Team Calway's 2007

What an exciting year! I can't believe how quickly it flew by! Here's a recap of our 2007.  We were at the Calway home in Boston to ring-in 2007. After a fabulous celebration, we returned to our respective homes. We then began the year with the wonderful news that we would soon have a new addition to our family. For the whole first trimester we were 3,000 miles apart, because I was finishing up Army training on the mainland. In March, I graduated and was finally able to join Chris in Hawaii. After one year of marriage and four years of being together, we actually moved in together. We had to work out a few kinks at first, like laundry and a few cleaning lessons, but we eventually got the hang of things. It is so nice to have our own place, our own stuff, and our own little family.

In between all of the moving, adjusting, and preparing for baby, we still found time to chill out at the beach and surf. Chris was even more obsessed with surfing this year and got really good. I surfed right up until about 7 ½ months, managing to paddle on my knees, before I retired to the beach. 

We took a babymoon to Maui in May where we drove the scariest road we've ever been on (think, 5 feet of pavement, a two-lane road with no lines, mountains, and shear 1,000 foot cliffs down to the ocean) no wonder it was off-limits to rental cars!

Over the summer Chris had tons of training to prepare for deployment. He was in and out, always moving at break-neck speed. When he was home he was able to compete in the North Shore Triathlon and kicked some serious butt.

 

Tyler, Chris' youngest brother came to visit us for a month and a half during the summer. We had a great time showing him the island and teaching him how to surf. We all ran in the Fourth of July 5k on Schofield and Chris beat me for the first time ever in anything over a mile but I did win the pregnant division :) Shortly after, Chris left for some more training in California in August.

My Dad got promoted this summer, a well-deserved and highly anticipated event. The whole family was there and tons of friends showed up to congratulate him. My Aunt Lynn came out from Michigan for the promotion and got to stay for my baby shower too, which was just a few days after the promotion. My mom and sisters put together a really great Shower where I received tons of advice and gifts! Afterwards, I was so ready for our little Princess to arrive.

Chris got to come home early from training in California for the birth of Hazel Avery. My due date was 18 September and apparently she got the memo, because my water broke on the evening of the 18th and Hazel Avery was born on the 19th of September at 4:31 am. 

She is the most perfect little angel baby (not that I'm biased). 

I still can't believe she's real. She is the most amazing thing to ever happen to us. Chris was instantly the best Daddy in the world and I love being her Mommy. She is growing so much every day and developing an adorable little personality.

Grandma and Grandpa Calway, my cousin Kim, and Uncle Johnny J came to visit for Chris' birthday in November. They finally got to meet Ms. Hazel and she loved all of the attention. It was such a blast. After everyone left, when Hazel was six weeks old, we took her on her first trip to the Big Island.

  We spent a week driving and hiking all over the island to all of the sights. We couldn't believe how big it was!  We haven't spent that much time in a car in forever!

When we returned from our trip I had to start back at work, which was an emotional experience, to say the least. I obviously didn't want to leave my precious little baby, but we found a wonderful nanny to come over to our house during the day.

We spent Thanksgiving at home with my parents; my first one home in five years! My Mom outdid herself this year, with a truly impressive spread. She even found a way to make her famous stuffing vegetarian for me!

Chris deployed on the 4th of December. We had a small family Christmas the day before he left. Hazel was so good, it was like she knew her Daddy was going away; she stayed up late with us just hanging out and playing with her Daddy. She got a Build-a-Bear Daddy Bear that has Chris' voice recorded and is dressed like a little surfer. When the dreaded morning came, it was so hard to say goodbye to him and even harder to watch him hug and kiss Hazel for the last time. It is going to be a hard 15 months, but luckily we have phone, internet, and webcams to keep us connected.

The day after Chris left, my sister Brooke came home from her first semester at Oregon. She got to see Hazel for one day before she had to go to school, so she was totally surprised at how much she had grown. A few days later, the morning of the 9th of December, I lined up in the pouring rain for the 35th Honolulu Marathon. I had said for months that I was going to do it, and I ran throughout my entire pregnancy, but hadn't done any real training, but I ran a 3:38, and was happy. My other sister, Kristen, arrived that afternoon and got to meet Hazel for the first time. She was thrilled to see her and they have spent tons of time bonding.

Hazel had her first real Christmas this year! She must have been a good girl because Santa left her tons of presents! But she was a sleepy head in the morning and didn't want to open any presents. By the evening, though, she had tried on and played with everything.

We are looking forward to 2008, and all of Hazel's firsts. Hopefully this year will fly by and Daddy will return to us soon!