2016 In Review

I've never done a year in review post before! It sounded fun so I thought I'd try it.

In January, we found out that we were expecting a baby! #5. We've had a baby every "even" year since 2008, so why should 2016 be any different? Exactly.

In related news, I love being pregnant. Really. There is nothing sweeter than having a baby inside my belly. Nothing sweeter than telling our kids that there's gonna be another. Nothing better than filling every seat in my van.

I love it.

In March, our baby #2 turned 6. I turned 35. (!) We added a furry member to our family: Meet Ari Zebra (Mary Beth was in charge of naming him). He is a lionhead bunny. (Ari=lion in Hebrew; Zebra=black&white color to an 8-year-old). Isn't he CUTE???

In April, our baby #1 turned 8. Wow.

In May, our baby #4 turned 2, Matthew turned 35 and we celebrated 13 years of marriage! If you had told us when we got married that we would have 5 children, I would have called you a false prophet. But that's okay because I've had to eat a lot of words in my day. I'm used to it.

June started summer! I love summer. The kids literally wore nothing but bathing suits the entire month. We played in the backyard, in the sprinkler, in the baby pool, in the fields, the orchard and on the playset. We also went to the (real) pool a lot. Even as we pass the pool in the dead of winter, Sarah Kate (she's 2) still screams "pool!" Never mind that it's empty save some leaves and twigs.

In August, our baby #3 turned 4. And the big girls started school, 1st & 3rd grades. Then, in a stroke of genius, I taught my big girls how to clean bathrooms.

In September, our Levi Davidson was born! He weighed nearly 9 pounds. Sweet, peaceful, precious baby. The 4 kids are so proud. Levi excels in nursing, smiling and sleeping. (I didn't think we could birth a baby that slept in the first year of his life. Levi has proven me wrong and I am thankful!)

In November, our 13-year-old longhaired mini weiner dog went to heaven. (Most dogs do go to heaven, you know.) She slept with us every night. I still miss her. I will need to have another weiner dog in the near future.

It's rarely calm, never quiet, sometimes clean and usually fun at our house. I am thankful for another year of God's blessing on our family. Matthew and I kicked off 2017 with the Whole30! It's so much fun (well, maybe "fun" isn't the most accurate descriptor, but I'm trying to be positive). I will probably post some Whole30 recipes on here just in the event that we do this again, I'm not reinventing the wheel trying to remember what we ate for the month!

(In case you're curious, Whole30 is a 30-day elimination eating plan where you get to eat meat, eggs, nuts, fruits, vegetables & certain healthy oils (like olive & coconut). No dairy, sugar, grains or legumes. It's not a diet. It's a nutritional "reset." Or so I'm told.)

These are 2 peas in a pod...

Happy New Year, y'all!