I feel like the more I’ve tried to get my blog going, the less I’ve actually talked about my own life and family! So let me go over some of the things in our 2014 and up until now…

My husband and I celebrated our fourth anniversary in March and I got a SodaStream, which I am still in love with. We had our first summer in our new house and it was fabulous! We threw some awesome parties and celebrated my son’s first birthday.

Our oldest daughter started first grade, which she was thrilled about! She tried her first several months of ballet but got bored and decided that she’d rather look into more sporty options.

My husband I were baptized in the ocean at the end of the summer and for my birthday, I got VIP show tickets to see the Last Comic Standing finalists, including Joe Machi! We had a delicious dinner at the Chart House and gambled a little at the casinos. We had a blast!

In October, we went to a really lovely festival where they had these Yorkie puppies for adoption for the local shelter. They were spoken for pretty quickly but then I really wanted a little pup. My husband decided to treat me as an early anniversary gift, just as he’d done with my puppy Cotton, and we got a Yorkie puppy of our own! Our puppy Cotton was part of an early second anniversary gift, so we called her Cotton. This was part of an early fifth anniversary gift (the other part being a trip to Disney, so the name fit for that too!) and for that we named him Woody! He’s been a total darling and he gets along so well with my Cocker Spaniel, they’re attached at the hip.

We did Marvel comic book characters for our Halloween costumes this year, and it was a hit with kids although some people had no idea who my Mystique was! Those who did were thrilled at the likeness! Then for Thanksgiving, we enjoyed a lovely meal at my mom’s house.

A few days before Christmas after having gallbladder attacks one after another every night, I finally had it removed. Recovery was a little tough and I give props to those of you who have had cesareans and are up and caring for an itty bitty right after the fact, I have no idea how you do it!

We had a beautiful and relaxing Christmas, lots of egg nog and naps! We had my mom over on Christmas Eve so we were exhausted from that hustle and bustle! The kids got tablets and personalized character blankets from Santa, they were thrilled!

New Year’s was laid back as usual for us with our littles. We let the kids watch a movie and thought that this year might be the year that our oldest could stay up for the countdown but she was out by 10pm and she didn’t regret it one bit! My kids have never been afraid to lay down with a blanket if the mood strikes!

Recently I just got over some kind of flu and then was improving, one of the three wisdom teeth I have left came peeking out of my gums and caused my entire face to swell! Our area got a hefty snow forecast so everything closed down and I am finally on my way to get my tooth looked at today, to hopefully get the rest of these suckers out soon! Hopefully after everything calms down, I can really focus on my blog!

I’ve got a lot in store for The Crunchy Mom Next Door this year. I have a giveaway going on and another in the works, with many goals for the year! There are also oodles of recipes and DIY projects heading your way, among guest posts! I’m contributing for Eighty MPH Mom and Everything Mommyhood so I’m getting a lot of experience and learning from the best! Stay tuned! 🙂