And so we close out another crazy year. Meanwhile, I’m still trying to process how it’s already over.

December did not disappoint in being jam packed with things to do.

We kicked off the month with Little Man getting a pretty nasty cold. It felt like it’d never end! I can handle just about any gross bodily discharge, but toddler snot is the worst. Poor kid ran a low grade fever and had either nasal congestion or a faucet for a nose. It was a long few days, especially when I started having a similar issue with my sinus draining and an annoying scratchy throat.

But despite the little bug, we managed to get some things accomplished.

First, the doggos had their annual photos with Santa. Audie, as always, was a rockstar, while Indie…well…was difficult. She definitely  needs so socialization work as she was an anxious mess. We managed to get some photos of them though. Even if they’re not the best.

Then, it was Little Man’s turn. He was not impressed this year! We knew it was going to be iffy but he didn’t even give Santa a chance (despite him being the same Santa as last year). As laid back as he usually is for photos, he was not having it this year.

We did try get a cute one without tears but otherwise, STRANGER DANGER!

The following week, we had his 18 month check up. He weighed in at 24.8lbs and was 32inches tall. He’s hitting/exceeding all of his milestones except for language. He babbles all the time and expects us to understand him, so it’s coming soon, just not quite there yet.

That weekend, some pretty nasty storms came through. Sadly, a good chunk of Kentucky was destroyed and people lost their lives. As a Midwesterner, I forget that most folks around here aren’t prepared for tornadoes and houses are not built with basements. Thankfully, they passed north of us and we were still able to get out to explore without much damage.

We stopped by the German Christmas Market at a local Lutheran church and had all kinds of yummy food. Little Man surprised the baker by inhaling the lebkuchen cookie sample without hesitation.

We also made the short trek to Bowling Green, KY to visit The Reindeer Farm.

The following week was much calmer. It was nearly 70°, which I will take for December any day of the week. We didn’t do much, other than appointments for the dogs and Hina. Annual vaccines and a lump check for Audie, bordetella vaccine for Indie, and Hina had her thyroid bloodwork done.

Doc was thrilled to see how well Audie was doing. He had a fabulous report, though he does have a broken tooth and will need some bloodwork done just to check him out further. We’ll likely get his dental done after we file our tax returns.

The rest of the month was spent cleaning and prepping for my parents to visit.

We had a nice Christmas at home, just us and the fur kids. We did our yearly matching jammies photos.

And Little Man got so many great presents from Santa.

We decided to try to see a movie as a family of 3 for the first time. Little Man actually did great and only got cranky at the very end.

We got a few days with Nana and Grandad.  We do so miss them! We are so glad they were able to visit while the weather was nice.

We decided to keep the holiday spirit going after Christmas and took everyone to the Clarksville Speedway for the drive through Christmas Lights.

Little Man even got to try our his forward facing carseat for the night. He will be back rear facing again until he outgrows his other seat (at 30lbs).

This year has been a crazy ride. Though we didn’t go on many of our typical adventures, we made a lot of precious memories and are truly experiencing all the wonderful new dynamics of being a growing family of 3.

Personally, I can’t believe it’s almost 2022 and soon we’ll have a 2 year old. We’ve had so many new and different experiences this year and next year is promising to be just as exciting.

With all of the ups and downs, I can’t wait to see what 2022 brings.

Until then,

Cheers!

–A. xoxo