Reminiscence and an Announcement

I'm a little late in doing my year in review for 2011, and I apologize for that! Things have been very hectic recently, and I had some special news I wanted to share with y'all (at the end!!) and was waiting on some last minute info to come through. But don't worry, I promise this won't be too long... lol!

This last year was such a roller coaster for not only The Farmers Wife, but our whole family. My Hubby has worked more hours this last year than previous years, which was at times a struggle. My Son started potty training and doing preschool at home with Mommy. And I have been busy trying to keep on top of everything!

At times this year I know my focus has been off this site more than I would have liked, either with working on other projects, or with some personal difficulties. This June I ended up in the ER with excruciating ear pain in the middle of the night, turns out a wonderful (NOT!) spider decided my ear looked yummy that night and wanted to eat my ear drum. Lovely huh? Not so much... After battling that very painful incident I now have lost significant hearing in my right ear and still battle pain at times. Also this year we experienced a couple of losses in the form of Miscarriages that are never easy and take a toll on me physically and emotionally. We've always wanted to have a large family, and I think this year we realized that a large family was not in God's plan for us.

There have been blessings this year too though, we became and Aunt and Uncle for the very first time this year with the arrival of our precious Nephew this June! He is such a sweet and adorable little guy and we all love him so very much! It has been fun watching his parents grow with this new little person in their lives too. As I always said they really are amazing parents, and I'm so glad to be able to share this journey with them as we are constantly swapping parenting info. We've also spent a lot more time with my little Sis-In-Law as she attends college just minutes from our house and spends a lot of time "mooching" food off of me! :-) But we enjoy having her around and my Son just loves seeing her all the time.

This year my site has grown by leaps and bounds as well, and that is all thanks to my wonderful readers! I wouldn't be where I am today without all of you and your amazing support and love I always feel. I hope that in 2012 we will continue to grow, and this site will have even more recipes and food info for you all!

Now for the big news... I know many of you have wondered at my recent absence the last few months in posting, and while it may not seem it, I have been doing some "slow cooking" that last few months... You see the truth is I haven't been feeling very well. I've battled a lot of sleepless nights, indigestion, nausea, headaches, emotional moments, exhaustion, and a whole myriad of symptoms... Did you guess yet?!?!?!

I'm PREGNANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Finally after years of battling losses and starting to feel that we may never have more children, this September we got a very welcome surprise. And we couldn't be more excited about this baby arriving early this June (or late May as my son was early!). So far this has been a normal pregnancy (although I have been much sicker hence the lack of posting) and still have yet to gain weight. But here I am at 19 1/2 weeks and I have one parting piece of news to share with y'all that we are just beyond thrilled about.

It's a GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We just found out early this week, and that's the piece of news we were waiting on before announcing. We are all so excited to have our precious little girl, and to complete our family! Nichole Ann is scheduled to arrive June 3rd, however high chance of her being early. And since I know y'all will want to meet her, here's is a picture of our precious little girl!

Our little girl, Nichole!

I really can't tell you enough how I appreciate y'alls support as I've been taking a step back from not feeling well, and never telling you why. lol! But I wanted to get to a "safe" point before announcing because of my history of Miscarriage. I know this next year will be a challenge with keeping up here on the blog and our changing family, but I look forward to the challenge! I have some new special recipes I can't wait to share with you, and some new categories that will be coming over the next year. Such as Freezer Meals, and Baby Food! I look forward to sharing the rest of this journey with y'all!

Happy Baking! ;-)