Cheers to the New Year!

2014 flew by.  And looking back it was a good year.  Maggie came into our lives and has completed our family in a way I didn't think possible.  I think every mom has this fear when pregnant with their second child that they will never love them as much as the first.  But that fear is so unfounded because my heart just doubled in size when she got here.   She is such a calm baby and fits right in with us.  I truly feel she has my Nana's personality.  She takes it all in and just smiles.  And that is how I remember Nana.  I had some really good quality time with my family this year.  I was on maternity leave for 3 months and I made the most of my time off.  I took Rhea and Maggie on many adventures with my Dad and looking back now it was awesome.   We had a picnic in the Boston Public Garden, we went to Animal Adventures, we did the Swan Boats, the Ecotarium, took a train ride into Boston.  We met my Auntie Kathy in Fanuiel Hall for lunch and spent the afternoon discovering parks and flowers on the waterfront.  It was awesome.  Peggy and Gary tied the knot and finally had the party they have been planning for years and years!  It was awesome and I think every person I have ever known was at the party.   I also spend some really awesome time with my cousins.  It's hard to see everyone as much as I would like but when I make the time it is so worth it.  I had two particular magical days in 2014.  Storyland with Dawn, her girls and Elizabeth and her boys.  It rained, it poured, it was cold, it was hot.  But we had such a fun time.  I smiled for about a month after and even now it gives me the warm fuzzies.  Rhea still talks about it.  "Remember when we went to Storyland with Haley?"  What I think was so nice about the day was that we got to share it together.  And what is awesome is Dawn's girls want to be with my kids.  They look forward to hanging with them and getting to know them.  The Polar Express in North Conway with Elizabeth was hands down the most magical time I think I have had in my life.  I truly feel we went to the North Pole and I am so glad we were able to do it together.  We rented a house for the weekend with my parents too and had the best time.  Brittany came by after work on Sunday (Yes, I am so old. I remember when Brit was born and now she is a licensed driver and an employee at Old Navy) and slept over.  So my resolution for 2015 is to just spend time with people that matter and leave people that don't in 2014.  Memories are my most treasured possession and I plan on making more in 2015.  And using my camera more :)

Highlights from my year below!  Enjoy!!

Thanks to our Grandparents

This year what I am most thankful for are grandparents.  They were once our parents but they somehow turn into these people who firmly anchor you in the past and just truly appreciate our children.  Grandparents who you once called Mom and Dad now have funny names like Grammie or MoeMoe and you somehow refer to them as that and not Mom anymore.  Its amazing to me that one of my laughing children can create such happiness to a group of people.  We spend Thanksgiving with my husbands family.  Both of his grandmothers are still alive and I don't know if Justin truly appreciates sometimes how amazing that is.  He is able to share his children with his parents parents!!  His mother's mom gets to see her own daughter be a grandmother. I am not sure if many people in life get to experience yet alone appreciate this.  I was extremely close to my grandparents.  They made me feel like I hung the moon.  And it is something I truly miss the further along in life I go without them.  Just the feeling of complete and utter love that a grandparent gives.   And both my children get to have this with two sets of grandparents and two great grandmothers.  So this year I truly have alot to be grateful for but I am most thankful for my family and the grandparents who have loved us unconditionally for years and will continue to love us for years after they are gone.  And we will continue to love them too.  I will go to sleep tonight with warm memories of Jerry, Ellen, & Margaret knowing their love is in my children and I will forever be grateful for that.

Three years young

My oldest daughter turned three this weekend.  At three she is old enough to dress herself.  At three she is old enough to be out of diapers and needing "privacy" when in the bathroom.  At three she can play soccer but refer to it as football.  At three she can take dance lessons and insist on wearing Crocs.  At three she doesn't always want to hug and kiss me good bye.   At three she answers all of my questions with "Of course"  It is kind of comical.

• "Do you want lunch?" - Of Course
• "Do you want to help me with dinner?" -Of Course
• "Are your toys supposed to be on the floor?" Of course they are not

She reminds me so much of Justin.  The way she talks, the way she laughs.   My Dad said she reminds him so much of me when I was younger.  Of course (see what I did there?) I don't see it. All I see is a little girl that is growing into a young lady that I am determined to keep her little and fun for as long as possible.  Life moves at a rapid speed and I am enjoying the moments in parenthood.

This is what Three Looks like-Enjoy!