I can't believe that it's January and another year is upon us! Time really flies the older you get, and I think having little ones just makes it go even faster. I cannot believe that I will have two year olds in less than a month. Two. Year. Olds. How did that happen? I am still so excited about being pregnant with them, and we have two precious, smart, strong-willed, kind and curious two year olds. I could maybe convince myself that my one year olds were still babies, but there's no denying that we are right in the middle of toddler-hood!
Twenty fifteen was a great year for us. We had so many highs and a few lows. We laughed, loved, cried, traveled, and figured out this crazy thing called life as a family of four. Life is so precious and we never know when our last day is upon us. I am so thankful to have our family and friends embarking on another year together and can't wait to see what 2016 has in store for us. Below is a recap of 2015. Enjoy!
January
We kicked off 2015 with a low key New Years Eve at home with the babies. Ashley made her third trip to the pediatrician (in the month of December) on New Years Eve and had her third double ear infection. This earned us a visit to an ENT to see about tubes. The fact that she wasn't crawling expedited our appointment. Annabelle continued to pull up and cruise and seemed to be very close to taking off by herself! We welcomed Baby Kate McCarty in early January and celebrated our best friend, EV Sanders' birthday in mid-January. Then on January 22nd, our sweet Blaire Elyse was born and she made Ashley and Annabelle cousins and Mommy and Daddy an aunt and uncle. Our hearts nearly exploded the day she was born and meeting her the next day was so incredibly sweet. We can't wait for the many memories our girls will have together. Ashley and Annabelle turned 1 on January 28th and we celebrated as a family on their actual birthday with dinner at River Crest. Then we had a big Winter ONEderland bash the following weekend with our families and many friends. It was perfect! Also in January, we visited the Stock Show and Rodeo (a Fort Worth tradition) and mommy even worked a shift selling rodeo program for Junior League. Teething really bothered us this month. Those one-year molars are no fun!
February
February was a cold month! It started out with our one-year well visit, and Dr. Worsley was very happy with everything. He was a little concerned with Ashley not crawling, but wanted to see if tubes made a difference. She had six double ear infections between October and January (and antibiotics weren't working), so tubes were in our future. We visited with Dr. Fewins and scheduled them for Wednesday, February 25th. We also had Ashley assessed for physical and occupational therapy through Cook Children's Rehabilitation services and ECI, just in case there was something other than ear infections causing her delay in crawling. Neither therapist thought that would be the case, but we wanted to make sure. Miraculously even with the ear infections, she was ahead of schedule verbally. Valentine's Day was spent as a family at the zoo and then mommy and daddy had a nice, early dinner at River Crest while the girls played at Little Crest. Daddy had to travel to Vegas for work and Nonnie came to stay with us for a few days. Fort Worth had a crazy ice storm that kept us home bound. Nonnie and Grandmother were here for the tube surgery day, and our sweet Ashley did great. And even better--she started crawling like a pro just two days after her surgery! Annabelle continued to cruise and walk holding onto things, and was quite possibly the world's fastest crawler. She didn't seem to have the patience to want to try walking. With two girls officially on the go, mommy and daddy didn't lack physical activity! We loved riding in our push cars, reading books, and we worked so hard on switching to a sippy cup.
One other big happening for February is that mommy weaned from breastfeeding. I started out nursing and then ended up exclusively pumping for the girls for almost 13 months. It was such a labor of love and major commitment, but I am so proud to say that I stuck with it and provided the girls nourishment for over a year. I looked forward to being able to sleep through the night without having to pump, as well as be away from the house for more than a couple of hours! Freedom!! (well, sort of...)
March
March started off with crazy winter weather. On Friday, the girls and I drove to the church ready for a normal day of school. It was snowing a little bit, but nothing major. About an hour a half later, we were watching cars struggle up the hill in front of the church. I called George to come and get us (thankfully his day trip to Waco was cancelled) and it took him over an hour to go three and a half miles. We enjoyed a cozy weekend at home and longed for spring-like weather. The next week, the girls took off southbound to West Columbia to have a staycation with Nonnie and Pawpaw for a few days. Plus we wanted to give Daddy George a break and some time to enjoy with friends and by himself. We had so much fun in West Columbia, and I got to snuggle with Blaire, which was such a bonus! The girls did so great in the car (and mommy was very grateful, since I was by myself). We enjoyed our usual stop at Chick-fil-A in College Station for lunch and diaper changes. We were so happy to see Daddy when we got home! We also met Stacy at the Dallas Aquarium and celebrated Pawpaw Buck's birthday on March 17th (despite two sick girls). We headed back to West Columbia at the end of the month for Cousin Blaire's Baptism. We enjoyed an Easter Bunny breakfast with Megan and Taryn (and their little ones) and Grandmother and Nonnie. It was so much fun! We were not big fans of cow's milk, and it was a struggle for mommy to get us to drink it. We started eating more "big kid" foods and our feeding schedule mimicked that of toddlers. We are growing so fast!
