I just stopped writing 2012.

I'm so hopelessly far behind on posts. December came and went before I knew it and now our Christmas decor is all put back away and the sweets are hidden in drawers so that hopefully we will stop indulging in them so much (out of sight, out of mind?)

Our New Years Eve plans were slightly foiled this year. We're spending most of it taking turns wrapping one child up in the house's warmest blanket, carrying them outside and then letting the cool air sooth their croupy lungs. We're also quietly putting together Legos with the one who spent the majority of the previous night in the bathroom, tossing everything they ate earlier in the day. And in the back of my head, I'm counting down the hours until I'll need to be up again to feed our littlest family member. I've always taken a stupid amount of pride in the fact that our kids are rarely sick... but ever since Thanksgiving we've had a constant rotation of sickies under our roof. At one point we even thought one of them had appendicitis! (it was... thankfully?… anti-climatically… gas.) I hope this doesn't imply that I'm complaining. I relish in the fact that I get to be their care-giver. I know there will come a day when they don't need me as much and I will be okay with that too because I know that means they are healthy, stable adults so my point is live in this moment and enjoy this stage? Where am I going with this? Focus.

So. 2013. It was a good year to us and a big one at that. We watched our kids get older, Reagan turning 6 and Shepherd turning 1. They became more independent, more hilarious and the best of friends. We welcomed a one Mr. Levi Tripp, who is just… oh gosh, he's just the sweetest and our resident martyr, poor kid. His brothers just love him so hard. This year, we made lot of hard decisions (grown-up ones!) Selling our first house and leading a bible study for the first time. And then after much contemplation, coming to the difficult conclusion that Zach should change career paths (at 25 it seems laughable to think we've already had a "career change") to something that better met our family goals. Through so much change I've never felt so much peace, so I'm taking that as a good sign. Without getting too soft on you, I'll just say that I'm glad I'm in this whole "life" thing with Zach. I wouldn't want it any other way.

I've compiled our 2013 videos. It's a three-parter! I'm trying to decide if my favorite is Reagan's tooth extraction via Zach in the Sam's Club parking lot or us giving our 1 year old Pop Rocks.









Now I'm going to take you all back to junior high and throw out a big "see ya next year!!"