2012 in review

2012 has been very good to me. Everyday I wake up and think what a blessed life I have. My husband is beyond amazing, by far the best thing that has ever happened to me. This past year in particular he has helped me improve some of my weaknesses. I am working on not being so hard on myself and loving what i was god given. This has been especially difficult for me since being pregnant and extra emotional, but he has been an amazing support system and I have come a long way. Ross has also helped me take advantage of the wonderful life we have made by stopping and enjoying everything we have worked for. He reminds me life is short, and to do what you enjoy. I tend to be too practical at times, and he has helped me relax go with the flow.  Lastly, he has been my rock through all the reproductive problems we have encountered. He has listened to me complain about feeling like crap from the meds I was taking, having to go to the doctor every week to get scans and shots and blood drawn, and to my crying about how unfair it is. He has gone to EVERY SINGLE APPOINTMENT, seriously, every one, to just hold my hand or be a second pair of ears. If nothing else, 2012 has made me realize I have an absolutely incredible person to wake up to every morning, Thank you Ross, I love you more than you will ever know

Ok, enough of the mushy stuff, lets get to this year in review:

January started out slow due to my recovering from the abdominal myomectomy I had at the end of 2011.

February I celebrated my 29th birthday. Ross and I had a nice dinner at Boiler Room in downtown Omaha and a piece of cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory, can you say Red Velvet Cheesecake!!!

March.- Celebrated a few birthdays for the Sister in laws. First Britt's birthday was celebrated at Halo with some Omaha VIP service

And then we celebrated a long awaited 21st birthday, Carly it's about time!! She had a cookout and then party at a bar in Beautiful Wayne/Wakefield Nebraska!!!

April  we celebrated Ross' 30th birthday. I had a surprise dinner for him at The Drover, all of our family was able to celebrate with us, and Ross was completely surprised!!

May-   This was a very important month for me, as I rediscovered my LOVE for outdoor running. All it took was one Sunday morning of lacing up the Mizuno's, and I the rest is history!!Ross and I took a little trip to Kansas City for some shopping, good dinners and a trip to Worlds of Fun (our first, but def not last trip to an amusement park). It was a nice little getaway, and Ross was able to put his fear of heights aside and ride the roller coasters with me!!!

at Worlds of Fun

June- Competed in the Warrior Dash with my SIL, Carly and my favorite nurse and a her amazing sister and husband. It was a blast and we Rocked our 80's costumes.

The Manganaro/Gardner clan also took a very memorable trip to Las Vegas to celebrate Carly's 21st birthday. The 17 of us flew out on Thursday and had a blast. We had amazing dinners, fun days at the pool and shopping, and of course, unforgettable nights drinking mojitos and dancing in the clubs. It was one of the best Vegas trips, mostly because we were all together.

Ross and I the first night

the Gard-anaro girls

most of us at dinner

July- Katie and I decided we were going to run the Omaha Half Marathon in September, so to jump start our training, we did the Color Run.

  We also had a blast at Brittany's Bachelorette Party In Kansas City. We had a crazy weekend with lots of vodka gummy bears, fish bowl drinks, and dancing like it's our job.

the sexy ladies of the weekend

at The Jones rooftop pool

Last, but certainly not least, my dad celebrated his 60th birthday.  we had a nice party with LOTS OF TEQUILA. Happy Birthday Papa Palma

strawberry Nebraska cake I mad for my Papa

showing off the Tequila gun he got, yes, it is filled with tequila.

August was spent relaxing a bit and  doing lots of running to get ready for the Marathon on Sept 23rd. We did have some time for a nice Creed concert at Stir.

 September- This was a very busy and exciting month. First, Ross and I had a quick weekend getaway to Las Vegas. We saw 'La Reve', an awesome water show at Wynn. We have seen many shows, this was one of the coolest!

We also had some amazing meals,our favorite was a seafood platter we had at Mon Ami Gabi at the Paris hotel. So fresh and very tasty, especially after our long day at the pool enjoying many adult beverages!

This trip was extra special because we knew we were getting closer to our baby making goal and we wanted to have one last trip before either I was preggo or we had a little one at home.

September also was important because we"officially" welcomed a new member into the Manganaro/Gardner Family. Brittney and Marc had a beautiful wedding, it was a very fun weekend and they had awesome weather!!

I was able to cross off a mark on my bucket list this month too. My sister-in-law and I ran the Omaha Half Marathon. It was an awesome experience and I did better than I expected to do. can't wait to do another one.

October- This is one of the most memorable months for Ross and I. After working towards a positive ovulation since I had my surgery almost a year ago, things were going as planned. We went in for our monthly follicle(egg) scan on October 3, saw I had a nice big 24mm follicle in my right ovary. So my doctor gave me a shot of HCG (a hormone that helps release this juicy egg) and the rest was up to Ross and I. It was a very "productive" 2nd anniversary weekend!!!!  Well, our hard work payed off. on October 19 I had a many positive pregnancy tests!!! Let the happiness begin.

November and December - Not gonna lie, these months were kind of a blur. I was in my happy place and this little nugget is all I could think about. We were able to tell all our family over Thanksgiving and now we are just living the dream. If I could share one lesson I have learned from this baby journey, it would be PATIENCE.  Its so difficult when you want something so bad, but it all pays off in the end. Now we cannot wait to see what 2013 has in store for us. I am excited and scared all at the same time. I am loving every second that pregnancy has brought, very weird, but I am loving it. But I cannot wait to meet this little baby growing inside me.  I am so glad to share my experiences and thoughts on this blog, thanks for following along. Farewell 2012, Welcome 2013!!!