(Thomas wrote this right around New Year’s. I would have to agree!)
I would say 2016 was the year of many adjustments and many milestones to reflect on. Our first child turned five in March. And following shortly after in March we became a family of five and welcomed John Lloyd.
Arthur made the transition from the crib to the bunk bed with Thomas and now potty training. And he is filling the role of the middle child well.
Thomas started Kindergarten and has made the transition well. We are so pleased with his school and the progress he’s making in reading and writing. His favorite thing about school is the bus so far!
I feel like most of 2016 flew by in a blur. We’ve adjusted to a newborn with reflux. And once again come on the other side of it to a smiling, happy baby. You would think going through it with Thomas would make it easier a second time. But there’s no preparing for the screaming and hard feedings and not sleeping well. It’s hard. There’s no getting around it. For the third time, I found myself struggling with exhaustion and sleep deprivation. And each time I come back to 2 Corinthians 12:9 “His strength is made perfect in weakness.”
Starting this New Year, we’ve had almost three weeks of togetherness. And it’s been wonderful and sometimes exhausting at the same time. There’s been a lot of love and memories made. We’re in the middle of leaning on the grace of God to lead us as we learn to coordinate three children and each of their needs and always will be. And I continually learn to take things one small step at a time.
This week, like most other families, we’re getting back to the normal school and work routines and trying to get back into some sort of routine. It’s tough after sleeping in and enjoying no real schedule the past couple of weeks. But January is hard. It’s hard to get motivated and back into a routine after coming off of such a laid back few weeks and all that lead up to Christmas. I see lots of to dos in front of me and wanting to organize and get the Christmas things put away. This is extremely difficult for me. I’m a slow learner! It’s okay that all of this takes time to get done.
Tom and I have talked of goals for our family and things we would like to accomplish in this New Year. Most of all, our prayer is that the Lord will guide us in the direction He has for our family and He would write that on our hears. We are beyond thankful and our hearts are so full that He has given us this life together.
We actually just watched our wedding video with the boys the other night. They had been looking at our wedding album, and I asked them if they wanted to see the video. They loved seeing it! Tom and I both said later that night we couldn’t have ever imagined this would be our life 12.5 years ago. And we are blown away!