April
We started off the month going to Jasper for Easter. It was so special because Nonnie and Pawpaw met us there, plus we got to spend the weekend with Uncle Dom and Aunt Rachel and Uncle Matt came up for the day on Saturday. We had so much fun with everyone, and loved Easter Sunday at Daddy's childhood church. We worked and worked on walking, but we weren't ready to go hands-free just yet. We really enjoyed having a big yard to play in and pushed anything and everything all over. Mommy turned 30 on April 8th and we celebrated by the entire family getting a terrible stomach bug. Nonnie came up to help, and she even got sick! It wasn't fun at all. We also attended the Pancake Picnic at Cook Children's put on by the Junior League. It was so much fun (and we love pancakes)! Mommy and Daddy attended a wedding in Dallas and prepared for their first big trip away from the girls -- Mexico for four days. It was a much deserved and needed vacation, but I was incredibly nervous and anxious to leave the girls. Although I know they would be in the best hands with Grandmother and Pawpaw. April is a month of birthdays in our family and we celebrated Mommy's, Grandmother's, Matt and Taylor's (they share the same day), and Rachel's birthdays. So much fun!!
May
May began with Mommy and Daddy going to Cancun (with Nonnie and Pawpaw) for four days. To say I was anxious is a huge understatement. Lots of tears were shed, but I made it though and totally enjoyed the time to focus on George and my marriage. I know that marriage has to come before children and that the relationship between parents needs to be nurtured so that it can be strong. But that doesn't mean that it isn't hard to do that all of the time! We got back from Mexico and packed everybody up again to leave two days later to go to Granbury for Mother's Day. Matt and Cortney came in from Houston and Rachel and Dom joined us, too. It was a fun weekend having the cousin's together. Ashley and Annabelle each took some steps, but neither were quite ready to take the full-time plunge to walking. School ended for mommy and the girls and Daddy was very busy with taking customers to Colonial (a PGA golf tournament in Fort Worth). Less than a week after school was out, Ashley started walking. We were so proud! About five days later, Annabelle started walking too. Although her first "step" was about 20 steps, which is so typical for our mover and shaker! The girls continued to chat our ears off and become more and more independent. They enjoyed playing together and we loved nothing more than to hear two sets of giggles! Nonnie and Pawpaw came up for Memorial Day, and we loved spending time with them.
June
When June rolled around, we were settling into a summer routine. We started Summer Fun at UCC, which was two days a week in the morning. It was a great way for us to stay in our routine of going to school and for mommy to have a little extra time to get things done. It was an unseasonably cool June, so we enjoyed lots of outside time. We tried to get to the River Crest pool as much as possible and enjoyed a trip to the zoo with Lindsey and EV just before Baby Will made his arrival. The first weekend in June was the annual member-guest golf tournament at River Crest--Crestival. Known as "Golf's Biggest Party," there are events from Wednesday through Saturday. The girls enjoyed a weekend in Granbury and George and I got to have an adult weekend with the Sudbecks at home and enjoying all that Crestival had to offer. We also celebrated our seventh wedding anniversary that weekend (amazing--I am so incredibly lucky) and Baby Will Sanders was born. It was a special weekend for so many people! The next weekend, we traveled to West Columbia for a Sip-and-See for Baby Reese Ryder. The following weekend, Nonnie and Pawpaw and Dixie and Matt came up for the weekend and we had a great time. We played, brunched, and then the adults enjoyed a fun Fort Worth summer tradition--Concerts in the (Botanical) Gardens. The next week, Ashley tested out of PT and we were so excited. She qualified for PT before getting her tubes and we decided to continue with it since she had already qualified and just focus on walking. She tested several months ahead on every category and we were so pleased not to have any more concerns. The girls continued to move and grove and it was amazing to witness their new tricks that they seemed to accomplish daily. Annabelle is definitely our little dare devil, and nothing seems to high or scary for her. We ended the month with another Concerts in the Garden, but this time with customers. It was so much fun!
