2013: The Best Year Yet!

2013 has by far been the best year of my life. From the first day until the last I have never felt so much joy and love in my life.


We welcomed 2013 with a secret. We were pregnant. We found out just shortly before Christmas and told our families on Christmas day. It was definitely the year of family, like I had hoped.

January started off with a big move for my parents. We said goodbye to my childhood home. They left all of our neighbors who became our family. They moved into the country. Where there are no street lights. No lines on the road. And it's 22 minutes away instead of five. I cried a lot (like up until September). But it's a process and I have grown to love their new home. Not as much as "my home" but in its own way.

On January 10th, we celebrated four years of marriage. We were excited to go into our fourth year with a baby on the way!


I just loved linking up with Rachel in 2013 for Menu Monday. Two of my favorites I shared in February include the Spicy Pasta Sausage and Skinny Enchiladas (which are an overall favorite).

February 14, 2013 was a day that will go down in history for us. It's day day we told all of our friends we were expecting! We were overwhelmed with all of the excitement and joy we were able to finally share with everyone! The blog world was also a baby boom in 2013!

With a new pregnancy comes lots of hormones. I shared about my melt down with Wembley (who is still a sh*t)  and how my hormones were out of control when it came to animals. Glad I'm not as bad about this anymore. I'm pretty sure if I would have started watching Duck Dynasty then, I would have been in trouble. I also started weekly bumpdates in February. I'm so glad I did this because I plan to make my blog into a book. Then Hadley and I can look back and remember all that happened while I was pregnant with her--hormones and all! In February I posted weeks six, seven/eight, nine/ten, eleven/twelve, thirteen and fourteen. The day I told my students about baby G was one of the best days of the year. That class was so special to me (I miss this a lot this year) and I'm so thankful I got to share our joy with them! The end of February ended on a sad note. Our dear sweet George, my cat I grew up with, passed away. We miss him so much. He was such a sweetheart and will always have a special place in our hearts.

March was a fun month! I updated about week fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, and eighteen. It's so fun to go back and read everything that was happening each week! We shared the gender of our sweet baby on March 18. Before we found out I read a lot of different wives tales trying to figure out what we were having! They were so much fun to read. On the Ramzi test, Josh later on corrected me telling me it was a girl. He knew from the beginning this "test" was going to be correct. We also told our families the gender in cute ways they will (hopefully) never forget. My mom still talks about it to this day! I was so thrilled we were having a girl but a little worried about Josh. I wasn't she he would know what to do with one. His sweet words reassured me everything would be okay. The great month of March ended with sharing Miss Hadley's name to the world!


April was a busy month for me. We had state testing at school and it was nonstop working! I did get to post weeks nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, and twenty-two. I finally reached the half way mark! I also shared some sweet pictures and updates of Oliver and Wembley.

Hadley's 20 week picture

We have a lot of family birthdays in May. It's also the end of the school year--my favorite time. But even though its busy, there were a lot of things to look forward to! In May I shared updates for weeks twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five {when I had my school shower}, and twenty-six. I got my craft on in May and made this adorable spring wreath. I'm not crafty at all, so for me this was a huge deal. I still really like it and excited to put it up again! At the end of the month I was looking forward to ending the school year, even though I was going to miss the crazy things the kids asked me about regarding the baby! I was also excited to celebrate Josh's 30th birthday on the 31st!

June was such a good month. It was the start of summer break and finally a time when I could relax. I was really not looking forward to having a fall baby when I found out I was pregnant. In fact, I cried about it a lot. I was worried about how we would adjust when I went back to work. But having a fall baby has been such a blessing! I loved that I got to spend the last couple months preparing without any stress. I loved being able to sleep whenever I needed to. It was so nice not to worry about dressing my huge baby belly when it was 90* outside. I could just sit in the A/C all day!

