2008 in review...

January
We began 2008 living with our friends packing our belongings, preparing for a journey. We took Max to NIH in Maryland to join a study for his metabolic disease. The month of January was a ball of excitement and energy. I remember barely being able to breathe most of the time. I would wake up with a tight chest, not believing what we were about to do. It was crazy, and we were actually going for it! We packed up our lives in Denver, and headed out for a new life, in a new land.

February
The shortest month of the year...and the most special to me. February this year though, gave us a dream. We left Washington DC, and arrived in London February 12th. We got there and found ourselves blurry eyed, and minus one dog. We drove on to Sheffield, and waited to hear if/when we would get Olive out of doggy customs. We spent Valentine's Day with our friends, met new friends, Steve talked with companies, we looked into doctors for Max. And I got sick. More sick than I can remember being in such a very long time. And Max had seizures, lots of seizures. We spent my 29th birthday with my mom in London, and we made the decision that day to come home. A decision that still is so confusing today.

March
We made the trip back Colorado, only to hear that we need to move to California. We were glad to have the direction, and loaded up our belongings and drove across five states to Northern California. It was a beautiful drive, we saw so much of the West. I saw Vegas for the first time and decided I NEVER need to go there again! We arrived in our new house on Easter Sunday. We set right out to outfit our new home with IKEA furniture, and made trips to the ocean and San Francisco. We really enjoyed our time in California...but again...it wasn't the right fit for Max.

April
We settled into our new life in California. Steve had a lot of travel, and we tried to either go to the beach or San Francisco every weekend. We had a lot of fun, and it was fun finding all the new places. For the first time in over 10 years I had to take a driving test...and I was so nervous I wouldn't pass!!! But I did, and got myself a snazzy CA driver's license. And I nearly lost my little Olive when she decided to follow her nose the the Filipino restaurant down our street.

May
Ang and Dan came to visit, and get to hold the title forever as the only people who got to see our home there. We started hitting up against walls for Max's medicaid, and therapy in California. It was like being stuck in traffic there! Max also started to think he didn't want to eat from a bottle anymore. And so began that battle. We made a trip back to Denver to see doctors, and a very very special Opera for Max.

June
Abbey joined us in June, we went to the ocean, and San Francisco, and decided AGAIN that we had to move. We packed up our home in California, and headed back to Denver. I was sad to leave California, but I knew we had to go back.

July
We got back to Denver July 5th. July 7th we had to admit Max into the hospital for seizures that wouldn't stop. If we were looking for a sign that we needed to be in Denver, that was it. We'd traveled halfway across the world and back, and Max didn't need medical help until we got back here. His seizures started and wouldn't stop because we couldn't get his medicine into him through a bottle, so in July, we made the decision to get him a feeding tube.

August
Max had his g-tube surgery in August, and our little niece Adeline was born. We were thankful to be here for both of those events. We also got Max in to a new pediatrician, which was a life saver for us.

September
Steve was gone most of the month traveling for work. Part of the deal of him getting to work from home means he gets to go when they tell him. We also spent all of the weekends looking for a place to live.

October
We found our house, and our little guy turned 5. We had another hospital event, as Max had a bad reaction to a vaccine. We chose a wheelchair, and got back into the swing of therapy.

November
We moved into our new house, and had our first holiday here. Max went to the zoo for the first time. We unpacked all of our belongings and started to feel at home in our new place.

December
The end of the year, and quite possibly, the hardest month of 2008 for me. We put up our Christmas tree, and Steve left to work for 2 weeks. I had an incredibly hard time with Max, and all that is changing with him. Steve surprised me late one night with an early arrival, and we prepared for everyone to get here for Christmas.

And now, we're nearing the end of 2008. Looking back, it has been the most full year I can remember. I can't believe sometimes all we've done. It feels like we've lived a couple of lifetimes in this one year. Parts feel like they were too short, and I wish we could do over a few things. But here we are. I have absolutely no idea what next year holds. 2008 will go down in our books as one of the strangest years in my life!