Year In Review: 2024.

There’s nothing better than looking back at the whole year! Here are some other recaps: 2023, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018. But now let’s look at our Year in Review: 2024!

In January:

Javi won first place in the Pinewood Derby. Lola hustled her Girl Scout cookies. We had a snowstorm and the kids had a snow day. We celebrated my dad’s birthday. I was very pregnant and we decided it was time to get the house ready for baby #4! We transformed our dining room into a bedroom and changed our playroom into an office.

In February:

We wrote the kids Love Notes every day. We celebrated Valentine’s Day with Love Baskets. Sean took the girls to a Father/Daughter dance. February marked the beginning of our sickness streak… they all seemed to get strep like 3 times. The kids had a week off and I tried to keep them busy every day. We ended the month by heading to the hospital on February 29th to be induced!

In March:

Walker joined our family! We spent the entire pregnancy not knowing his gender. We didn’t even have a name picked out! We spent most of the month navigating becoming a family of six. Javi started the lacrosse season and celebrated his half birthday. Sean turned 38. I went away for Scrapbook Weekend (and took Walker to the mountains!) We started our spring garden.

In April:

Javi and Eva started baseball. Lola started soccer. Javi did a project on hammerhead sharks. Lola got really into her fairy gardens. Eva brought home both the stomach bug and strep (again!). We got our driveway paved and started dreaming about summer… and vacations! I rented a bounce house during April vacation and Javi got hurt! We celebrated Easter. Walker turned one month old.

In May:

We rented an RV and went camping. We spent a whole bunch of money and time at their school book fair. Eva had a half birthday. Javi decided lacrosse… isn’t for him. Lola and Javi marched in the Memorial Day parades. We celebrated Mother’s Day. Lola went ice skating for the first time. Javi finally got a haircut. The caterpillars arrived and we watched them transform into butterflies! Walker turned three months.

In June:

We finished up school — Javi finished 2nd grade, Lola finished kindergarten, and Eva finished preschool! They also finished their various activities — soccer, baseball, lacrosse, dance and Scouts. The girls performed in their recital. We took a trip to the Cape and a very last minute road trip to Tennessee. Javi started summer camp. Lola had a half birthday! We celebrated Father’s Day. Walker turned three months.

In July:

We celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary. Javi got a bunch of teeth pulled. Basketball and Cheer started. We took a trip to Maine. We spent most free days at the Y in the pool and splash pad. They each did 1 week of camp. We celebrated 4th of July and the next day drove to NYC and spent the night. Walker turned four months.

In August:

Cheer ramped up. Sean traveled quite a bit for work and ended up bringing us all covid. He also had two surgeries this month. I wrote a lot of postcards to voters across the US. Lola learned to ride a two-wheeler. Javi kept losing teeth. Everyone did one more week of camp. The kids went back to school — Javi to 3rd grade, Lola to 1st grade, and Eva to pre-k. Walker turned five months.

In September:

Covid followed us into September. Javi and I both had birthdays. He had a party at Urban Air and he became a Bear with Scouts. Eva started gymnastics. Lola was busy with Cheer and her team won 1st place at a competition. We joined a library playgroup and tried to get into the new school year routine which proved difficult now that Eva went to school in the afternoon. Walker turned six months.

In October:

Illnesses scooped us up and swallowed us whole! I was down for weeks — weeks! — but the kids rebounded quicker than me (obviously!) The were excited about Halloween. They had a Fun Run at school. We went to the zoo as a family. We could see the Northern Lights from our yard. Javi had to miss his camping trip because he was sick. He ended up at Children’s for some tests and everything came back fine! Cheer ended… very abruptly and quite sadly when Lola’s team didn’t place in the second competition. We were so sure they would! Walker turned seven months.

In November:

Eva turned five. We celebrated her with a party at Build A Bear. We started (and finished) painting the kitchen cabinets. Javi hustled popcorn for Scouts. We saw Moana 2 in theaters. We hosted Thanksgiving. I shopped on Black Friday! Lola started gymnastics. Walker turned eight months.

In December:

It was all things Christmas. We did the Advent calendar every day and I never missed a day! The kids got a week and a half off from school. We had some snow and a school delay. We went to Maine. The kids started basketball. Sean wrote a Christmas album. Lola turned 7 and got her ears pierced. We celebrated NYE! Walker turned nine months.

Here’s to 2025 bringing us better health. 🙂 Hopefully….