Hello from the other side of Christmas, friends! Did you all survive the holiday madness? Hope you not only made it through, but that you took time to slow down, sit back, and really enjoy. We had a great couple of days with our family and hosted Christmas dinner at our house, which I always really love. Still, the entire season can be chaotic, especially with small kids, and Steve and I watched this SNL skit about 142 times while we laughed our heads off.
The even better question is... what day is it? Does anybody really know? I've lost all track of time and I think midweek next week is going to be an abrupt and rude awakening. ;)
.............................................................
As 2018 comes to a close, I'm taking time to reflect on the past year, as I always do. These years as a young family are fast and full to the brim, and don't usually leave a lot of time for reflection, but when I look back on the year, there are so many highlights that I don't want to forget.
January
*Celebrated the New Year with a nice dinner out and tutus (for the children ;))
*Celebrated birthdays with family, friends, and lots of cake
*The girls' sisterly bond seemed to grow so much this month
February
*Celebrated a milestone birthday and threw a little party for my momma
*Welcomed a new little pal to our group of friends
*Steve turned 32! Celebrated with a date in Philly.
March
*Hadley's first dance class (mommy & me ballet)
*Celebrated more birthdays with family, friends, and cake :)
*Dyed Easter eggs and took the most epic bunny picture
*Carrington's first soccer practice
April
*Celebrated Easter
*Celebrated more family birthdays (can you tell we love our family and cake?)
*Went taste-testing at Kitchen Kettle Village
*Went to a baby shower for one of my close friends
*Took a trip to the aquarium (and bought our annual pass)
*Lost my Uncle Jorge. :(
May
*Celebrated Mother's Day and had a tea at school
*Spent a weekend in DC (kidless!) to celebrate our 8th wedding anniversary
*Officially brought out the shorts and bathing suits (summer is our favorite!)
June
*Took our yearly week-long beach vacation in our happy place! Had the best time (except for that food poisoning thing).
*Carrie had her first lemonade stand, of which she was so proud and it was adorable.
*Had a girls' night in Philly involving so much dancing that it felt like I ran a marathon for, like, a week afterward (in other words, it was a success).
July
*Celebrated Hadley's 2nd birthday with a Minnie themed party in the backyard!
*Celebrated my 31st birthday
*Took our family photos
*Had a great day at Storybook Land with the girls
August
*Had our annual family day
*Celebrated babies-to-be and friends' birthdays in the summer sun
*Went to Dutch Wonderland!
September
*Back to school -- C's first day of Preschool 4s
*Swimming lessons started back up
*Celebrated my cousin's 30th birthday
*Went to the aquarium!
*Did a day trip to the boardwalk with my brother and family, plus another bonus trip to the beach at the end of the month
*C started lacrosse
*Went apple picking!
*Brought the girls to my hometown's fair (an annual tradition)
October
*Went pumpkin picking and carved jack-o-lanterns
*Hadley started gymnastics (mommy & me)
*Hadley's first movie in the theater! (Smallfoot)
*Celebrated the birthdays of family and friends
*Did a day trip to Long Island to visit with family
*Trick-or-treating... the girls were mermaids this year!
November
*Celebrated Carrington's 5th birthday... three times! Haha :)
*Celebrated the birthdays of family and friends
*Our first Thanksgiving at home (due to sickness)
*Hadley's first hair cut!
*Went to Peddler's Village for dinner and Christmas lights (an annual tradition)
December
*December 5th -- C lost her first tooth!
*Visited Santa at the mall
*Stayed up late (and froze our butts off!) to see Santa come down our street on the fire truck
*Drove around looking at lights and drinking cocoa (two nights this year!)
*C had her holiday singalong at school
*Did a trip into Philly to do all things Christmas with the kids
*Celebrated the holidays with loved ones and hosted Christmas dinner
*Went to the aquarium
Whew! What a year! It was a really wonderful one for our family. The girls grew so much and their relationship did too. I think that was my favorite part of the year: watching them grow so close. Blog-wise, my favorite thing was launching the Women Who Inspire series, which will pick back up next month after a brief break over the holidays! Personally, I discovered a love for cooking this year. I didn't go out looking for it, but it was a pleasantly surprising result of one of my goals for 2018, which was meal planning (life changing, btw). I've really had fun experimenting with new recipes, planning our week's dinners, and just nourishing my family. I never thought I'd enjoy cooking so much... but I do! It's fun to discover different parts of yourself.
With all that said, of course there were also low points this year. We lost my Uncle Jorge in early spring, and he meant so much to me. That was really tough. We also watched family and close friends go through very difficult times, which was (and is still) hard to witness, and I wish I could have changed it for them.
