It’s time for one of my favourite posts of the year! It’s time for my 2018 review of the year. Last year was known as the year of Ultra Violet, so this or course Pearl’s year! I feel like it’s been a busy year, yet quiet at the same time. It’s been centred around our home and the babies – we haven’t done anything too spectacular travel wise (like in 2015!) I was heavily pregnant at the start of the year, then had a newborn in the second half, but then it’s the year that Pearl came along and Violet turned from baby to toddler, so it’s been an amazing one nonetheless!
JANUARY
January was a quiet month – I was in the first trimester of pregnancy with Pearl and I remember feeling really tired. I wasn’t too sick but I found it difficult to find energy to do anything. Violet was 11 months old and on her feet, standing and desperate to walk but as soon as she put one foot in front of the other she’d lose her balance and topple down like bambi on ice. We put an offer on a house and got really excited, until the survey came back saying it needed over 100k of work done to it! That fell through and we lost some money – I was so upset and felt we would never move! A few days later a PERFECT house popped up for sale. I arranged a viewing for the day it was listed, we saw it later that afternoon and 24 hours later, our offer was accepted! I can’t believe looking back we could have ever have lived in that first house. It was meant to be.
FEBRUARY
February was a really busy month. Firstly – Violet turned ONE! We had an amazing birthday party for her with the best unicorn cake I’ve ever seen (made by her Mummy V!) Violet also took her first steps and started nursery which I found really difficult, I had never been away from her before so I found it pretty upsetting, but we both got settled in eventually. I had my hair cut and coloured and bought maternity work clothes in preparation for going back to work in March. Lastly, we had our gender scan at 16 weeks and found out Pearl was a girl! We were so shocked, we’d convinced ourselves she was a boy! It took a while to get our head around things and stop calling my bump ‘he’.
MARCH
In March I got used to a new pace of life as I went back to work part-time with Violet going to nursery for two full days per week. I felt completely out of my comfort zone as I’d been so used to our routine on maternity leave it was a big shock to the system. Violet was walking confidently by this point, toddling around all over the place!
APRIL
April was bright and sunny. Our month was completely centred around moving house. Packing and moving whilst being pregnant with a toddler is NOT easy, but we got it done! By the end of the month we moved into our new house which was the most exciting day! Violet absolutely loved playing in her new garden, we couldn’t believe we had all this new space to ourselves! It was so exciting. Violet took a while to settle in the new house and we are still unpacking boxes now but it is certainly our forever family home.
MAY
In May we settled into our new home and held our first summer BBQ for the Royal Wedding! We decked the place out with flags, bunting and even had cupcakes with Harry & Meghan’s faces on! Violet spent most days in the garden in her paddling pool. We also had a lovely family day out to Peppa Pig World.
JUNE
In June, I went back on maternity leave after 4 months back in the office, I was pleased as it was so hot and I had a big bump by this point, exhausting! Everything turned to getting ready for the new baby. We washed baby grows, dried them in the sunshine and Violet practiced feeding her dolls and changing them.
JULY
July was a really quiet month. There was a heat wave, it was the hottest summer on record and I was heavily, heavily pregnant. I felt like I couldn’t move, doing the smallest thing would be exhausting. I felt so guilty as Violet didn’t get to do much but she was amazingly patient. We did lots of activities at home like reading, drawing, crafting and playing in the garden, counting down the days for the baby to come and the heat to pass!
AUGUST
In August, our lives turned upside down for the second time when Pearl arrived into our lives! We then went into the newborn haze for the next few weeks as we got to know our new little bundle. Visitors came and went, as well as midwives and health visitors. The heat wave eventually cooled and Violet got used to being a big sister.
SEPTEMBER
September was spent adjusting to life as a family of four (well, five with Robbie!). I got into my groove being in the house every day with two-under-two and even managed to leave the house with them both for a few softplay dates, which was so daunting to start with. It felt like we were getting back on our feet but with a totally different routine and pace of life. Things were now super busy and the exhaustion on another level, but seeing the girls together makes every moment so worth it.
OCTOBER
In October, things took a turn for the worst when Pearl was taken into hospital with Bronchiolitis. It was a really scary time, mainly as her breathing was so laboured and she wouldn’t feed. It was so horrible to see her to poorly, I felt utterly helpless. We stayed in hospital around 4 days, they were amazing with their round-the-clock care and she was better in no time, but the stress and the worry at the time was unreal!
NOVEMBER
November is usually my favourite month of the year as it’s my birthday, however this year was quite stressful! After a string of illnesses with the girls, V had to go away for work for THREE weeks, which dominated the month of November. I’ve never worked harder in my life and felt more exhausted than those three weeks, keeping on top of looking after the girls, the house, the nursery runs, the cooking, cleaning, food shopping and laundry on my own was no mean feat, but I did it! V did however surprise me with a visit home on my birthday, which was so lovely and we saw lots of friends to keep us busy too.
DECEMBER
And just like that it was Christmas! Officially the fastest (and hottest) year on record drawing to a close with Pearl’s first Christmas. Of course it wouldn’t be us if we didn’t add chaos to the mix by having our front room freshly plastered before Christmas, the girls wouldn’t be themselves if they weren’t ill either – Violet had tonsillitis, a penicillin reaction AND a viral rash all a few days before Christmas but luckily everything came together for a lovely family day in the end.
WHAT A YEAR! I think 2019 for us will be about……
- Getting our house decorated and settling in – we never got the chance with Pearl’s arrival
- Watching the girls grow up together, Pearl will turn one and start to walk, Violet will turn two! I can’t wait to see them toddling about together.
- I will continue to build my blog, taking it from my part-time to full time occupation
- I want to find ‘me’ again, get healthy after two back-to-back pregnancies, hopefully find some time for hobbies or just sleep more. Here is hoping!
If you’d like to read my previous year in review posts, you can find them here: 2017, 2015, 2014
