A Year In Review

What a year 2011 has been! I thought it would be interesting to go back over the year's highs and lows- sometimes we forget to reflect upon the things that have bought us joy, taught us lessons and shaped us into the people we are today.

January: My beautiful son started walking on New Years Day. He has not stopped since!

February: The devestating earthquake on 22nd February is forever etched into my memory. I ended up making a scrapbook to tell the story of our experience. A lot of the images still bring me to tears and make me realise how lucky I was.

March: My husband, son and sister all went to Wanaka to get away from the aftershocks and take some time out. It was mine and Malcolm's first time in Wanaka and we loved every minute of it!

April: My son Lucas got to meet his new cousin for the first time after a rough week in NICU. Liam Stuart is such a cute wee fellow and a great addition to the family. Lucas loves hanging out with him!

May: Malcolm's workplace of nine years was finally torn down in May after the February earthquakes had deemed it unsafe. Malcolm had a chance to go in for the last time to retrieve any supplies before they moved into their new premises.

June: Another significant earthquake month- two good ones in a row left us all on edge for the whole month. Our ceilings were badly damaged and our pantry got a good shaking up again!

July: Finally something fun- we had a massive dump of snow in Christchurch that meant a two day holiday for our family. Lucas was not too sure about playing in the snow, he preferred to be cuddled up beside Dad in the warm house.

August: My wonderful husband celebrated his birthday with friends and family- and homemade cake of course!

September: My husband and his brothers and Dad all pooled together and put up a new fence for our house in a weekend! It looks great and helps keep Lucas safe in the yard.

October: This time it was my birthday month! Unfortunately Lucas came down with chickenpox four days before my birthday, so we celebrated at home with Thai takeaways, wine and a movie.

November: This was the month I discovered we were going to have our second child! The baby is due in July and I am very excited. Yes, I had to take two tests as I didn't trust the first one!

December: Lucas turned two! He had a Wiggles themed birthday party and got some great new things to play with, including a guitar and lawnmower that he adores. I made the cake as a multicoloured marble cake in the Wiggles colours, and all the food was Wiggles themed.

I cannot believe how fast the year has gone! I hope you all have a wonderful 2012 with lots of exciting new memories to be had.