2015: Year In Review

There's no new material here, and this is totally cheating as a post. But I had some extra time this morning and was trying to think back on 2015. Frankly, when you have a small child, it can be hard to remember yesterday, so I wanted to do a visual recap to appreciate where we've come from and where we've been this year.

The Skimm has us covered from a global perspective...

2015 was on fleek. Adele said ‘hello.’ Bieber said ‘sorry.’ NASA said ‘hey girl hey’ to Pluto.  Ahmed made a clock. Apple  sold us a watch. Greece said ‘oops, we went broke again.’ Left Shark stole the halftime show. The 2016 election stole all the attention.  “Star Wars” really had The Force with it at the box office. The  US women’s soccer team won World Cup gold. California could have used a shower. Amy Schumer was a Trainwreck.  Floyd Mayweather’s undefeated. Ronda Rousey was not.  Paul Ryan got the promotion that he really, really didn’t want. Everyone read Hillary’s inbox. And watched “The Jinx.”  FIFA’s balls got busted. You still can’t whip/nae nae, or spell  American Pharoah’s name. Charlie Sheen has HIV. Jimmy Carter beat cancer. Kimye  had another baby, and did not name it Wild West. That was a lot. Here’s what you need to know… so I just went back in my photos for our little story. He's bigger now, but still enjoys a yogurt picnic. January "and the piggies chased me" is still oft retold. February                                       future looks bright!   Valentine's Friendship lunch at school and an ice storm  Cloudy with a chance of doughnuts Zoo School! March + April Easter + playoff hockey May Buddy friends Pool's open! and (lots of) birthdays! June Adventures in Upstate (vehicles, mostly) Pete + OJ got hitched Pej is here July August Back to school September It's a brudder! October Hockey's back Halloween + underwear Loss of multiple household appliances, gaining a big boy bed November Thankful for school + friends + mac n' cheese December Merry and happy to all! Best wishes for a sparkling 2016...there's a lot in store!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year (2015)

Christmas was huge and wonderful and magical, but we had a lot of festivity in the lead-up, as well...

We kicked off the season with a family trip to see The Grinch at the Grand Ole Opry. Opryland is a literal nightmare this time of year--and the traffic looked like it only got worse as the month went on--but it was worth it for the show. We thought he might be scared, but he was rapt for the whole performance and doesn't seem traumatized.

Visions of sugarplums...in the big boy bed

The breaky tree. Just to look at. 

Bringing his own personal decorating flair to our tree

Mom and Dad snuck off for a weekend getaway...

...while C took Doc to a hockey game and made cookies with Jules and Pej.

Card of The Year Award goes to Michelle.

Construction belt from the Smiths...surprise hit. Working on the belt loop concept, but it's not compatible with the current potty process. 

Quotable C and the Advent Calendar

May the chicken of peace be with you and yours this holiday season.

Quotable C

"Oh! The soda truck came while I was at school."

Thanksgiving 2015

Happy happy, everybody!

We had a nice Thanksgiving in Nashvegas. We started out the morning at home hanging out together, and then headed over to my parents' house for the annual bitchfest that is the Christmas card photo shoot. Much gratitude. After that was out of the way (and everybody but me and the kid started drinking), moods improved and we were all happy by meal time.

Somebody's been enhancing the silver. Culprit remains at large.

A light post-meal read

We are thankful.

We hope your Thanksgiving was happy and healthy.

20-Week Photo Shoot (Round 2)

Round 2 and 3 weeks late...

The 20-week anatomy scan was decidedly less eventful this time around, given that we already knew the baby's sex and had ruled out several major genetic issues thanks to early screening. 

It's still cool nonetheless, and was mostly taking pictures and counting all the body parts. 

profile with hand by face

the bottoms of itty bitty feet

Quotable C

I keep saying to myself, I should write this stuff down...so I am.

C: "Is daddy upstairs?"

me: "No, he had to leave already."

C: *stunned silence, frozen*

me: "Does that make you feel sad?"

C: "No, it makes me poop."

Moral: Don't project emotions on to someone else. They might just be pooping.