January
After a busy holiday season, things slowed down for us a bit in January. Emily announced at school, that she was going to be a big sister. We had some fun weekend outings with friends. We went to the Fort Worth stock show and to Chuck E Cheese. My belly continued to grow and we reached the halfway point of the pregnancy! We also did a few small projects around the house.
February was a very exciting month for us. After lots of anticipation, we found out we would be welcoming a baby boy in June. We hosted a gender reveal party for our parents to share the news. We also celebrated Valentine's Day and Shawn's 34th birthday.
March
March ended up being an interesting month to say the least! We started out the month with a few fun things for Emily. She got her very first haircut and we also took her to see Sesame Street Live. She also moved up to EPSII at school. On the pregnancy front, we had some scary events that led me to be put on bedrest. Shawn got a jump start on the nursery just in case we welcomed Evan earlier than we had planned. At the end of the month, Shawn and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary.
April started out with some big changes for Emily. She moved into a big girl bed and really started taking off on the potty training front. Shawn went on his annual canoe trip with the boys. Papa Mike and Shawn took Emily to see Disney Princesses on Ice. Another Easter came and went. Emily turned 2.5 this month! The weather also started getting nicer which meant Shawn and Em could spend more time playing outside. On the pregnancy front, I continued to be on bed rest and by the end of the month had spent 7 weeks laying on my side.
We really started getting ready for Evan's arrival in May. With my mom's help, we almost had everything ready for his arrival. And finally after spending the longest 11 weeks of my life on bed rest, worrying about when my baby boy would arrive, I was taken off bed rest right before Memorial Day Weekend. We spent Memorial Weekend expecting a baby to arrive, but were very surprised when he didn't make his appearance. We did enjoy lots of time out in the sunshine though.
This was by far the best month of this year! We started out the month with Emily taking swim lessons. We also took her to Build A Bear as a special big sister treat before her brother arrived. And finally, after lots of worrying and praying we welcomed a healthy baby boy to our family on June 12th. We spent lots of time hanging out as a family of four. Emily also started a dance class for the summer.
We celebrated Evan's first 4th of July by going to Kaboom town with some friends. I was fully enjoying my maternity leave with my baby boy and we had lots more family outings this month. Evan also turned 1 month old. Emily had a special treat by getting to go to work with Shawn one day this month.
We had a really fun month in August. Emily finished up her dance class and loved it so much we signed her up for a class in the fall. We decided last minute to take a trip out to CA to visit some of our best friends. I celebrated my 31st birthday. Emily started in the preschool class at Primrose which meant having to wear a uniform each day. Evan also started at Primrose in the infant class.
After 12 weeks off for maternity leave, I headed back to work this month. But not before enjoying the nice weather during Labor Day Weekend. Evan slept through the night for the first time this month and also got his first illness. We ended September with a special event, Evan was baptized into the Catholic Church. All of our family was there to celebrate with us.
As usual, October was a busy month for us full of birthday parties! We took the kids to the Pumpkin patch and Emily had a blast running through the new hay maze. Shawn and Em made some smores in the backyard. Emily turned 3 years old at the end of the month and we celebrated with a big party at Pump It Up. Evan celebrated his first Halloween. Emily went trick or treating with her cousins.
Evan started this month by trying out cereal for the first time. He wasn't a fan. We had unusually warm weather and took advantage of it by taking the kids to the park. We celebrated Evan's first Thanksgiving at my parents house. Unfortunately, Evan was sick for it and he got his first ear infection this month. Towards the end of the month, we took a trip to the Gaylord to visit Santa and take pictures for our Christmas Cards.
This month we started a few new traditions. Emily got to do a Christmas book countdown and Buddy, the elf returned with a North Pole Breakfast. We took the kids to Santa's Village and Em made her first gingerbread house. We put up our tree early this year and enjoyed our decorations all month long. Emily and I did lots of baking for the holidays. Evan turned 6 months old this month! We enjoyed our first white Christmas as a family of 4!
