Well if how the year started is at all indicative of how the rest of 2017 will go, we’re in trouble: both kids sick, no sleep whatsoever. But then this sweet boy was so happy to see me this morning, so it can’t be all bad!

My husband was busy with activities he was in charge of hosting at work, so it was just me and the kids to ring in the new year: and we were all in bed (though not necessarily sleeping…) well before then! The exciting life of parents!

But for all the hand-wringing about celebrities dying and 2016 being so terrible (meanwhile, actually terrible things happened in the world, but by all means, let’s focus on celebrities…), I think there’s much to be grateful for too. 2016 was hard in a lot of ways: moving and saying goodbye to friends, a pregnancy that was pretty rough on me, a lot of stress with a new job that held a lot of responsibilities for my husband, dealing with clubfoot treatment and all the travel that comes with, Adelina finally having to give up her precious binky, living in an apartment that is too small for this growing family… but then there are the wonderful things: moving into a lovely town and making dear new friends, an exciting career move for my husband, winning awards for anchoring and reporting then quitting my job to stay home, welcoming our sweet Jonas into the family, Adelina starting to speak in earnest, visiting with family, living closer to the “big city,” and… my exciting news of the day: we’ll be starting off 2017 in a new home! We found the perfect place for us and I’m so excited, even if it means moving again so soon, with a baby and toddler this time (I’m going to need heaps of courage…).

I only started doing this halfway through the year, but I love it: one second of video every day, showing the little moments of life around here. Sure it’s a bit rosy… maybe in 2017 I’ll record a few of the many “both children are melting down at the same time” moments! Anyway, here’s our (second half of) 2016 in review:

I’m not big on beginning of year resolutions — I always make overly lofty goals that fall flat quickly — so I’ll just focus on making tweaks here and there as we go, one small thing at a time. I do have big plans for this blog though, so I hope you’ll stick around! Best wishes for 2017, and here’s to new beginnings!

Oh, and our traditional first of the year morning-in-PJs family photo! Jonas is the lump in light blue, Andrew’s bed head is fabulous, and Adelina took the photo  😉 And yes, I chose the one I look best in, because that’s a postpartum mom’s prerogative!