2020 recap

 2020......what....a....year. Am I right? 

Peace & blessings 2020....we are SO ready for the new year!!! This year brought a lot of difficult moments, but a lot of great moments too!

JANUARY

We started off NYE with one of my best friends weddings! It was so fun to actually get out without the littles, & we had a great time!! New Years day was spent with the boys & I cooked all the things that were supposed to be good luck. Funny....

We took a random last minute trip to OCNJ! Our favorite place on earth, & Arie's first time there! We went to the aquarium, walked the boardwalk, played in the (freezing cold) sand, went to the Cape May Zoo & ate a ton of yummy food!!And my sweet nephew Ollie turned ONE! He is such a happy (and unbelievably cute ) little guy!

FEBRUARY

this was not a very exciting month for us! Matt traveled all over the country that month, so I was mostly flying solo with the boys. Those can be long & difficult days, most of which I don't remember! lol We ended the month with another spontaneous trip, this time to Philly! We ate, shopped, & explored the city for a long weekend. I'm also SO glad we did this trip because shortly after, travel was banned!!

MARCH

the start of the Covid downfall (HA). Matt was still traveling in the beginning of the month, but midway through it slowed down & he began to slowly start working from home. We celebrated my Nana H's 80th birthday! That was by far the high light of my month, even though I ended the night rushing Arie to urgent care... he ended up having Flu A. It was a rough few days! Actually, this was the month Parker started having insane migraines... so I take that back, it was a rough month! lol

APRIL

April started off great...celebrating my niece Brynn with an epic birthday car parade!!! April ended up taking a turn with the accident involving my aunt. I'm really close to her, so it was hard to know she was in the hospital fighting, & no one was able to be with her. Luckily, she had a tremendous recovery! And we are SO lucky & happy to still have her with us! We celebrated Easter, for the first time, without family. We ended up walking to my moms & "social distancing" in the yard. It was better than nothing!! The kids also were home indefinitely due to the pandemic, so their last year of PK was cut short, which was hard on them and me. We made it work though!

MAY

We spent a ton of time outdoors together! Bonfires, hiking, playing football, you name it. Almost every weekend we hiked a different spot, it was a ton of fun! We celebrated a bunch of birthdays...the twins turned 5! I can't believe they're getting so big. We usually go out and do something really fun for their birthday(like go to Kalahari), but since everything was shut down, we stayed home & tried make the best of it! We celebrated my moms, dads, and nephews birthday as well! Our favorite part was going to OCNJ for the day! We had sooo much fun playing on the beach, ordering food & having a picnic....it was perfect!

JUNE

June was a lot of fun! Minus turning 29....blah. I feel OLD. Other than that though, it was a great month! My brother, SIL, & nephew came home...and told us they were moving back home! We couldn't have been happier. We spent a lot of time with our family at the pool, park, & the boys started baseball! It was so cute watching all of them play! We ended the month celebrating one of my best friends, Aubrey's 40th birthday! There was a pig roast, a band, a block shoot, & even a demolition derby...IN THEIR BACKYARD!!! It was such fun day/night! 

JULY

One of my favorite holidays.. the fourth of July!!! We got fireworks & set them off in my parents back yard while the kids were watching from the pool. It was wonderful. The boys had their first game of the season & had a lot of fun playing with their friends/cousins. At the end of the month, we traveled to Cape Charles, VA with Matt's co worker/friend. We rented an RV right next to the Bay! The boys literally had the time of their lives... swimming, playing in the sand, making new friends... it was a great time. And the bar on the beach made killer margaritas!! Lol

AUGUST

This month was pretty low key until the end! We mostly were preparing for Arie's first birthday in Sept., and also preparing the twins to start KG! We soaked in the last few weeks of summer......by planning yet another spontaneous trip to OCNJ...for a WEEK! I actually told my family how I really just wanted to get out and go before the kids start school... looked for a place big enough to fit 4 families, booked it, and two days later we left! It was a great trip... first one ever with all of us!!! Nothing better than family, sun & the beach! 

SEPTEMBER

My babies started KG!!! Ugh.. how fast time flies. They did great at drop off, but Parker broke down into tears everyday for a month or more because he missed his mama. He actually was allowed to call me everyday during his lunch as a reward for keeping it together! He kills me. Peyton was totally chill, never cried about missing me! haha!! Arie turned ONE!!!! My little angel baby... we had a huge birthday party at our house filled with friends and family.. he was one lucky little boy!!

OCTOBER

Pretty boring month here! We decorated for Halloween early, and watched a ton of Halloween movies (Hocus Pocus is our fav!!!). We went to the pumpkin patch, attended a Trump parade (so fun!) & went trick or treating! We were supposed to have a get together on Halloween night, but I ended up with the stomach bug that morning :( NEXT YEAR for sure!! Also, I put up a 9 ft & a 15ft tree up before the end of the month......(I'm nuts) lol and as usual, we ended October by celebrating our old man! Matt turned 35!!

NOVEMBER

I was in major Christmas mode this month! We put up the boys' playroom tree & took them to Dollar Tree to pick out all the things to decorate their little space. They had a great time picking out all the ornaments & what not! And they did a great job! I was pretty much fully decorated (besides our real tree) by mid Nov. Speaking of mid November, we celebrated my big brothers birthday with a party thrown by my SIL! It was such a fun night, & he totally deserved it! Naturally, I ended the month with an infection in my eyes, which caused severe pain, blurry vision, a lot of dr visits, & some steroids! THAT was rough...luckily, I didnt lose my vision & everything is pretty much back to normal!! Thanksgiving was quiet, but nice! We spent the day at my parents house & had brunch with them! At night my siblings came & we had a big thanksgiving dinner prepared by my mom! It was SO good!! Unfortunately, we lost my Uncle during this month :( he was an extremely hard working man & was loved by many! He will be greatly missed, but I know he is in Heaven drinking a beer with my pop-pop (his dad) <3

DECEMBER

The boys started virtual learning right after Thanksgiving break. What a crazy time.....I've also realized I am not in any shape or form meant to be a teacher, teachers aid, or anything of the like! lol It is definitely a hard adjustment for the kids..I truly feel so sorry for them that so much has been taken away from them. Their teachers are doing such a wonderful job though, they're great!!! 

We went and got our Christmas tree the first weekend of the month & loved it! We went to the same tree farm I went to my whole childhood....it was so nostalgic & I love having those memories, & creating new ones with my little family. That night we went out to dinner with our friends Aubrey, Mark & all the kiddos! It was a perfect end to the weekend!! We had our first big snowfall during December, it was awesome! We went sledding with my niece and nephew, and a few of our friends who live near us! It was a lot of fun for all of us! The following weekend we went snowmobiling and sledding with Aubrey's family. Talk about FUN! Her family is so so wonderful & we always have the best time when we are together! The next day we took the Santa train ride in town, it was so beautiful with all the snow!!

 That leaves us with CHRISTMAS! Christmas Eve we went to mass, and to my sisters to celebrate! We were home early so we could get ready for the Big Guy & set up Arie's kitchen. The boys woke us up around 7, just as I expected! They were so excited. After presents, I made brunch while they all played. Parker ended up having a really rough morning.... major meltdowns. It was not fun at all. Luckily, he snapped out of it by the time we got to celebrate at my parents with everyone! It was a perfect Christmas, even though it was different this year. I am so thankful for my family & friends, & I am excited and hopeful to see what 2021 brings us!

FAVORITE PHOTOS OF 2020