..........................................................
So, back to the insight I shared above... I'd love to know: did your 2018 ask questions or answer them? What were some of your highlights, or biggest challenges? What are you most proud of or surprised by within the past year?
The even better question is... what day is it? Does anybody really know? I've lost all track of time and I think midweek next week is going to be an abrupt and rude awakening. ;)
.............................................................
As 2018 comes to a close, I'm taking time to reflect on the past year, as I always do. These years as a young family are fast and full to the brim, and don't usually leave a lot of time for reflection, but when I look back on the year, there are so many highlights that I don't want to forget.
January
*Celebrated the New Year with a nice dinner out and tutus (for the children ;))
*Celebrated birthdays with family, friends, and lots of cake
*The girls' sisterly bond seemed to grow so much this month
February
*Celebrated a milestone birthday and threw a little party for my momma
*Welcomed a new little pal to our group of friends
*Steve turned 32! Celebrated with a date in Philly.
March
*Hadley's first dance class (mommy & me ballet)
*Celebrated more birthdays with family, friends, and cake :)
*Dyed Easter eggs and took the most epic bunny picture
*Carrington's first soccer practice
April
*Celebrated Easter
*Celebrated more family birthdays (can you tell we love our family and cake?)
*Went taste-testing at Kitchen Kettle Village
*Went to a baby shower for one of my close friends
*Took a trip to the aquarium (and bought our annual pass)
*Lost my Uncle Jorge. :(
May
*Spent a weekend in DC (kidless!) to celebrate our 8th wedding anniversary
*Officially brought out the shorts and bathing suits (summer is our favorite!)
June
*Carrie had her first lemonade stand, of which she was so proud and it was adorable.
*Had a girls' night in Philly involving so much dancing that it felt like I ran a marathon for, like, a week afterward (in other words, it was a success).
July
*Celebrated Hadley's 2nd birthday with a Minnie themed party in the backyard!
*Celebrated my 31st birthday
*Took our family photos
*Had a great day at Storybook Land with the girls
August
*Had our annual family day
*Celebrated babies-to-be and friends' birthdays in the summer sun
*Went to Dutch Wonderland!
September
*Back to school -- C's first day of Preschool 4s
*Swimming lessons started back up
*Celebrated my cousin's 30th birthday
*Went to the aquarium!
*Did a day trip to the boardwalk with my brother and family, plus another bonus trip to the beach at the end of the month
*C started lacrosse
*Went apple picking!
*Brought the girls to my hometown's fair (an annual tradition)
October
*Went pumpkin picking and carved jack-o-lanterns
*Hadley started gymnastics (mommy & me)
*Hadley's first movie in the theater! (Smallfoot)
*Celebrated the birthdays of family and friends
*Did a day trip to Long Island to visit with family
*Trick-or-treating... the girls were mermaids this year!
November
*Celebrated Carrington's 5th birthday... three times! Haha :)
*Celebrated the birthdays of family and friends
*Our first Thanksgiving at home (due to sickness)
*Hadley's first hair cut!
*Went to Peddler's Village for dinner and Christmas lights (an annual tradition)
December
*December 5th -- C lost her first tooth!
*Visited Santa at the mall
*Stayed up late (and froze our butts off!) to see Santa come down our street on the fire truck
*Drove around looking at lights and drinking cocoa (two nights this year!)
*C had her holiday singalong at school
*Did a trip into Philly to do all things Christmas with the kids
*Celebrated the holidays with loved ones and hosted Christmas dinner
*Went to the aquarium
Whew! What a year! It was a really wonderful one for our family. The girls grew so much and their relationship did too. I think that was my favorite part of the year: watching them grow so close. Blog-wise, my favorite thing was launching the Women Who Inspire series, which will pick back up next month after a brief break over the holidays! Personally, I discovered a love for cooking this year. I didn't go out looking for it, but it was a pleasantly surprising result of one of my goals for 2018, which was meal planning (life changing, btw). I've really had fun experimenting with new recipes, planning our week's dinners, and just nourishing my family. I never thought I'd enjoy cooking so much... but I do! It's fun to discover different parts of yourself.
With all that said, of course there were also low points this year. We lost my Uncle Jorge in early spring, and he meant so much to me. That was really tough. We also watched family and close friends go through very difficult times, which was (and is still) hard to witness, and I wish I could have changed it for them.
..........................................................
So, back to the insight I shared above... I'd love to know: did your 2018 ask questions or answer them? What were some of your highlights, or biggest challenges? What are you most proud of or surprised by within the past year?