Our year in review

Here are a few month by month highlights from the past year.

December 2010/January 2011- We found out we were expecting twins! We had a lot of fun visiting with friends and family in Wisconsin during Christmas break. We were surprised to have four snow days in January, in Memphis! We were able to take Sofia sledding a few times.

February- We celebrated Sofia's first birthday in Memphis with friends and family. She has been such an incredible part of our lives and our first year with her was nothing but fun. We also found out that we were expecting two boys! This news was extremely exciting but also changed our plans for our family. Tim and I went back and forth about where to live and work after graduation because we always dreamed of living in the mountains or near mountains. However, with our family entering the journey of three kids under the age of 2, we thought it would be wise to live closer to family. We really wanted our kids to have an active relationship with their family and Wisconsin is a great place to raise a family.

March- We traveled to the beach to celebrate Sofia's first birthday and have a fun trip with just the three of us. Sofia did a lot of traveling in her first year of life but she truly loved this trip. Sofia's favorite activities included the awesome tree swing, swimming in the pool and sitting in shallow water at the beach playing with sand toys. We stayed with Uncle Russ and Aunt Peg who spoiled us rotten. We also traveled to Louisiana where I presented at a teacher's conference in Baton Rouge and then we spent the weekend checking out New Orleans with Sofia.

April- We enjoyed our final spring in Memphis with some absolutely gorgeous weather. We spent a lot of time hiking and playing outside with Sofia. We were able to do a lot of biking with Sofia old enough to ride in the bike trailer. April was the last month I was able to bike because my belly grew so much faster with the twins, by the end of April my legs kept hitting my belly when I biked. Sofia also participated in the world's largest cloth diaper change, people around the world all coordinated a mass diaper change on Earth Day. We ended the month with Tim taking his third and final round of National Board Exams for optometry. 

May- May was a whirlwind month for us. I finished my fifth year of teaching, fourth year in Memphis City Schools. Tim finished his final month of externs and graduated from the Southern College of Optometry! One of our last weekends was spent with a bunch of our Memphis friends at a cabin Arkansas. It was so nice to spend some time with our friends before leaving. We were incredibly sad to say goodbye to all of the great friends we made during our four years in Memphis. At the end of the month Tim's parents came down to help us pack up and we moved back to Wisconsin. We moved in with Tim's parents in Baraboo, Wisconsin because Tim was still in the process of job hunting and we weren't sure which area of the state he would be working.

June- We adjusted to living life in Wisconsin and it was a welcome adjustment from our past few years of putting up with scorching, Southern summers. We experienced a gorgeous summer with ideal weather. Tim and I were able to spend a lot of time hanging out with Sofia at Devil's Lake state park in between Tim interviewing for various jobs across the state. Tim really wanted to be in a private practice setting and towards the end of the month he accepted a position with Premier Vision, a four doctor practice with three locations on the North Shore of Wisconsin (Fox Point, Mequon and Fredonia).

July- Tim started working for Premier Vision on July 1st and lived with my parents in Waukesha during the week to avoid spending 5 hours in the car every day. Sofia and I stayed in Baraboo to be closer to my doctor since I was 33 weeks pregnant. Sofia and I visited Tim when we could and went to visit him on July 12th. Sofia and I spent the day in Port Washington showing my Mom the house that Tim and I had put an offer on. We were happy to spend the evening with Tim and my family and to our surprise my water broke around 1am. Tim and I drove to Madison and welcomed our sweet boys (Everett James & Sullivan Jeffrey) into the world a few hours later. Despite being born 5 weeks early the boys were very healthy, Sullivan had a short stay in the NICU but was able to join Everett and I in my recovery room within 48 hours. Tim and I brought the boys back to Baraboo and sadly Tim had to leave the next day to return to work. He didn't have a lot of vacation time since he had just started his new job. I am so grateful we were in Wisconsin because I really needed help for the first few weeks. Tim's parents and my mom rotated the first few nights waking up with the boys and I every 2 hours during the night and helped me care for the boys and Sofia during the day.


August- We closed on a house in Port Washington, Wisconsin and moved in the same day. My Aunt Pat came from Florida to help me with the kids for a while, my Mom was able to come for a few days as well before the school year started for her. I applied, interviewed and got a teaching job. I turned it down the next day after re-evaluating my priorities for my kids and family. I am lucky to be able to have the option to stay home with my kids, Tim's hard work paid off. The last week of August began my first week alone with all three kids by myself. All of my years of being a Resident Assistant, camp counselor and teacher paid off with giving my the ability to juggle the responsibilities of three kids under 2.

September- Tim celebrated his 28th birthday and we enjoyed exploring our new town. We live less than a mile from an amazing playground that sits on the bluffs overlooking Lake Michigan. We also took several hikes with the kids on the beaches along Lake Michigan. Tim and I each wear one of the boys in front carriers and Tim puts Sofia in a hiker on his back. We are determined to stay as active as we were with Sofia, even though we have three little ones. This month we were sad to say goodbye to Tim's Grandma Nina who had been battling cancer for the past few months.

October- Tim and I celebrated 5 years of marriage. It's amazing to see how far we've come with our careers and family. In our first five years of marriage we were able to do a lot of traveling,  I finished my Master's degree, Tim finished his doctorate, we bought and renovated our first house in Memphis, and we had three kids. It's been a busy five years! Tim and his Dad completed a few renovation projects on our house this month, mainly the kitchen floor. Tim and I also were able to get back to Lambeau Field for a Packer game, we weren't able to go to any games during the four years we were in Memphis.

November- Sofia started swimming lessons at the YMCA. She has no fear of water and absolutely loves swimming and playing in the pool. The boys were baptized this month at our new church, First Congregational Church.

December- We are currently enjoying our first holiday season with all three kids. The boys are growing at an unbelievable pace and are a ton of fun. Sofia's vocabulary continues to grow and we enjoy seeing her grow into a very sweet and caring little girl who loves to draw, dance and swim.

Congratulations if you made it to the end of this post, this was quite the year for us and we look forward to all of the fun ahead of us in 2012. We are so thankful for all of the love and support from our friends and family between Tennessee and Wisconsin.