Whoa baby. 2014 was a whirlwind of a year.
Ups AND downs.
In January I finally came home from being home in NY with my Dad from being diagnosed with cancer in December. Now it was a waiting game, and it was really hard to leave my Dad, knowing it was the last time I would see him. I tried to get back into the swing of things but since I was waiting for "the call" every day it was tough.
On Feb 4, the dreaded "call" came. Dad was gone. Ry and I loaded up the boys in the car and started our cross country trek home. Hardest thing I ever had to do was stand in the receiving line at Dad's calling hours. Thankfully my favorite Brother-in-Lawless snuck me in a flask of Jameson. I love him.
My cousin's husband surprised us with the best tribute to Dad ever after his services. He showed up with a Big Boy of Genny.
We all passed the can around and took a swig.
I got a chance to stop in PA and see my girlies on my drive back to TX! Nothing a girl needs more than her BFF's in a time of need.
When I got back to TX I felt it was finally my time to grieve and deal with this the way I needed to.
March started out decent. I was trying to get back to life and was free of the anxiety of waiting for "the call", but not yet free of my grief.
We went to our very first Rodeo here in Houston, and had an absolute blast!!! If you've never been to a genuine rodeo, you're missing out. It was so much fun.
Aidan started his first ever season of soccer, and mommy was his team coach. For the first and last time ever. Ugh. Who knew coaching 4-5 year olds could be so hard??
During March Ryan was also in the process of interviewing for Surgical Critical Care/Trauma Surgery positions for after fellowship (fellowship would end in June 2014). He finally narrowed it down to Dallas or Houston. So either way, we were sticking around to become Texans!
We got to go to Dallas and we had dinner at Gas Monkey Garage Bar and Grill!! Mommy snapped this neat pic on the stage inside the restaurant. (ps- Mommy loves Richard Rawlings, and has met him at GMG Bar and Grill on a previous Dallas trip with Jess..... and hopes every time she goes, that she'll see him again ;) )
We even discovered that Mason could tolerate cooked cheese on pizza! This was his first slice with cheese ever. We patiently waited for him to vomit for about 30 mins after, but he never did!! Yay!!
In March we suffered another devastating loss. The loss of sweet baby Ethan, the 10 month old son of a friend whose husband was a fellow with Ryan at Hermann. Ethan had strokes en utero before he was born, and surprised everyone by making it to 10 months old! He wasn't even supposed to survive birth, but sometimes you're shown a little miracle in life! I wasn't sure how I could handle another loss, but I put on my big girl panties and did what I could to help Brittany.
Aidan even picked out some flowers for her, which was so sweet.
In April we went to our first Astros game of the season! The boys love going and so do we!
We also made the drive up to MD to meet our new baby Cousin Zoey!! Our first cousin!!!!!
There is nothing more exciting than a new baby to snuggle! Our first niece! Ryan and I were thrilled, and Mason couldn't stop touching her while we were visiting. He had to keep rubbing her little legs or leaning over into her bassinet to check on her. Lots of "Mason, stay back!"'s were uttered during that trip.
My brother took us to the Cherry Blossom Festival in D.C while we were visiting. The blossoms were beautiful, and we got our first look at many of the famous monuments.
(I actually ended up framing prints of the photos I took of the blossoms in our new guest room in the new house, they were just such pretty trees!)
In April, we also had a visit from Nani & Poppy!
We had lots of fun, and we surprised them with a trip to the house we were buying! They had no idea we bought one! (I do miss this pool, though).
May
In May we finally closed on our new Houston home. (Ryan chose the Houston job over the Dallas one).
Lisa actually happened to be visiting on the day of our closing, too so it was neat that I got to experience that special event with her here!!
June
In June, Ryan officially graduated from Fellowship!
We also traveled to Dallas for Sam's wedding, and got to see the Easler's! The A-team was together once again!
Then the Easler's made the trip to Houston to spend a night with us in our new house!
Mason's third birthday was one of the days they were visiting, so we had cake!
