With Love, Mags: December 2015

Thursday, December 31, 2015

2015 In Review

As I look back on 2015, I can’t help but smile. This is the year our beautiful daughter was born. After a long journey to become pregnant, we met our sweet miracle girl on June 30^th, and our lives were forever changed for the better.

So many wonderful things have happened in 2015, including the following:

Births and Announcements

My cousin, Rach, had her twin boys in January
My friend, Lisa, had her baby girl in March
I had Gracie girl in June
My cousin, Aysha, had her daughter in July
My friend, Amanda, had her son in September
My friend, Koko, had her son in October
My friend Viviane, announced she is having a baby boy in January 2016
My cousin, Maliha, announced she is having a baby boy in January 2016 too

Celebrations

My daddy got married to a wonderful woman who I absolutely love!
My big brother got married to a wonderful woman who I adore! Love my new Sis!
My friend, Ali, got married in NY in July; unfortunately I couldn’t go because Gracie was not even 2 weeks old
I was lucky enough to have 6 baby showers!

New York baby shower with my college friends
Pink and sparkly shower with my family
Star Wars themed shower with my in-laws
Pink and gold Twinkle Twinkle themed shower with all of my mom’s best friends
Pink baby shower by the beach hosted by my step-mom
Baby shower at work

*Unfortunately I didn't have enough time to blog about all of them, but they ALL were equally as stellar and special!!!

Travel

January: NYC to visit all my college friends
February: Montana with family to go snowboarding, although I had to sit this one out since I was pregnant
April: Palm Springs with my hubby for our baby moon
August: Montana with the family including all the babies...Grace's first vacation and first time on an airplane!!

Misc.

Gracie celebrated some of her first major holidays, including, 4th of July, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas
I celebrated 6 years in my career at Molina Healthcare
My hubby and I celebrated our 4 year wedding anniversary with dinner at Morton's followed by the Ducks game (we had glass seats too!!!)
Ran/walked the Turkey Trot this year with 5 month old Gracie in the BOB jogger stroller...my first 5K post partum and her first 5K ever!
Dad sold his house, which is the house my brother and I grew up in...we had a final farewell party that was pretty epic! :)
Gracie took swim lessons for a few months and loved them!

I'm sure there are other exciting happenings I forgot to mention, but I will just blame that on my mommy brain :) 2015 was an incredible year filled with so many blessings and new beginnings. I look forward to see what 2016 has to offer! Until then, have a safe and happy New Year's Eve tonight!

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Happy 1/2 Birthday, Gracie!

And just like that, my little monkey is 6 months old! She loves chewing on her hands, grabbing her feet, and playing in curtains. She loves to laugh and smile, and she thinks her dogs are the funniest things in the world. She is constantly rolling over, so we have to keep a watchful eye on her. She can sit unassisted for a good period of time but she prefers to stand. I swear this girl is going to walk before she crawls. Her favorite thing to do is bounce/jump. She loves to grab everything and put it in her mouth {toys, mommy’s necklaces, spoons, paper, and more), except bananas or avocado. Her favorite foods are peas, sweet potatoes, and butternut squash; she is not a fan of apples. She lights up when she sees Mom and Dad. She is approximately 17 pounds of pure happiness, and is the light of my hubby’s and my world. Happy ½ birthday, my darling girl. Your daddy and I love you to infinity and beyond.

Saturday, December 26, 2015

Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas!!

Love, The O'Neils

Thursday, December 24, 2015

Christmas Eve Festivities!

"'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds;

While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads."

Merry Christmas Eve! It's hard to believe that Christmas is tomorrow, and it's Gracie's 1st Christmas! Even though she will only be 6 months on the 30th, she has more presents under the tree than anyone else :) We definitely spoil our little girl, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

This year is a little unconventional, as my hubby and I are hosting Christmas Eve dinner tonight! This is the big celebration in my family, and for the past 40+ years, Mom and Dad have always hosted; Dad makes his famous spaghetti and meatballs that he learned from his Italian god father many years ago. Recently, some very exciting things have happened that gave hubby and I the opportunity to take on the family tradition and host. My Daddy got married!!! I absolutely love his wife, my stepmom, and I am beyond happy they found each other. More of that in a later post though :) Since they recently got hitched, and are moving in together and settling in, my house is the party house this year for tonight's festivities. Dad is still cooking though (phew!).

I am so excited for tonight. As I said, Christmas Eve is our big shindig...lots of wine, laughter, Christmas music, more laughter, and this year, BABIES!!!!!! We have four babies in the family who will be celebrating their first Christmas Eve and Christmas this year...my Gracie, my cousin's daughter who was born 10 days after Gracie, and my other cousin's twin boys who are 6 months older than Gracie. We cannot wait to see their little faces light up :) And I have a super cute Christmas Eve dress for Gracie to wear :)

With that said, I am going to leave a few pictures of our happy girl here for you to enjoy: