The difference in a year...

I pretty much finished all the classes in order to graduate from the Educational Support program except my placement which I'll be doing this fall! I'm really excited about that!

Roxy turned 4 on the 15th and will be starting JK this fall!

 

On top of it this year...coming in a little under a year. But if I don't do it now, I'll forget and it will be 2021 before I think about it again lol

I'm not on bnb hardly at all anymore but I really love these threads and being able to look back. But...I have no idea how to do the quotes from previous posts correctly now...so I just put all the years on one post, marked the years and called it good

So, looking back at a year ago and those goals:
- weight loss- huge fail. Lost about 18 pounds, lost motivation and gained 8 back. So still down 10 from a year ago, but about 30 away from my goal weight. Injuries and bad food habits have been a hinderance. Maybe eventually I'll get it figured out
-DS2 is MOSTLY potty trained...its been a long road but he's doing great
-Massive speech progress with DS1, couldn't be happier with how well he is doing
-not pregnant or TTC yet but soon!
-no solo trip, thanks to the pandemic. this was the "year of travel" with trips to California, Canada, New York and Bora Bora planned, along with several road trips with the kids. We made it to California for a weekend at the end of January but all other travel is canceled. Oh well. Getting the last 2 months at home with him is better than a week away. We will make it eventually to where we want to go.

The biggest thing from this past year was my work on my mental health. 2018 was the worst year of my life. Between DH cardiac arrest, the depression and anxiety, undiagnosed PTSD....it was bad. 2019 brought physical healing for DH in his surgery, the PTSD diagnosis, realizing I had childhood trauma and the start of processing that trauma (on top of the 6 years of work I've been doing....but the PTSD was its own new beast). I spent 6 months in therapy (with my therapist and a lot of conversations with DH). I learned how to quickly identify when I am triggered and grounding/coping mechanisms to deal with it. I found clarity, peace, understanding, and forgiveness towards my parents, who unintentionally caused a lot of emotional trauma as a kid. I set a goal to have a conversation with them but was sent into anxiety attacks when I would think about it. I was able to work through the anxiety and at the end of the year had an open, honest, healing discussion. They took responsibility for their actions, I found compassion and grace towards them and we all came out of it with actual healing and not just bandaids. It was 24 years of my life dealing with scars and brokenness- but I am stronger and proudly stand in my truth and my story. I am proud of myself, grateful for the loving support of my husband and excited to move forward.

Looking forward towards the next year, here are the goals I'd like to accomplish:
- Lose 15-20 pounds by the time we start TTC
- Have DS2 completely out of pullups, including at night.
- Work with DS1 on social/emotional development. He feels BIG and it's hard to manage sometimes. we both need to learn better ways to process
-Have my next, and last baby! We are hoping to start TTC by the end of summer and am hopeful that within a year from today, baby is in my arms!
-successfully set up and implement a homeschool program - this depends on how things go with the pandemic. I dont know if the boys will be in school come the fall...but I'm going to start prepping now to be set up for a good year of homeschool. we've been managing the last 2 months this year with them being home, but need some changes for next school year
-maintain a good and healthy relationship with my hubby. That man is just the best and I want to keep pouring into our relationship

Hope everyone is doing well and looking forward to reading your updates!

 

Haha, I’m a little late!

Gracie is now 4, and will be 5 in October. She was supposed to graduate nursery but covid screwed that up, so we had to do our own little fun day for her. She had her primary school visit this week and is really excited, and seems to like her teacher!

She’s still very strong willed and determined, but she’s finally getting a little better at regulating her emotions. She’s absolutely hilarious and such a little monkey.

We are still living in the same house. Right now, it’s pretty much all getting renovated through an insurance claim - so we have been designing how we want everything, which has been hard due to covid.

We got engaged 2.5 years ago, but don’t really know if we will ever bother to get married. We have been together for 10 years come October, which is scary!

Baby number two is definitely on the cards really soon, which is scary.

I’m permanently based in one school, and got a job with my best friend since high school. Df also got a new job which is just round the corner and he’s really enjoying it.

Our dog was out to sleep on New Year’s Day due to cancer. We got a new puppy called Callie.

 

This thread randomly popped into my head and I know I'm a month early but June is a big month for me this year so wanted to update now! I'm not sure if anyone is still on BnB who had posted before but hoping new people will join in and start their own updates too!

