The difference in a year...

tverb84 said:

I'm still in the EA program! Currently I'm retaking math in order to do second year this fall which I'm really excited about!! I do have a bit of a hard time with math but next week we're starting literacy.

Roxy is going to be three in July and she's becoming her own person. I love watching her grow up!

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kksy9b said:

Whoops! Stumbled on this and realized its been over 2 years since I updated so best get to it!

These were my previous updates:

2014: Fun thread!

Let's see...a year ago my DH and I were in our second month of TTC (and would get preggo the next month), I was pretty dissatisfied with work and was learning to let go of a very stressful and complicated situation with my brother.

Now, I have my beautiful 9 week old son in my arms, I'm a SAHM and I am the happiest I've ever been (also the most sleep deprived but its getting better lol).

This time next year, my DS will be a little over a year old. Hopefully we have our house sold and are living in a rental while out dream house is being built. My husband will be at the one year mark of having heart surgery to install a defibrillator to protect against sudden cardiac arrest (genetic heart condition that we just found out or son doesn't have!!). We will be around a year out from TTC #2, which will be our last. Hopefully life remains as wonderful as it is now, just in a bigger house lol

2015:Well, we wound up not building our dream house because we found the perfect one already made! We sold our old house and moved straight into this one, so no rental. Ridiculously happy with our home and plan on being here for a long long time (read: until we can't climb stairs anymore ) My husband is getting ready to change jobs in January so that is the next big thing happening. My DS is amazing and continues to impress me everyday with his curiosity, loving and sweet disposition, wit and patience. I have taken an unexpected journey in the last year and have lost 60 pounds! Still have about 10 to go but feeling great so far!

In a year from now, I want to be pregnant with the next baby!! We are going to start trying right after Charles' 2nd birthday in April and I'm hoping for another sweet baby boy (but would also be happy with a girl ). I would like to try and run a half marathon before getting preggo.

I want to be fully adjusted to my husbands new schedule (will be traveling a lot). Im hoping we will have our house paid off, or at least be on track to do so within the next few months. I would also like to have a few house projects done, the biggest being repainting the main level.

For Charles, I am hopeful that he will start talking finally- whether it be on his own or working with a speech therapist. I would like to transition him to a big bed and possibly begin potty training.Looking at my last update and seeing where we are now is a lot of fun!

2018: To update off my last post: In the last TWO years we have had a lot of changes. the biggest being we had another baby! Our sweet baby Calvin was born in January of 2017. He just turned one and is such a happy wild child and makes my heart full. I did not run a half marathon but I did run several 5k's and made a decision at one point to not do a half as I kept injuring my foot during the long training runs. My husband did change jobs and while its stressful with a lot of travel, it has also been such a blessing to us. We are fully adjusted to our life now and things are going great. We haven't been able to do a ton of house projects but we did just get a new fireplace so I'm happy with that! We transitioned my oldest to a bed at 2.5 yrs old and he is fully potty trained which is awesome. We found out he has a speech disorder but has been making amazing progress since we put him in preschool with an IEP. All in all I feel like we accomplished what I had hoped to!

In a year from now I hope to have our house paid off and be starting discussions on whether we want to renovate or build as a next step (though neither option would be happening for a couple years). I want to be doing regular date nights with DH again and have our first trip booked for the summer of 2019 alone since our oldest was born.

For DS1, I just want to see his speech and language skills continue to grow and expand.

For DS2, I want him to be fully weaned and more consistently STTN.

For myself, in my last update I had lost 60 pounds. By the time I got pregnant that number was 71 pounds lost....and then I gained back 68 in my pregnancy...sigh. I've lost about 40 of it so a year from now I would love to have the remaining 28 GONE! I also would like to pick up a new hobby of some kind and intentionally make time for myself.

Finally, the last HUGE thing that I want to accomplish a year from now is to have a decision made on another baby! I think both DH and I feel like we have one more to add to our crazy crew. But we are both leaning towards adoption vs. biological. I'm hopeful in the next year we can make our final decision and either have a TTC date set for 2019ish or be in process of paperwork for adoption (and decide domestic or international!)

Looking at my last update and seeing where we are now is a lot of fun!

