2015 In Review

2015 was quite a year!  It had a few scary moments and a sad loss for our family, but mostly, it was a good year!

Here are a few highlights...

{JANUARY}

We ended 2014 and began 2015 with our framily (which we will be doing again this year), Liam scared us with his first big illness which resulted in an ambulance ride, and we somehow managed to survive the long, bitterly cold month (AKA my least favorite month of the year).

{FEBRUARY}

The girls and I headed into the city to see The Little Mermaid with our best friends, we celebrated Valentine's Day and attended quite a few birthday parties, we very sadly had to say goodbye to Bailey, our beloved Great Dane (and now I'm crying) and we celebrated Lexie's 8th Birthday.

 

 {MARCH}

 Liam turned 18 months old, we celebrated St. Patrick's Day, and we celebrated World Down Syndrome Day.

 

{APRIL} 

I celebrated my birthday, we participated in many Easter activities, we celebrated Easter, and Dylan fell out of a tree and we headed BACK to the ER.

 

{MAY}

We kicked off the month with a very serious health scare with Liam which landed him in the hospital for a few days (Ever hear of Cellulitis? It's completely random and scary!), we celebrated Mother's Day, and we had a great Memorial Day weekend!

 

 {JUNE} 

Dylan and Lexie had their last day of 4th and 2nd grade, summer officially began, we went to our 2nd Dream Night at the Pittsburgh Zoo for Liam, my niece, Aubrey, started her summers with us again, we celebrated Father's Day, and the kids won tickets to a Pirates game!

{JULY}

We had a wonderful 4th of July, spent our days swimming, Liam really took off with walking independently, and we celebrated Grant's birthday!

 

{AUGUST}

Lily turned 4,  we went to my annual family reunion, we had a party for Lily and Liam, Liam turned 2, and we ended the month with our family vacation to Virginia Beach (which I'm still desperately trying to recap)!

 

{SEPTEMBER} 

Dylan and Lexie started 3rd and 5th grade, Lily started preschool (her very first year), I kicked off teh Downright Blessed: Life with Down Syndrome series on my blog (and can't wait to share more stories in the new year), and I had a very exciting blog opportunity with Chick-fil-A!

 

{OCTOBER}

We attended Family Night at the Zoo with Chick-fil-A,  we dashed for Down syndrome, we had quite an adventure at the pumpkin patch, and we celebrated Halloween!

 

{NOVEMBER}

We had Dylan's birthday party, Dylan turned 11 (HOW?!?), we celebrated Thanksgiving, and we put up our tree! 

 

{DECEMBER}

We spent the month participating in so many fun Christmas activities and we had an amazing Christmas (recap coming after the New Year)!

 

With the exception of one sad goodbye and a few medical emergencies, 2015 was very kind to us! I hope 2016 is even better.  Here's to a year full of good health, laughter, and happiness!



How was your 2015?




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Goodbye 2014, Hello 2015!

2014 was a wonderful year!  Probably my favorite year so far.  2015 has really big shoes to fill!

Years ago, we used to ring in the new year with my family.  My sister lived out of state, so we waited to celebrate Christmas with our family until she came home for New Year's Eve.  It was such a fun tradition, but once she moved back home, our parties stopped. Although I miss it, I understand that things change.

Over the past few years, we grew closer to a group of friends.  They are like family to us, and we started to celebrate New Year's Eve together.  Last year, we partied with them as usual, and everyone ended up spending the night.  We had so much fun that we decided to do it again this year! 

Last night, everyone gathered at Steph's house for the party.  8 adults and 13 kids create a lot of noise and chaos! We chatted, ate, and played until it was nearly midnight. 




Surprisingly, all the kids, including the two babies, made it to midnight!  The kids batted balloons around while we passed out glasses, hats, and noise makers.  Steph and I are both members of the Netflix Stream Team, so we celebrated with the All Hail King Julien party supplies that Netflix sent us!






It was so much fun counting down to the new year with some of our closest friends!   The night flew by, and 2015 arrived so quickly!  I am so thankful I got to spend it with the 5 people I love most.  I'm so blessed!



The babies and little kids were very tired, so we attempted a group picture before they fell asleep. It was quite an ordeal to get everyone in one place, and just as I was setting up the shot, my camera battery started to die.  Oh well!  Perfect is overrated!



Shortly after midnight, the kids changed into pajamas, and most headed to bed.



The adults stayed awake, and Steph, Tracy, and I actually outlasted the men!  They went to bed just before 4 AM, but we talked until 5 AM.  It was SO late, but so worth it. We rarely have the chance to stay up so late talking, without kids interrupting, so those memories we made in the wee hours of the morning were priceless!

Needless to say, we didn't get much sleep!  By 10 AM, Steph's house was bustling!

The kids played, the adults cleaned up, and we all ate a big breakfast together before heading home.





{Just for the record, true friends cover their pajama-clad friend while taking a picture, to spare her the embarrassment of being the only one not dressed.  ;) }

If last night was a sign of all the fun to come over the next year with our friends, I have a feeling it will be a great year! 

The rest of our day passed by quickly!

All but one of us took a nap when we got home.

I got a big hug from a dear friend who I didn't get to ring in the new year with.

Instead of the traditional pork and sauerkraut New Year's Day dinner, we opted for Chinese takeout. A friend joined us for dinner. It was so delicious!!!

We stopped by my sister's house so Dylan and Lily could see their cousin, Kelvin, before he returns to Florida. (Lexie and Liam saw him at his soon to be wife's bridal shower on Tuesday.) It has been over a year and a half since we last saw him, and we miss him so much!  I wish all our family and friends could pack up and move to Florida with them!

We visited for about an hour, and my brother-in-law, Kevin, gave the kids sharpie tattoos.  They thought it was the coolest thing ever! Lexie ended up staying to spend the night with my niece, Aubrey, while the rest of us headed home.



Once home, I tried to snap a few pictures of Liam wearing his (3-6 month..ha!) New Year's Day shirt, but he decided clapping and trying to climb down was more fun!




By that point, it was getting late. Liam went to bed, Lily and Dylan watched a movie, and Grant and I watched a few episodes of The Office on Netflix.  It was nice to finally relax!

Our New Year's Eve party/sleepover with our friends was so much fun, and the first day of 2015 was a great one!  Life isn't picture perfect at all times, but I wouldn't change anything!




Here's to a happy, healthy, prosperous new year! Happy 2015!!!