To kick off from last years goals:
-Weight loss before TTC: nope, didn't happen. What are you going to do?
-DS2 potty trained- thank the good Lord but I think I can FINALLY cross this one off! He had a very tough road, with a lot of regressions but is doing amazing and I am so so proud of his persistence to be fully potty trained!
-DS1 on social/emotional skills- a constant work in progress but I am really proud of how far he has come, and my ability to handle his meltdowns (sometimes). We continue to work on this as he gets older.
-homeschool program- My kiddos wound up doing virtual schooling and it's been a doozy! My 1st grader made HUGE leaps and bounds and I'm really thankful I have been able to give him so much one one one attention to helping him catch up in reading and writing. I think the first half of the year was a lot more successful with homeschooling my preschooler than the second half. I wish I would have been more consistent with my preschooler but we made it through and I'm giving myself grace
-hubby: we are doing great and I am so happy we navigated through this last year together
-baby- This is why I am doing this update early....I'm about 4.5 weeks from my due date!! Baby #3 is definitely our last baby and we are having a sweet baby girl after 2 amazing boys.

By this time next year:
weight loss: I don't know where my final weight gain will be for this pregnancy but its looking like it will be in the 25-30 pound range. I would like to have that weight off within a year.
kiddos: be intentional with my time with my littles. Getting down to play with them, going out to the park, making messes without stressing over it.....just enjoying the time with them when they are so young.
hubby: get back to our normal intimacy levels!! This pregnancy has been ROUGH for us in that regard :/ Otherwise just keep those open lines of communication as we go through a big life change with adding a new baby
health: keep a close eye on signs of PPD/PPA and seek help if needed. I have a history of PPD and it's something I'm hyperaware of now
parents: get my parents fully moved out to our city and help them get settled into the community
Baby Girl: Bring this littlest love safely into this world and just soak up my time with her. It's bittersweet to leave behind this trying/pregnancy stage of life. But my body can't handle another pregnancy and she fills that last piece of my heart that was missing. I just want to breathe her in and enjoy the baby bliss one last time.

This next year will be a big adventure but I'm so looking forward to taking this ride and all of the fun (and stresses) along the way!

 

Another update!
-house is STILL being renovated, with the view to sell. Only the bedrooms still to do. Dds bedroom is nearly half finished, ours is a riot.
-work is good, I’m enjoying my current school and df is enjoying work. He tried working full time but it didn’t work out for us in that we were both too stressed, so he went back to part time.
-Gracie is 5 and a half now which is terrifying. She’s in p1 and has a lovely group of friends. She’s really outgoing and popular, and a “leader” (bossy!) - she is in the supported reading group; when she started she was testing below the bottom group level, and now is bang on average for her age. She has started to like reading too. They have discovered it’s a speech issue rather than reading so she is doing speech therapy at school. I had actually enquired about this over a year ago but due to covid nothing went ahead.
-our dog is now 1.5 and she’s great. Great but intense.
- relationship wise we are good. Financially we are better than ever.
- we started ttc last summer and have had an early miscarriage and an ectopic pregnancy. We can ttc again as of next month. We are seeing a fertility clinic next week too.

 

Love this will join

This time last year

• I always acknowledged I have depression but always believed in strong enough to manage it with will power friends and occasional therapy. Covid and lockdowns drove me straight to mental health unit at our hospital. Was first time I ever really seriously got professional help for it. Had conversations with my older daughter about it.
• I took a second job as well - it was a way to manage my mental health, busier I am less time to feel depressed and more pressure to pull myself up. I then actually fell in love with lecturing and mentoring so continue to do it.
  
• Went through phase of wondering if I’ll ever have a third baby or should I prepare myself to just be a mom of 2,

This time next year

• really want to finally buy my own house, been talking about it for a while.
• I’m expecting baby #3 end of year so I want to make sure I make the most of first few months with him/her. I know I’m already thinking will only take 2 months maternity leave but hopefully I can allow myself or my brain to be idle and just enjoy mothering.
  
• I really want to build a stronger relationship with DD1 she’s about to be a teen and I’m scared I’m going to lose her to the big bad world. I worry about this a lot so hopefully I can shift from worrying to just spending time with her and bonding with her.
  
• I’m hoping to learn to allow myself to be loved. I’m constantly finding reasons why DP probably will leave it isn’t really serious and just picking at our relationship. I don’t voice these to him so it hasn’t affected our relationship outwardly but it affects my ability to have peace and enjoy us.

So big goals. No pressure right.

