A Year in Review: 2017

Happy New Year, friends! Now that Anthony is a bit older, I am hoping to start blogging regularly again. This will be my only post this week, but then next week, I want to start my normal schedule. I’m writing that here so I can try to commit to it. 2017 will always be a special year for us because it was the year we became parents! After a difficult 2016, I am so thankful 2017 brought us Anthony!

January

Most Popular Blog Posts: California Road Trip: The Most Beautiful Place in Big Sur and Five Things You Must Do in San Diego 

We kicked off 2017 in a different way than usual. Chris had been working a lot, so instead of going to a party, we decided to celebrate the new year as a couple by going to Texas de Brazil. We had a blast reminiscing over 2016 and bringing in 2017 together! I started out January full of hope, and I even made that my word of the year. I was hopeful 2017 would be better than 2016, but the one thing I was truly hoping for was that I would get pregnant in 2017.

February

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February brought us a lot of joy as I found out I was pregnant on February 17! Christopher and I kept it a secret for a week (here is how I told him) before telling both sets of parents right before our trip to Colorado. We had a wonderful time exploring Colorado Springs and Breckenridge with my in-laws.

March

Most Popular Blog Posts: Happy Sixth Birthday, Skyler, Five Reasons You Should Visit Breckenridge, Colorado, and Five Things You Must Do in Marseille, France

We got back from Colorado in early March, and I almost instantly started feeling horrible morning sickness. March was a bit rough, but I was so thankful for the little one growing inside me that I didn’t care. My very first prenatal visit was March 31, and it was amazing to see the little peanut for the first time and hear the heartbeat. That was also the day we shared we were pregnant with the rest of the family and some close friends.

April

Most Popular Blog Posts: Best Weekend Trips from Chicago and Let’s Have a Coffee Date 

You can really start telling by the amount of posts I wrote that I had a rough April. It was also busy as we moved to a bigger apartment and celebrated Easter! We also ran around on what was the coldest day by far in April with giant baby balloons to prepare for our pregnancy announcement.

Easter Sunday selfie

May

Most Popular Blog Posts: Best News Ever, All About Baby, and Pregnancy Confessions

On Mother’s Day, I finally shared our pregnancy with the world! It felt so great to be able to share our joy. We had a busy month with my brother-in-law’s wedding and my parent’s housewarming back to back.

June

Most Popular Blog Posts: Gender Reveal and Stunning Views of Chimney Rock 

June was also really special because we found out we were having a little boy! We had a fun gender reveal party where we shared our news. We also decided we were going to go to Maine for our babymoon!

July

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July is always a really busy month for us, and 2017 was no exception. Chris started the hardest year of his residency, and we celebrated both of our birthdays and our eight-year wedding anniversary on our babymoon to Maine. We struggled picking a location for our trip, but it turned out to be the perfect place to go before baby!

August

Most Popular Blog Posts: Five Reasons You Should Visit Maine, Eight Favorite Experiences in Eight Years of Marriage, and Pregnancy Update: My Second Trimester 

August was another fun month. We had our first baby shower and I planned a fun weekend for my best friend’s bachelorette party. We did an “Only in Dallas” Food Tour that I still need to share on here!

September

Most Popular Blog Posts: A Decade of Just Us, Our Elephant-Themed Baby Shower, and Pregnancy Update: One Month to Go

Our last full month before baby was super busy! We had another fun baby shower, celebrated our ten-year dating anniversary (which is exactly a month before I gave birth to Anthony!), and I helped with the coordination of a conference of doctors’ wives. We also took our maternity photos when I was 36 weeks pregnant.

