Looking Ahead to 2016

This year will be much slower than 2015, which is definitely a good thing! We'll be welcoming a new baby. It will also be the last full year before Claire starts kindergarten and we transition into life with school-age kids. I want to slow down, snuggle my newborn, and relish life without the restraints of a school schedule. 

I'm sure January will be busy trying to cram in as much as possible before Betsy arrives and also trying to coax her out! She'll arrive by mid-February at the very latest, Adam will start his paternity leave, and we'll all hunker down at home. 

In March, Claire will turn four, Betsy will be baptized, and we'll celebrate Easter. Adam will go back to work part-time towards the end of the month. In April, he'll be back full-time and I'll be on my own with three little girls. 

Hopefully we'll sneak out for a couple date nights to celebrate our birthdays, his in April and mine in May. Maybe we'll drive to my parents' house for Memorial Day weekend, especially if it's warm and sunny there but still cold and gray here. 

Although I want to make plenty of visits to the lake, the pool, and all the wonderful playgrounds in the area, I really want to make sure we take it easy this summer and spend plenty of time just playing in our own backyard. Allison will be back for a visit sometime during the summer months and I already cannot wait. 

In August, one of my cousins is getting married at a resort on B.C.'s sunshine coast. We'll probably turn it into our yearly vacation and spend some time in Vancouver beforehand. Unless we can afford to visit my grandma in Ottawa - we'd probably still combine the two and fly out of Vancouver because there's so many more direct flights to eastern Canada from there. But we really need to make lots of progress towards saving for a house this year, so our travel budget will be taking a hit. 

Summer will be over all too soon and fall will arrive with Maggie's third birthday, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and hopefully another long weekend at my parents' house at some point. It will be my last school year leading the church playgroup, since I'll pass the torch on when Claire's in kindergarten. 

Before we know it, Betsy's first Christmas will be here! By that point, she'll be on a good sleep schedule, eating finger foods, and crawling all over the place. Maggie will be potty trained and sleeping in a toddler bed. Claire will continue to be more independent, getting herself dressed completely, buckling her own car seat, etc. 

I really want to tackle a few house projects over the year: 

- window treatments for the living room, play room, and kitchen

- refinishing the coffee table, end tables, and kids' picnic table

- removing the peeling paint from the front porch 

And I want to continue our tradition of hosting a liturgical year themed party. We won't be doing anything big for Mardi Gras this year (or probably at all anymore, since it will always be so close to Betsy's birthday) but we should feel up to it by the late summer/early fall. So maybe Michaelmas or Mother Theresa's canonization or an Assumption barbecue - it would be nice to throw a summer party so we could have it outdoors and invite more people.  

I also want to make getting in better shape a big priority. Three pregnancies has taken it's toll on me. I think 2015 showed us what doesn't work in terms of exercise (getting to the gym during the day with the kids) and what does work (taking a class in the evening - the accountability of signing up for a session really helps me). It's not really about losing weight, although I'd be happy to drop ten pounds, it's just about being more active. At least Adam can easily fit exercise into his day with biking to work, so we both don't have to schedule time at the gym. 

Hopefully by the end of the year we'll have confirmed with our landlords that we can renew our lease for another couple years. Or if some reason that's not the case, we've found a great deal on a four bedroom rental home that's in good shape and still in the same location? And hopefully we'll also be nearing a decision about what do for kindergarten, either the parish school or homeschooling. Whether or not Betsy's born via c-section and the resulting family planning implications will give us a lot of insight into that decision. 

Here's to a great new year!