Happy New Year!

What a crazy year 2012 was.  January came with a positive pregnancy test; February gave us some pretty severe morning sickness (which sadly never went away) and a lovely Valentine celebration with the boys and Nana who returned home after spending some months with us after my died; March brought work craziness (not in a good way) and also freakishly warm weather during Spring break; April brought reassuring news about the baby and Easter fun; May was a month of celebrations... my birthday, my dad's, too, and the news that we were expecting a BOY!; June was beautiful with lovely runs with the boys and trips to the beach; July was Raf's 3rd birthday, a ride on Thomas, a visit from my sister and Raf's cousins as well as a big birthday party; August was the beginning of bed rest - but for Rich and Raf it meant some really super adventures on a train, to different beaches, and hikes; September marked the end of bed rest, the loveliest of baby showers, Rich's birthday, and lots of walking; October was the most special, of course, with the arrival of Baby Charlie, the sweetest little brother for Rafi, a bit of a terrifying hospital stay, and a fun first Hallowe'en; November saw lots of snuggling on the couch with Charlie, some hikes with all the boys, and Thanksgiving with good friend; December brought Nana from Europe and a really, really wonderful Christmas.

Lots of other things in between keeping us busy and often frantic and stressed, but in spite of all the challenges work-wise and career-wise for both Rich and I, the arrival of baby Charlie - Rafi's little baby Toast - has made it really very special. 

It feels so trite to say how lucky I feel to have two such lovely boys, but the truth is I really do feel that lucky. Raf adores his brother and Charlie is incredibly sweet. I am absolutely dreading returning to work fully now the holidays are over, especially since Charlie won't take a bottle, but 2013 will be quite the year, I'm sure, as Charlie and Raf grow up even more. I really just want them to stay the exact ages they are right now!

As for our New Year... we didn't do too much. We had a nice English style buffet with English crackers and pickle and vegan cheese, and at 7pm our time - but midnight in the UK - we celebrated the new year. Raf was quite excited. 

Charlie, however, was soon fast asleep...  not a partier, it seems.

While co-sleeping with a preschooler and an infant may not be for the faint of heart (it can be exhausting!), I have to admit that we do love it. This morning, Raf's first words: 'Mummy, morning. I like you best'! Mind you he then said he liked Mummy, Daddy, Charlie and Nana best, so he's not that discerning and a bit fickle :)

The boys do love to have morning cuddles, though.

It was a pretty low key day. Rich and Raf built some pretty great bridges with the legos Nana bought Raf...

Oops! "We will rebuild"... was the motto of the day after several crashes.

After too many episodes of Blues Clues, we bundled up the boys and took them for the first (FREEZING!) walk of the year. Raf had a lot of fun chasing his dad and then being chased by him. "Come and get me, Dad'!

Charlie was the warmest of us all! As we came in from the walk, Raf took the opportunity to have a bounce on the trampoline that we've moved into the garage. I'd like to think that all of this activity wore him out, but alas, I can still hear him upstairs as Rich tries to get him to sleep.

We had a very quickly eaten roast (Tofurky!) dinner tonight and a glass of champers, too. A good day to begin the year. We have lots of goals and hopes for the coming months and one of them is to write on this blog as often as possible - or to even post one picture of the boys a day - but we'll see how that goes. Frankly the coming months are going to be frantic as I return to work fully.

Happy New Year, friends!