When the new year began like a month ago, I had this ambition to recap 2023, and now I feel like I made a mistake because there is so much to write about, and my writing is sloth-speed these days. Is it even appropriate to write about last year at this point? Well, I started this post a month ago so might as well finish it. Good thing I don't do blogging as a living.
2023 was a busy year. We already have a few big travels planned for this new year, so we look forward to Zoe and Zaylee exploring the world more with us!
January - Back to newborn life and figuring out life with 2 little kids.
February - The last remaining family support is gone... back to the core family of 4 and me figuring out how to get through the day solo. Pictured here is our first eating out together.
March -Because we simply can't keep Zoe at home forever for the sake of the baby's health (our region experienced really bad respiratory viruses this past winter so I wanted to keep Zaylee healthy and away from illnesses as much as possible), I was forced to figure out how to take both of them outside to keep Zoe stimulated. What Zoe and Zaylee need are two completely different sets of items so my backpack is always so full and heavy, but we made it work. I was exhausted trying to keep both of them safe and happy, but I was proud of what I did. Zaylee being an easy-going baby has really helped, also.
April - We celebrated Zaylee being 100 days old! We were so grateful for out-of-town family members to visit as well as all of our local friends. It was a really fun, special day.
The following weekend, we made a trip to the Hill Country to meet up with the Chis. They were escaping from the long Chicago winter and suggested that we meet up. We stayed and hung out at the Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort & Spa - highly recommend it as a weekend getaway, especially if you have little kids. They have a Kid's Club, a heated kid pool area, and so many kid-friendly activities. Adults still have to have lots of fun, too! Zaylee didn't get to join this trip, but she did get a lot of undivided attention from amah who took care of her while we were away.
May - This was a busy month. Celebrated Mother's Day with my MIL...Z continued the tradition of taking photos of me and the children.
Zoe had her first performance with the school - the spring show. Her class put together a very cute, but actually quite complicated dance performance to Zip-a-dee-Doo-Dah. We think stage performance is in her blood because she was not shy about it, and keeps saying to this day how much she misses being on stage.
Later that month, we celebrated Z's birthday (36) and headed over to Lake Travis to spend the Memorial Day weekend with the Honekamps who made the trip from the Greater Houston area. We have known the Honekamps from Texas Tech years (2006~), and Madonna was my college roommate. It is always so fun to watch our little kids playing with each other! We also began a tradition of playing D&D (Dungeons and Dragons) whenever we meet up - this was our second round.
June - Another busy, busy month! It will always be a special month because it's Zoe's birthday month. We went all out with her passion for Disney princesses. We invited Elsa to take the lead on the celebration, and Zoe had a blast with her friends.
Later that month, the Woods from Lubbock came for an extended weekend visit. It is becoming an annual summer tradition, and I'm loving it. The kids love hanging out together, and I get to squeeze in some quality time with my friend, Erika! She was my college roommate for the last 2 years before I graduated and headed to Denton for graduate school.
During the final week of the month, my mom and WH stayed over for a few weeks. Coming from Western New York, they were probably wondering how ungodly hot this state can be (but they are no strangers to TX heat from living in El Paso back in the days), but all it mattered was that my mom got some much-needed grandchildren time.
July - Ok, I lied when I said that only June was a busy month. July wasn't too far behind when it came to busyness goes, but we truly love having company at home. Z's brother and his wife from Seattle came in for a short visit as they were making their way to Austin for a work trip.
This is also the month when Zaylee began to wear a helmet to correct the flatness of her head. Considering that this is what Z does for a living essentially, it was a no-brainer that she would get a helmet. I felt so bad that she had to wear this in the middle of TX summer (cue, all the sweat), but she truly didn't mind wearing it. In fact, I think it gave her a reason to be more aggressive when she was rolling around the house (aka head protection). Her case was mild, though, so we anticipated only 2-3 months of wear in total.
I had met my high school best friend/unofficial maid-of-honor, Irene, for the first time in years. It is so tragic to admit, but we hadn't seen each other for about 8-9 years so there was so much to catch up in such a short period. But our friendship didn't disappoint; we picked up right where we left off.
And lastly, Zay started her survival swim lesson with Flipkick Swim Academy. Watching how Zoe progressed over the years, it wasn't a difficult decision to enroll Zaylee as well. 6 months is the youngest that she can start, and we did just that with her. To this day, I wouldn't say she is a big fan of the lessons, but we know that we are teaching her an essential skill.
