For me and my family, 2022 was definitely a year to remember. We had lots of adventures and were fortunate to have most things work out in our favor.
We began the year taking home a newborn baby from the hospital. Our daughter Charlotte was born premature, but is a fighter. She managed to avoid the NICU and grow as God intended. We spent quite a bit of time in the hospital at the end of 2021 due to complications with my wife and were gifted our daughter December 31, 2021. Our lives were very blessed getting to spend the entirety of 2022 with a healthy child in our home.
In the early summer my wife graduated from Medical School and we found out we were heading to Mishawaka, IN for her to continue her education. Packing up all our things from Toledo, OH and heading back Indiana was stressful. It put some strain on us with scheduling, timing and arrangements. My wife’s parents were nice enough to allow us to live with them for a few weeks until our permanent living arrangements could fall into place. It was a huge help for us to have that opportunity. Due to having to move into my in-laws until our housing became available, we ended up having to move twice. We moved from Ohio to storage units, then from storage units into our home. Having the opportunity and ability to make such a move (though not far in distance) was a true blessing. Our families helped out more than they probably needed to and we are grateful.
We bought a van to make traveling easier for our family. Unfortunately, about one month after the purchase the transmission went out. It seemed to have an issue prior to going out, but it went from functional to broken fairly quickly. Having to spend the money to make the repair was a burden, but was necessary. I’m sure a lot of people have been there before, spending money to fix something that was just purchased. Though we had this issue that took a toll on our finances, we have very much enjoyed driving it. Who would have though it would be so fun to be able to ride together comfortably and have space for more people or things.
Charlotte grew from a 4lb 4oz premie into a crawling baby and now into a walking toddler. She has been developing so well in everything from speech to motor skills. She definitely has her finger pincher skilled mastered for picking up peas. Her repetitious use of the word “mama” and her desire to investigate everything has shown me that she will grow to become an intelligent child of God. I have been blessed and amazed to watch her grow.
Though everything wasn’t perfect, I feel that 2022 was a great year. There was lots of good that happened and we learned more than we thought we would about life. The hardships made the good times sweeter, helping us become more disciplined along the way. I think 2023 has a lot in store for us and I am excited for what lies ahead.