With just two months left in the year, it is crazy to think it all has gone by this fast!  We have had a busy but oh so wonderful year here.  It is hard to wrap it all up but I thought for now a quick photo dump would be a fun way to run back through the year.

January

I headed to the Outerbanks to spend the holiday weekend with my sister and cousin and of course the kiddos.  AB lucked out with the best cousins who lover her fiercely!

February 

One of my oldest friends married the love of her life and we had the best night catching up with some of my dearest friends from childhood at the wedding.  I can not be more thankful for these sweet friends who I am still so close with today.

March

Our friend Rob was running a marathon in Newport News so we got to spend the weekend with the whole family (His wife, Heather, is one of my best friends from college)!  We even got the chance took the kids to the Living Museum and they had a blast.

We were at the oceanfront for Brandon to run his first half marathon!!  We also got to cheer on my brother and his fiancé for the 10k during the Shamrock Run weekend.  It was also this weekend we told the family we were expecting baby number 2!

April

We sold our house in Christiansburg.  We have been renting it out since we left in 2010 and have had a local friend helping us with the upkeep.  And while I was more than ready to let this house go (long distance landlord-ship is rough) it was a little bitter sweet to say goodbye to our first home.

We celebrated lots of birthdays and even had fun birthday party at the zoo!  AB’s first trip to visit the animals was a big hit.  

AB had her first egg hunt and her love of cleaning up made her an excellent egg collector!

Brandon had to work Easter this year so we went with some of my brothers and sister to show the kids all the bells and whistles of the fire house!  And back at my parent’s house, a special visitor came to bring sweet treats!

I went to the most perfect bachelorette day-party which included mimosas (non-alcohlic for me and 4 other guests who were expecting!) and professional massages all in a gorgeous beach house with a stunning ocean view.

May

We did a gender reveal with the family and found out we were having a little boy!!  

My boss said “you seem athletic” and convinced me to join the work team for a corporate 5k!  AB was my stroller buddy and while it was more walk/run than actually racing for me, it felt good to get active!

A girls trip with my college besties (which now also includes our husbands and little ones) was to Alexandria, VA this spring.  We took the kids to a farm just outside DC, went shopping, visited the playgrounds and found a little splash pad in the city.  The guys took over while us girls snuck away for a little happy hour before bath and bedtimes one night. 

My friends wedding reception was a beautiful evening cruise along the Elizabeth River and it couldn’t have been a more fun and romantic way to celebrate such a sweet couple.

We finished out the month with a concert in Virginia Beach to see Hootie & the Blowfish.  It was an amazing night out with my husband, brother and sister!  My little brother and sister are the best concert buddies and I hope I can join them for a few more next summer!

June

For Christmas last year we asked for swim lessons for AB!  Turns out she is a little fish and was obsessed.  The hardest part of every class was getting her out of the water!  We plan to do these again in the winter.  With so many family members with pools and summer trips to the beach, we definitely want her to be safe and comfortable with the water!

AB had Storybook Character Day at little school and since she isn’t old enough to have an opinion, I dressed her as my favorite parody character Little Miss Hot Mess!  If you are looking for a good laugh, this series is hilarious and a spin off of the Little Miss and Little Mister books I loved growing up!

July

I worked on July 4th putting on the city firework show but got to enjoy all the fun of the holiday weekend in the sun!

We took a family trip down to Duck in the outer banks.  We met up with friends for a day on the water with their boat, hit up the beach everyday with friends who came to stay with us, watched beautiful sunsets from the dock at dinner and just relished in our happy place!

The end of July, on what turned out to be the hottest day of the year, we were up in Pennsylvania to take AB to Sesame Street Place with our friends.  Thank goodness it is half waterpark so we could spend the hottest part of the day splashing in the lazy river and riding the water rides.  Even with the sweltering heat the kids did amazing!  They ran, giggled, danced, and played all day (with a perfectly timed nap at lunch time back at the hotel).  AB is still asking when we can go back to “Elmo’s House”.

August

We celebrated AB’s 2nd birthday!!  We had all the family over the weekend before and on her actual birthday, took the whole day to celebrate.  The day started with happy face pancakes, then to the zoo, and after lunch and a car nap, took her to her first movie at the theater to see Toy Story 4.  The night ended with one last birthday candle blow out on our sweet girl’s big day.

September 

September was a jam packed month.  Between prepping for the baby’s arrival on the 30th (I had a scheduled c-section so the date was set), a new promotion at work, and taking in a few last park days with AB as an only child, we were on the move all month long. 

The very best part of it all was when we had our little boy!  Tyson Douglas was born on September 30 at 9:14 am weighing 6 lbs 10 oz.  It took a little coaxing but after a few minutes, and a well timed present from mom-mom, AB fell in love with her little baby brother!  We couldn’t have had a easier delivery and we are so thankful for our happy, healthy baby boy.

October

We enjoyed lots of visitors to see our newest addition and spent the month attempting to get in a little routine with two kids.  After getting a little settled in I got a little stir crazy and started taking on a few little projects around the house.  I am sure my husband is dreading the growing list of little updates I am planning!  Our master needed a little something over the new bed we bough in July so I went to work hanging a shelf.  A little more styling needs to be done, but I am loving how the room is coming along.

AB had been running around the house for months pretending to be a dinosaur so her halloween costume idea was an easy one.  Now the execution of this DIY project was not so easy, but it ended up turning out great and AB loved it.  Brandon, Tyson and I even joined in the dino theme for trick or treating with friends.

Now here we are with just two months left of what was an amazing year.  we have trips planned and holidays to celebrate and I am here for it all!!