But, I do want to post a sort of year-in-review update like I've done for past years. So here's a "big picture" view of what we've been up to since January 1, 2015! It's been a year full of lots of love and smiles and wonderful memories, and I'll always remember it as the first year we enjoyed as a family of three!
2015 marked 5 years of marriage, 12 years since Jeff and I first met, 26 years of Katie, 28 years of Jeff, and 1 year of Connor!
January
We rang in the new year and celebrated Connor's 2-week birthday at our house (and did not host our usual big New Year's Eve bash, haha!).
Throughout January, we mostly just hung out at home and cuddled with newborn Connor. I think that's what you're supposed to do for the first couple weeks of a baby's life, but we were so busy with Christmas festivities and Jeff's brother's wedding right after his birth that we didn't get a chance to just be at home and enjoy life with a baby until it was already January!
February
February brought more newborn Connor cuddles and lots of visits from family.
Jeff went on his first post-baby business trip. I survived! :)
Connor was baptized, and we had a party at our house to celebrate with our families.
March
We road-tripped to Dallas for my cousin's wedding.
We took bluebonnet photos.
April
We celebrated Easter at my parents' lake property.
Jeff turned 28. We celebrated with a (just the two of us!) dinner out at Peli Peli.
We took a trip to South Carolina (Connor's first plane ride) to visit Jeff's parents and go to a friend's wedding.
May
We spent Mother's Day with both of our mothers and celebrated with brunch at Hungry's, a visit to Bayou Bend, and dinner at Chimichurri's.
I turned 26. Jeff planned a party at our house with our families, but we moved it to my parents' house at this last minute when our air conditioner broke. My favorite birthday gift? The warranty on our very expensive A/C unit that was just weeks away from expiring, but hadn't expired yet!
We spent Memorial Day hanging out by my parents' pool, where we learned that Connor does not like swimming. At all.
June
Our dear doctor friends Pilar & Shane came for a visit before moving to Illinois for residency.
We celebrated Father's Day with our dads (another dinner at Chimichurri's!).
We celebrated Jeff's dad's retirement at a fancy luncheon where Connor totally stole the spotlight. Jeff's parents officially moved away from Houston to their new lake house in South Carolina.
We took Connor to his first Houston Astros baseball game.
July
We travelled to South Padre Island with my family (the 16th annual trip we've made there!) and spent Connor's first July 4th at the beach.
We travelled to Lake Palestine for a weekend with my extended family on my dad's side.
I finally added the finishing touches to Connor's nursery.
We celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary with a visit to the chapel where we got married, dinner at Tony's (thanks to a gift card from my law firm) and an overnight stay and brunch at Hotel Zaza. It was my first night away from Connor (who stayed with my parents and didn't miss me at all).
August
We visited our local fire station and delivered treats to the firemen.
We took Connor to the park for the first time.
Blue Bell Ice Cream returned, and Connor and I were among the first to get our hands on some!
September
We spent a weekend in College Station, introduced Connor to all things Aggieland, and proved to ourselves that we can still host a pretty fun tailgate, even with a baby in tow!
October
We took a trip to Brooklyn, NY to visit my sister.
We took Connor to the pumpkin patch.
We spent Halloween weekend in College Station with many of our family members for the A&M/South Carolina football game. Connor dressed up as a football for Halloween (and perfectly avoided having to choose sides for his parents' rivalry football match-up!). The Aggies won (again). :)
We sold our old Pathfinder and bought a new (to us) Pathfinder. Definitely a boring car purchase, but we're happy to have one with 110,000 fewer miles on it.
Connor took his first steps!
November
Connor and I took a trip to College Station just the two of us (while Jeff was on a business trip). I was super worried about making the trip alone with a baby, but it worked out so well and we were able to enjoy my sorority's alumni tailgate.
We spent a Saturday at Jeff's company's new office complex for their family open house.
We somehow managed to get both of our families to have Thanksgiving in Houston, and we were able to celebrate with all of our parents, all of our siblings, and all three living sets of grandparents!
December
We weren't planning to take Connor to see Santa, but when a photographer friend from playgroup offered Santa photos as a fundraiser for another playgroup family with a sick child, we couldn't say no! Connor surprised me by smiling sweetly rather than crying instantly!
We celebrated St. Nicholas Day with chocolate coins and new Christmas ornaments.
I officially parted ways with my law firm, cleaned out my office, and said goodbye to being employed as a lawyer (for now). It still feels a bit odd to say that out loud (especially after all of the time and effort that I've put into my career so far), but it was a decision Jeff and I made after lots of prayer and discernment, and it feels right in my heart to be prioritizing my time with our little boy over everything else.
Our sweet friends Amy & Ben came for a weekend visit.
Connor turned one, and we had a Very Hungry Caterpillar themed party at our house to celebrate.
We went to see the new Magical Winter Lights exhibit at Sam Houston Race Park for my mom's birthday.
We celebrated Christmas with our families.
We spent New Year's Eve with extended family in the Dallas area.
Throughout the year, we enjoyed attending various birthday parties, baby showers, bridal showers, and gender reveal parties for our friends and family. We went to band performances and awards ceremonies for my littlest sister, Karoline, and I loved doing her hair and makeup for a few school dances! We were thrilled to have my other sister, Kristen, visit often from New York, and we've enjoyed hosting Jeff's parents, who come visit often from their new home in South Carolina.
Connor and I joined a local playgroup for babies born in 2014, and we've been attending lots of playgroup events as well as baby storytime at our library. Jeff has continued his schedule of traveling for work about 25% of the time, and this year he's taken multiple trips to a few countries in Africa, as well as a recruiting trip to South Carolina.
We're so excited for 2016! Life with Connor has been so, so fun so far, and we're really excited to keep experiencing the world with him. We have some great trips planned this year, and who knows what else 2016 will bring! We're loving our life so much right now that we can't wait to spend another year just doing life together.
Here's a look back at my previous year-in-review posts:
