And just like that, 2020 is over.

This month has been a blur. It seemed like I barely had my fall decor out and then it was time to put up the tree.

The whole year has been this way. Even with COVID throwing a huge wrench in things, it was a blink and you’ll miss it 12 months. I’ll try my best to give a rundown of the last month before I try to wrap up the whole year.

December

We started out December with absolutely nothing planned and ended up packing it full of as much as we could.

It was a strange month since normally, the Mister has block leave at the end of the year and this year, he didn’t have any leave at all approved. His unit did end up teleworking so the days he had to go in were only half days, plus two days of staff duty.

For the first weekend, we made spontaneously decided to take the doggos to see Santa on post. Usually, Petco has Santa photos, but COVID made that unsafe. With the MWR event, we had to call to set up an appointment for the dogs to see Santa so everyone could properly social distance/mask up.  

At about 11:30 that Saturday, we decided to see if there were any spots left (the event only went until 2pm).  We couldn’t believe there were still openings, let alone that we had time to hustle and get everyone ready and packed into the car.

The following week saw Little Man’s 6 month check up.

We also got Santa photos done for him (how could we not after the dogs had theirs?). The same photographer we used for family photos offered mini Santa sessions, so we jumped at the chance.

We checked out the German Christmas Market at one of the Lutheran churches in town. Didn’t buy anything, but it was a neat experience and the weather wasn’t freezing.

I slacked big time and didn’t get the tree up until right before Christmas. Literally, like 3 days before. Our usual tree was too big for the space in the living room, so I had to hustle and find a smaller tree I liked in our price range. COVID made that a bigger struggle than it should have been, but we found one that worked.

Christmas was so special this year. I know Little Man didn’t understand what was going on, but we did our best to make his first Christmas memorable (at least for mama and daddy).

We also celebrated a late Christmas with the In-Laws over New Year’s. Normally, we spend New Year’s Eve going out to dinner and catching a movie before toasting at home, but since our movie theater is closed down and we aren’t comfortable dining in anywhere with Little Man, we rolled with the late Christmas.

We will hopefully be making a trek to Nebraska in a few weeks for Christmas with my side. It just seems like there wasn’t enough time for the holidays this year.

Year End Wrap Up

2020 was quite the year. So many changes and unexpected ups and downs.

We started out 2020 optimistic for what the year would hold and it decided to totally throw us for a loop.

The first few months were business as usual. We went to work and tried to venture out on weekends.

We saw surgery for Audie (the first one and the subsequent patch-up), announced our pregnancy, celebrated birthdays (the Mister in January and Indie in February), learned Baby Waid’s gender, and dealt with car troubles.

Then March hit and the whole world changed and kept on throwing curve balls.

I was furloughed from work and started going to baby appointments alone because of COVID. Then we found, closed on, and moved into our first home, celebrated more birthdays (mine and Hina’s in April, Taz’s in June), celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary in May, and suddenly it was June.

Despite the chaotic entry into the world, Little Man has given us the best memories of this strange year. He’s already grown and experienced so much in his short start to life.

July saw his first outing to the lake, his first holiday (4th of July),  his best cat friend’s 10th birthday (Jack), his first smile, and another surgery for Audie.

Before we knew it, it was fall.

I decided not to return to work after the furlough, we celebrated Audie’s birthday, visited the pumpkin patch, enjoyed our first Halloween as a family of 3, voted during a pandemic, and visited Graceland.

We had so many firsts. Holidays, teeth, smiles, baths, boo-boos, solid foods, well-baby visits, family photos…

So as I sit here in my bed, cat in my lap, dogs at my feet, a snoring Mister beside me, and Little Man passed out on my shoulder while I try to type on my phone, I’d say for all the craziness 2020 brought, it was a heck of a year.

It definitely looked different from previous years and I have no doubt 2021 will bring so much more.

Here’s to tomorrow in all its new year glory. Make it count.

Until then,

Cheers!🥂🎇

–A. xoxo