Happy New Year, friends! I am slowly piecing together a mental map for the year ahead and feeling excited about putting some plans to paper. I had of course hoped to hit the ground running on January 1, but life with little kids often has other plans and we’re definitely still finding our groove again after the holiday break.
2023 was a big adjustment year for our family. It was beautiful and hard and happy and stressful. It was the year that the past few years of pregnancies and breastfeeding and the busy-ness of babies and young children caught up to me and I grew (and am growing) into a new version of myself who’s more capable, more confident, and more in touch with my own needs. (And I’m going to write this like I’m talking to a friend, which is to forgo the obvious about how much I absolutely adore our children, how wildly lucky I am to be their mother, and how it’s a choice I would make again and again and again after that.)
I think we had been operating in survival mode for a pretty long stretch after having babies in 2019, 2021, and 2022 and needed to slow down and sort through some growing pains before racing into another chapter. Between growing our family and tackling a series of home improvement projects back-to-back-to-back the past several years, our default mode had sort of become warp speed, all the time, and it’s like we’d forgotten there was any other way. Going from 0-3 children in three years was a bit like trying to drink water from a firehose, and it’s clear especially in hindsight how badly I needed to give my body a break and remember how to sip from a straw.
I reflected often on the transition to motherhood after our first baby (this one in particular takes me back in time), and then the transitions from 1-2 kids and 2-3 kids happened so soon thereafter that our household systems and parenting muscles really had to strain to keep up. 2023 was a year of leveling up in many ways — family calendars! ample childcare! overdue appointments! getting enough sleep after years of getting by on less! — and I think (I hope!) we’re heading into 2024 with a much stronger foundation to embrace and enjoy what comes our way next.
Our third little guy turning one at the end of August was something of a turning point, where I felt myself starting to catch my breath and felt ready to try carving out a little time to myself in the mornings, a change that I’d been talking about for some time but that didn’t feel realistic until our kids were all sleeping through the night most nights. My morning routine admittedly faltered quite a bit with all the back-to-school colds that preschool so graciously gifts, but I’m eager to get back to it in the new year. It made a big difference in my overall capacity once I’d gotten into a rhythm of going to sleep early and waking up before our kids and I’m hopeful I can get back to that place (though does anyone else find it 10 times harder to get out of bed when it’s dark out so many more hours a day?!).
I’m constantly checking in with myself about what I feel both excited and comfortable sharing here, especially as my life and the internet both look nothing like they did when I started this blog 14 (!) years ago.
Truthfully this past year I think I too often prioritized quantity over quality in the name of just “getting it done,” and frankly it’s not a race I’m interested in running (against myself) anymore. I feel like I am learning and have learned SO much in the past few years and I really want to take the time and space to synthesize my thoughts in a way that will provide real value, whether that’s getting personal about things I’m trying to figure out or helping you cut through the clutter to find the best of the best for your baby registry, your bathroom renovation, your Nantucket vacation, or your postpartum wardrobe.
I want to give you the “why” behind the “what” and really offer up my perspective without stressing about whether it will appeal to 100% of people who read it. I’ve let a lot of “what ifs” and self-doubt steer the ship here more often than I would like, but I know and trust there is still a really beautiful community here if I can just be brave enough to seek and shape it.
I don’t have a grand plan for the year ahead and that kind of pains me as a dreamer and planner and lifelong list-maker, but I’m also trying to give myself grace and trust that it will come together exactly when and as it’s meant to. I don’t know what the next year has in store for any of us, but I hope you know that I’m rooting for you too.
So here’s to doing our best, trying new things, and being kind to ourselves and one another in the new year. I hope it’s the start of one of your (and our!) best years yet. And (finally) before we go, a few of my favorite memories and blog posts from 2023:
January
wallpapering our dining room with my mom, organizing our car (this could use a tune-up in 2024), and some of my favorite photos of Teddy and Peter
February & March
September
celebrating our six year anniversary with a weekend trip to Boston, sending two kids off to preschool for the first time, sharing an Amazon find that makes ordering children’s shoes a breeze, writing about how I felt after a month of waking up before our kids, hanging a plate wall above our fireplace with my dad, adding a beautiful seascape to our living room, and celebrating four years with Teddy!
October
getting to shoot my friend Jenn’s collection for Sail to Sable, starting to decorate our bedroom, trick-or-treating with the boys!
November
