2018 Recap - Part One

Yet again it is time for my yearly recap and again I'm blown away at how much gets packed into a single year. In the daily grind, it often feels like "same old, same old" but when you look back, you can see how much your family has experienced, and how much you have all grown (in so many different ways!) For my own personal reference, here's a quick bulleted list of what we were up to each month...

• Snow Day in the SOUTH! We got snow uncharacteristically early for us, and rather than a light dusting, we got a LOT of snow. The girls had a blast playing in the snow, building snowmen, having snowball fights and just having FUN. 
• (Bottom left) - Kate decided she wanted to go get groceries with me for my Sunday afternoon grocery run, so she got a hot chocolate treat for her help!
• (Bottom right & Bottom left/middle) - Karsten FINALLY got potty trained. It was a big day in our house when it meant no more diapers to be bought! What finally convinced her that it was time to be a big girl? Well, I promised that if she didn't have accidents for 5 whole days (ignoring nights), she could get a manicure. My girly-girl was perfect from then on so she could earn her treat! 
• College football continued for both me and Kevin when our two teams both made it to the College Football playoffs. Kate is a people pleaser, and had to wear both jerseys to support Mama and Daddy.

• Kevin took Kate to her school's Daddy/Daughter dance, while I took Karsten on a "date" of her choice- Chick-fil-a. (She is my kid, so what do you expect?)
• For the days of February leading up to Valentine's day, I put hearts on the door each day with one characteristic we love about each of our girls. They loved seeing what we wrote about them each day. This is definitely a fun tradition that we'll keep around.
• Instead of the Pinterest route, we went the Disney route for Valentine's day and man it is SO much easier. Pre-made Valentines + a piece of candy = Mom win. 

• Kate's first basketball season came to an end. She had a BLAST playing with a local church's league, and scored the very first basket of the season. 
• We were able to get together with both Kate and Karsten's birth families all on the same day. We loved spending a bit of time with part of our extended family! 
• Kate lost her very first top tooth. She is quickly leaving the baby face behind. 
• Karsten got her very first hair cut. Again the girly-girl loved the experience (and attention). 
• We went from snow days in January to t-shirts and shorts in March. It has been a crazy year of weather.

• Kate lost her other top tooth and was officially unable to eat an apple or corn on the cob. Ha!
• We celebrated Easter as a family - the biggest celebration of our faith! God is good and while we celebrate a risen Savior every day of the year, it is especially meaningful to be able to corporately celebrate Jesus with believers around the world. 
• Kevin and I got tickets to the Masters and in the middle of my busy season at work, I was still able to take a break and enjoy Augusta National. SO very beautiful. 

• Both girls started swim lessons, which are some of their favorite weeks of the year. My girls are fish and they LOVE the water. 
• Kate took her swim lesson skills to the lake and finally gathered the courage to dive off of my parent's dock. 
• I celebrated my 8th Mothers day. As an adoptive mom, this is an extra-sweet holiday to be able to celebrate. With the JOY of being a mom myself, there also comes a bit of heartbreak in knowing how much my girls first moms love them enough to choose life and adoption for their girls. These girls are a gift that we ALL get to share. 
• Karsten had her last day of PDO (Parent's Day Out) and I had to do a double check when I saw how much she changed between her first day and last day. She was super pumped that she would be moving into K3 in the fall. 
• We visited the Children's Museum and it was no surprise that the girls favorite exhibit was the music room, where they got to play all kinds of instruments. 
• With the weather all warmed up, we spent many days visiting my parents at the lake. 
• Kate had a delayed allergic reaction to her allergy shots a few hours after we left the doctor's office. We ended up at MD360 and learned that she had hit her max dosage on allergy shots. Scary but we can honestly say that after a year of weekly shots- they are working! 
• Kevin started building an addition on the girls playground. They spend lots of time outside and this will be a much used addition!

• My parents came to town to celebrate their anniversary and we met them downtown for lunch, along with Kristi, Davis and Rylynn. What a fun time! 
• Kevin celebrated his 8th Father's day. 
• Kevin finished the swing set addition, and the girls couldn't love it more! Except, Karsten informed Kevin that it was missing a door with a real doorknob. 
• You're not a real southern kid if you don't spend summer evenings catching lightening bugs, right? So that's just what we did - mason jar and all.
• Another southern summer tradition? Sprinklers! We pulled out the sprinkler on many hot afternoons.
• Kevin and I took Karsten (along with a church group) to watch the Braves play. It was our first visit to their new stadium and Karsten approved. 
• Kate finished FIRST grade. Again the first day and last day comparison killed me. 
• We resumed our family tradition of going to get ice cream after church on Wednesdays, since school nights were no more! 

And guys, that's just HALF the year, and only a small glimpse of what we fit into our days. Stay tuned. I'm hoping to post the rest of the year tomorrow. What a fun year it has been.