2019 in Review

I haven't done a year in review in a while, but since I have been terrible at blogging this year....
I like to take the new year to reflect on the year. And 2019 was a DOOZY.

We had some really hard times this year.
At the beginning of the year, I wasn't sure if I could run more than a mile ever again. I was going to physical therapy every week and felt like it would never end.
In January, I was called by my doctor and told that my bloodwork came back positive for an autoimmune disease. It looked like lupus. Now, if you don't know, when I was pregnant with Cora I was mistakenly diagnosed with Hep B before they realized it was a lab error. So, thinking there was no way I would be misdiagnosed again. For 2 months I struggled with this while waiting for meetings with specialists, only to find out it WAS a false positive. So, there you go. If I ever have cancer I won't believe it.

In February the kids and I were the sickest we have ever been (simultaneously). James was on his way to getting his ear tubes, and I didn't realize Cora could still get ear infections until she started bleeding out of her ears. Thank goodness for Brandon who didn't panic when he saw it. Meanwhile I had a sinus infection and some virus.

In March James got his ear tubes. He had had 4 back to back ear infections. It was so sad to let him go with Brandon, and apparently he cried for me the whole time he was recovering. But by the time they got home he was ready to run around in the backyard (even though we're supposed to have them rest the rest of the day), so he was fine.

(Before and after, more or less)
In April we had possibly the worst Easter ever. Brandon is too modest to admit this, but he saved his dad's life. He told him to go to the hospital and turns out Steve needed emergency heart surgery. Not a good birthday weekend for Brandon since he nearly lost his dad.

In August, we found out that Cora's ear tubes falling out (in May) meant that her ears filled back up with fluid and her hearing was compromised again. I was gutted. I was SURE that we had left this behind us! They called us and scheduled it for August 20 (definitely not a coincidence).

In August, Brandon's car was backed into while he was in a meeting for Elder's Quorum. In September, we were hit hard while driving home from Taylor and Emily's wedding. We weren't sure if the van was totaled. Someone ran the stop sign and hit us, and took away our feelings of safety when approaching any 4 way stop.
In September and October, we had a bout of sickness that NEVER seemed to end. First Brandon got it, then I did, and back and forth. I had pharyngitis, bronchitis, and pink eye. I actually coughed so hard I burst a blood vessel in my eyeball. Turns out that can happen.

(Gross picture ahead) 

On top of all these things, I have struggled a LOT with my anxiety. In the beginning of the year, I was waking Brandon up 4-5 times  NIGHT because I was convinced that someone was breaking into our house. It comes and goes in waves, but that was the worst of it.
It is easy to see how looking at all of those things would make me want to crawl into a hole and not come out... but thank goodness that wasn't our whole year!
We started out the year on an AMAZING note, moving into our first home on January 1. The kids have absolutely LOVED having a backyard, and I tell Brandon at least once a week that I never want to go back to an apartment or condo.

My injury from the end of 2018 has healed, and I can run, jump on the trampoline, squat, and do everything I couldn't before.

(My first post physical therapy 5k)

We are all healthy now! Minus coughs and colds. No pink eye or lupus to be found.
This year we got to see TWO things that we have been waiting for years to see. We got to see Muse in March, and HAMILTON in November. Both are also things that have gotten Brandon out of the hole. (Just kidding, except for Muse. He's owed me since 2013 for that one.)

We had friends come visit in May! We are ALWAYS down for people to come visit, so do it!

This summer was really one for the books. In May we got to pick blueberries a LOT. U Pick blueberries is my new favorite thing to do, so come visit us around Memorial Day!

 We got to swim. A LOT.

Cora (and James) took swimming lessons, and Cora overcame her fear of the water and now can swim without a floatie.

 Obviously the highlight of the summer was my parents coming home from their mission. We're grateful for their example, and even more grateful that we don't need to renew our passports to go see them anymore. We have seen them four times since they came home! Just for fun!

