2013: A Year in Review

Happy New Year, Blog Friends!

(We interrupt my Christmas re-cap to bring you a reflection of 2013, in honor of it being the New Year and all.)

2013 was a pretty fabulous year. As I read everyone's facebook posts and blog posts yesterday re-living their year, I was reflecting on my own past 12 months and trying to sum up 2013 in one word.

But first, let's re-cap together.

January 2013: Jake says goodbye to the crib and hello to Big Boy Bed status. (Much to my hesitation and resistance)

And Brooklyn kicked off her modeling career. (Well, by "kicked off," I mean, she had one paying gig and we pursued nothing else.)

February 2013: Brooklyn turns 8. (And my hair turns gray.)

March 2013: Chad fulfills a life-long dream and buys a truck. (And later writes a song about said truck, which he is caught singing in our garage out loud to said truck by our neighbor. I'm pretty sure we need to move now.)

We also ran our second 5K (and first Color Run) together.

April 2013: My brother-in-law and sister-in-law gave me the BEST birthday present ever when my niece, Claire, was born on my birthday. We love this little girl sooooo much!
SOOOOO much.

May 2013: We are still loving on Baby Claire and she makes her first trip to the 'Boro.

June 2013: My heart stopped a bit when miscommunication at Great Clips leads to the "haircut of the year." Goodbye, Bieber. Hello, Big Boy Jake.
And we were pleased to christen our new favorite summer hangout spot, Pappy's Paradise. (I mean, it's even a location on Facebook and Instagram now, so you know its for real.)
Oh, and Brooklyn went to Girl Scout Day Camp for the very first time. Talk about growing up!!

This summer also hosted one of the greatest.days.ever when my Carolina Girls and I took a day-long trip down memory lane and visited all of our favorite college locations.

July 2013: I bit the bullet and debuted myself in a bikini at the beach. And on Facebook.

And we had our always fabulous, never disappointing 9th annual trip to the beach with my family.

August 2013: We had our 2nd annual oh so fun, lots of dancing and eating, trip to the beach with Chad's family. It was also Claire's first time debuting a bathing suit.

And I hit a HUGE weight loss milestone.

And Brooklyn started 3rd grade. (Seriously.)

September 2013: The month that was defined by antibiotics, way too much time off of work and school, and a declaration that I was no longer Superwoman.

But we did have some fun when I surprised Brooklyn with her first real concert- Taylor Swift.

After a sickly and painful September, October 2013 could be defined in two words: DISNEY WORLD
And my baby Pookie turned 4.

November 2013: More Baby Claire time and we are loving watching her grow up since she has moved closer.


And my bad ass husband got inked. (You know, to match his bad ass truck.)

December 2013: The month was a whirlwind and Christmas was celebrated many, many times. But it was great time with family, friends, and each other.

There are so many words that could sum up 2013- challenging, validating, motivating, entertaining...

But really, when I look back at the last year, "achievement" is what I can really say summed up our 2013. We all acheived so many new and exciting things this year- from Jake giving up the crib and becoming fully potty trained to Brooklyn attending Girl Scout Camp for the first time to Chad fulfilling dreams of trucks and tattoos and to me reaching my weight loss goals and earning official "Aunt Jaclyn status." It was a year of blessings and goals being reached. A year of firsts and severals and continued traditions. And most importantly, a year of overwhelming love and laughter.

2014- you have a lot to live up to...