I share week twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty, and thirty-one! I went through the dreaded glucose test, which turned out to be much easier than I thought. I also admitted I was a complete drama queen about it. It had also been six months since we found out we were expecting. Crazy how time flies!I continued to meal plan throughout the year and in the summer started freezer meals so we would be prepared for when Hadley made her arrival. These were a huge help and plan to continue freezer meals as much as I can!

My baby shower was planned for July and Tiny Prints really helped inspire the theme of the shower. I also had this great game at my shower which I loved reading and saving for Hadley. Speaking of showers, Jenny, Shannon and I were given a surprise shower by some of our Columbus blog friends. It was a wonderful night full of yummy food and great conversations. I'm so thankful to have these girls as my friends!

I just love July. Independence Day is one of my favorite holidays! In July I shared updates about weeks thirty-two {where we had our 3D ultrasound!}, thirty-three, thirty-four, and thirty-five.  Since we were getting so close to our due date I decided it was time to prepare our pets for baby Hadley's arrival and make up a to-do list when we had one month to go.

I also attended my hometown shower hosted by my mom, sister, aunt, and cousin. It was beautiful and I'm so thankful for all of the time they spent preparing it. My mother-in-law, sister-in-law, and Josh's aunt hosting a lovely shower in Josh's hometown. I loved that it was held outside in his parent's back yard. His mom has the most beautiful flowers and pots in her back yard. She is a wonderful gardener! I'm so thankful to have had two amazing showers!

August was by far my favorite month because it is the birth month of our sweet girl! I share weeks thirty-six, thirty-seven, thirty-eight, and thirty-nine. She was born on week forty! We were preparing for Hadley's arrival, thinking of all of the crazy last minute things we needed to do and picking out her birth announcement! I didn't blog a lot at the end of August because I was learning how to juggle wearing all of my new hats! Definitely worth the short break.

In September I posted Hadley's first pictures on the blog. Looking at this picture makes me miss how tiny she was! I shared her crazy twenty-eight hour birth story and how thankful I was to have J by my side during the delivery and when we got home. He was my rock and I'm still so thankful to have him by my side today. Going through labor and delivery for the first time taught me many things. I'm so glad I went in with an open mind because I sure did need it!

My favorite fall month is definitely October. Not only is it my birthday month but I think the foliage is just beautiful during this time of the year. It's amazing how time just flies. I shared about being a new mom and Hadley turning four weeks and a month old {I also learned the difference between these two}!

November was an enjoyable month. I took extra time off for maternity leave and tried to soak up every minute of my last month home with my baby. I'm a huge fan of meal planning {if you didn't already know} and shared how I started meal planning with a baby. It's a whole new ballpark! I also started Tasty Tuesday, where I share recipes and tips. I started out these weekly updates with how to organize your pinterest boards.I'm not sure if I'm going to continue TT into 2014. I really enjoy it and it keeps me organized but I want to make sure I'm sharing enough about our life--because that is why I blog.

We took newborn pictures at the beginning of September and I shared the beautiful pictures KariMe Photography took for us. We made her birth announcement and sent them out to family and close friends. Hadley also got to meet her great-grandparents, on her Gigi's side, for the first time. We are so thankful they came to Ohio for her first Thanksgiving!

Hadley turned three months old on November 26, but I was a little behind posting it. Then on December 26th, she turned four months old. Where does the time go? She's getting so big and definitely becoming more of a baby than a newborn. We celebrated her first Christmas at home on Christmas day. It was wonderful to open her couple presents and enjoy the day as a little family. We spent Christmas Eve with my parents and went to visit Josh's family a few days after Christmas. My favorite thing about this year was definitely not feeling rushed or pushed from one house to the next. We decided a long time ago that once we had a family we would not travel on Christmas day. Our families are always welcome to come see us but it was definitely the best decision for us.

2013 will definitely go down in history. I am so thankful that I posted about our new family. It will always be wonderful memories to go back and read. I'm excited to watch Hadley grow over the next year and hit new and fun milestones. This year will definitely be hard to beat, but now we have a whole new adventure in front of us.

Thank you for sharing 2013 with us! Happy New Year!