This past year was my favorite one yet. Wowza. 2014 was certainly a year of “firsts” for our family. We did some traveling, spent quality time with family and friends, but most importantly, we got to know Owen and watch him grow. I can’t even tell you how amazing this kid is. I wish you could all be a fly on the wall in our house for a day (is that weird?) because you’d fall in love with him instantly. He’s so much fun. 2014 whizzed by, but I’m so thankful I soaked up every single moment, and I took a ton of pictures. In the beginning of the year we were cradling and hushing our newborn and by the end we had a goofy, chatting, giggly, BUSY toddler (though I still call him my baby) who loves his mom and dad very much. He melts us with every smile.
And so, in my usual January 10+2 things fashion, I’ll summarize our incredible 2014…the year of firsts.
1. JANUARY was Owen’s first New Year’s Eve part. He slept through the fireworks and the cocktail party. We spent the rest of the month trying to figure out this whole baby thing. (We still don’t really know what we’re doing though.)
2. FEBRUARY brought us a bit of a sense of routine and dare I say normalcy? We took a few day trips and really enjoyed settling into life as a family of three. AND, it was the first time I mastered the family of three selfie.
3. MARCH was a pretty slow and easy month. It was the first (and last) time he slept through the night, 10-12 hours straight. His little personality was really starting to show. Alex was completing an upgrade to be a flight lead, so we weren’t able to travel much. The weekends were spent at home enjoying each other’s company. It was also the first time since he was born that I cooked dinner. Yep, it took a while but I was back in the swing of things with regular grocery runs, meal plans and the works.
4. APRIL was our first overnight trip with Owen. My mom visited and we went to Paris and the Netherlands. This is still one of my all-time favorite Owen pictures (and is still the background on Alex’s phone).
5. MAY was Owen’s first airshow in Berlin. He didn’t really notice the planes in the sky, but was keen on the “remove before flight” streamers on the ones on the ground. Aunt Shelby visited and we went to Brussels where Owen experienced his first Belgian waffle- wait, no he didn’t. But we sampled one for him.
6. JUNE was the first time the Viper Pilot went TDY after Owen was born. He went to Poland while I held down the fort and kept Owen alive for three whole weeks. It wasn’t easy but it could have been much worse (like the time a wheel fell off my car). We celebrated his homecoming with a trip to the Eifel Zoo.
7. JULY was Owen’s first plane ride and first time on a beach. It was a much needed trip for all of us and we all thoroughly enjoyed it. In fact, looking at the pictures and thinking about it is making me want to go back. Like, tomorrow. Alex’s parents visited in July for the first time since he was born and we took them on several day trips.
8. AUGUST was our first long car trip with Owen, 6-7 hours, and he did as well as you can expect from an 8 month old. We went to Prague for a long weekend and absolutely fell in love with the city. It was the first time we actually felt like traveling with a baby was somewhat manageable.
9. SEPTEMBER was our first Oktoberfest experience. And it was a blast. My parents visited and we went to many weinfests, Munich, and ate our weight in brats and pretzels. And then washed it down by drinking our weight in beer and wine. 😉 And we all survived.
10. OCTOBER found Alex back in the states for a week and later me behind my camera taking pictures of nine families with an F-16. It was my first real photo gig and I loved every moment of it! (Except for the part where I busted my toe open on a ladder). Owen worked it in front of the jet as well. He’s such a natural.
11. NOVEMBER was our first time seeing Alex’s sister Shelby graduate (it was actually her third graduation…high school, college, masters) in Dublin, Ireland. It was a quick trip, but we had a lot of fun with family and drank up as much Guinness as possible. We’ll definitely be back for a more thorough visit.
12. DECEMBER was Owen’s first birthday. We had so much fun celebrating at the Dresden Christmas market and at the Leipzig Zoo with my parents. Though it was his second Christmas, and sadly our last one in Germany, it was his first time meeting Santa Claus.
We closed out the year with a trip to Barcelona (I’ll write about that soon, I promise). In the mean time enjoy these pictures.
This year is going to be an exciting and eventful one for our family. We’re planning to travel as much as possible before we make our next AF move (new home TBD). It’s already off to a winning start and I can’t wait to see what it has in store!
PROST!
Be sure to check out 10+2 things: Memories from 2013. You won’t even believe it. We lived a totally different life…what a difference a year makes!
Bridget says
What a beautiful year!!!! FULL of memories!!!!