Good-bye 2016, Hello 2017
Twenty-sixteen, you have been quite the year. We celebrated your arrival with splendid fireworks bundled up alongside the Thames. Little did we know what you had in store for us.
We escaped your February chill for a sunshine-filled, barefoot wedding in New Zealand.
At 3am one March morning, bleary-eyed with jet-lag, you gifted us a small stick containing two blue lines that would change our lives forever. Our emotions lurched between sheer joy and jitters (shared here). Life was soon to be very different for the two of us.
Cue trips to Switzerland, Norway and New York, and a week of keeping my pregnancy under wraps in Las Vegas (rather difficult, as you might imagine). A restorative weekend at The Pig, and our delight in sharing our news (check out the little video we made!).
You then had us hurriedly house-hunting in April, our weekends spent zig-zagging across the city before settling on the lovely village of Earlsfield. An offer in May, Brexit (ugh!) in June, sealing the deal in July with the keys in hand (more on that here).
You had us spending Sam’s thirtieth in Skye with family where the sun refused to set, and your culinary skills were put to the test in San Sebastian as I ate for two.
You allowed me to discover my inner geek at the Star Wars Celebration Convention (outfit here), and wooed me with the foot-stomping and hand-clapping anthems at Mumford & Sons in Hyde Park.
A summer sped by with a paintbrush permanently in hand (a massive ‘thank-you’ to our parents for all their help in getting our little house ready). We watched our four walls and a roof transform into a home ready for the entrance of a new family member.
Slowing down towards the end of pregnancy in Autumn, baking in the kitchen and our bun in the oven.
And then one October morning, you delivered a gift of ten fingers and toes, as George Oliver Howell said 'hello world' and eyed up his parents with curiosity and love (our birth story is here). The days got shorter as we became accustomed to being new parents, getting to know our little man and catching sleep where we could.
Friends, family and food, food, food (delivered pizza is the new black). Lots of nesting, plenty of resting. As your reign came to an end we enjoyed Christmas in the Cotswolds, by the fire with our bellies content and full. With a final goodbye we waved you off from the couch, Prosecco in hand. Phew - you kept us busy! We have spent these past few days recounting our blessings and realising just how lucky we have been. Thank you, 2016.
Twenty-seventeen, welcome - you have big shoes to fill! I think we’ll start off slow. A January of rekindling my relationship with fitness to start to shake that post-baby weight. Making our house into a home, hibernating and lazy mornings with eggs on toast. A ‘grand tour’ and a wedding in February, taking our little mister home to dip his toes in the waves.
There will be celebrations galore. I’ll welcome my thirties, Mum her sixties and Great Nan her nineties. Our favourite Frenchies will be tying the knot in Spain, with exhausted feet no doubt following a night of dancing.
Time as a trio. A summertime evolving as parents and watching George grow. Then it’s back-to-work time in July, swapping roles with Sam as he spends three months donning a cape, being George’s superhero. Twenty-seventeen, we are so excited and ready for you.
I have truly enjoyed sharing pieces of our lives with you on this blog, and hearing from all of you. I would love to know if there is anything in particular you would like to read more about - please let me know in the comments below. Wishing all a wonderful New Year. May it be full to the brim with happiness.
With love, Kate.
