Behind the Times
Happy New Year and welcome to 2013! What a wild ride having two kids has been. Time has just flown by and we are loving every minute!
2012 saw all of us being very busy. As a family, we did a bit of traveling. In February we tagged along on a business trip and visited Calgary then went to Kimberley Ski Resort over the Family Day long weekend. Abigail skied like a natural on the mountain. She was so amazing! And you know what? She’s even better this year so I can’t wait until we head out to the mountains again because she’s going to rock them!
My skiing girl!
In the Spring we decided to go on a Disney Cruise capped off with a week near Disney World. We really enjoyed the cruise and would definitely go on a Disney ship again. They were really great! I guess my only caveat was that it was harder to cruise with a baby than I thought it would be as Noah was only six months old (was he really still a baby back then? time sure does fly!). Anyway, this was a wonderful trip and I hope we get to repeat it. The best news to come out of this trip, though, was that, after considering doing it we decided to purchase a week timeshare at Disney’s Hawaiian resort, Aulani. We will travel there for two weeks this August, 2013 for Noah’s 2nd birthday.
Arrr, pirate family!
In June the kids and I traveled with my Mom down to Ohio and Kentucky to visit family and meet my Mom’s new sister. Noah and Abigail were able to meet their Great Grandmother as well, so that was pretty neat. It was super HOT there (over 100 F for most of our trip) and we loved it!!! It was nice to spend time with my Mom. We stayed with Aunt Marge so it was nice to spend time with her, too.
Four generations and Noah!
We weren’t done yet, though, because Noah, of course, had to celebrate his 1st birthday. We celebrated in Maui in August and we had a great time. We stayed at Honua Kai again, this time in a 2 bedroom as my parents came along. This was a really great trip. Hawaii is my favourite place in the world and I love sharing the experience with my family. Maui is gorgeous and this resort is just awesome for everyone. It was a wonderful trip!
2012 was special for all of us in different ways, some good and some bad. But always very busy!
Noah
A year in a baby’s life is always full of changes and growth, of course! Noah went from being a little helpless baby to a vibrant and dramatic toddler in 2012. He started walking independently, but cautiously, at around 10 months of age. At 12 months, in fact the day we landed in Maui, he took off and hasn’t looked back since. He is a happy little boy with a ready smile and adores his big sister (and is equally frustrated by her, if I’m honest!). Noah is currently in a very busy climbing stage. We frequently find him swinging from the chandelier in the kitchen. No kidding. Recently he’s mastered walking down the stairs, although it’s still a bit scary to watch.
Rocking Noah
Abigail
This has been a big year for Abigail, too. She started her last year of Casa at her Montessori school. It is the equivalent of her Senior Kindergarten year, but she is going full day now. We notice the difference with her being full day already: she is doing addition, subtraction, multiplication and has just begun reading short stories. We are really proud of her. She started Sparks this year, is swimming and skiing and last summer learned to ride a two-wheel bike. Through school she does Soccer, Skating and Gymnastics and in the Spring we are planning on enrolling her in horseback riding lessons. Her swimming is pretty awesome and she has nearly completed her Level 5 badge. It’s been a good year for her and a difficult year, too. She’s had a lot of anxiety with school beginning around her 5th birthday. She seems to be reacting a bit to how much she’s learning, how long the days are, and maybe just having a bit of trouble growing up. We’re hoping this passes by the summer so that next year she continues to excel and enjoys school thoroughly.
On a recent trip to the Art Gallery of Ontario
Trevor
What to say about Trevor? If you look up busy in the dictionary, his picture is beside it! Trevor’s year has been full of ups and downs. His goal was to get his pilot’s license but things conspired against him and he’s still working on it. He has been traveling for business every few weeks and, while he was OK with it for most of the year, now he’s pretty done. He’s been to Calgary, , Vancouver, Las Vegas, Los Angelas, San Diego, Long Beach, and New York City. He’s been working on a couple of different projects and finally, now at the beginning of 2013, I think he’s starting to see some closure on a few things. Trevor also started a wood working project back at the beginning of 2012 and he’s nearing completion on it (a new TV cabinet in our family room that takes up a whole wall and is all custom built-in. It looks great; I’ll share pictures when it’s finally done). Overall, I think it’s been a rough and stressful year for Trevor so here’s hoping 2013 is a bit kinder.
Jennifer
I made a resolution in 2012 that I would become a La Leche League Leader and so that’s what I spent the first part of 2012 working towards. I started in February and completed the process in its entirety by June, which was pretty great! I really love the ladies of our group and I find the volunteer work really rewarding. Our group has begun offering daytime meetings this year and we are getting a great response so that’s pretty cool too. I’ve also been busy with Abigail, specifically I joined Sparks alongside her and became a Guider in her Unit. It’s been a lot of fun. These things, along with the day to day parenting, keep me really busy and I find I’m getting behind on things that I like to have organized (photos, for one) but it’s really rewarding to be doing things I enjoy.
So what will 2013 have in store for us? We are looking forward to a trip to Disney World in the Spring and Aulani in the summer. Hopefully Trevor’s traveling will quiet down a bit as we approach Summer. We also hope to get to spend lots of family time together. That would make a great year indeed!