2011: It's a Wonderful Life

 Though our 2011 was spent largely growing a baby, we still had our fair share of adventures, vacations, trials and celebrations.

We woke up on January 1, 2011 in Vieques, Puerto Rico for our last day of vacation. Upon return we had our annual Epiphany party with our church friends.  I soon learned I had sprained by ankle doing Jazzercise, which put a huge damper on my plans to finish training for the Disney Princess Half Marathon.  I spent 2-3 days a week in physical therapy. I continued to cheer on Katie and Rosemary as they trained.  We saw the biggest snow and ice storm in my 13 years in Atlanta. It shut down the city for a full week, but thanks to our Jeep ventured out to play.  Eric's mom had breast cancer surgery, twice, but after needed very little treatment. Thank the Lord!  The end of the month Eric and I saw West Side Story at the Fox Theatre.

Eric and I were on our A Game in February, as we planned almost all our dinners and told you how we do it. I enjoyed a wonderful girls night out at the Joshua Radin concert. My mom turned fifty, and we planned an amazing "Decades" themed costume party.  I found Eric a new job on Monster while searching for one for me.  Turns out a new boss was all I needed. After much discernment, I decided to quit my job with the middle school program (effective at the end of the school year) and just work parttime as the Confirmation coordinator.  We attended our second Monster Jam. Rosemary and I drove to Charlotte, NC on a random weekday for the Dayton-Charlotte basketball game. We had a relaxing President's Day weekend playing cards and visiting a local park. I went to Disney to run our Princess Half Marathon with Katie, Rosemary, Amanda and Caitlin.

 March was tricky for us.  I was sick with colds, stomach aches, and exhaustion so I suspected I might be pregnant, and sure enough I was.   But, I still had to fake my way through a very busy weekend. On St. Patrick's Day we had our first ultrasound confirming baby Buergler was on the way.  And we told our parents by making Leprechaun cookies that said, "We got lucky".  We feared it a bit early to be telling family, but I am glad we did because later we thought we'd had a miscarriage. (This was all posted at the end of April).  Eric shaved his winter beard and sported The Best Moustache Ever for a few days. Eric and I both took teens on retreats, I joined the bocce league again, and I started a parttime job for a friend's lawn company.

We spent the first weekend in April at Piedmont Park for Rosemary's birthday. It was exactly what we needed.  I went on retreat. We bought season tickets to the Braves. And I had a great girls night out with my mom and sister painting poppies on canvas.  My friend Lisa took me on a tour of the Mormon temple in Atlanta and I wrote this piece about my experience touring it as a Catholic. It was published on the Mormon website. We hosted a baby shower for my brother, David, and his wife, Paige. And then, finally, we told our pregnancy story after telling our extended families the good news on Easter.

The boys got serious with brewing.   We spent a weekend in Highlands and Asheville. I flew to Ohio to visit my college roommates. And I took a photography class.   My computer was out of commission all month. Eric went to Covecrest and worked on their mountain bikes to get them ready for summer camp.

 I spent a week with middle schoolers at summer camp. And with that, I was "retired" from Middle School youth ministry. We ran a 4 mile race with Eric's family for Father's Day. My nephew Zachary was born. I co-lead our Archdiocese's CLI and we went to Nashville for a wedding.

 Eric was offered a new job with a start up company, but it fell through.  The company, not the offer.  Together we chaperoned a group of teens at a weekend conference. We took our last vacation before Evie was born to spend a long weekend in Maine and Boston with my parents at a house they rented.

August started a series of minor pregnancy complications.  I had a lot of hip pain , went wheat-free/low-soy/low-dairy to reduce swelling, and pulled a major muscle putting me on best rest for a week.  Eric went on a retreat with the Core Team, and then took the Freshman on a retreat.  I got ready for a busy Fall with work. We started our Bradley childbirth classes.

At the beginning of the month we paid off the last of our debt and wrote a whole series about it. Thank you, Dave Ramsey!  We're DEBT FREEEEEE!!!!  Eric and I used Labor Day weekend to get away and have a romantic dinner in Highlands, NC.  We did a maternity photo shoot.  Eric started the school year of volunteering for the Church youth group.  My brother and sister in law came to town for the Journey Concert and our Hungry Caterpillar Baby shower.  The next weekend the girls from Church threw a Mexican Fiesta baby shower.  My sister-in-law, Leeann, and I turned 29 and celebrated with a big fondue party with Eric's family.  I finished my job at the lawn company.

October went by very quickly.  I was working about 50+ hours a week, and spending every spare moment getting ready for baby. We attended a wedding of one of Eric's long time family friends, and we celebrated our own two year wedding anniversary.  Leeann hosted a baby shower for us.  Eric entered a home brew competition and placed 6th out of 12. The first 5 beers that won were made by a national beer judge.  He also made a kegerator out of a mini fridge.  Our boxes of cloth diapers arrived and every night we washed them again to prepare them for Miss Evie.  My Mom had major surgery.  We kept each other company while we were both on bed rest.

Evie wasn't due until Nov 21, but on Nov 7 I was induced.  At 6:55 am on November 8 we welcomed Miss Genevieve Marie.  Most of November was a blur as we experienced the joys (and woes) of being new parents.  My parents hosted Thanksgiving.  It was a blessing to celebrate with my whole family.  

December went by as quickly as November did.  Most of our days and nights were spent loving on our sweet baby girl.  Sam hosted his annual Gingerbread Person party.  Lots of friends visited. On Christmas Eve Eric and I celebrated Christmas with each other and Evie.  That night both of our families had a dinner together, and we went to Mass. We celebrated Christmas morning with my family complete with all the new baby cousins.  New Year's Eve I went to bed at 11, but Eric and Evie kissed at midnight.

We have been abundantly blessed this year.  In fact, I'd say this was one of our most "accomplished" years to date: travel, volunteering, new jobs, paid off debt, and had a baby.  Our life is certainly changing with a little one around and we can't wait to share all that 2012 has to offer!

Love,

and

2009 | 2010