control over when this child would make his grand entrance.
We spent the first few days of October soaking up as much time as we could as a family of three after having a false alarm on October 1. We went on so.many.walks, snuggled with Kezia, and tried to get her ready for what was about to happen. On October 9, Koa finally decided he was ready to meet us. That was by far the best day of the year. We brought him home the next day and introduced him to his big sister, who was eagerly waiting for her real-life baby doll to arrive. She truly is the best big sister.
In November, we crunched leaves, cuddled on the couch, and really settled into life as a family of four. We introduced Koa to snow and Kezia excitedly made her very own Olaf the Snowman. We celebrated Thanksgiving at our house and enjoyed a nice meal and relaxing afternoon with our pod friends. We had video calls with family members in the evening and definitely ate pumpkin pie for breakfast the following day.
The glowing lights on our Christmas tree made December feel warm and cozy. We celebrated Kezia’s birthday with pizza and a trip to see drive-through Christmas lights at a park, but soon realized she couldn’t even see the lights because of her car seat. Mom fail. She was thrilled to just be able to see the giant moon that night. I made it a goal to introduce Kezia to my favorite Christmas movies throughout the month. We came to terms with the fact that the holidays would be different this year and planned out porch visits for Christmas. Even though it wasn’t the same as other years, we had a fun time celebrating from a distance. It was special to watch the magic of Christmas through our toddler’s eyes.
The quick summary of my year is this: I found out I was pregnant, stayed home all year to avoid a crazy virus, went on a few hundred walks with my daughter, and gave birth to my son. Boom. It was a hard year for many reasons, most of which I left out because we all know what they are. It was also a sweet year, a year of watching my belly grow, slowing down, becoming more present, and realizing what truly matters.
Bye, 2020. 2021, please be kinder to us all.
The Elephant In The Room 