We can hardly believe that another year has already come and gone.  As we reflect on 2016, we’re happy to share some of the highlights…

In February we welcomed our fourth baby, Kid #4.  She was born on February 20 at 6:23 AM.  She weighed 8 pounds 8 ounces and was 20 inches long (we think.  She’s the fourth kid and we can’t quite remember details like this anymore.  To be fair, we will note here that this memory failure is not particular to Kid #4; we can’t remember anything about anyone anymore).  She is beautiful and healthy and she makes our family complete. She spent the remainder of 2016 being a baby and doing baby things.  She is showing signs that she will walk before she turns a year which breaks her mother’s heart but that doesn’t seem to be stopping her.  Kid #4 decided that to stand out from her brother and sisters, she would be the only brunette child in the family.  We fully embrace her rebellious nature.

Kid #3 turned 2 in March but, more importantly, apparently, she turned 2-and-a-half in September.  Being two-and-a-half is a VERY big deal to Kid #3 so please, whatever you do, do not accuse her of being two.  She won’t have it.  Kid #3 loves Minnie Mouse and the color pink.  She wants everything she owns to be pink and have Minnie Mouse on it.  She is asking Santa to bring her a pink Minnie Mouse Rolling Stones t-shirt.  You can imagine the difficulty Santa is having with complying with this request.  Kid #3 keeps close tabs on who in the house is currently in trouble and loves to triumphantly point out whenever it’s not her.

Kid #2 turned 5 in August.  He’s in pre-kindergarten where he excels in reading, math, and the occasional temper tantrum.  He loves trucks and can properly identify all the major automobile brands based on their logos.  He is asking Santa to bring him a real grappling hook so he can climb trees and fight pirates.  Santa was very impressed with this request.  Kid #2’s favorite color is yellow and his current obsession is Matchbox cars.  He loves to ride his bike (especially through puddles) and wrestle his sisters (they do not enjoy this nearly as much as he does).  Kid #2 played t-ball and soccer this year and this winter will try his hand at basketball for the first time.  Kid #2 was successful in avoiding using any tissues this year and instead exclusively wiped his nose on his shirt and/or arm, despite his mother’s pleas that he not do so.

Kid #1 turned 6 in January although based on her deep sighs and extensive eye rolls at everything her parents say, you’d probably guess that she’s closer to her teen years.  As a 1^st grader, Kid #1 is doing well in all her subjects although she maintains that her favorite part of school is recess.  Her teacher reports that Kid #1 is as chatty as you might expect and often has to have her desk moved so that there’s any hope in work getting done.  In a momentous turn of events, Kid #1 changed her favorite color from pink to turquoise this year.  Kid #1 is an active member of her Girl Scout troop where she is anxiously looking forward to selling you all cookies in a few months.  She is taking her acting skills to the stage this holiday season when she will perform in a local production of The Nutcracker as a “peppermint hoop”.

Dad was successful in his goal of not speaking publicly at all about feral cats in 2016.  He didn’t get any tags for big game this year so he and the dogs spend their time searching the Wild West for chukar and blue grouse.  Their success has been minimal but it has less to do with their hunting skills and more to do with the large number of children’s birthday parties that Mom requires him to attend on the weekends.  He spends the majority of his free time fixing the sprinkler system which is perpetually broken.  This allows him to spend quality one-on-one time with the kids and teach them the wide variety of swear words associated with home improvement projects.

Mom writes a weekly column on the trials and tribulations of parenting for Pregnancy and Newborn Magazine’s “Adventures in Motherhood” blog as well as Latched Mama’s blog.  This allows all of you the unique opportunity to keep up with our parenting mishaps all year long.  When Mom isn’t working, she is furiously trying to keep up with the laundry, a task that she has failed miserably at all year.  She spends the majority of her time begging people to put their shoes in the mudroom so they won’t get lost in the house, which appears on most days as though it was hit by a very localized but very damaging tornado.

We are thankful for our health and well being and hope for more of the same in 2017.

Wishing you all the best for a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!