Happy New Year!

Good Afternoon and Happy New Year Everyone!

As the New Year rolls around I think everyone tends to reflect on what the past year held for them. In my case, 2014 was a very tough, but also wonderful, year.

I began the year caring for our infant daughter, and now looking back, I can admit that I was also struggling with post-partum depression. At the time I attributed everything I was feeling to sleep deprivation but now I can see that it was actually so much more than that. I plan on doing a full post about this topic so will not say much about that now. Happily once we began sleep training and Lily (and I) slept through the night I began to feel MUCH better!  Over the year I have watched that little baby grow into an awesome toddler who makes me laugh every single day with her crazy shannonigans (hehe, see what I did there?)  She is such a beautiful, intelligent, happy, and loving little girl that I still, to this day, cannot believe we created! How did I get so lucky?!  Here is a photo from a recent shoot we did for my in-laws for Christmas that definitely shows off her personality, just love that little squishy nose!

After a horribly long and cold winter, the springtime allowed Lily and I to finally get outside for some fresh air and much needed exercise. I followed along with the Tone It Up girls “Bikini series”. If you don’t know about the Tone It Up girls, check them out here: www.toneitup.com. They are amazing. It’s a wonderfully supportive community of women all working together to motivate and empower each other to be healthy. I would someday like to join their Nutrition Program as well. Right now they have their “Love Your Body” series running, a post about that to come.

Also fitness-related, the hubby and I decided to try out the workout program “Insanity” (http://www.beachbody.com/product/fitness_programs/insanity.do).  Well, let me tell you, the title is appropriate!!  It’s a two-month program with a one-week recovery in the middle. I unfortunately only made it half-way through and then lost all motivation since I was impatient and not seeing mega results yet.  My awesome hubby, on the other hand, continued through the entire program and lost like 25lbs! I was, and still am, so proud of him!  He assures me that most of the changes took place in the second month and that I shouldn't have given up, he is right.

We had the pleasure of welcoming three new family members this year. A beautiful niece, Miss B, in May, a nephew who is the toughest little man around, Mr. A, in June, and another wonderfully sweet niece, Miss K, in July. Lots of baby snuggles followed by comments like “so when’s your next one?!”… Give me time people! It's been amazing to watch all of our nieces and nephews grow this past year, to see their personalities develop, how they are all similar and different, and to shed tears of pride each time any one of them learns a new skill. We couldn't have asked for a more amazing family!

We attended weddings of some amazing friends, and celebrated engagements and pregnancy announcements with others. I also had so much fun planning and carrying out Lily’s first birthday party. It was Minnie Mouse themed and I loved getting crafty with it. I will also be doing a separate blog post about her party so stay tuned for that.

I tried out, loved, and then started selling the Younique cosmetics products. I have a facebook page dedicated to that (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Shannons-Younique-CosmeticsBeauty/263881567154601) and also a website (www.youniqueproducts.com/shannonm) if anyone is interested. 

I returned to work after a year of maternity leave and am enjoying being back in that atmosphere; despite how much I miss my little lady every day. We found a wonderful daycare for her and she has so much fun there, so that makes it much easier. I have about an hour's commute every day, which I used to loathe, but now don't mind. I downloaded the app Audible (www.audible.com) on my ipad and purchase one audiobook a month, then listen to that in my car on my drive home. I really look forward to that time of the day each day, since I don't have much time to read actual books anymore. Right now I am listening to the book "Outlander" by Diana Gabaldon, and am loving it so far!

All in all, 2014 was a year filled with tears (a lot!), laughs (even more!), baby snuggles, learning new skills, failing at others, and dusting myself off to try again. Here’s to another great year! Cheers everyone!