A look back . . . . . .

I just spent some time looking back on my post like this from last year.  It is so fun for me to look at what last year looked like and then to look through this year month by month.  This makes me want to keep writing my blog.  I love being able to see our year in review and get excited to continue to document our lives from the good things, the hard things, the shallow things like outfit pictures and the fun things like projects I've done.  This has been a great year overall and I am so thankful for all the ways God has blessed us.  Here's a look at our 2015 . . . . 

In January I wrote about feeling more confident in my role as a mom, something I'm still learning but as time goes on feeling like this is exactly what I am supposed to be doing right now and was made to be a mom.  I made Addilyn a cool workshop sensory board that I will now have to figure a way to change the name so our baby boy can use it down the line too!  I wrote about being brave and some goals for the new year. 

In February I shared my favorite place in the house to decorate, which ironically I changed and looks very different now.  I shared a new favorite outfit, and wrote about my goal for teaching Addilyn to be herself, needing to hear those words and apply it myself.  I turned my grandpa's old suitcase into an end table and it is probably my best project I've ever done.  

In March we celebrated Easter and Addilyn went to her first big Easter egg hunt which was hysterical.  I wrote out my breastfeeding journey, which came with lots of emotions.  Addilyn got a pair of yoga pants and tennis shoes and it was just about the cutest thing I'd seen.  I made a little coffee bar in our dining room and that became my new favorite place in our house.  

In April, Addilyn and I got matching tees and I wanted to keep dressing us alike all the time.  This month held National Infertility week and I wrote a post about our story.  I had a super fun girls' day with my sister and one of my best friends.  I wrote a post about our desire for baby number 2 and waiting for direction in what we should do.   

In May I nursed Addilyn for the last time on Mother's Day and shared my feelings about it.  Chris and I celebrated our ten year wedding anniversary with a night away, which was the first time we had left Addilyn overnight.  I wrote about ways that I was working on being brave, and Addilyn and I made some flower pots and planted some herbs and flowers which we did manage to keep alive for a long time.  I started writing my Addi says what posts filled with funny things Addilyn has said, which have become my favorite posts. 

In June I wrote about our favorite things to do as a stay at home mom and ways we keep busy.  I had a night away with my sister, sister in law and mom and we had a great time!  Way overdue I wrote about the time with my blogging friend turned best friend came to visit with her daughter.  At the end of the month we went to Florida with Chris' family and I wrote about our trip to Disney World, which is where Addilyn fell in love with Cinderella which she has yet to go a day without saying "I'm Cinderella" at least five times, sometimes fifty.  We also found out on this trip that I was pregnant, but waited until we got home to tell our families after I went to the doctor.  

In July I wrote about the rest of our trip to Florida, including time at the ocean.  Addilyn turned two years old and we celebrated with friends and donuts at the park, and then had an small ice cream party with our families.  I found the comfiest and cutest pairs of pants and wanted to wear them all summer long.  We told our families that we were pregnant with baby number two, which I shared on my blog next month.  I felt nauseous and sick pretty much right away this time around, but was so so thankful and shocked that we got pregnant on our own.  

In August, I shared an embarrassing story about a failed grocery shopping trip, and wrote about our family trip this summer with my side of the family.  I got to announce that we were expecting baby number two and it was just so much fun to feel everyone's excitement for this baby.  I shared a little bit about baby number two and started with weekly updates at week 13.  Chris also started a new job this month, with a new office and lots of exciting things, but also with lots of work and some stress too!

In September I attempted going to MOPS and the childcare did not go well, and I wrote about trying to be brave and wondering if we should stick it out.  We went apple picking or as Addilyn would call it, "apple pie picking."  I started my obsession with buying clothes from Pink Blush and shared a few favorite outfits.  I wrote about how Addilyn at 26 months had become my favorite age so far, and wrote my first letter to our baby. 

In October, we went away for the weekend to a place we've been the previous three years and I wrote about how much our lives have changed each year we've been there.  We found out we were having a baby BOY and shared the exciting news with our families.   My belly kept on growing and I very quickly moved to 99% leggings.  

In November I turned 31 and celebrated with a dinner followed by a trip to Aldi with Chris, then got to sleep in the next morning thanks to Addilyn sleeping over at her grandma's.  Best birthday present ever!  I wrote about our halloween and to no surprise Addilyn's costume choice being Cinderella.  I shared about our trip to the pumpkin patch and about another girls' day with my sisters, mom and aunt.  I wrote another Addi says what post and she just keeps getting funnier and funnier.  

In December, I hosted a favorite things party and it was so much fun!  I shared my maternity staples for this pregnancy which includes leggings, tunics and all things loose and comfortable.  I continue to work on finding joy in the messier moments of motherhood, and knowing that in the midst of hard times there are small moments of joy to hold on to.  We had the best Christmas and I feel like holidays just keep getting better and better.  I ended the year with a pregnancy post with only 10 more weeks left to go!
This year has been wonderful.  It's been fun and surprising.  It's been full of lots of throw up and tiredness, but so so exciting as we wait for our baby boy in March.  God has blessed us so much this year and we couldn't be more thankful.  We know a big year is coming ahead and we are excited to see our family grow and what the year ahead has in store!