2017 Recap
If I were to sum up 2017 in one word, it would be CHANGE. I've said it before, but the entire year was filled with more change than I really care to experience. It certainly wasn't all bad, but I wouldn't mind having a 2018 that's a little more boring and predictable.
I haven't updated the blog in quite awhile, so I thought I'd do a 2017 recap, and then reset for the new year! In fact, I've been working on this post for the last week, but was finally able to finish it once the girls went back to school yesterday. Here goes!
In January...
Lily changed schools, but it wasn't actually a new school. We sent her to a private school for the first half of the year, which was a brand new school, and then the second semester she went back to the public school where she attended kindergarten. While I was sad about making this change for her, especially in the middle of the school year, she adjusted very quickly and was happy to be back with many of her old friends, including her best friend, Echo, who was so happy to see her on her first day. Right before she left her previous school, she also lost her first tooth! Finally!
The 3 of us girls settled into a routine as best we could and even enjoyed some warm days!
In February...
We celebrated Valentine's Day with two different school parties! So fun!
Lots of pink and red...
And "Bring your Daddy (or Grandpa) to Dance" night...
We also celebrated the end of diapers! Louisa and I seriously had so much fun potty training. I used the same 3 Day Potty Training method that I used with Lily. We still had plenty of accidents after the 3 days, but she got the hang of it and I was so proud of her! Of course we also had to make poo emoji cupcakes to commemorate the event!
In March...
Lily started playing soccer! She joined a team of girls from her previously mentioned private school, so it was fun for her to reconnect with them! The Team was awesome, led by great coaches, and it was so much fun for her. She had played soccer a couple years ago but I think she was just a little too young at the time and nothing really clicked. This time around she did much better and ended up having lots of fun!
We also had so much fun on Spring Break! Aunt Emily, Madison, and Bailey came to visit. We took a quick trip down to Waco to visit Magnolia which was so much fun!
Later in the week after they left, we spent the last couple days of spring break doing a little staycation. We went to Klyde Warren Park which we always love. The weather was beautiful, but not exactly warm enough for swimming. Unfortunately, the fountains were on, which gave Louisa the idea to get completely soaked, even though I was not prepared with swimsuits and towels. The visit did not exactly end well when I had to grab her from the fountains and carry her 2 blocks to the car dripping wet. Haha.
We also enjoyed a visit Texas Tulips for the first time which was so pretty and tons of fun! The tulips were beautiful and it was nice to fill the kitchen with some spring decor.
We also celebrated St. Patrick's Day...
Saw Beauty and the Beast...
And Louisa and I got some awesome 1:1 time since I began staying home with her instead of sending her to daycare. It involved some fun mall visits including meeting the Easter Bunny!
Louisa also started gymnastics! She was a natural and had so much fun!
Mark and I also took a quick visit to Reno/Lake Tahoe to see Logan and Colton. It was my first time there and SO pretty!
In April...
Mark's sister Lisa and her husband John came to visit so we had fun partying in Dallas and playing Top Golf!
Lily had her first big school project which involved doing research on Parrots, and creating a poster, a 3-D model of a parrot, and also delivering a mini presentation. She did great!
Mark and I took a long weekend trip to Clearwater Beach, FL for a few days and had an absolute blast! We rode scooters (which makes me totally want to get a Vespa one day),
and jetskis, soaked up the sun, and ate some awesome seafood.
Logan and Colton came to visit for their spring break. It was the first time all 4 kids were together and we had a great time...
Decorating eggs...
Playing at the park...
Swimming...
And boating...
Colton and Louisa especially bonded and it was so sweet!
At the end of the month Louisa also got a big girl bed!!!
In May...
We celebrated the end of Lily's soccer season with a soccer party...
We enjoyed a visit from Aunt Kelly, Uncle Jeff, and cousin Lydia. We had fun just chilling out all weekend and enjoyed our brand new splash pad near our house.
We also had a blast riding around on the boat with Uncle Jeff!
