2012 Was Better Than 2011 - A Year In Review

As you may have noticed, I took a little break from my blog, and from pretty much everything else internet-related. I got really busy at work a couple weeks ago, and then took some time to enjoy the holidays with my family. We have been having a great time, and of course I have several posts to write about all of our Christmas fun. So yeah, you'll have to deal with more Christmas stuff for the next week.

I thought today would be a great day to come back from my little hiatus with a "review of 2012" type post. After the year from hell we had in 2011, we definitely had a much better year this year!

In January we celebrated Rylie's 4th Birthday and she had a super fun party with her friends and family. We also went to Disney World where the kids had a great time riding the rides and seeing Mickey and some of his friends.

February started off with Bryce potty training himself over a weekend. He decided he no longer wanted to wear diapers, and that was pretty much it! We celebrated both my mom's and dad's birthdays, even though we all missed my dad terribly on his special day. The rest of February was pretty uneventful, but we did go to a bunch of birthday parties that month.

We spent A Day Out with Thomas in March, where the kids got to take a ride on their favorite choo choo train. Rylie had her first visit to the dentist and she did great! She had her teeth cleaned and got a great report from the dentist.

We took the kids to see the Easter Bunny in April, but of course we only have a picture of one of them on his lap. Rylie and Bryce love Easter, because it is a time for candy...even for breakfast! Rylie also decided that month to get all of her hair chopped off (again), and she experienced her first car accident. Brian and I celebrated our 5th Anniversary in Tampa and we ended up doing a lot of sleeping since it rained all weekend. We wrapped up the month with more "big boy" news when we transitioned Bryce's bed to a toddler bed.

May was a fun month that included a lot of swimming! Both of my kids were in tears the first time they were in the pool, but by the end of the month they were both loving the water, and Rylie was turning into quite the little fish. And who could forget Silly Sock Day with Rylie's super silly socks?

We took two mini-vacations in June, and we had such a great time! We spent a weekend at the Hilton Garden Inn Orlando at SeaWorld and spent two days having tons of fun at Aquatica and SeaWorld with friends and family. The highlight of that weekend for me was that I FINALLY got to meet one of my very good friends, Xenia from Thanks, Mail Carrier, in person! Later in the month, we spent a day at the lake with one of Rylie's best friends and her family, and then Bryce got hit with the sickies as a tropical storm blew through. Rylie was getting better and better at swimming, and decided to try swimming with no floatation device. We ended the month with another mini-vacation to the beach with our good friends. We spent a day at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, and then hung out at the beach the next day.

We pretty much spent July in the water. We headed back to Aquatica on July 4th, and then spent the rest of the month splashing around in the pool.

August was a big month for Rylie. She finally got to see her best friend Angelica again, who moved up to the Boston area in January. She also started VPK and dance lessons that month! My mom got the kids rats hamsters, too.

In September we celebrated Bryce's 3rd Birthday. He had an awesome Toy Story themed birthday party with his friends and family. I added two contributors to the blog, Raina and Melissa, who have been helping me out with product reviews. It has been wonderful so far! The kids finished up their swimming lessons and Rylie actually graduated after she proved she could swim and float in her clothes! Bryce made great progress during his lessons, and I no longer have heart palpitations when he is around the water.

Our low point for the year also came in September when we had to say goodbye to our sweet Chloe. After several heart-wrenching days of watching her get sicker and sicker with no answers, we made the decision to let her go. It was a tough time, and I still miss my beautiful dog.

We started off October with a couple birthday parties and a slumber party. We ended the month having some fall fun with our annual Pumpkin Patch visit, and trick-or-treating at the mall.

We celebrated Brian's Birthday in November, and then kicked off the Christmas season (yes, we disrespected the turkey!) by checking out SeaWorld's Christmas Celebration. We spent Thanksgiving weekend with my best friend Melissa and her family, and the kids had a great time with baby Mia, who was born in April. We ended the month in the middle of the ocean on Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas. We took Rylie on her first cruise and we all had a great time!

December was full of holiday fun! (Most of which I haven't had a chance to write about yet.) The kids had a lot of fun at school making crafts and learning about holiday traditions. Rylie and Bryce loved their visit from Dylan, our Elf Magic elf, and had a great month with him. We had breakfast with Santa and Bryce actually volunteered to go see Santa...with a smile on his face! The kids saw Santa at school again (and Bryce sat on his lap!!!) and then we spent Christmas Eve at Universal Orlando. We had a wonderful Christmas and have enjoyed spending some time together the past week or so. Of course the kids got way too many presents from Santa!

So there you have it...a fun 2012, and it is coming to an end in just a few hours. I can't believe another year is over! We have a fun 2013 up ahead, and I just hope for health and happiness for my family.

Happy New Year everyone! May you have a wonderful 2013!

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