Welcome, 2016!

Welcome, 2016! This is the year I get to meet my SON and we become a family of four. HOLY CRAP. I sometimes really can't believe this is actually my life. I feel so fortunate and blessed. And also, overwhelmed and excited. Tons of emotions, all day every day.

This year is going to be extremely hectic, busy, and fly by in the blink of an eye I am sure. We have a lot going on and so I want to make a few general resolutions for myself. None of that, must go to the gym 3 days a week, must lose 15 lbs, etc. but GENERAL resolutions to doing things a bit differently. Here goes:

1. Be more intentional with my time with my husband. With the impending arrival of our new bundle of joy in about three months I'm reminded now - while we still have somewhat of a "life" of our own that we need to make each other a priority - and be intentional with the time we do get together. I aim to have at least one night a week where we actually do something together - a board game, a massage, something together other than zoning out on the couch staring at the TV or our phones; and at least one night per month with a babysitter so that we can have a date night - out or in, doesn't matter, just the two of us.

2. Make myself a priority as well - eat right, exercise, and bathe regularly. Now that last one might sound odd to those of you who do not have children - but with a toddler and a newborn coming at the beginning of April I am pretty sure this is going to be a challenge for me. So I want to start out the year getting in the habit and taking care of myself so that I can continue to make that a priority.

3. Get outside with my kids! - Plain and simple - I want to take advantage of the beautiful area in which we live and get our kids outside playing, hiking, camping, kayaking, etc.

Now on to my To Do list for the year, which I consider to be different from Resolutions. Both personally and professionally I have a lot of goals that I want to work towards over the coming year(s). I didn't get much accomplished this year off of my 40 Before 40 Bucket List so I'm going to start the year off with some of those items in mind:

1. Reading - I hope to knock out at least two of the items off of that bucket list- more importantly I hope to be able to read at least one book a month for fun.

2. Fitness - My big goal for this year is going to be starting to run after Lucas is born. I hope to be able to accomplish a 5k and potentially a 10k by the end of the year.

3. Adventure - Now this one item on my "adventure" list isn't really that adventurous but something I'd like to do regardless and with a maternity leave on the horizon I'm thinking I might be able to knock some of these out - the top 100 Movie list.

4. Me - Adam and I's big goal this year is to knock out our debt. Initially when I started thinking of goals for 2016 this was number one and I immediately started thinking how I needed to mentally prepare myself for saying NO to lots of things this year so that we can meet this goal. I have since relaxed a bit and believe that while we will need to keep our budget in check in order to do this, I am not going to be a negative Nancy all year. We can do it.

5. Withamama - I started this blog in the throws of new parenthood when I was over thinking and questioning every single thing that I did for the first few months of my daughters life. I was a little crazy - and I am preparing myself for this craziness to hit again in a few months. Though, I hope that since this is my second go at the whole newborn thing maybe I won't be quite so doubtful of myself. With that said, I'm SURE I will have more things to vent about and ask for advice so I'm guessing I'll have plenty of cause to keep up with this blog, however, I also realize I will have two children under two for the majority of this year and will probably lose all sanity or sense of time. So - in hopes of not being overly optimistic my goal for this blog will be to check in once a week.

6. Professionally - I will be working towards a work designation that will take me the entire year and potentially longer to complete. Hopefully by this time next year I'll be able to add some letters after my name when signing work documents :)

That's it! Not too overly demanding but also some good goals (if I do say so myself). I'm looking forward to a fun and exciting new year and I hope you are too!

2015 - The Year in Review

Happy New Year, Friends!

I hope everyone had a lovely holiday and are embracing the new year with open arms and open minds!

2015 was truly amazing for us! We started off the year with me heading back to work after maternity leave and Charlotte starting off at Miss Rita's - where she's been for a year now and I can honestly say I do not know what I would do without that amazing lady. She is an angel and we couldn't live without her.

February we had friends visit for the Superbowl, went to a painting class for my Mom's birthday, & took super cute Valentine's pics of sweet Charlotte.

 

In March Charlotte and I visited Gam Gam in Richmond for her birthday, Adam celebrated Jon's bachelor party, a two of our favorite couples were married and we were lucky enough to celebrate with them, & we spent our first weekend away from Charlotte while she celebrated her 6 month birthday with her grandparents.

In April we took Charlotte on her first hike where her Great Grandpa joined us!, we celebrated Easter, visited Nova, and Charlotte truly started enjoying eating real food!

May was super fun as we went to our first Salem Red Sox game, spent a lot of time outside playing, swimming and swinging in the back yard, celebrated my first Mother's Day, had a bunch of family visit to celebrate Memorial Day Weekend and then finally at the end of the month we welcomed our beautiful niece Hannah Storm to the world!

 

In June we had friends visit from out of town, hiked Mill Mountain, Visited Nova for Father's Day & visited Va Beach to meet Miss Hannah!

In July we headed up to PA to celebrate Independence Day with the Lavellas, spent some quality time in the pool, went to the Touch a Truck event in Salem, and unfortunately had to say goodbye to a beloved member of our family, Marlie. 

 

  

 In August, Michele and the girls came to visit Roanoke, Adam went to Nova for his Fantasy Football Draft and Grammy came down to stay with us for the weekend, and we celebrated her 60th Birthday (almost two months early) with a surprise party.

September marked one year since our sweet girl graced us with her presence. We had professional family photos taken (check off my bucket list), visited Smith Mountain Lake with the Witherows for a week, and had a big birthday party for our big one year old.

 

  

 

October was another fun month - we started it off announcing that Number 2 was on the way, and ended the month with a bang with a trip to the pumpkin patch and Halloween!

 

  

November we found out that we were having a little boy! and then spent a few days in SC with the Witherows for Thanksgiving!

 

December came and went quickly! We visited Va Beach, Nova, saw the new Star Wars Movie, then celebrated Christmas, followed quickly by a fun New Year's Eve weekend at a friends wedding!

Doing a review of the year like this really reminds me of all the fun things we've done that I forgot about. We had an excellent year! Charlotte has grown so much and we cannot wait for all the fun 2016 has in store for us. Resolutions/Goals for 2016 coming tomorrow!