Well, another year in the books with lots of ups and downs and ins and outs that are typical of most years. Rather than bore you with a long written post of reflection about all of the eye-opening things I’ve learned about myself and the resolutions I want to make, I’m going to do my standard year in review in pictures because I’m a visual person and enjoy looking back over the year.
It’s cold and sunny and doesn’t really feel like the last day of the year. Tonight we will go home and do what we do every other night except maybe watch an extra episode of Making a Murderer or play a video game and stay up later than usual, but I won’t make it to midnight. Also, the kids will not be sleeping in so staying up late would be silly. While I do plan on making changes in the upcoming year, today really just feels like any other day. However, like I’ve done in the past (2014, 2013, 2012) here is an official year in review… in pictures. Be prepared, it’s a long one.
Happy New Year!
When all is said and done, 2014 was a fairly decent year for us… if anything, it was low-key, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The winter months were mostly spent at home, since Phoebe was still so small.
Josh and I realized that the easiest way to have a long date was to just take a vacation day from work, so we started a day with beer for breakfast and went antiquing.
In April, Enzo turned 2. How did two years go by so fast?
Phoebe started solids, on the same day we had our family photos taken. As it turns out, she loves food. Not surprised.
We also did a lot of gardening, which was fun for everyone… until the mosquitoes. They don’t stand a chance this year, though.
We also did our first overnight trip with the kiddos, including the longest car ride for them both. Aside from a tantrum or two and lack of naps, they both did great!
We made use of our zoo membership several times, which both kids greatly enjoyed. I’m looking forward to it even more this coming year since Phoebe will be even more interested in the animals.
We had a super classy anniversary date at Dave & Buster’s because we’re not fancy, and when you’ve been married for 4 years and have 2 kids your standards are extremely lowered.
We were, however, able to stay at Josh’s company’s cabin, which ended up being a really nice weekend away.
We actually spent a fair amount of time outside and finally went to the Arboretum this year, realizing we should have gone much sooner and could be worth a membership since it’s such a pretty place to walk around.
Took the kids to the A Maze ‘N Farmyard, and introduced Enzo to giant slides and pony rides.
One of the best parts of our year was getting to see family! It was so nice to see my Dad and Stepmom!
More zoo visits (this time to Como), and a growing love of babywearing this entire year. I so wanted to with Enzo, but he never enjoyed it, so I’m thrilled that Phoebe doesn’t mind being worn – it’s much easier than a bulky stroller.
With so many Fall activities going on, we figured we should probably take the kids to a pumpkin patch this year and surprisingly they didn’t mind wandering around the corn maze either.
Our little lady also hit a big milestone… she turned 1 this year. There are definitely days when we think we may have been a little nuts in having two kids only 17 months apart. 😉
December brought lots of busy, chaotic fun as well as sickness, and a much needed movie date (The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies). It was actually during our movie date that day care called letting us know we’d need to come pick up Phoebe early. At least her timing was good and we got to finish it. 😉
This next year will bring the completion of my Aromatherapy Certification, which I hope to make good use of (if only for friends and family in the beginning). I’m also hoping to focus on a few other things as well, but I think this post is long enough and I’ll save my “goals” for later. 😉
Looking back it’s been a fun year in which we got to do a lot of exploring of the U.S. and just had enjoyed the time we had at home. So, I chose a random spattering of pictures from this past year that helps sum it up.
January brought cold temps and swans!
Our first Valentine’s as a married couple
Went to lots of a museums this year!
Began creating family traditions like our weekend breakfasts among scavenger hunts and other things.
Went on our awesome honeymoon road trip to places like:
Oh, and celebrated our 1 Year Anniversary!
Josh always knows what to get a girl for special occasions. 😉
Saw a lot of cool classic cars.
Spectacular sunrises!
Did a few more weekend trips as the year began winding down.
Took a walk on the beach in California in November…
But by far, the biggest adventure of all was started this year, and what that was when we decided to start our family.