We got to spend time with a lot of family in July.

We even got to see a new national park! We took a slight detour to see Kolob Canyon in Zion National Park.

We went to the beach with my family to celebrate being together for the first time in 3 years.

(As a not unimportant side note, Steve recovered from his heart surgery and is doing amazingly! For which we are very grateful)

We got to celebrate 8 years of marriage.

Brandon's brother Taylor got married, so I got another Giullian girl in the family!

Our cars WERE eventually fixed. Even though it took the van a week longer than expected, and the rental situation was not ideal.

Cora started a new dance class and LOVES it. It has been so fun for her to learn to follow directions and overcome her shyness.

Brandon and I got to go on our first trip away without the kids ever.

 As a personal victory, I think that regular exercise and cutting down on screen time has helped me with my mental health. It also helped me accomplish a New Year's resolution of FINALLY losing the baby weight from James.

 I also got to start working a few times a month as a substitute teacher. It has (generally) been a good experience, and it is helpful to my mental health. Turns out I miss the kids after I work all day.

And I got to end the year seeing Gabrielle after nearly 7 years!

Really, it depends on what we focused on for this year. For me, I'm going to focus on the positives. We are not starting the new year exactly how I thought we would, but we are healthy, safe, happy, and together. 2020 is our year!

Trip to Quito, November 2016- Part 3.

Church by yourself with a toddler is hard. In the Miami Shores ward, I am the organist. Since I sit on the stand all sacrament meeting, Brandon has been in charge of Cora by himself. Now that the rolls are reversed, I am amazed at how well he has done. Cora is crazy!

Cora and her buddy Grandma.

 Some missionaries came over, and saw this waiting for them. Cute little diaper bum!

 She was just making herself at home.

Cora refrigeration.

My parents just happened to come back just before transfers. So I got to experience one for myself. Boy, it was exhausting!

 We were excited for the opportunity to pick up some new missionaries from the airport. Since I never went on a mission, it was exciting!

  

 My mom has quite the set up for her dinners. She knows exactly what to make for the goodbye dinner, and what to make for the new missionary dinner.

 They even have nice themed decor for the dinners.

 The biggest difference between the leaving dinners and the new missionary dinners are the levels of Spanish. During the testimony meeting for the missionaries going home, I couldn't understand a word of what they said. Even the American missionaries sounded totally fluent to me. During the new missionary testimony meeting, however, I could understand pretty well. I bore my testimony in very VERY basic Spanish, basically saying "Yo se que..." 

One of the elders was SO nervous. He said he was terrible at Spanish. So after the meeting I told him, "When my family came down here just a few months ago, my mom and Cole didn't speak Spanish at all. Now look at them!" That seemed to make him feel much better.

The next day was transferring the new missionaries to their areas. Cora was scared of the loud cheering (which they do every time the missionary is assigned), so we had to stay outside with the poor wifi so Cora would stop crying.

 Poor girl.

 Some guagua bread always helped.

 They have ceviche in the malls. It was delicious! (However, the mussels were super rubbery and weird.)

 Cora got to try out some new riding toys.

 But we ultimately got her a doll and stroller. She pushed it up and down the hall about 85,000 times that first day.

 Traffic... seems typical of Miami.

 I wish I could have gotten a better picture of this.

 There is some crazy architecture on the buildings.

 We got to stop by Papa's office. He had some candy for Cora, which won her affections for a second.

 This girl was dressed up as Little Red Riding Hood with a zombie face.

 Cora needed to bring her stroller to Papa's office.

 Hot and cold: Hot again. She at least tolerated giving him kisses.

 We went to go see "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them". It was a great movie, and an epic installment into the Harry Potter world.

Hot and Cold: Cold again.

 

 At the beginning of every transfer, my mom and dad bring the new missionaries to Panecillo. It is where missionary work in Ecuador was dedicated.

  

 Cora slept in our closet. We were so excited to see Dad in the morning!