October

Most Popular Blog Posts: Our Maternity Photos and End of Pregnancy Confessions

We spent the first few weeks of October preparing for our little Anthony! We went to one last party on October 1, and I realized I was at the point in pregnancy where it was just too difficult to go out to parties. We also went to our birthing class (and the second part, which was taking care of an infant, was actually the day I gave birth! The instructor came and visited us when she found out.) Chris and I went on a few dates, and exactly a week before Anthony was born, I had one last dinner date with some great friends. My water broke at 3:30 a.m. on October 19, and Anthony Christopher was born at 3:46 a.m. on October 20. I had severe preeclampsia during labor, had to have a blood transfusion a few days after he was born, and then got discharged only to come back with a kidney infection a few hours later. Needless to say, I was so happy when I got discharged on October 28, and we could officially start our journey as a family of three!

November

Most Popular Blog Post: Welcome to the World, Anthony!

I basically completely took November off of blogging as we adjusted to life with a newborn! The highlights of this month were, of course, watching Anthony grow, and my dad turning 50 on November 3. We also celebrated Anthony’s first Thanksgiving!

December

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December started out with two straight weeks of nights for Chris, so we spent the time with my mom. It was nice because Chris could sleep upstairs during the day while Mom and I spent time with Anthony. He would have constantly woken Chris up in our apartment otherwise. The holiday season with Anthony was the best—we decorated the tree and spent Christmas weekend at my in-laws’ house before coming back on Christmas Day to spend some time with my family.

I’m so thankful for everything that happened in 2017, but I am even more excited for 2018 and our first full year with Anthony.

2017 Travel Plans

I have had a lot of questions about our travel plans for this year, and to be honest, I have been hesitant to write a post about it because everything is still up in the air. The medical new year starts in July, so Chris can’t ask for time off to be approved until after that. Today, I thought I would share the three trips we do have in the works.

Denver and Breckenridge
My in-laws gifted us a trip to Denver and Breckenridge in February, and I am so excited to go. Chris has wanted to go skiing since we got married, and I don’t like skiing, so I am glad he is able to go with them. I am planning on exploring the cute town!

Yellowstone
We have a trip booked to Yellowstone in September contingent on Chris getting the time off. We had originally had it planned for May but got denied (it turned out fine since my brother-in-law is now getting married during the time we would have been gone). My mother-in-law has wanted me to see Yellowstone since Chris and I got married, so I am really hoping this is the year we get to go! I’m actually excited the trip got moved to September because it won’t be as crowded.

San Antonio
We had originally planned to go to San Antonio over Martin Luther King Jr. weekend because Chris magically got it off. That changed when my best friend’s mom passed away. We are still hoping to make the trip this year if Chris manages to have three days off in a row again. Since we are driving, I prefer to have three days, so we aren’t spending most of our weekend driving. Chris and I haven’t been to San Antonio since early in our marriage, so I am eager to visit again.

I am also the matron of honor in a wedding in November (of my best friend whose mom just passed away), so I will be planning a Bachelorette party once I know where they will be in the summer (her fiancé is in the military). I’m also hoping to add one more trip with Chris once we get a better idea of what his schedule is going to be like.

I would love to hear your travel plans for 2017 in the comments! Know anything about where we’re headed? I love getting recommendations! SaveSave

My Word for 2017

I have never had a word for a year before this year. Honestly, I probably wouldn’t this year either, but this word has been stuck in my head since early December, and I think it is perfect for 2017.

I have always tried to be as honest and transparent as possible on this blog, but what I haven’t shared yet is that over the last month, I’ve had a major case of the holiday blues. It’s no secret that 2016 was hard, but I thought adjusting to life after surgery would be easier. I am super goal oriented, so being realistic and telling myself it’s OK I didn’t meet all my goals for 2016 was tough. Now that 2017 has started, I’m ready to put those negative thoughts away and start the year off on a new page. I love that this is a new year, and I can start out fresh. I can say my surgery was last year now.

That said, my word for 2017 is hope. Starting out 2017, I have so much hope that this year will be so much better than the last. I’m hopeful about our plans (more on that later) and about what the future holds for us. Last year, I wrote about the three goals I have for every year, and those will never change. Obviously, I’ve struggled a bit with the “stay positive” goal, but that’s slowly changing.

So here’s to hope. Let’s do this, 2017.