{image via}
Happy New Year, & a big hello to 2016! Per usual, this year went at lighting fast speed. I swear it was just the beginning of the year & then I blinked & here we are at the end of December. Having Eloise has made time go much faster for me but at the same time she is a living example of time passing – how much she is changing & growing right before our very eyes!
So, here we go with my favorite post of the year: the recap of all the things we did in 2015 (& check out all of our other yearly highlights that are linked at the bottom of the post).
January. We brunched with our good friend Brenda who finally got to meet Miss Eloise! We unpacked & organized most of the house after the disaster clean-up was complete (see here for the first part of the story). Aaron started his paternity leave & we got him home for the entire month!
February. We did our best cheering for the Seahawks, but alas they did not with the SuperBowl. I made Eloise neckerchiefs to try to soak up all that slobber. Eloise started solids. Eloise had her six month photo shoot. We visited the Aquarium for the first time with the Sadliers. I turned 30 & we threw a big party! Girl Scout cookies. Grammie came to town, & Aaron & I got a date night!
March. Eloise & I went to the annual PEPS Luncheon. Eloise out-grew her first set of Freshly Picked gold moccasins (& she is currently on her fourth pair). We took our first trip to the zoo! My chair re-upholster project was featured on Apartment Therapy! Eloise got sunglasses. We learned how to install Eloise’s new convertible car seat & tried peanut butter for the first time!
April. We celebrated Eloise’s first Easter. Aaron & I got an Easter dinner date while Eloise stayed with her Aunt Sarah & Uncle Ben. We drove north to Skagit Valley & stayed in a house in La Conner with Grammie. We visited the tulip festival. Eloise had her first taste of watermelon. We flew across the country to visit Aaron’s family, first to Charlotte.
May. We continued our trip from Charlotte to Indy to visit more of Aaron’s family. Eloise got to meet her great grandpa Neal & great grandma Eileen. I celebrated my first Mother’s Day! The Gilbertsons were also in Indy {coincidence? I think not!} Aaron took a short work trip to Vegas. We celebrated Aaron’s birthday with brunch at our favorite, Portage Bay Café. We took Eloise to her first Mariner’s game.
June. Eloise visited the dentist for the first time & got two thumbs up! Eloise started swim lessons at Greenlake on Saturday mornings. We flew to Boise to celebrate my dad’s birthday & Aaron’s first Father’s Day.
July. We introduced Eloise to all of the neighbors (not just our immediate ones) & she participated in our neighborhood’s annual Fourth of July Parade. Aaron & I got a date night to see Wicked. We drove to Boise (again!) for a week with my family & to celebrate my sister Keri’s wedding! I met up with Amanda for a girls’ night out with dinner & a documentary screening of Having It All (which was about work-life balance after kids & it was honestly a little depressing!).
August. Aaron & I celebrated our FIVE year wedding anniversary! Grammie came to visit. We threw Eloise an awesome first birthday party (see the DIYs here)! On August 10th at 12:20 pm Eloise turned one! Eloise had her one year photo shoot. We traded in our old VW for a new one. We started our big yard project with landscape design. We attended lots & lots of first birthday parties for our friends. Eloise participated in her second lab study at the UW. Aaron chopped down all of our laurel hedges & we had the stumps ground down.
September. We met Grammie on the Oregon coast for Labor Day. We went to toddler story time at our local library branch (formally we went to the infant story time). Our good friend Colt came into town for a visit, & we all went north to Orcas Island to celebrate the Steward nuptials. Sadie celebrated her 11th birthday! Our backyard make-over started with sod removal, & sprinkler & sod installation.
October. Sadie got a clean bill of health at her annual exam appointment with the vet. We celebrated our fourth year of blogging her at Emerald City Diaries (see by very first blog post here). We ventured south to Texas. We stayed with one of my BFFs & her sweet little family, & explored the best of San Antonio! Then we headed to Austin to celebrate the Anderson nuptials. We celebrated Halloween early & débuted our family Flintstone costumes at Ben & Sarah’s annual Ghouls Near Greenlake party. Then we donned our costumes again for Halloween – two PEPS get-together, the neighborhood costume parade, & Eloise’s first year of trick-or-treating!
November. Meg & her daughter Violet came to visit (which was fun since we just saw them in Texas!). We had our family Christmas card photo shoot at Greenlake (& see the video here). Eloise started at daycare a few days per week (& promptly got herself & everyone else sick after just one day). We hosted the second annual Friendsgiving feast & it was lovely. We took a day trip out to Black Diamond to visit our friends Grifan & Blakely, & to see their new house. We drove to Boise to celebrate Turkey Day. I got my hair cut – yes! We had lunch with my old friend Paige (& her family) who I met in pre-school. We had a big reunion dinner with the CBC girls, the husbands, & our kiddos. We celebrated Thanksgiving & Eloise dressed up like a turkey, despite us all being SO sick.
December. Now an annual tradition, I participated in #PinterestChristmas2015 {see my posts here, here, here, & here, & the Linky Party here}. Eloise wasn’t super happy about meeting Santa again at Nordstrom this year. Aaron got a new job (still at Microsoft!) which he starts in January! I made an unexpected trip to the ER (I am good now!) & Eloise had her first sleepover. We went to WildLights at the Woodland Park Zoo. We spent Christmas Eve in our jammies all day. Santa brought Eloise a tiny kitchen for Christmas, we started a tradition of eating Christmas tacos, & did lots of FaceTiming with family far away. My chair re-upholster project was featured as a Best of 2015 on Apartment Therapy! We cleaned out the office! My family – dad, mom, sister – ventured up to Seattle for a late Christmas celebration. We rang in the New Year with the best views of the city!
Dare I say this was the #bestyearever? (which is apparently what I say every year!) This year was such a wonderful & amazing year, & sometimes I have to pinch myself that it is all real & true (not to say it hasn’t also been a really tough year too, being a mama is so hard!). That said, I am welcoming 2016 with open arms & cannot wait to see what’s in store for us!
M
I love these recaps! Look at how much E has grown this year! I’m so happy we got to see you in 2015. xoxo