2019: Hey, I'm not so far behind in this update...i think for the first time I just have one year in between instead of two lol

Well, not so bad this time around off my goals from last year but also huge updates in the last 12 months. So, to update from last year:
-We are paying our house off this summer so that's a big check off our goal list.
-We have our first solo vacation booked for summer of 2020 instead of this year so really looking forward to that!
-DS1 is doing amazing in his speech and getting ready to start Kindergarten next month.
-DS2 has been fully weaned and STTN for a year so hallelujah for that!
-weight goals are a massive miss. I wound up gaining back 30 pounds of the 40 I had lost. depression sucks.
-finally, we DID make a decision on baby 3 and have decided to go for it!! After exploring adoption, at every turn we were getting blocked. I did a LOT of research, spoke with agencies, watched a lot of webinars etc....ultimately it didn't feel like it was the right path for us. About 2 months ago DH said we can have another once I hit my weight goals (which was a condition I placed on myself to get pregnant again, not him being a jerk)

This last year was a doozy. In my original post I said that DH had just gotten a defibrillator put in to protect against sudden cardiac arrest....well, last summer the worst happened and he went into cardiac arrest and died for 16 seconds before his device restarted his heart. He steadily declined over the back half of the year and this past January had open heart surgery at the Mayo Clinic to correct the excess muscle growth he had in his heart. He is doing amazing but that whole experience sent me into a tailspin. Unbeknownst to me at the time, I have PTSD from childhood that was triggered. This sent me into a pretty bad depression for about 6 months (hence the weight gain). All is well now but what a year.

So looking to the future, this is where I hope to be a year from now:

-lose 30-40 more pounds to get myself where i want to be
-have DS2 fully potty trained
-see more progress with DS1 speech
-be pregnant/TTC #3
-prioritize my mental health. the last month has been a big one as I've been diagnosed with emotional PTSD from two separate traumas. I'm only just beginning to work through this. This is probably my top priority for the next year.
-finally take that solo trip with DH!

Hope everyone is doing well!!

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loeylo said:

Okay so yet another update!

I finally got a full time permanent job, I'm struggling a bit adjusting to having two full time working parents and a kid, so we have decided that my partner will go part-time and we are in the process of sorting that out.

Gracie has just turned 1 and starts nursery this week. So far she isn't enjoying it! She is so strong willed and determined.

Still in the same home but beginning to think about moving as it seems to have shrunk since Gracie arrived!

Our "pup" is so tolerant of Gracie, she is really bad for hitting him si we are trying to stop that. She makes up for it by feeding him whatever she is eating!

Still not even had a driving lesson ... And no proposal! Also, not TTC yet but my pill runs out after the new year so we will wait and see how things pan out.

By this time next year I want to be pregnant with #2 and maybe working on driving. I want us to be in a better routine too. Maybe a proposal would be nice but I have said that every year haha!

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kksy9b said:

Whoops! Stumbled on this and realized its been over 2 years since I updated so best get to it!

These were my previous updates:

2014: Fun thread!

Let's see...a year ago my DH and I were in our second month of TTC (and would get preggo the next month), I was pretty dissatisfied with work and was learning to let go of a very stressful and complicated situation with my brother.

Now, I have my beautiful 9 week old son in my arms, I'm a SAHM and I am the happiest I've ever been (also the most sleep deprived but its getting better lol).

This time next year, my DS will be a little over a year old. Hopefully we have our house sold and are living in a rental while out dream house is being built. My husband will be at the one year mark of having heart surgery to install a defibrillator to protect against sudden cardiac arrest (genetic heart condition that we just found out or son doesn't have!!). We will be around a year out from TTC #2, which will be our last. Hopefully life remains as wonderful as it is now, just in a bigger house lol

2015:Well, we wound up not building our dream house because we found the perfect one already made! We sold our old house and moved straight into this one, so no rental. Ridiculously happy with our home and plan on being here for a long long time (read: until we can't climb stairs anymore ) My husband is getting ready to change jobs in January so that is the next big thing happening. My DS is amazing and continues to impress me everyday with his curiosity, loving and sweet disposition, wit and patience. I have taken an unexpected journey in the last year and have lost 60 pounds! Still have about 10 to go but feeling great so far!

In a year from now, I want to be pregnant with the next baby!! We are going to start trying right after Charles' 2nd birthday in April and I'm hoping for another sweet baby boy (but would also be happy with a girl ). I would like to try and run a half marathon before getting preggo.

I want to be fully adjusted to my husbands new schedule (will be traveling a lot). Im hoping we will have our house paid off, or at least be on track to do so within the next few months. I would also like to have a few house projects done, the biggest being repainting the main level.

For Charles, I am hopeful that he will start talking finally- whether it be on his own or working with a speech therapist. I would like to transition him to a big bed and possibly begin potty training.Looking at my last update and seeing where we are now is a lot of fun!

