Lucky.

"Just call us lucky" is a phrase that has been ingrained in me, courtesy of my parents, from the time I was old enough to understand the words.  I've never believed it more than I have in the past 18 months or so.  First, we were blessed to get pregnant in a relatively short amount of time (though it didn't feel like it at the time).  Then Jack was born without complications, so much so that we never even saw the pediatrician while we were in the hospital.  We brought our little guy home and more often than not, have felt so incredibly blessed to have this miracle in our lives.  We had some ups and downs in the first couple of months as we started to figure out the whole parenting thing (I know we're only at the beginning of this very long road...)  But, since Jack learned to smile, he hasn't really stopped. 

This past weekend our little guy was dealing with teething, constipation, a typical daycare cold and to top it all off, he got his first ear infection which came along with a fever of 103.5.  Meanwhile, Brian got the stomach flu.  Friday & Saturday were pretty rough days.  Jack wanted to smile so so badly and everytime he'd try, he'd realize how bad he felt and would let out a little cry instead.  It was such a sad sight for anyone that knows this little boy like we do.  We made our way to the doctor on Saturday morning (right after Jack & I got home from what ended up being a VERY quick trip to NJ to see our newest family member Brody).  The doctor confirmed what I had thought was likely an ear infection, prescribed antibiotics and sent us on our way.  Jack woke up in the middle of the night on Saturday, still in pain, but went back to sleep in his crib.  When he woke up cooing and babbling on Sunday morning, I thought my heart might burst.  I had never been so happy to hear that sweet babble and felt so lucky to have this happy little boy back in our lives.  He's been touchy with the teething still (who needs teeth anyway?!?!) but we're managing with some Tylenol, Orajel & good old TLC.  We rang in the new year by hanging out with our little guy, cooking dinner at home and going to bed at 10pm.  I can't remember the last time I didn't stay up late enough to see the ball drop?!  But, our priorities are elsewhere these days...2012 was quite an amazing year, I can't wait to see what 2013 brings - just call us lucky. :)