2014 Year in review

In January we found out that we were having a baby girl! We were so excited! It didn't take us long to decide on her name.

Our niece, Ellie, was in Nashville with Allie for a week, so we visited and had a ton of fun taking the kids to Chuck E Cheese (the boys' first time) and celebrating Nathan's 29th birthday. Ellie and the boys had so much fun playing together!

Nathan and I got smart phones from Republic Wireless (LOVE! We have smart phones for $10 a month! The refer a friend program is undergoing updates, so I'll update with a link eventually.) and have loved having decent cameras in our pockets at all times. Not to mention all the fancy smartphone capabilities! We have so many more pictures of everyday life now.

We have enjoyed doing several furniture restoration projects including a dresser, a shelf, a bassinet, and a couple chests.

I excercised at the YMCA 2-3 times a week until I was 38 weeks pregnant. I really think it kept my hips from getting sore, and my abdominal muscles healed better after I had my baby than they did after my other pregnancies. It felt good to get out and be active so much!

We went to parks a LOT this year. It's definitely one of our favorite things to do as a family. We're all happier people when we go outside and move around. We like to go to parks with a combination of playground equipment and walking trails/other things to do. The church also built a beautiful playground in our backyard!

We didn't have our grown-up-kids Easter egg hunt for the first time this year, but Orion and Des had a fun time with theirs! We dressed up all fancy, of course.

Nathan and I vacationed in Cape Cod in April. We also visited Plymouth and Boston. We adventured a lot and relaxed a lot (we watched sooo much Merlin)... it was such a nice trip. I'd go back to the East Coast over and over again.

I worked through two days of early labor... walking walking walking!

On May 25 Cecelia was born! I got to experience a natural water birth. I am so thankful for a healthy pregnancy and safe, positive delivery. She was a very easy newborn and we got plenty of rest at the hospital.

The boys got to meet their sister the day after she was born. They were both so sweet with her and have just gotten sweeter since then!

Desy turned three! We celebrated with a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles party. Oh, and Ben and Jennifer were there!

Des also potty trained a couple months after his birthday. For some reason running around naked for a couple days did the trick. Hey, whatever works!

We started doing the cloth diaper thing. After some trial and error with styles and brands, we now use cloth for the majority of our diapering.

 

We made amazing friends via our library's story time! I love having friends to hang out with weekly... and the kids have fun together too ;)

Nathan's sister, Allie, got engaged in July! Nathan and I got to help set up luminaries and twinkle lights, and Joran asked me to take pictures. It was beautiful and we were honored to be a part of it.

We visited our long lost college friend, Mark, in Minnesota in August. We visited the Nickelodeon Universe theme park in the Mall of America, Went to the Minnesota Renaissance Festival, played board games, went to the church where Mark is a youth pastor, and visited the zoo. We were all exhausted from doing ALL OF THE THINGS, but it was a fun visit. The kids all did remarkably well on the trip.

We started doing some homeschooling this year (we have been on hiatus for like two months. Ack!) using ABC Jesus Loves Me curriculum. The boys love it... I find it difficult to keep up with planning. I hope I can get on the ball for the rest of the school year and find good curriculum for next year!

Orion ran his first race (the Pumpkin Dash 1 K) in October! I hope we can continue running together :)

Joran and Allie got married on November 2. I got to play photographer, Nathan got to do the scripture reading, and Orion and Desy were ring bearers. It was such a beautiful, FUN wedding. Seriously, we all had such a good time. What a happy day!

Orion turned five! We had a birthday extraveganza including donuts, a trip to the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery, McDonald's... what more could a boy want? The following weekend we visited Allie and Joran in Columbus; Joran and Orion share a birthday so we wanted to celebrate together. We went to the zoo to see the lights (and nearly froze to death), went out for pizza, ate Spider Man cake, and stayed in a hotel.

We got a new niece for Christmas! Pippa, Jon and Emiley's second daughter, was born early Christmas Morning! She's so adorable :)

We celebrated Christmas with the Lambeses (Rachel, Jake, Jon, Emiley, Ellie and Pippa were missing, so it was a lot different) in the morning, and with the Joneses in the evening. It was a really nice Christmas and we have gotten to spend so much time with my family!

We met up with our college friends for a Summer Shindig, Hallogivingmas, and New Year's.  It was a good year for friend gatherings!

Well, judging by the ridiculous amount of time it took to compile this post, it was quite a year! I love that we've been able to have so many adventures, whether it be traveling, watching our family grow, or just playing outside together. Goodbye, 2014! Thanks for the memories!