Me and Mine December

The end of December means the end of the year which is a scary thing.  Whilst the days are at times long, the years are inevitably short and the end of 2015 means my baby boy isn't the newborn I still see him as anymore.  Our family has grown this year, we have learned, fought, worried, laughed and loved and December's photo had to be taken in front of my parent's Christmas tree as it has been for the past two years.

Every Christmas day we spend there, eating too much, spoiling the boys, playing cards and being a family.  This year was quieter with my little sister out working in France for the winter season but we had a wonderful weekend anyway.

December has been a slower month than I intended, we didn't fit in half of what I had planned and I liked it that way.  There will always be next year, we still had fun and my big boy needed some calm and quiet time to help him cope with the tiredness that comes at the end of your very first term of school.

We have managed another whole year of our monthly photos and it is definitely something I will be continuing into 2016.  I hope even if I do ever stop blogging that this is a tradition we keep up, as our year has been full of beautiful shots (mixed with last minute phone selfies of course).

This month

Mummy is loving the whole Christmas weekend, Yule Log, winning at cards and her new slippers

Daddy is loving the Pacman light he got for Christmas, time off work, the excuse to eat more cheese than usual and his new computer monitor.

Dylan is loving the giant Christmas tree in Covent Garden, the trumpet that Father Christmas brought him, having a pyjama day and learning all about animals with his new book.

Archie is loving  seeing the Snowman, the fart gun his Aunty and Uncle bought him, singing Rudolph the red nose reindeer at the top of his voice and having his big brother home from school.

Finn is loving finally getting his first tooth, alpro yoghurts, wrapping paper and the baubles with bells in them.

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Goodbye 2015, Hello 2016

As we said goodbye to 2014 and entered the new year, my overriding emotion was excitement.  Whilst I am sure we had other things planned, the most immediate and important was welcoming a new person who was still growing inside me.  Our year was always going to start with an adventure and Finn's arrival was certainly memorable.

By the end of February our year was already nothing like the one we had planned.  Our beautiful baby boy was born with a congenital virus and admitted to the Special Care Baby Unit to be looked after.  Our perfect son was fighting a battle and we were told it was one he may not win.  I always think it is amazing what you are capable of when you least expect it, and we all have a strength within that we do not know until we need it.  The three weeks Finn spent in hospital were the hardest of my life, but we all came out of it with a new love for the amazing support network of family and friends who reminded us every day that we could cope and that we were.  They provided childcare, an ear to listen, baked goods to keep us going and relief when we needed it most.  We learnt that as a family we can get through anything and it made every milestone Finn meets, every new skill he learns that bit more amazing.

The month after bringing Finn home from hospital is a bit of a blur still.  Real life was imposed on me rather abruptly and with hospital appointments to take all three children to several times a week, it seemed we didn't have much time to settle into our new life as a family of five.  I couldn't have been prouder of my big boys as they coped so well with the changes, despite the fact Finn was usually the focus of attention and they bonded even more than they already had.  As the appointments slowed down, we settled down too and found our new routine, our new normal.

It was Dylan's last summer before school and the adventures we thought we would have were overshadowed by three cases of Chicken pox and two hospital admissions.  Dylan got his first pair of glasses and when I look back at the early photos from the year, it looks like there is something missing from his face.

September was all about my big boy as he started school and he just loved it from day 1.  He has always been so desperate to learn and school seems to be satisfying his natural curiosity.  I am constantly amazed at how much he is learning, how quickly he is progressing and how keen he is to go in every morning.  The boy who wouldn't go near a pen in August wrote his own letter to Santa this year and I could read at least 80% of it.

Before school started, we managed to fit in two holidays, a long weekend down in Cornwall and a week away in Denmark. We knew school would mean our holidays were dictated so it was lovely to be able to go away without worrying.  I love to travel and having children isn't going to stop me, the boys love going somewhere new, especially if they can pack their own Trunkis.  We took a ferry over to the Isle of Wight as well for a weekend break.

October was an exciting month for Finn and I as we jetted off to Jamaica for the week and I still look back on the photos just desperate to go back.  After spending most of the summer in isolation we loved enjoying some sun (as well as the all inclusive luxury).

The lead up to Christmas seemed to be ever so long this year, but the big day still came around all of a sudden.  Ours was quieter than normal, although with three children it is never that quiet of course.  Family, food and fun were the order of the weekend and I am sure I left my parents house twice the size as when I arrived.

As the end of the year is now here, I am looking back on 2015 with pride.  We handled everything that came our way and emerged the other side stronger.  I won an award for blogging, got to visit two countries I have always wanted to see, welcomed a beautiful third boy into our family and my first baby, the one that made me a mama started school.

I know 2016 will bring its own adventures, life is never that quiet with three under five, but I don't know where it will take us yet. We are going away in January and I can't wait to see some real snow again, watch the boys learning to ski and enjoying the delicious hearty French mountain food.  2016 will see Archie getting his funded hours at nursery and Finn and I having more time together.  Dylan will go into year 1 in September  and before any of that Finn will celebrate his first birthday.  I want to start finding some time for me and am planning on taking up swimming again as I just love being in the water. 

Here are some of the photos from 2015 that really make me smile:

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