 

Congratulations on your baby girl kksy9b, I remember you from back in the day on here

 

So, 2 years later! Obviously the pandemic happened and we didn't get to go on our dream holiday to Florida which was a huge disappointment but we thankfully haven't suffered health wise or financially due to covid so I know we're luckier than many and the money is sitting there for when we can rebook.
Weight wise I lost 55lbs in total but the lockdowns here in the UK really affected my motivation and I've gained about 20lbs back. I'm desperate to get back on track but keep losing my way, keeping at it though and hoping my motivation returns!
My kids are 9, 6 and 5 and all doing well, definitely no more babies for us! We are moving house in August back to where I grew up and where my parents live. It's a really nice little town and a better place to bring up a family than the city suburb we currently live in. It'll be a big change for the kids as they'll be moving to a new school which is much smaller than their old one but I'm sure they will take it in their stride
Lastly, I decided to go back to uni and become a children's nurse! I applied thus year and have a place for January, I'm nervous but really excited to get started in a proper career that I'm passionate about. I studied access this year amidst lockdowns and homeschooling and managed to achieve mostly distinctions which I'm really proud of and gives me the confidence that I can juggle uni with a family.
This time next year I hope to be in the swing of uni, maybe even on placement or just completed one. Also we are planning to get a family dog soon so hopefully he/she will be well settled as part of our family

 

Buttercup84 - wow, so many changes, awesome. I am sure you will manage all stuff, and your children will be happy in their new school.

 

Hi! Thank you for this topic, it helped me!

 

2 years in a row...this might be a record LOL

To kick off from last year:
Pregnancy weight gain: 3 weeks to my LOs bday and 3 pounds to go to pre-pregnancy weight! I WILL hit this goal!
Kids: we have had a fun year and as challenging as it has been adjusting to having another baby, I feel good about my time spent with my boys, given the circumstances
Hubby: not quite back at our normal intimacy but getting there! Having a baby who doesn't sleep isn't helping lol
Health: I DID wind up with PPA but thankfully was able to work through it over a few months! Being hyper aware let me address it quickly when it sprang up (at 4 months pp)
Parents: got them moved up and settled in!
Baby girl: what a trip around the sun it has been with this sweet baby. The week after I posted my update last year I was diagnosed with IUGR because of her marginal cord insertion (which turned out to be REALLY bad...worse than on the ultrasound.) We induced at 37w6d and my 6 lb 12 oz of perfection made it safely earthside. She is a joy and fills that place in my heart that longed for a third baby perfectly!

This time next year:
Health: I would like to keep losing weight (since I have a lot of extra!) Would love to be down another 30 pounds by this time next year! Get into a consistent exercise routine and get food under control.
Kids: my middle kiddo is having some gut health issues so hoping to have that resolved. He is also in speech so hoping to have him caught up to age level! He starts kindergarten in the fall . I want to be intentional about my time with him before school starts. For my oldest, he's 8 and is definitelygetting older. Need to navigate this change in parenting with him. Be better about one on one time with him. For the baby- get her weaned and STTN!
Hubby: would LOVE to take at least one weekend trip solo with just us in the next year. We need some alone time! Also for him to get his vasectomy because the baby factory is closed
House: we are buying land to build!! This time next year we want to have the land purchased, road and site graded, first barn built and have our plans from the architect!
What a fun fun year this will be!!

Hope you all are doing well!!

 

I am never on BnB anymore but after so many years keeping this updated, I love looking back and seeing the progress!

So, from last year:

Health: Still haven't put much effort into this
Kids: oldest: addressed a lot of my childhood trauma from age 8 and it really helped me break down the barrier I was feeling with him after his bday last year
middle: worked with a GI specialist for the last year and finally have some answers and treatment plan is working. He excelled in Kinder and is doing amazing in speech
youngest: fully weaned and STTN!! Huge huge victory
Hubby: vasectomy had some complications but ultimately was done and feel so great about that! We are taking regular date nights together again and have gone on several weekend get aways for just us. Best place we've been in for the last 3 years since getting pregnant/having the baby.
House: we bought the land and built the first barn! The rest of the project got pushed back.

This time next year:
Health: Be on the road to better health. Literally don't care where I'm at....I just want to take the first steps
Kids: Keep working on being a better and more patient mother. Be very intentional with my time with my kids. Get my oldest established in therapy so he has a healthy relationship built as he moves into adolesence in the coming years.
Hubby: keep choosing and prioritizing one another on a daily basis. Continue to speak into his love language so he doesn't feel alone or unimportant.
House: Get grading done and house plans set!
Hobbies: I would love to get back into reading!
Projects: Finish getting through my list of organizing/purging house projects!

This past year has been really challenging but also wonderful and beautiful. I love creating memories in the big and small ways. My word of the year is health and I want to continue to live into this. This is physical, mental, emotional, and relational. I want to keep pushing myself into the uncomfortable spaces because that's where I find myself growing the most.