2018: To update off my last post: In the last TWO years we have had a lot of changes. the biggest being we had another baby! Our sweet baby Calvin was born in January of 2017. He just turned one and is such a happy wild child and makes my heart full. I did not run a half marathon but I did run several 5k's and made a decision at one point to not do a half as I kept injuring my foot during the long training runs. My husband did change jobs and while its stressful with a lot of travel, it has also been such a blessing to us. We are fully adjusted to our life now and things are going great. We haven't been able to do a ton of house projects but we did just get a new fireplace so I'm happy with that! We transitioned my oldest to a bed at 2.5 yrs old and he is fully potty trained which is awesome. We found out he has a speech disorder but has been making amazing progress since we put him in preschool with an IEP. All in all I feel like we accomplished what I had hoped to!

In a year from now I hope to have our house paid off and be starting discussions on whether we want to renovate or build as a next step (though neither option would be happening for a couple years). I want to be doing regular date nights with DH again and have our first trip booked for the summer of 2019 alone since our oldest was born.

For DS1, I just want to see his speech and language skills continue to grow and expand.

For DS2, I want him to be fully weaned and more consistently STTN.

For myself, in my last update I had lost 60 pounds. By the time I got pregnant that number was 71 pounds lost....and then I gained back 68 in my pregnancy...sigh. I've lost about 40 of it so a year from now I would love to have the remaining 28 GONE! I also would like to pick up a new hobby of some kind and intentionally make time for myself.

Finally, the last HUGE thing that I want to accomplish a year from now is to have a decision made on another baby! I think both DH and I feel like we have one more to add to our crazy crew. But we are both leaning towards adoption vs. biological. I'm hopeful in the next year we can make our final decision and either have a TTC date set for 2019ish or be in process of paperwork for adoption (and decide domestic or international!)

Looking at my last update and seeing where we are now is a lot of fun!

2019: Hey, I'm not so far behind in this update...i think for the first time I just have one year in between instead of two lol

Well, not so bad this time around off my goals from last year but also huge updates in the last 12 months. So, to update from last year:
-We are paying our house off this summer so that's a big check off our goal list.
-We have our first solo vacation booked for summer of 2020 instead of this year so really looking forward to that!
-DS1 is doing amazing in his speech and getting ready to start Kindergarten next month.
-DS2 has been fully weaned and STTN for a year so hallelujah for that!
-weight goals are a massive miss. I wound up gaining back 30 pounds of the 40 I had lost. depression sucks.
-finally, we DID make a decision on baby 3 and have decided to go for it!! After exploring adoption, at every turn we were getting blocked. I did a LOT of research, spoke with agencies, watched a lot of webinars etc....ultimately it didn't feel like it was the right path for us. About 2 months ago DH said we can have another once I hit my weight goals (which was a condition I placed on myself to get pregnant again, not him being a jerk)

This last year was a doozy. In my original post I said that DH had just gotten a defibrillator put in to protect against sudden cardiac arrest....well, last summer the worst happened and he went into cardiac arrest and died for 16 seconds before his device restarted his heart. He steadily declined over the back half of the year and this past January had open heart surgery at the Mayo Clinic to correct the excess muscle growth he had in his heart. He is doing amazing but that whole experience sent me into a tailspin. Unbeknownst to me at the time, I have PTSD from childhood that was triggered. This sent me into a pretty bad depression for about 6 months (hence the weight gain). All is well now but what a year.

So looking to the future, this is where I hope to be a year from now:

-lose 30-40 more pounds to get myself where i want to be
-have DS2 fully potty trained
-see more progress with DS1 speech
-be pregnant/TTC #3
-prioritize my mental health. the last month has been a big one as I've been diagnosed with emotional PTSD from two separate traumas. I'm only just beginning to work through this. This is probably my top priority for the next year.
-finally take that solo trip with DH!

2020:Hope everyone is doing well!!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!

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loeylo said:

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.

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• 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,

• 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.

Buttercup84 said:

Wow, my last update was 3 years ago! My kids are 3, 4.5 and 7.5 now and all doing great As of September they'll be in nursery, reception and year 3 so just Dominic will be pre-school age. He'll be attending nursery 9-11:30 every morning, feels strange that my last baby is so close to being in full-time school! I'm still 100% certain that we're done with having kids, just wish OH would man up and get the snip
As far as plans for the next year go, the big one for me is losing weight. I started a month ago and have lost 10lbs so far. I want to lose another 55lbs before our holiday to Florida in May. Fingers crossed I can stay motivated, I feel so much better even 10lbs down and just wish I'd started sooner Other than that I want to make myself more employable so I can job hunt once Dominic starts fulltime school next year. Not sure if that will mean taking a course, volunteering or something else. After a very rough period with my mental health the past year or so I'm just generally trying to take care of myself more so I can be the mum/person I want to be.

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kksy9b said:

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!

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kksy9b said:

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!!

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