July
Summer was in full swing by July! We had done so many fun things and were trying to stay as cool as possible. I made a summer bucket list after seeing the idea on Mix and Match Mama's family blog. I thought it was a good way to have an intentional summer and for those days when everyone needs a change of scenery (maybe not actually going somewhere, but doing something new), it was so nice to just look at my little list on my phone and pick something. The first event of the month was the girls' first trip to the dentist. Grandmother went with us to help and everyone did great --and got a great report! To kick off the Fourth, we attended our third Concerts in the Gardens (of the season) with the Amersons. Then we continued our celebration with George's family over on Friday, the 3rd, and a weekend in Granbury on the 4th and 5th. Billy got a new pontoon boat and the lake was finally up enough to use it. The girls loved their first boat ride and we all had a great time. George left the next week for a work convention and Grandmother and Nonnie spent time with us. We went to the Zoo, the park, and the Splash Pad and had so much fun. Then we road tripped down to West Columbia for several days. We enjoyed seeing so many friends and family! The rest of the month we played a lot outside (in the mornings before it got too hot) and with our friend, EV. The mall near our house has a wonderful toddler play area, so many mornings Lindsey and I would have the girls there by 8:30 to play before the mall opened. It was a life saver and a great way to get energy out! The girls turned eighteen months at the end of the month, and it was hard to believe we were halfway to two! The surprised us every day with their verbal and physical development. They were becoming more and more steady on their feet and really enjoyed each other.
August
We started a new tradition this month -- the annual Buckmaster family vacation. We chose Galveston since it was close to Matt and Cortney (and they had taken so much time off with Blaire). After so much packing and preparing, we headed down the afternoon of August 5th and were as prepared as we could be for 5.5 hours in the car with two toddlers. We had such a wonderful break with our family. The girls loved the beach and had so much fun each day. We ate dinner at Salsa's Mexican Restaurant one night, which is w here George and had our rehearsal dinner over seven years ago. Nonnie and Pawpaw came up for the day and dinner on Saturday, and we enjoyed seeing them so much. It was a great trip! After our trip, we soaked up what was left of summer before school started back up. We went to the trampoline park, played outside, went swimming at River Crest and played almost every day with EV. We are so thankful that her family lives just across the street! They make life so much more fun. The girls were into climbing and being as independent as possible. While it's all fun for them, it can be challenging chasing two toddlers that seem to go two different directions! However, I tried my best to savor every crazy second! I started training for work towards the end of the month and then the girls had Meet the Teacher and we all started back on the very last day of August. It was nice to be back in a routine. Somehow I seem to get more done after working for three hours a day then I do if I am home all day!
September
The arrival of September meant on thing -- favorite season/time of year was upon us: FALL and FOOTBALL (college football to be specific). We headed south to Nonnie and Pawpaw's house for Labor Day and George and I continued one of our favorite traditions as a couple on Saturday -- attending the first Aggie game. We have been to most of the first Aggie games during our almost-12 years of dating/marriage, and we love it. College football is our special "thing," and I love it. The girls stayed over with Nonnie and Pawpaw and a great time was had by all. After Labor Day, George began his month of traveling. He was gone several times over the next three weeks (including two of the weekends) and we missed him a lot. I was super busy with Junior League and kicking off another year. My role for 2015-16 is one of the Assistant Provisional (new member) Co-Chairs, which means that I will be chairing the Provisional Class (with my awesome Chair) in 2016-17. So much planning and thought goes into the girls' year the year before they are even provisionals, and I enjoyed learning about that side of League business. Nonnie and Pawpaw came up in mid-September to see the girls and I while George was gone. I hosted a couple's shower for Emily and Michael that weekend, which was fun. The next week, the stomach bug hit our house and the girls and I rotated it back and forth for a month. It was AWFUL and not fun at all. The girls continued to surprise and amaze us with their language, gross-and-fine motor development, and blossoming personalities. They were loving and thriving in school and I could tell a huge difference in their development and independence in just the month they had been there. They really love books and reading, which makes my heart happy! :)
October
October finally brought a little relief from the heat! We joked that summer and fall were just about a month late this year. The first weekend of October, we ventured over to Lewisville for a fun weekend with the Sudbecks at their country club. The boys didn't actually get to play in the member/guest golf tournament due to Peter's travel commitments, but we had so much fun just spending time with them. The next day, Annabelle and I were the next victims of the stomach bug and we spent a lot of time cuddled on the couch. There aren't many things I hate more than a stomach bug. Yuck! George traveled more this month and I worked Christmas in Cowtown, Junior League's holiday gift market. I think every year it gets better and better! The girls and I headed south for the weekend while George took customers to the Alabama game in College Station. Unfortunately, the game did not have a favorable outcome for the good guys....maybe next year! The girls and I enjoyed a night at Nonnie and Pawpaw's before going to Aunt Dixie's the next day. We had so much fun there playing at the park and feeding ducks. The next day on our way home, we stopped by Kellye's for a fun and casual play date with her sweet boys, Cousin Blaire, and Gracie and Catherine Phillips. We loved playing with everyone and it was so special for me to see my kids playing with my childhood best friends' kids. It wore us out we took a good nap on the way home! The rest of the month was spent trying to stay dry (we had crazy floods), celebrating Lindsey's birthday (and trying to take our minds off of an UGLY loss to Ole Miss), and celebrating Halloween at River Crest and then on our front porch with neighbors on actual Halloween. The girls were Minnie this year, which is perfect because they are borderline OBSESSED with anything Mickey or Minnie. The girls really got into singing this month and loved singing "Wheels on the Bus" and "If You're Happy and You Know It." Watching them sing and dance brought many smiles and laughs to our faces!
