Ending the year in upheaval

So, 2011 is drawing to a close, and as I am unlikely to have time for blogging tomorrow here is my end-of-the-year post.

At the beginning of 2011 I was just starting to make my pregnancy public. Although planned, it happened a lot quicker than we expected, so it was really starting to sink in how much our little family was going to change. We spent the last few months before Mia was born fitting in all the things that we would find it difficult to do with a baby - we went on our first family holiday abroad to Lanzarote and we spent a long weekend in Disneyland Paris. We also took Harry on a couple of overnight trips to London, with the last one just a couple of weeks before I gave birth (I spent a lovely few hours sitting in the bath in the hotel reading while Ram and Harry trekked round the Natural History Museum.)

I carried on working up until a few days before Mia was born, so I didn't really get any maternity leave. Then she came along and the real work started. It wasn't such a shock to the system as it was when Harry was born, and we coped pretty well. A huge event that happened around this time was the purchase of a sleep training clock, with the incredible result that Harry started sleeping beyond 5am in the morning, and I cannot describe the difference that this has made to our lives.

I started blogging in July. Having started a couple of short-lived blogs in the past I didn't really expect it to last, and I've amazed myself that I've managed to not only keep going, but to keep going at the rate of nearly a post a day! This will be post 160. I've also watched my stats increase from none, then to very immediate family, then to people that I've never met, which is amazing! I'm really enjoying being a part of the new community that I have found, and hope that I can continue.

So the summer was a bit of a blur while we sorted ourselves out, although I don't remember much sunshine. In September we went on our first family holiday which was a massive success. We finished the year with a stay at Center Parcs before spending a quiet Christmas at home, just the four of us.

It was around the end of August that we put the house on the market. We've been living here for four years now, and although it is a lovely house we fancied a change of area. It was a rather sudden decision, and when we received an offer just over a week later after just one viewing we were lucky enough to find a perfect house in a large village just down the road. Very few house sales go through without any problems, and after a few delays we finally exchanged just before Christmas. All being well we are due to complete next week.

So we end the year in a house which we have been very happy in, and which has seen us through two very important life changing events. We are surrounded by mess, boxes and empty cupboards, and feeling rather stressed and anxious. But the move doesn't mean any big changes for us other than location, and we are very much looking forward to an exciting new start for the New Year.

Happy New Year everybody!