2012: Our Year in Review

Ummm, hello 2013. Where did you come from?

Take a second to let that thought sink in. Where on EARTH did 2012 go?! At the end of 2011, I took some time to reflect and look back on what the year had brought our way. In 2009, I took the time to look back and reflect on the milestones of our year using photos. It’s always fun to look back at where you were before looking ahead to where you’re going. Yesterday I took a few minutes to pull some photos that reflected different moments in our lives in 2012, but today I really want to take one last look at everything that last year brought our little family.

2012 was a fantastic year. One of the best so far.

In January I tried my hand at a 52 week photo project (and failed miserably a few weeks in). I set some new goals and found myself reaching for some ambitions. I chose my word of the year and set my sights on adding new aspects of work, love and family to my life in 2012. Noah hit a new milestone with temper tantrums and fit throwing and I opened up and confessed to some of my failings as a parent.

February brought new business opportunities and clients and a full work load. I also kicked off my Move to Manual Series and set my sites on teaching all of you how to make the most of your SLR cameras and improve your photography skills. The long winter hit me hard as well and I experienced a little of the Kodiak Blues…walking around in a bit of a fog. Our struggle with trying to get pregnant and have a second baby was weighing heavy on my heart and mind. In honor of Valentine’s Day, we made Cake Pops and over indulged a bit…

In March, I started to slip out of the funk I found myself in and started seeing the world in black and white like my son. Seeing the world in good and bad, happy and sad rather than in all sorts of complicated ways. My work load continued to pick up and I started to question how I was spending my time. Despite how much I enjoy my job, sometimes it can be overwhelming to make time and do all of the things I want. There are times that sacrifices have to be made.

April brought about big changes for our family. The husband advanced and made rank again; something he’d been working on hard for several months. We got the big news that we were expecting our second sweet baby and I started sharing weekly updates on my pregnancy with all of you.

I didn’t blog much in May or June thanks to our big trip to Anchorage for a short vacation and the husband’s EMT2 school. I did some soul searching and began the debate on where blogging was going to fit into life when our second baby arrived. As we got closer to the 20 week mark and our gender ultrasound, I started sharing my thoughts on finding out the babies gender and answered that age old question, “Do you want a boy or a girl?”

July brought about my 25th birthday, our Big Gender Reveal and the realization that we were actually doing this (having another baby that is). Fear and worry about how I would divide my time between my two boys, my husband and my business started to set in and so many of you offered up your support and encouragement. The middle of the month, we found out we were having another BOY and the excitement of having brothers started to sink in.

August brought some regression issues with our oldest and we saw him slipping into bad habits and bad behavior. Despite being a relatively well behaved little guy, the realness of having a new baby around and the changes that were coming to our family started to come to light for him. I also struggled a bit with maintaining some sense of individuality and social skills despite our growing family and my shrinking free time.

September brought Noah’s first real disappointment, our “little man” themed baby shower, and the harsh reality that I never would and never will be able to do it all.

My second pregnancy started to come to a close in October and I struggled to just be still and enjoy the remaining time I had with my oldest before his brother was born. I learned to stop being so hard on myself and acknowledged that while I can’t do it all, I can do a lot and that’s good enough sometimes. We hit up the local Fall Festival and celebrated Noah’s Fourth Birthday! Then we finally reached the point of being completely and totally ready for our newest little guy to arrive.

November was probably the biggest month for us. I didn’t blog a whole lot, but I did manage to write an important letter to our biggest boy on his duties and role as a big brother and took some time to slow down and enjoy my final days as a mother of just one child. When I hit the 40 week mark, we opted to go ahead with a Social Induction and our sweet baby boy #2 was born at 12:15 am on November 28.

 

And then December. I managed to blog five whole times throughout the month. Adjusting to life with this sweet baby boy has been hard. The reality is that it’s much harder to juggle than I thought. I’m sleep deprived and tired and overwhelmed most days. But I love it. And I love our little guys. December also meant that our sweet newborn turned one month old. And I am still wondering where that came from.

So there you go. One final look at 2012 before we dive head first into the New Year. 2012 was good to our family. I’m eager and excited to see what’s in store for the next 365 days!

Linking this post up with Robin @ Farewell Stranger for Farewell to 2012 in Photos and with Monica @ Pixel Perfect!