Similar to the past couple years, I like to do a recap of what's been happening with the Houghams over the past year. Time just keeps flying by these days, so it's fun to sit back and reminisce about some great memories. So here we go down memory lane!
January:
At the beginning of January, we took a quick staycation to Great Wolf Lodge (indoor resort waterpark). The four of us had a blast splashing around and lounging around in our 'Wolf Den'. The boys especially enjoyed having their own room with their own tv!
After returning from our trip, we celebrated Chase's 1st birthday with a jungle-themed party. The first year of his life seemed to go by in a flash and then BAM!, he's one!
February:
I don't remember much of February; it's in the heart of busy season, so I'm pretty sure I was burning the midnight oil alot. In between working so much and spending time with the family, I also had to undergo alot of testing with some specialists with my heart and my thyroid. For Valentine's Day, Jordan and I were able to enjoy Parents' Night Out at the daycare, and go eat hibachi, have some adult beverages, and see The Vow (I'm a sucker for any Nicholas Sparks book made into a movie!).
March:
March seemed to be worse than February, as far as work goes. There just never seemed to be enough hours in the day to get everything done. I also was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award by the College of Business at TAMU-C. I went to a fancy luncheon, mingled with lots of professors and other alumni, received my award from the Dean, and even got to speak to a couple accounting classes on my career at KPMG. It was kinda surreal; I don't consider myself very distinguished, but I'll take it. Along with me that day was my high school accounting teacher and constant mentor, Jill. :)
And Chase finally got up on his two thick tree-trunk legs and started walking at 15 months old. Geez, that kid was just like his older brother, worrying me thinking he would still be crawling to kindergarten! But once he got up, there was no stopping him!
April:
Although work finally slowed down in April for me, personal life got busier. We celebrated Easter with egg hunts at school, MawMaw & PawPaw's house, and at home. Both boys were pros at hunting eggs by the end of the weekend.
We also officially kicked off the wedding festivities with a bridal shower for my sister. Many of you know that I love to throw parties and showers, and I really put everything I had into this one. It turned out to be an incredible day and I was glad I could be the hostess with the mostest! :)
May:
Not much happened in the month of May. We enjoyed the beautiful weather and spent time with the boys. Those two crazy kids love running around outside, riding in Austin's Jeep, and playing with all their other toys.
We also got to experience teams sports for the first time with Austin while he played t-ball for the local YMCA. His team was the Lil' Rangers and they were a crazy cute team. Practices and games were chaotic, sweaty, and entertaining.
June:
Whew, once we got into summertime, things got really crazy busy. The first week, we took a quick trip to the ER for Chase somehow managing to climb out of his crib in the middle of the night and take a nasty fall. After a CT scan and some monitoring, we were told he was fine.
Then I took my first trip to Vegas for Katrina's bachelorette party. It was a crazy 3 days and it took nearly an entire week for me to recover.
The month of June also marked my 30th birthday. Eeeeeek! It didn't really seem like I should be 30, but I've done alot in my 30 years. I took it in stride and kept it low key.
The rest of the month included lots of last minute preparations for my sister's wedding. Dress fittings, assembling programs, making 'Ring Security' shirts for the boys, you name it. I had a different task each night!
July:
Finally, the wedding was here! Kat & Lo tied the knot on the 7th and it was absolutely amazing. All of the planning, preparation, late nights, and money (not mine!) was totally worth the end result. Everything went off without a hitch (if you ignore the fact that my boys didn't want to cooperate with their ring bearer duties, but oh well). Kat was a beautiful bride and I was happy that she was happy. We officially welcomed Logan into this craziness we call our family.
We celebrated Jordan's birthday on the 13th with a full day of festivities. We ate at our favorite restaurant for hibachi, experienced indoor rock climbing, and had drinks relaxing on the patio by the lake.
Jordan and I also both made job (position) changes on the 15th as well. He got a promotion and transferred to the Rockwall AT&T store (10 min from home!). I started a two-year rotation with a different group at work. It's not in client service and I was able to have more of a structured 9-5 schedule.
On the 26th, we celebrated our 9 year wedding anniversary with a two-night stay at the Gaylord Texan (thanks to Kat & Lo for keeping the boys for us!). We enjoyed a celebratory dinner, lounged by the pool, drank all day, and just relaxed. It was low key, but just what we needed!
August:
Let's see.......August. I don't remember many major things happening in August. Pretty sure we just relaxed and tried to stay cool with terrible TX heat. :)
September:
September was just another relaxing month. Jordan and I were both getting settled into our new jobs at work. The boys were still being rambunctious and silly as ever. Austin took on a love of fishing with Daddy, Uncle Cuz, and Uncle LoLo.
We also got to have a date to go to a concert for my semi-obsession of Kip Moore. We had a great night out with a friend and her hubby, and enjoyed Kip Moore, Justin Moore, and Eric Church; it was a blast!
October:
On Oct. 1st, I officially went back to full-time status at work. With my new role, I was able to have more of a predictable schedule, so I didn't need to have a reduced schedule anymore. We have definitely enjoyed the extra money, but boy did I miss my lazy Fridays!
At the beginning of the month, Austin had a run-in with a wooden bench at daycare one day and knocked one of his his front teeth out; the other one was loose, and soon followed in December. Needless to say, the tooth fairy made a visit to our house a few years ahead of schedule. :(
For Halloween, we decided to go with a Toy Story theme as a family. Austin picked Buzz Lightyear and then we just came up with the rest of them around the boss man. Chase made an adorable Woody and Jordan and I were Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head. The boys had a blast going door to door trick-or-treating!
November:
We celebrated Austin's 4th birthday on the 13th with an Avengers-theme party at a local place that has indoor bounce houses. It was weird for me not to plan this big party like I usually do, but I welcomed lower stress and basically no prep work.
On the 14th, I underwent surgery to have my thyroid and the cyst taken out. It was a tougher recovery than we anticipated, but in the end, glad we decided to do it and get it over with. My results came back clear, with no signs of cancer so that was a big relief. I was on LOA from work for a little over two weeks while I recovered; Jordan was able to get off the whole time too to play nurse and help take care of the kids while I healed up.
Thanksgiving was pretty mellow, since I was still recovering from surgery, so we didn't do much. However, at Thanksgiving lunch, my sister revealed to us that she was prego! I was beyond excited for the newlyweds and laughed and cried. Yay!!
December:
Whoa. December was a ridiculously crazy month. Between Christmas parties, family gatherings, and work, we were running around like crazy. It didn't help that I had to be gone to NJ for a work trip for 4 days either. Christmas was fun, and both boys were seriously into all of the festivities this year. We ventured to Prairie Lights, did Elf-on-the-Shelf everyday with Dori, and visited Santa Claus (although Chase screamed!). We woke up to snow on Christmas day, which is rare around here, but it was fun and we relaxed around the house all day after exchanging gifts and enjoying our Mexican feast for lunch.
The day after Christmas is my sister's birthday, so we celebrated with a big dinner with a big group of her friends. It' so weird to me that she has a baby in her belly. Ahhhh, can hardly contain my excitement!
Whew! What a year it has been. Some of it is kinda blurry, while some moments stand out. I have a feeling 2013 is going to be just as busy, but we wouldn't have it any other way. We're looking forward to celebrating Chase's 2nd birthday next week, celebrating our 10-year anniversary in Hawaii in the summer, and the arrival of Baby Harrington in July. Lots of fun in store for us.
Happy New Year!!
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