November
November was a big month for our family. We started out the month continuing our football tradition with the Amersons by traveling to the Aggie/Auburn game. This year it was in College Station, so we headed down on Friday afternoon. We had such a fun weekend (despite the rain, cold, and scoreboard), and I think it refreshed all four of us. George had big news at the beginning of November -- he was promoted to Sales Manager of Fort Worth/Waco. He was one of the four original salesmen to open the D/FW office and has worked tirelessly to ensure it's success. I am so proud to be his wife and so proud of this huge professional accomplishment for him. There's no one more deserving! We celebrated George's birthday and then traveled to Nashville to watch the Aggies play Vanderbilt. Charlie and Mallory and their sweet little Laurel met us there from Kansas City. We had such a fun weekend exploring Nashville, catching up with them, and witnessing an Aggie W! We hosted Thanksgiving for the fifth year in a row. This year, Matt and Cortney (and Blaire) spent the holiday with her family, so we had my parents, George's parents, and Rachel and Dom. We had a great dinner and fellowship. I love having both of our families together -- and we're lucky that they love it, too!
December
We blinked, and it was December. It seemed like we were just experiencing one-year olds, weaning from breastfeeding, first steps, summertime, and the first football game and now the year was coming to a close. I made a vow at the beginning of December --that I would not do anything this holiday season that could make me lose my patience with my precious children. This meant not putting elaborate decorations in places they may "edit" them, not jamming our weekends and weekdays with holiday "traditions" that I felt pressured to do thanks to social media and Pinterest, and just saying "no" to some things so we could get back to the real reason for the season and spend time together as a family. I committed to one holiday "thing" per weekend and one bonus happening in between the time school was out and we left for Christmas. The first weekend, we took part in a block "progressive happy hour" and had a ball. We know all of our neighbors, but it was so much fun to get to have deeper conversations with them versus the "hellos" and "how are yous" we all say in passing. This forced me to get my Christmas decorations up quickly (since we were a host house) and I liked having the extra time to enjoy them. The next weekend, we enjoyed breakfast in our pajamas (well the girls) on Saturday morning, and then we attended Breakfast with Santa at River Crest that Sunday morning. The next week, we enjoyed our annual Christmas dinner with the Amersons and Sudbecks and then that weekend went on a golf cart ride with hot chocolate to look at Christmas lights. We also made Christmas ornaments for grandparents, which was much easier this year. The week before we left, the girls and I did some baking and I think it's safe to say that they loved every second! I'll do a separate post on Christmas, but we had a wonderful Christmas with both of our families. It was perfect, except for one big thing. While at my parents' house the day after Christmas, our precious boxer, Tyson, was hit by a car. It has been devastating. The emotions are plenty and George and I have shed many tears over his passing. The only silver lining (if there is any) is that it was instant and there was no suffering. Tyson was 9 years old and we had seen some signs lately that his health wasn't that great anymore, so who knows how much longer we really had with him. Coming home without him has been so tough. Our house is quieter and not as much like home without that big, lovable boy running around. My father inlaw said it best-- he had a lot of love to give, sometimes too much, but he was a loving and lovable dog and loved by so many.
We rang in 2016 with Rachel and Dom, but had the McCarty's and Sanders over for dinner (before their kids went to bed). Cheers to an incredible 2016!
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