And of course in May we also celebrated Mother's Day with my beautiful and sweet girls. Being their mom is the best job in the world!
In June...
We started out the month with a quick, unexpected visit to Reno/Lake Tahoe to see Colton who was in the hospital from what ended up being salmonella. It was pretty scary, especially because the doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong and he had been in and out of the hospital a few times. Luckily he's all better now and back to normal. It was nice to visit for a few days though, even under the circumstances.
Once we knew he was okay we got out for a little hiking at Lake Tahoe...
June 6 this little cutie turned 3! We had a blast celebrating her all day with fun at the pool and a yummy, and very pink and purple cake!
We also had Lily's 4th dance recital! She did awesome and little sister was so proud of her and couldn't wait to be the one dancing on stage!
June also meant I said goodbye to my babies for 6 whole weeks! They went to Florida to stay with their dad for the summer.
Mark and I stayed busy though, taking a few trips to Florida and Nashville.
I also cleaned out a bunch of junk and took several trips to goodwill. :)
Oh, and this also happened...
We just went to the courthouse and made it official.
In July...
We welcomed the girls home!!!
And celebrated Lily's 7th birthday with an awesome mermaid birthday party!
Lily got her ears pierced...
And we spent a few days in Reno/Lake Tahoe with all 4 kids!
Colton did an awesome job as Cinderella's Prince in the play Into the Woods.
And we finished the month with dental checkups for both girls (Louisa's first visit!)
In August...
I turned 36--what?
We sold our house!
And bought a new house!
We spent just about every weekend in the pool (even a little in December!)
We took a trip to Iowa for the Iowa State Fair (Mark's first visit to Iowa!)
Lily started 2nd grade at another new school (this time I think we'll stay put)
And both girls started dance...Lily's 5th year and Louisa's first!
In September...
We had fun exploring our new town with visits to the park...
And we made slime...
We finally said goodbye to the old house (closing got pushed back a couple weeks)...
And we celebrated Mark's 41st birthday with a weekend visit from his sister and brother in law...
Louisa also started preschool just down the street from our new house...
In October...
We had some fun play dates with new friends...
Enjoyed Pumpkin Patch fun in Flower Mound...
And at the Dallas Arboretum...
The boys came to visit for a long weekend...
We carved pumpkins...
We celebrated Logan's 15th birthday...
We finally got photos taken with our family of 6!
And we wrapped up the month with a super fun Halloween night as a family of creepy clowns!
In November...
Louisa got her first haircut!
Logan shot his first deer
And we celebrated Thanksgiving in Nashville...
While the girls went on a cruise...
In December...
We started the month with a visit to Nagcadoches, Texas to a friend's ranch where the girls rode a pony and fished, and spent all day outside! It was wonderful!!!
We also got to see Aunt Connie who lives in Oregon along with Grandma Mary and Aunt Kathy (who live in town but who I don't see often enough)!
We did lots of Christmas-y things...
Visited Santa
Made a gingerbread house
Made Christmas cookies...
Attended a Christmas parade in Flower Mound...
Watched Lily in her first school play, The Gingerbread Kid Caper. She was AWESOME!
And watched Louisa in her school Christmas program. She was AWESOME, too! But totally wiped out!
The girls enjoyed their Christmas party at dance...
and at school...
And all 4 of us went to Iowa for a few days to celebrate Christmas with the Kesslers
We all got to meet the newest cousin Violet who is absolutely adorable and perfect and tiny!!!
We saw Santa again, this time with all four little cousins...
The girls went to see the Little Mermaid live at the Des Moines playhouse...
And we had a great time just relaxing and enjoying family!
We had an awesome Christmas Eve and Christmas Day back in Texas with the girls...
We said goodbye to the girls for a few days after that so they could spend New Years in Florida and we took Logan and Colton to Nashville to ring in the New Year! It was a great visit!
Phew!! Congrats if you stayed with me. That was looong. It's so nice to look back on the year though and see everything that made life great! 2017, you were fun and crazy and full of lots of change. Here's to a wonderful 2018!