He requested Mickey, of course!
It was so nice to spend time with them again, and to see how happy the kids were to be reunited for a bit!!
July
When Ryan accepted his new position at Memorial Hermann, his boss told him after fellowship ended to take 2 weeks off to relax before starting as an attending. So where did we go for 8 whole days?
DISNEY WORLD!
If you didn't know the answer to that, then you don't know us very well ;)
It was hot, it was packed, we were sweaty and crabby. We will not be doing Disney in the summer months again as long as we can help it! Our plan for the 8 days was really just to kick back by the pool and relax, but every friggin time we tried to do that, a damn thunderstorm rolled in. It really started to get annoying as our trip went on!
Aidan was finally tall enough to ride a few new things this year, including Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, which he loved! We got our photo taken as we got off it after his first ever ride!
While he and Daddy went on the ride for a second time, Mason and I met Woody & Jessie. I mean, check out that pose and grin. Seriously kid? He wouldn't stop hugging them both!
When we got back from our trip, we had a joint Bday party for our boys with the new friends we had made in our new neighborhood! It was really nice to be able to do something for them for their birthdays, because I was worried we wouldn't have any friends to celebrate with (we knew nobody at our apartment before we moved in to the new house). We got a racing slip n slide and lots of water guns and let the kids run around all afternoon!
Then later that night we made some s'mores with Arthur and Ellie after everyone else had gone home.
At the end of July Aidan had his official birthday, and turned 5!
He requested a Mickey cake too, but asked if I could put his face on it, so I did the best I could!
August
Krysta and Chris came for a visit! Aidan and Mason made Chris their instant BFF, leaving Krysta and I behind as chopped liver. Whatevs.
We went on a ton of adventures: shopping, a trip to Galveston Beach, a brewery tasting, Dinner at Kemah, an Astros game, etc etc.!
Right after Kre & Chris left, Aidan attended a kid's soccer camp hosted by the Houston Dynamo for four nights and he loved it!!
Mason however, was pissed he couldn't play too. Sorry bud.
We had one final afternoon of fun with Arthur and Ellie before the start of school rolled around.
And then the big day was here: Aidan's first day of Kindergarten!! He told me he was excited and nervous all at the same time. But after he had his first day , he was sold on how fun it was.
Mason started a new preschool, too!
As much as we loved that school though, the commute was proving to be too much for Mommy, so after a month, we withdrew him, and put him in the school across the street from Aidan's, making Mommy's morning drop off routine much quicker!
At the very end of August, I got to go home to NY for my cousin's wedding, while Ryan hung back in TX to get the boys to school, so I wouldn't have to miss it. I got to see all my family again for a happier occasion than the last (Dad's services in Feb).
I got to see my brother, Sandra, and their girls too!
I <3 my SIL
So excited to be able to call Ashley my cousin!!
Getting to snuggle with Zoey was my favorite part, and I got give her and Debi their souvenirs from our trip to Disney. Titi had to buy Zoey her first pair of ears!
It was wonderful to be home, even if it was only for a few quick days!
September
In September, the fall soccer season started. This league has a team for 3 yr olds, so Mason was super excited to play! Oddly enough, both Aidan and Mason's team got blue jersey's for their age group. Aidan's team began to think of Mason as their little Mascot because he would run around with the big kids in between their games.
Ryan ran a Ragnar 198 mile Relay race in the ADK's with some of his frat brother from SLU. they day they started the run I geared the boys up in some SLU wear to support their team!
October
In October, we got the chance to have a tour of Minute Maid Park, the Astros stadium, as part of a sales pitch to get us to buy season's tickets. We thought about doing it, but decided I needed a larger car (to accommodate all the visitors we've been having) instead. It was a really cool experience though!! We'll stick to buying our tickets a la carte for now, for the games we want to go to.
Pumpkin carving was fun this year! The boys chose their designs and I carved them for them, even though they did try to help scoop the guts out, they weren't quite strong enough yet.
We also participated in something new this Halloween. The Teal Pumpkin project.
