2013: The Year in Review

I've always been a fan of the shows and montages that reflect on the past year. I've watched a few lately and the popular topics of 2013 range from Miley Cyrus and twerking to the Royal Baby to Kimye's baby to the infamous question: What does the fox say? Since everyone else is reflecting on the top things that happened in 2013, I thought I should to.

1. Obviously the birth of our son is our number one for the year. This time last year I was about seven weeks away and counting down every moment. Giving birth and meeting your child is a pretty cool thing and since we'll never be first time parents again, I'm not sure much could ever top this moment.

Since this was the year of the "selfie," it seems appropriate to start with this one:

2. Coming in a close second to John Mark's birthday are all the other milestones we've gotten to experience with him. He's gone from this needy little being to a (somewhat) independent little guy with his own special personality. It's been so fun to watch him grow up. Can't believe how much he has changed!

3. Some of our other top moments were some more firsts. Many of our firsts included traveling, which isn't easy for a baby, but we've made it work. These are some highlights of the many celebrations we've had this year.

First Mother's Day

First Father's Day

First Beach Trip

First Halloween

First Thanksgiving

First Christmas

First New Year's Eve

4. Our happiest times haven't only centered around our family. It's been really fun watching our other friend's families grow. This year we celebrated the birth of baby Nathan and baby Katelynn Rose. This year we also found out about baby Abigail and we can't wait to meet her in 2014.

Brandon & Proud Papa Greg 

It's very exciting that we are finally adding a girl to the "apta 32" group after 2 boys!

5. You Alabama fans may not want to read this part, but I have to include it. My fifth top thing was watching Chris Davis run the ball the length of the field at the end of the Iron Bowl. I have never been a real football fan and most of the time I'm pretty clueless about the games and spend most of my time socializing, not watching. However, watching this happen and watching my husband watch this happen is definitely one of my top picks for the year. It didn't just make me an Auburn fan (because I promised Brandon that if they won, we would no longer be a "House Divided"), but it made me a football fan in general. It was an exhilarating moment and truth be told, I still have it on DVR and occasionally watch that last famous second. It feels pretty cool to be rooting for the same team as your husband. My students accused me of being a "fair weather fan" since I wasn't supporting my team when they lost; however, I'll tell you like I told them. It's okay for a couple of reasons: 1) I won't be switching sides anymore. 2) Since John Mark was destined to be an AU fan like his daddy one day, it seemed like a perfect moment for me to switch teams. and 3) I was never really a "real" Alabama fan anyway...more of a default fan. I feel like even the most fanatic of Alabama fans can respect me being truly loyal to something rather than just being a "bandwagon" fan. 

We already know of so many wonderful things happening in 2014 (Kara's wedding, Abigail's birth, and John Mark's first birthday party), and I'm sure they'll be just as many unexpected good things on their way too. Can't wait to see what you hold for us, 2014!