2012 in review

Happy 2nd blogiversary to me! Hard to believe I have another whole year of blogging under my belt. So just like I did last year, it's time for a roundup of my highlights from 2012. I just love having a way to look back and remember all we've done and all the pictures I've taken--for me, it's the biggest motivation for me to keep blogging (because otherwise, I wouldn't remember what I did a week ago, let alone a year ago...).

Here we go!

January: We confirmed Lorelai's peanut allergy, I shared how I created a Pottery Barn inspired Advent calendar, freaked out about getting LASIK, got pink eye, then went to my surgery appointment but got sent home. I also partied it up with mustaches, Lorelai got fussy and turned 18 months old. I started doing a weekly iPhone photo dump which I kept up with for most of the year, and a monthly 10 on 10 photography challenge...which I did not keep up with for most of the year.



February: I finally got LASIK! We celebrated Valentines day, I ate Girl Scout cookies for dinner, confessed some body image issues and decided I needed to start working out again ASAP. We also had to have a tough conversation about death since Adam's grandfather passed away.



March: Lorelai developed quite a sense of fashion, Logan melted my heart with some kind words he had for a sick teacher, we took a road trip to IKEA, I got personal about the time I thought I was having a miscarriage, and we went to the zoo. Last but not least, I actually won my age group in a race. What?!



April: I started to worry that Lorelai didn't love me any more, then realized I was completely wrong. We hosted Easter and I put together another Easter egg treasure hunt for the boys, Adam took the boys to Monster Jam and Lorelai became Miss Independent. Finally, Adam and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary and went on a cruise!



May: I went on a rare political rant, blogged about our cruise excursion to Tulum (and I'm now realizing I never blogged about our Cayman Island excursion, whomp whomp), celebrated mother's day, and freaked my kids out with a lobster for my birthday.



June: I blogged about our cruise excursion to Belize, Aidan finished 2nd grade, Logan graduated preschool, I put together a summer bucket list, we cried over bad haircuts, we celebrated father's day and Logan drew Adam a penis tie. Aidan melted my heart when he shared his proudest moment, and the kids had a blast dancing in the rain.



July: A roller coaster of a month that started out with our neighbor's house getting burglarized. Summer break ended, Aidan started 3rd grade, and Logan started kindergarten (after basically getting kicked out of preschool on his last day). Lots of woes with Logan, including him thinking I like Lorelai better and completely freaking the freak out. Aidan turned 8 and we had a decidedly not "Pinteresting" party for him at the beach. And last but not least, Lorelai turned 2, we went to the NC Aquarium on her birthday, and we sort of started potty training her.



August: Adam turned 33, our house pissed me off and I started (sort of) dreaming about a new one with a porch, the boys were grumpy, Aidan struggled with homework, I freaked out about fall, had a bad dream, and Lorelai went through a biting phase which thankfully didn't last very long. I also took some of my all-time favorite pictures of her from that post.



September: I vented, Logan turned 6 and we went to see tigers, we had an impromptu Labor Day pool party, I tried (and ultimately failed) to start running again regularly, I lost my patience, admitted I was the crazy car seat lady, shared some funny things Lorelai says, and we took another amazing trip to the beach.



October: We went to a corn maze, carved pumpkins, and went trick-or-treating. I shared some "fancy" beach pictures, got nostalgic about breastfeeding, channeled my inner "Jennifer Beals in Flashdance" at work, officially put myself out there in the blog world, I vented, and work was crazy.



November: I had to confiscate the majority of Lorelai's candy (and subsequently ate it all myself), took a much-needed day off work, got nervous about a work presentation, had a relaxing Thanksgiving break, and confessed that I hate cooking (and shared a yummy recipe!). I also shared some more funny things the kids say. Love them!



December: I shared what we're thankful for, our Elf on the Shelf Jack kicked off some Christmas excitement while I tried to figure out how to simply and avoid stress while still making Christmas special for my family, and I'm happy to say that it worked! I also had my very first blog giveaway and shared our Christmas card. In news I wish I could forget, I hit another low point with Logan, and our country hit another low point with the CT school shooting, both of which really messed me up for a while. But I'm happy to say our family ended the year on a high note with an absolutely wonderful Christmas break.



I think blogging has helped me reflect, gain perspective and to be more purposeful in my life--to make a concerted effort to do and photograph things that are worth remembering, but also to write about and photograph the little things I might otherwise forget.

In the next year, I hope to be as consistent as I was in 2012, and continue to write, solidify family memories  and grow blog friendships. I'm looking forward to another year!