The Teal Pumpkin Project involves painting a pumpkin teal and placing it on you porch along with a notice that you also have non-food treats for those kids who may have allergies.
Mason's photo was even featured on the Instagram account of FARE!
On Oct 26, I ran my first half marathon ever! The Houston Half Marathon. Ryan, Me, Sarah and our other friend Ken all ran it! I swore I was never running another one after I finished, but Sarah and Ryan reminded me the Wine and Dine half was 2 weeks away. Doh.
For Halloween, we went with a Star Wars theme.
We had a blast partying and trick or treating with our friends and neighbors!
ps- my tinker bell pumpkin won the best pumpkin contest at the party!
November
In November, we got to go to a cool bday party at Dynamo stadium for our friend Kaden. His Daddy just happens to be the Captain of the Houston Dynamo soccer team, and oh yeah, he played on Team USA at the world cup. You know, no biggie ;)
The kids had a blast running around the stadium, getting a locker room tour, playing soccer, and eating pizza with the team mascot. Just your average birthday party right? Thanks for setting the bar so high for the rest of us, Heather and Brad! ;)
Ryan and I travled to Disney World to run the Wine & Dine Half Marathon. Totally kid-free, thanks to Char and her Sister Deb, who flew to TX to watch the boys so we could travel to the race alone!!
It poured on us the entire race. I was chafed, freezing, and my sneakers were full of water, but we did it together, and it was so fun!! And I got to see Christi, and old friend from when we lived in Binghamton...but sadly both of us were too scatterbrained about the race to even think to get a photo together. Doh!
Then Grandma came to visit for Thanksgiving!
We hosted our friends for Friendsgiving that day and it was so much fun! It was nice to be surrounded with family and friends on Thanksgiving!
We went to the Zoo Lights with Grandma too!
and we met an elf.........and Aidan asked why he was so big, because Santa's elves are supposed to be tiny.
Sigh.
How do you answer that?!?!
December
December rolled around and was chaotic, fun, and amazing! It was super exciting to be able to celebrate Christmas in our new "forever home"! We decorated, and celebrated with friends, and had a blast!
Lori hosted an Ugly Sweater Party, which was great!
I got back into hosting a Christmas Cookie Exchange this year too, and I am so glad I did. It was yummy and nice to visit with the girls!
I ran the "Jingle Bell Fun Run" with Aidan at his school! I learned that Aidan is not quite the runner that his Mom and Dad are yet.....he likes to walk, and complains a lot. Haha we paled in comparison to the other runners!
But we had FUN!
We visited Santa at the Mall, and mailed our letters to him while we were there!
We had a couples night out to celebrate Devin's birthday. We had a limo, went to dinner, and a dueling piano bar afterward. And we learned Lori likes to rap to old school rap. It was amazing, lol. It was so much fun! Then Ryan cooked breakfast for all our friends the next morning! His breakfasts are the best!
Worst limo selfie ever.
Christmas Morning was exciting! Ryan had to work that day so we woke the boys long before dawn so Daddy could be with them to open their gifts!
We got Aidan a new big boy bike, and so Mason officially inherited his old one. Making 2 very excited boys that day! We went outside and played for a bit with them!
The day after Christmas, Grandma came back for another visit! Yay!
We also got some awesome family Star Wars jammies in the mail from my Aunt Deb, so we totally had to do a family photo in front of the tree with them!
The boys opened another round of gifts:
Grandma and Papa Joe got them this super cool Snowman Choir that has a conductor and lights up and everything. It's pretty damn cute! They loved it!
NYE we invited our friends over for kid-friendly night. Ryan decided we should do a pasta bar, so he played chef and we had all kinds of pasta and meatballs, and he made chicken parm, etc etc. It was a nice change from pizza for one of our neighbor gatherings.
The kids ran amok in the playroom while the grown-ups played Cards Against Humanity....and learned an awful lot about each other that night!! Best game ever!!
And that brings us to the start of 2015! Happy New Year!
Love, The Lawless Family
