Baby A loves holidays and any reason to celebrate. For the last week, she has been wanting to wear "party dresses". I assume to gear up for New Year's Eve. ;) Secretly, I am really glad about it because I kept wondering when she would ever get to wear her fancy dresses from her benefactors.
We had a fun night doing faux New Years.
Last year I decided to do an end of the year review for the first time and I really liked that it gave me a chance to put things in perspective, rather than just focusing on the micro-moments.
We had some really great moments--
- I got tenure. Which sort of feels amazing when I think about it (which is really rare, actually). I remember writing the review last year, hoping I would be able to include it tonight. I don't know how I didn't write a blog about it...
- Baby A turned 2 and had a fun farm party
- We survived the first year of Chad's new schedule and commute
- I received a small travel grant, submitted a number of papers, and 3 grants and I'm finishing up teaching my third online class
- We had great visits from family
- I learned a lot about outsourcing, toddler emotions, practicing gratitude and optimism, and time management
- I started reading books again and made new recipes (favorites are smitten kitchen's chicken fajitas, creamy chicken and wild rice soup, and Dr. Wells's cajun chicken pasta)
- We had a fun Easter, 4th of July, Thanksgiving, and Christmas
With all of that, we continued to struggle with viral infections/missed days and A was diagnosed with asthma but we have gotten a bit better at handling both.
Just like last year--
This is us. Happy. Counting our blessings and thankful for such wonderful years where the good always outweighs the bad. And hoping that 2015 is even better for us all. Happy New Year to all our friends and family.
