2018: What a crazy year

This past year has been crazy in our family household. Thinking back over the last year I get a little emotional thinking about how much God has blessed our family in 2018.

2018 started out with a bang as I started the new year very pregnant and Josh and I took a little babymoon trip in January to NYC for the first time. We ate a ton of great food, froze our rear ends off and enjoyed being together as a couple before our new little loved arrived. January also kicked off my new consulting role and thus a new lifestyle of travel. During one of my trips I was thrilled to have the opportunity to go support one of my good friends as she opened her business out west.

After that trip out west things with my pregnancy started to get a little scary (hello preeclampsia combined with what was already a high risk pregnancy) and I was in for basically every other day for monitoring with my OB which grounded me for awhile. Our precious daughter surprised us by coming even earlier than her already planned c-section date and ended up arriving February 20th, making us a family of 4. (You can read Brighton’s birth story here). My c-section was a dozy and if I am honest the surgery and recovery were both pretty awful for me but I would do it all over again daily if it meant getting to have Brighton for my daughter. I got to spend the rest of spring playing doll with with my precious new baby as I dressed her up in all the cute pink things and tried to soak up every moment with a newborn at home again.

Over the spring we also got to watch our 1st baby play soccer on a team for the first time which he rocked and enjoyed celebrating him turning 4 during the summer. Easton has turned into a little man right before our eyes and totally keeps us laughing. He made the transition from only child to big brother flawless and is truly the sweetest big brother. He started pre-k in August and it is amazing to see all he has learned over the year.

The rest of the late spring/early summer was honestly spent soaking up every moment of maternity leave with my kiddos before transitioning back into work late May. June kicked back off my travel role and we transitioned into a new life with two littles at home with mommy traveling all over the country on a weekly basis (while nursing which is a feat in of itself // if you want my pumping travel trips check it out here). I would be lying if I said it has been easy all the time (especially when kiddos get sick which seems never ending) but Josh has been a total superhero and rocked working and taking care of the kids while I am gone and it certainly has been a fun adventure.

Then just when we thought things couldn’t get any crazier we bought a house and listed our existing house with a baby, a preschooler, and a mom who is on the road every week. It was a crazy season but God provided and we ended up closing on our old house just a week and half after moving into our new home. We love our new home and neighborhood and most of all love that we are on the golf cart paths and can take our golf cart to the grocery store, library, and out to eat.

Finally we thought we were gliding into the holidays only to find our little girl had RSV and to spend 3 very scary days in the hospital which you can read about here.

Somehow in the midst of it all we managed to take a family vacation to the beach, many trips to our lake house, a trip to Dollywood, and a week long trip to Disney all as a family of 4. We laughed, we cried, we made amazing memories together as a family and we truly feel we did the best we could to make each day an adventure. And we got to spend lots of special time with amazing friends and family.