2016 Year End Review

2016 was the year I met my baby girl and took my big boy to Disney World, with a lot of fun mixed in.

January was mainly focused on preparing for AveryAnn's arrival. We welcomed a our sweet new niece Madelyn on the 8th.  I didn't blog much but I did write about the sweet baby shower my friends hosted for me.  It was so much fun and I'm so thankful for these friends. We painted the nursery!

In February I shared AveryAnn's finished nursery.  I love how it turned it out.  It was exactly what I imagined!  We welcomed our new baby girl at the end of the month!  As we settled in as a family of four I started writing AveryAnn's birthday story here.  I didn't blog a whole lot mainly because I was exhausted because I didn't think the baby would ever sleep more than 2.5 hours.  Those first 5 weeks were rough.  Also Patrick left his job and started a new one in the middle of all this.  It was a crazy few weeks that I wish I'd had more energy to document.

 

March was a blur.  AveryAnn turned one month old.  I went back to work.  I registered Barrett for K3.  Patrick enjoyed starting his new job.  I tried to go back and catch up the first few weeks at home here, here and here. We ended the month celebrating Easter and our 8th anniversary. I finally finished writing AveryAnn's birth story!  This and Barrett's birth story are two things that I'm so glad I wrote down.

I only blogged two times in April.  We celebrated Madelyn's baptism and Ruby's.  I was honored to be both girls Godmother. It was so special!  AveryAnn turned two months old!

We celebrated Mother's day in early May and it was a bittersweet weekend for sure.  AveryAnn was baptized.  I loved sharing with so many friends and family.  We had a fun little celebration at our house after and it was so sweet.  We ended the month with some summer fun!

I finally posted AveryAnn's  newborn pictures  in June.  Barrett wore the bunny mask he got at his MDO end of the year party for nearly a week straight.  We finally got to go stay with Tony and Carla in June and we had the best time!  We can't wait to go back!  AveryAnn turned 4 months old and I finally took Barrett to his 3 year old checkup.  We celebrated Father's Day but it apparently didn't get a post and we finally started potty training! A busy, fun month indeed!

July kicked off with Independence day celebrations.  We went to swim at the Moore's house, to the lake and watched fireworks (which Barrett still hates).  I posted a little life lately as a catch-up post and AveryAnn turned 5 months old.

August was filled with emotion as Barrett had his final Mother's Day Out at the only place he'd known.  I love these women so much and was so sad to leave them.  It was a bittersweet day for sure.  The very next week you started 3K at your new school.  You cried for the first few weeks.  It was a bit of an adjustment from going half days to full days.  AveryAnn turned 6 months old!

There was only one thing on our minds (and blog) for September.  And that was DISNEY WORLD!!!  We'd been thinking about and planning this trip for nearly 18 months and we were so excited!!  We started the week in Magic Kingdom.  The next day we traveled around the World (showcase) in Epcot.  Wednesday we headed to Animal Kingdom.  Thursday was my favorite day, we headed back to Magic Kingdom and Be Our Guest for dinner.  Friday was our last day and we were in Hollywood Studios.  It was the most fun, exhausting vacation ever.  We had the best time.  Even Patrick, who I was sure was going to hate it, had a blast.  It'll be a few years but we can't wait to go back.  AveryAnn turned 7 months old.  I'm pretty sure I already had Barrett's first birthday planned when he was 7 months old. 

October was a crapshoot.  I got to go to Tuscaloosa twice. Once with Barrett for Homecoming and once with Lorie for the Texas A&M game.  Neither trip made it on the blog.  AveryAnn turned 8 months old.  We also had a fun Halloween with our friends again.  Barrett was Chase from Paw Patrol, Patrick was Ryder and AveryAnn was Snow White.

November snuck up on us.  We decorated for Christmas.  AveryAnn turned 9 months old.  We celebrated Thanksgiving.  We played kickball at my brothers on black Friday.  Patrick and I got to go to the Iron Bowl and it was a lot of fun! 

To be honest I was in a pretty rotten mood all month long.  We kicked off the month with the annual Gardendale Christmas parade.  We also went to see Santa that weekend too.  Barrett talked a big talk but chickened out when it was his turn.  We celebrated Jackson and Barrett's birthday with a gingerbread house decorating playdate!  We went to a couple of Christmas get togethers.  AveryAnn turned 10 months old and Barrett turned 4!  Finally we celebrated Christmas and Barrett's birthday!

We've had the best year watching our little family grow!  We're looking forward to 2017!