2012 in Review

January

Bumpa had a birthday.  So did Sara.  We learned that Jack did not, in fact, have reflux.  I was relieved when the holiday break was over and the kids went back to school.  I disappointed everyone with pie that wasn't pie.  I discovered Pinterest and the house was never clean again.  I had an existential crisis.  Jack learned to walk, finally.  I got my first phone call from the school nurse, because a kid bit MG's head.  

February

We made our last payment on Jack and decided to keep him, but we still hadn't decided whether or not to keep Penny.  I acquired the nickname Vanilla Ice.  We threw Grandpa Bob under the sugar bus.  I got loud about sexual politics.  Jack said "thank you."  We got our first look at pretty cousin Baby Kate.

March

We were affected by the full moon.  I figured out how to DIY Starbucks' Cinnamon Dolce Lattes.  Mary Grace and I collected money for tornado victims in Southern Indiana.

Claire had reservations about turning 5, but in the end she did it anyway.  We seriously considered building a castle.  I told you how to start a meal co-op.

April

The girls learned what happens when they go too far.

We got our first look at the mole.  Foreshadowing.  I didn't buy a house while BJ was on a business trip, and I still regret it.  We made our second trip to urgent care/ER for a bead up Claire's nose.  We enjoyed our first stomach flu of the year.  Sadly it wasn't our last.  I turned 36.  We went to Florida and I took about 1000 pictures, and posted them one at a time.

May

We chilled with our friends.

...and our new niece/cousin...

Jack weaned himself and got his first haircut, and it was bittersweet.  I tried belly dancing, and sucked at it.  Claire graduated from preschool.

BJ took the girls to the Indy 500.  We celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary.

June

We put a hole in the house.  I started repainting the porch (it's still not done).  BJ turned 36.  I took over the neighborhood.  BJ's grandmother died at age 100.  I had to shoo boys away from the girls' bedroom window.  Jack turned 18 months old.  I raged at the local drive-in movie theater for inappropriate previews during kids' movies, and they apologized and stopped showing that trailer!  The girls did Theater Camp with Owen.

July

Pinterest proved unreliable.  I got a little bit silly about childproofing.  We debated about sleepovers.  Brian and Jen got married.  Uncle Chuck and Aunt Sara got married. 

August

We went to the state fair.  Mary Grace turned 7.  Claire started Kindergarten and Mary Grace started First Grade.  Penny and I killed the mole.  It was epic enough that I posted about it three times.

BJ made sushi.  I listed all my jobs and then had to take a nap.

September

We saw 1995, the Musical.  I decided to attend BlogHer '13 in Chicago.  I got loud about Health Care.  I started my career as a Girl Scout Leader.  Mary Grace became interested in archery.  I was funny.  Claire got her first celebrity crush and I was named Best Mommy EVER!  We went to the movies.

October

(It took me this many months before I figured out how to do the "heading" thing correctly for the names of the months.  Oy.)  I decorated our bedroom, finally, after living here for 10 years.  I had my first cavity filled.  My tooth still hurts.  It didn't hurt before.  Claire went on a fieldtrip to a school that was on lockdown because of a bank robber the same day that Free Range Kids and I collaborated on an article about writing emergency letters to kids.  I wrote a sappy post for Karen.  We took our first Girl Scouts field trip with me in a leadership position.  I didn't lose anyone.  But I did have to take a scout to urgent care later that week. 

We went to Chicago with Grandmother and made a new friend.  

I met Bev.  We dressed up as Star Wars characters for Halloween, of course.  

November

I found a new favorite app.  Karen and her kids got in a car accident, but they're ok.  Obama won, thank goodness.  I pre-ordered this cool thing.  We got another flu.  We were thankful for the new washer & dryer.

December

I was creeped out by Elves on Shelves.  I'm in the Jury Pool for next year.  We partied with Santa.  Jack turned two.  We made a figgy pudding (it wasn't something that I would demand from people).  I wrote about gun control.  Monica took this fantastic picture of Jack.

It's been a good year, overall, for the pretty babies.  Can't believe it'll be 2013 tomorrow.  Crazy.

Thank you for spending part of your year with me.  Happy New Year!