Is January Over?

To put it lightly, January has been hell. Not the greatest start to 2011. First I had to hug Austin goodbye again after 2 awesome weeks together, then provision started which was miserable, the baby shuffle was rough, then I got sick and now William is still sick. It's been nonstop and I just need a break from January. I am very ready for it to be over. I was looking in my log of all of my posts earlier and saw that I had quite a few started but unfinished this month, and a few of them were for birthdays. Time just got away from me and posts were put on hold for too long. So - I thought I'd do a birthday update for all of those days that I intended to post and didn't. They will all be mini-posts so that this one doesn't get too long to manage :)

First, January 3.

There is so much to say about today's birthday. When we found out we were having a boy we instantly knew what to name him, because we couldn't imagine not honoring my dad with that. I think to name a baby after someone is one of the highest honors we can give each other. As a parent you have so many hopes and dreams for your unborn or newborn baby, so to give them a name of another person is to say that one of your hopes is that your child would live up to that name. How could we compliment another person more than that?

January 3 is the birthday of the person I was named after, so I know my parents thought higher of no other person. They had 3 children and only chose to name one of them after another person in their lives, that's how special my aunt Mandy is. I recently have seen quite a few posts on facebook about how an aunt is the combination of a mother and a friend, and it could not be truer about my Aunt Mandy. Growing up she was by far one of my favorite people because she spoiled me more than my parents (hard feat, by the way), she knew me better than my friends, and she loved me more than I could even understand. One of my favorite things has always been for her to introduce me to her friends. She used to ask if it embarrassed me or annoyed me, but it was far from it. Her introduction always went like this: This is my niece, my namesake, Amanda. She was so indescribably proud of the fact that I had been named after her, and she wanted everyone to know it. I had no problem having her share this, though, because I couldn't have been more proud of who I was named after. My relationship with Aunt Mandy is proof that miles mean nothing. We've never lived anywhere near each other, and we've only seen each other once or twice a year, but she is one of the most prominent people in my life. I am so thankful not only to have her as an aunt, but to have been given the opportunity to try to live up to her name. I love you Aunt Mandy!!!

January 6

This one is a hard one, and I know that is why I never finished writing the post. January 6 is the birthday of 2 members of my family, both of which I've lost contact with over time. First, it is my step sister Emily's birthday. I met Emily when she wasn't even 3, so in her mind I have probably been around most of her life. I remember riding in the backseat of her dad's car trying to teach her to read, teach her addition and subtraction...I loved watching her learn and I wanted to be a large part of her life. We became very close as she was in elementary school and I very much looked forward to every weekend when she'd be at our house. When I was in college I didn't get to see her as much because I lived out of town, and during my junior year she moved to Arkansas so after that it has been even harder to arrange our plans to be in Houston at the same time. I miss her so much, and I'm so sad that I haven't had the opportunity to be in her life like I had wished I could have been. But I love her very much and I am so thankful that through an unfortunate turn of events in my life I was blessed with a little sister. Hope to see her soon. Love you Emily.

The second birthday on Jan 6 is even harder than the first. My dad's sister always played such a large role in my brothers and my lives. She was by far the most involved person from my dad's side of the family, second possibly only to Mimi. She came to Houston every year for the rodeo, which was highly anticipated for me, and I looked up to her with such admiration. She was so fun that Brian even aspired to be the single-uncle of my kids and Brandon's kids because of how much fun we always had with our single-aunt lolly. If the fun times weren't enough, Laura helped give us more time with our dad by donating stem cells for a transplant when his cancer relapsed for the first time. I have no idea the pain she went under in order to provide the needed cells, but I know she wouldn't have thought twice about it. She and my dad had a very special relationship and they would have done anything for each other. Had it not been for her we could have lost our dad 2 years sooner than we did. He could have missed out on so much and we could have lost out on very valuable time. I only had 13 years with him, so 2 more shaved off of that would have been a pretty large impact. I know that my entire family is forever grateful to her for that.

After my dad passed away my brothers and I still made frequent trips to Dallas to see our family. Mimi, as our grandmother, was of course at the top of that list but the one person to always make sure her schedule was open was Laura. She took us shopping,went out to eat with us, went out to listen to bands at bars - she was really up for anything, she just loved spending time with us. The love was very much reciprocated for all three of us. Unfortunately due to a surprising turn of events after Mimi's funeral, I haven't spoken to Laura in 8 months and I am not sure when/if I will again. I'm not angry; I was for a time but I'm not anymore. I am remorseful, and I would love to know what happened to shape those events but some things will never be known. Regardless of any of that, I will always think of her on January 6 and will always be wishing her a happy birthday.

Onto the lighter side of things, January 24.

January 23 started of a slew of birthdays in my life. I already told you about my wonderful brother Brian, and following him on the 24 is one of my favorite friends Katie. Katie and I met early in high school but we didn't really become friends until my senior year. We were (nerd alert) drum majors together and had a BLAST. By far some of my favorite memories from high school include drum majoring with Katie, sleepovers with Katie, and other random events. I am sure Katie will never forget the birthdays that fall before and after hers because I can't tell you how many times I told her "Oh my gosh, did you know your birthday is the day after my brother's and the day before Liz and James?" I honestly never remembered that I had told her before, and she humored me. Katie is one of those friends that I won't talk to for years, then we'll get on the phone for hours catching up and talking about nothing. We don't need daily, weekly - heck we don't need yearly contact to remain friends. I love Katie so much and I always look forward to January 24 just because thinking of her makes me smile. Hope you had a wonderful birthday Katie!!!

January 25

And like I mentioned, the day after Katie's birthday was Liz's and James'. If you haven't learned from some of my other stories, when I meet someone that I want to be friends with sometimes I just force it to happen whether they want it or not. The first day of 8th grade would be one of those times. I met Liz in the first class of the day and because she was new I decided she NEEDED me. We soon learned that she lived in my neighborhood which was beyond awesome because I'd wanted a neighborhood friend my whole life! We made an instant bond and spent the next few years walking back and forth, walking half way which ended up all the way back to each other's houses, talked about boys and life and problems...and at 10:30 on the night that my dad died the first place I thought to go was to Liz's. She was such a wonderful friend throughout junior high, high school and even college. We veered down our own paths and don't talk as much anymore, but we still keep in touch from time to time and anytime we talk she lights up my days. She has such a bright spirit and you can't help but smile when you talk to her. I am so thankful to have had, and still have, her as a part of my life.

And then there's James. Jamesy poo. Jimmerz. James is the kind of person that fills an entire room with his wonderful personality, and its impossible - IMPOSSIBLE - not to love him. He was 2 years older than me in high school so he originally was in my brother's circle of friends but when we merged our circles James was one of my favorite people to be around. He didn't even have to be talking to ME - just to be around him while he was talking others would brighten my day. We definitely lost touch, but that's ok. I still smile anytime I think of him...and I'll always think of him on January 25.

So, after thinking about the birthdays that I hadn't yet acknowledged January 2011 doesn't seem quite as bad. I have so many people, past and present, in my life for which I can be thankful. Regardless of how rough times can be, I am so incredibly blessed and I am humbled at the thought of the people who have been placed around me in my life. So let the birthday train continue!!!