12 in 2014 A Photo Link-up

I'm linking up with Dwija because she is so awesome! Also because I love photo heavy posts and I so rarely post these days, it seems I may have needed an excuse to get started again. :)

                               

We spent a lot of time outside, it seems like January left us plenty of nice days that allowed for outside play. We learned that Christopher loves being on a merry-go-round, he could spin all day.

 

February was tough for a reason...I went through all of the baby clothes and sent them on to my friend with whom we've exchanged clothes. I came to a realization that we might always be a family of four, and I tried to come to terms with it. I'm still working on it. Dominic learned to pain and Christopher decided he liked ice cream...so long as it's plain vanilla and he isn't forced to use a spoon.

We decided to try out bunk beds for the boys in March in hopes of getting bed times working a little better...it actually helped a lot. We have since enjoyed many nights of sleep without small children in the bed with us.

Daddy and Grandma's birthdays are a day apart and Dominic began his obsession with birthday cake this year in April and really, who can blame him?

The heat came early this year, May gave us plenty of days for outside swimming before the swimming pool even opened.

We took a vacation in June to Texas and enjoyed lots of train rides and parks!

I set up a family altar in July in hopes that we would find a place where we could pray together as a family; we've finally gotten into a good habit. We also visited as many splash pads as we could...none in our town, but we found them where we could.

Earlier in the year we bought a tandem bike, and August gave us plenty of opportunities to try it out. We make quite the spectacle.

We went hiking for the first time all together in September, and we found some fun places to try out only about an hour away.

We joined a play group at a local kids' gym and in October it seems that Christopher started feeling comfortable and actually playing with another kiddo. Definitely an amazing experience! We also had Christopher tested, and received the diagnosis of Autism.

Jason spent an entire day in November getting these tree swings put up, and they continue to be a major joy to the boys.

The boys enjoyed Advent and preparing for Christmas this December and enjoyed what that brought.

What an awesome year! Hard to stick to just one picture a month, but as Dwija says, it is my blog so it's OK.