C is for...: "Christmas" letter 2012

Yes, I know this is very late. I finally got it sent out last week (only to immediate family and friends from whom we received Christmas cards this year). I guess you can consider it a St. Patrick's Day letter. :)

2012—Year of Roller Coasters

Dear friends and family,

Merry super-late Christmas and Happy New-ish Year (and late Valentines Day)! I know this “Christmas letter” is way past due, but we just got Hannah’s 2-year photos back a couple of weeks ago. And I personally love receiving updates from friends and fam any time of year, so here goes…

We started 2012 with Hannah finally (and miraculously) starting to crawl at the ripe age of 12 ½ months. A couple of weeks later we got a huge surprise when we found out that we were expecting a baby with no help from fertility drugs or treatments. We were totally shocked and thrilled.

Then at the beginning of February we got another huge shock when an early ultrasound showed 2 egg sacs. We could not believe that we were expecting twins and felt both excited and terrified. A couple of weeks later (at 10 weeks along), we got the heart-breaking news that there were no live babies in the egg sacs (twin blighted ova). After 5 weeks of a drawn-out, physically-and-emotionally-draining miscarriage, I finally got a D and C and felt so much better. Due to other complications (partial molar pregnancy), I had to be monitored for over 6 months to make sure no abnormal cells were still growing inside of me. Needless to say, we were all very relieved when the whole ordeal was over and we were finally able to get off of that roller coaster. In the middle of it all, we somehow managed to take a trip to Arizona in March for Cubs Spring Training (Hannah’s first Cubs game!)—a much needed get-away. And then we also spent some time with all of Scott’s family members who were here visiting in April. Super fun!

We enjoyed our Summer of going to ballgames, to the park, to the library, to the canyon, and hanging out with family and friends. We also attended a fabulous Clayson family reunion in July in which we were able to ride some actual roller coasters at Disneyland and California Adventure. Hannah loved being with her cousins and also thoroughly enjoyed her first experience at the beach in Ventura.

In September we took a wonderful trip to Rhode Island to visit my uncles and to see the sites there and in Massachusetts (including a Red Sox game). Hannah went from coast to coast within a couple of months!

In October, we were once again very surprised to find out that I was pregnant with no fertility drugs or treatments. A couple of weeks later, I had a big miscarriage scare which was an intense, 18-hour-long roller coaster ride. But since then, we’ve seen (and heard) nothing but a healthy baby with a strong heartbeat. We are SO excited for Hannah to get a little sister in June!

Scott continues to work for Utah County, and I continue to work two evenings a week running a couple of victims groups and doing a bit of private practice. We teach the 7-turning-8-year-olds in Primary, and we love it. And Hannah loves Nursery. Yay! Hannah has changed so much this year (she even finally decided to walk at 19 ½ months!), and she continues to bring incredible joy into our lives. She has definitely made all the lows throughout our roller coaster year bearable and even joyful. Hannah talks and sings all day, and she loves to dance, read books, do puzzles, identify the alphabet, count, mother her dolls, sweep, cook in her kitchen, talk about her cousins, and act like a 2-year-old. We love her so much!

All in all, it has been a great year, with many more ups than downs. We love you all and are grateful for your love and support. We are so grateful for our Savior and for His love for all of us.

Love,

Scott, Mary Ann, Hannah, and Baby Girl Carter

www.annieandscottie.blogspot.com

**And here are some pics of Hannah with her cousins over the Christmas break...