Well hello, end of the year!
Once upon a time I had a blog. Then we lost internet for two weeks. Then we went to Nebraska for Thanksgiving. Then... I don't even know. The heaps of laundry ate my computer? Yeah, we'll go with that. I really didn't mean to take a two month break from blogging--it just happened. But lots of other stuff really important stuff happened instead of blogging, like sorting through the crazy huge piles of clothes each of the boys have from all the (wonderful) hand-me-downs we've received over the last four years and giving away two thirds of their collective closet. And (slowly) doing the same for my own closet because, seriously, that favorite shirt (or six) from college? Never going to fit ever again. But guess what? I held on to them long enough that I finally didn't mind giving them up. Finally.
Anyway. Not what this post is about. On this eve of the New Year I'm linking up with
Dwija at House Unseen for her 12 in 2014 year in review. The extent of the review depends entirely on how long John Paul continues his nap and how many crayons I'm willing to let Liam eat to buy me more time.
Kidding about the crayons.
Mostly.
In January
Alex and I celebrated our 4 year anniversary,
Michael turned 3, and Alex helped chaperone (Chrome says that is misspelled... am I losing my mind?) his school's trip to DC for the March for Life. I must have sounded a little too frantic and despairing when talking to my Mom about it in the weeks leading up to it, because she flew out to stay with the boys and me while Alex was gone. So wonderful!
In February I was
very, very pregnant. Cue taking advantage of full-length mirrors at Motherhood Maternity for a blurry preggo selfie.
My sister came for a visit, rescuing us from my absolute least favorite month. And Michael was introduced to
Bob the Cow and said lots of other
cute stuff. I napped every chance I got, usually on the floor while the boys were playing around/on me.
In March I gave up hope of
ever potty training Michael. But then John Paul arrived! Such cuteness
here. Obsessively detailed birth story started
here and continued
here. The second half of the month is a total blur, surprise surprise. We worked on adjusting to being a family of five. Michael was fantastic with John Paul from day one. Liam loved him dearly from day one, but needed some time to learn that sitting on him and giving full body hugs were not acceptable ways of expressing that love. We all survived. And by the end of the month the whole potty thing finally clicked for Michael (although I didn't get around to
blogging about it for another couple months).
April is also a huge blur. We spend as much time outside as we could, enjoying the lovely spring weather. Can you tell those boys are brothers? All I managed to get up on the blog was John Paul's birth story. He slept better than either Michael or Liam did at that age, but still. The exhaustion.
May brought the excitement of watching our
new yard spring into bloom, but also some serious snow for Mother's Day. There was the usual end-of-the-year busy-ness for Alex at school, and more blurriness for me as I
continued to adjust to mothering three three and under. Part of the blurriness may have been due to dealing with another SI joint problem. John Paul did start sleeping through the night in May, so I should remember more of it than I do... Of course, the other boys felt they needed to take up the slack with frequent wakings.
In June we spent a week in the Black Hills at a
church camp I grew up attending with my family. Michael was about the same age I was when I went for the first time. I loved watching him explore and discover and experience things that were so special to me. I remember playing on these walls along the stairs. And beating that spruce tree in the background with sticks to see how many moths we could chase out. We almost didn't make it up there, because our van broke down about an hour into the trip. Alex's parents rescued our family vacation with the loan of one of their cars, and we made it. The six hour trip turned into over ten hours, and the boys were
not happy about it, but we made it! My SI joint problem was resolved after I finally got in to see the PT, but I had a fair bit of residual pain from my sciatic nerve. John Paul stopped sleeping through the night (why?! why must he tease me like this?).
The first week of I woke up with literally crippling back and leg pain. After crying on the phone to the PT's office they got me in the next day, and I left that appointment with the terrifying (to me)
diagnosis of a slipped disc. Several visits to the PT, and new stretching regimen, and lots of ice and ibuprofen later, and we still managed to make our mid-July trip to Lincoln. Highlights of the trip never made the blog (mea culpa), but included: almost two whole weeks with my parents, trips to the Children's Museum and Morrill Hall Natural History Museum, and my dear friend Melissa's beautiful wedding.
I didn't take many pictures in August. Still dealing with pain and lots of limitations from my disc issue, I constructed this improvised standing desk so I wouldn't be sitting down as much. Alex took pity on me and built me a wonderful platform to convert my desk into a much nicer standing desk. I think I took this picture intending a before-and-after blog. Whoops. In other news, Alex was back to school, and I was back to
stay-at-homing by myself. August is always a rough transition for us--this year it was harder than usual. I also learned that I would only be teaching one class for the Biblical School, and so I spend a lot of time looking for freelance writing work to make up the income.
In September I got to spend a week with my sister in Orlando and meet my newest nephew, James. I also started teaching, continued looking for freelance work, and totally out of the blue was offered a huge project. Now that it has been published, I can finally share that I was privileged and honored to work on a Bible study project put together by the Augustine Institute, Ignatius Press, and Lighthouse Catholic Media. Check out the first
Lectio study on Peter! At the end of September we spent a weekend in the mountains for Alex's cousin Sarah's wedding. I think these pictures of Michael and Liam--especially put side-by-side--are my favorite pictures of the whole year. When did my boys get so big?! This month we also said goodbye as Alex's Grandpa Charles passed away at 100 years old. His beautiful obituary is
here.
In October Alex and I
got to go on a date (so rare that it's noteworthy in reviewing the year? yikes!), and we
celebrated John Paul's name day. I was crazy busy writing, but so thankful for the work (and loving it, when I wasn't stressed about a deadline). We got
this fantastic play structure as a hand-me-down from cousins, and we spent as much time outside as we could. I dressed up the boys for All Hallows' Eve even though there was no one else to see. Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati is getting a little too into character. St. Joseph just wanted to snuggle, and David was having issues keeping his sheep under control.
In November Liam turned two. Two! How can that be? Dearest Liam, I promise an entire blog post devoted to your birthday, even if it is two months late. I refuse to let the whole middle child stereotype be proven true. I was so proud of his cake. He did like it, but it was getting awfully close to bedtime. Hence his blank stare. I was crazy busy writing some more. We lost internet for two weeks (thankfully after my final deadline). We went to Lincoln for Thanksgiving, and the big boys and Alex got to meet James. I think he was a little overwhelmed by all the (loud) love and attention from his cousins (and uncle). Advent started as November ended, and immediately I felt like I was behind.
In December Advent was busy and hurried and I just wasn't ready. Oh well. Christmas came anyway, and it has been wonderful. We have been thoroughly enjoying Alex's time off from school. Liam gets really excited about Krikkras Trees and Krikkras lights.
Wow, the year seems both fuller and shorter thanks to that whirlwind attempt to summarize it! I guess I really do need to blog more, just so I remember more of what is happening in this crazy adventure. This year has had some incredibly high points, most notably welcoming John Paul and watching Michael and Liam grow and learn. But it has also been a tough year with more health challenges than I've had to face before, and more exhaustion than I would have thought possible to survive.
