January Recap

VISITORS ABOUND!

That pretty much sums up January.

First, my parents came for a visit during one of the coldest weeks that we've had. Sorry about that Mom and Dad! But, the good thing was that the anticipation of their visit drove me to finally check out an indoor playground in the area and I'm so glad I finally did! It's been a life saver! My parents generously gifted us with a 10 visit punch card, which was a fantastic gift because it gets us out of the house to somewhere that Z can run and run and run. Bear also very much enjoys crawling and cruising around the baby area. We also went swimming with them at their hotel and my dad took Z sledding on the days that were above 0. It was a great visit!

About a week later, Joe's aunts Mary and Marti came up for a visit. We had a great time leaving our children with them while we went out to brunch. Joe and I had literally forgotten that going out for brunch was a thing people do. It was deliciously awesome. They arrived bearing tons of delicious gifts, showered our kids with affection, binge watched some "Great British Baking Show" with me, , got Bear to crawl, and were really lovely company. Come back anytime ladies! 

When we left for brunch we told the aunts we expected Bear to be crawling by the time we returned. And he was. WHAT!

Finally, our last visit was from our beloved Bordstroms, whom we have missed so much since we moved from Syracuse. It was ridiculously good to see them again and to not need to do anything crazy or spectacular because just basking in their presence, laughing, getting hugs, cooking with Mike, giggling with Jen, and in general having an awesome time because they are that kind of friends was so nice. I cried when they left like it was moving day all over again, but I'm so thankful that they took the time and resources to come out and see us. 

Um... I have no pictures of Mike on my phone. Friend fail.

That was January in a nutshell. The kids had all kinds of developmental leaps but I'll talk about that elsewhere. Joe started back for the semester and was very busy for a bit there but things are starting to normalize a bit for him. I started some freelance work and am getting into the swing of that. I wasn't sure how it was going to work out before I started but it seems like I'm able to balance it well with taking care of the kids full time and it's nice to be bringing in some extra pennies.

The biggest news outside of our little family unit was that my BFF&E, Shana, got ENGAGED to be MARRIED THIS SUMMER. I will be bearing the title of matron of honor, though it grieves me that I can't be there for her and help her more with the planning since she is in San Diego. However, I'm very excited for her and we'll be saving a lot of those aforementioned pennies to travel and bear witness to her nuptials.