A Look Back at 2018

As 2018 comes to an end, I wanted to take the time to recap the year and look back at all the great things that have happened. Most of my highlights this year revolved around Vienna, which is no real surprise. We didn’t take any extravagant vacations or make any large purchases, but my year was filled with happiness, love and a lot of laughs. Let’s take a look.

January: January was a tough month because I was very pregnant. Even though I felt pretty good, just moving around during the day was exhausting. Most of the month was spent going to my weekly doctor appointments and getting the nursery ready for our little one.

February: February was the best month because that’s when Vienna was born. I spent the days leading up to her birth working from home, bouncing on a workout ball, and doing lunges in my living room. It was quite the scene. When my water broke around 1am on February 11, I had no idea what the next few hours would entail. If you missed it, you can read all about Vienna’s birth story.

March: In all honesty, I can’t even pinpoint one specific highlight for March. When I look back at photos, most of them are of me playing with Vienna. So I guess that’s my highlight. March was spent snuggling with my baby, taking her on long walks in the stroller, and going to tummy time classes. 

April: Vienna celebrated her first Easter, which also was the first time I saw her smile. She wore the sweetest dress from Paty Inc. and we had lunch at my Dad’s house. 

May: In early May, I went back to work and Vienna started at daycare. It wasn’t easy to hop back into the swing of my old routine, but I figured it out. Balancing my work responsibilities and pumping three times at work each day was my new normal. Vienna loved meeting new babies to hang out with and I loved having some adult interaction again. I also celebrated my first Mother’s Day!

June: After weeks of preparation, Vienna was baptized on June 10. Bryan and I aren’t very religious, but we were both raised Catholic so it was important to me to have Vienna baptized. I was shocked to see so many of our family and friends attend the service. I’ll be forever grateful for their support and love that day. We also spent a lot of time at the pool. Vienna LOVED floating around and splashing the water with her feet.

July: As much as I would have loved to take a vacation this year, it wasn’t feasible with an infant (definitely will be taking one in 2019). Some fun things in July included eating breakfast outdoors, celebrating 4th of July, spending time in the pool, and watching Vienna grow. 

August: I feel like Vienna’s personality started to shine in August. She’s always been an expressive baby, but this month I started seeing her as a little person as opposed to a newborn. Another highlight this month was having the courage to nurse Vienna outdoors in public. Yes I used a cover, but it was still a big moment for me. 

September: September was a month filled of firsts for Vienna. She started crawling, said da-da, sat in a shopping cart, and sat in a highchair at a restaurant. 

October: October was a whirlwind. In the beginning of the month, we attended my cousin’s wedding (without Vienna) which was a LOT of fun. Vienna dressed up as the cutest Snow White for Halloween and participated in two parades at Linvilla Orchards and her preschool. We also moved! Our lease for our apartment was ending soon, and we weren’t planning on renewing. I looked online for a new rental and within a week we had signed the lease on our new townhouse. 

November: I finally felt settled in our new house this month. Pete our dog (if you’re new around here) spent lots of time cuddled up with us on the couch. It was a really cold month, so we couldn’t take him on long walks in Valley Forge Park like we normally would on the weekends. He’s loving all the space in our new place though!  

December: A lot happened in December for our family. I turned 30 and celebrated with my best friends at one of my favorite restaurants. Soon after that, the craziness of the holidays set in. I wanted to make Vienna’s first Christmas super special for her. We celebrated with my dad, his fiance and my sister on December 23. We opened presents with them, had a delicious brunch and watched home videos from when my sister and I were babies. On Christmas morning, Vienna opened a few presents from Santa and then we spent the rest of the day with my in-laws. She was a bit overwhelmed and ended up taking two 2.5 hour naps! 

Can’t wait to see what 2019 brings. Happy New Year!