August - I keep saying that the prior month was busy for us, but August was a true highlight of the year in our family. In mid-August, Zoe started full-time PreK with the same school she has been going to since 2021. We decided full-time because we knew she was ready/wanted to be at school every day, and that gave me some individual attention to Zaylee.
Later that month, we embarked on our first international trip as a family of 4. This was an intense trip - spanning a full 24-hour journey from DFW to Malaysia and additional travels once we got there. We took a family vacation (within the vacation) to Cambodia and explored so many beautiful, ancient temples, including the famous Angkor Wat. One day, I will get to write about our travels more specifically, but a summary of our travel there was written about it here.
September - Our international travel was through the first week of this month. The second half of the travel spent more in Malaysia. We were grateful to have our friend Oly and her husband fly in from Singapore on days of finding out (that we were in the area) just to see us for a few hours.
The rest of the month, understandably, was rather uneventful. It took me and Z about two full weeks just to recover from the hangover of this trip (jetlag, overall tiredness of traveling with 2 little kids, getting back to normal life without any rest time, etc.).
[pictured here, Langkawi Sky Bridge]
October - Met with the Honekamps again. They came into town to attend a family wedding and stayed with us, so it was an unexpected treat for Zoe and me.
For my birthday on the 17th, Z treated me to an omakase at Shoyu in Dallas. It was a splurge but was one of the best dinners I have had.
Per Zoe's adamant request. we participated in Halloween as a whole family. Zoe was Cinderella, Zaylee the pumpkin, I was the fairy godmother, and Z was the Prince Charming. All costumes were purchased from Amazon and we were really pleased with the quality. The family costume was a hit among the neighbors and Zoe was on cloud nine.
November - This was the start of the 'family' time. We experienced our first Texas State Fair with the Yangs. Zoe rode her first (kid-version) roller-coaster and loved it, so we think we might have a thrill-seeker in our family.
My dear friend, Sherry, traveled from St. Louis to take family photos for us. Her photos are usually on our holiday card ;). This has become a yearly tradition, and we love that Aunt Sherry is always willing to go the extra mile to make it happen. Last year's photo collection can be found here.
Finally, my mother-in-law arrived on Thanksgiving day and spent the next 3 weeks with us. Her last visit was when Zaylee turned 100 days old in April, so she thoroughly enjoyed spending time with her grandkids who are growing like weed.
December - We went out of 2023 with a bang! We were so happy that Amah got to experience Z's work holiday party, which is a very well-put-together, family-friendly event. Santa and Mrs. Claus always graciously lent their time to take photos with the kids - we were happy to find that Zoe was no longer scared of them, and Zaylee loved them right away.
We, then, had fun visitors from Chicago - Eric and his oldest son, Dylan, spent an extended weekend with us...just because. We love it when friends do that :). Zoe and Dylan had the best time together, and the parents had some good catching-up sessions, too, after the kids were asleep.
Z and I attended our first concert together (we have been to musicals before), and watched Pentatonix sing live. We love listening to their music and always find it cool that we live in the same town as most of the members (3 out of 5) of that group, and they went to the same high school that our house is currently zoned in. Their show was spectacular and really appreciated their talent. This was sort of our wedding anniversary gift to ourselves - we celebrated 11 years of marriage on the 28th.
Of course, there was Christmas - we felt like this was truly the first year that Zoe was excited about the holiday. We decked out in our matching pajama set (we do this usually every 2 years), and had a good family snuggle time in bed. Zoe's dream of getting a pedaled bike came true, while Zaylee got a taste of all kinds of new toys. Despite a terrible traveling experience (think of Southwest + bad winter), my family finally made it into town on the afternoon of Christmas.
And then, the finale of 2023 (and probably every year from now on) was Zaylee turning one on the 29th. I was thrilled that my family got to finally partake in one of their grandchildren's celebrations. We invited some of our closest local friends for food and friendship. Zaylee was a happy birthday girl. And no, she did not exactly smash the cake as hoped for, she did thoroughly enjoy the new taste that is sugar,
I had a very brief thought that 2024 was going to be a slower year (haha), but I have been completely wrong already. We do have very exciting milestones and trips coming up - one of which is that Zoe will start kindergarten in August! I'm not crying, I'm not crying...
Trip-wise, we have a trip to Beaver Creek, Colorado for a snowboarding trip in less than 2 weeks; the family's second international trip to Portugal in March, and an Alaska cruise in August. The girls and I already completed a road trip to Lubbock last weekend to see the Woods, so it doesn't appear that we will be slowing down much.
I hope that this year is off to a great start - stay healthy, be happy, and enjoy life.
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