Happy 2016!

Midnight kiss

First resolution in 2016 – be more timely on blog updates. So, anyway … We welcomed in the new year with some of our favorite people. After I got home from work, we headed over to B&C’s so our kids could help Jack and Coop trash the basement and I could finally get my hands on sweet baby Hannah. She is just as tiny and delicious as expected and the three small Vs are totally in love. The smallest V was especially taken with her and continues to say, “Hannah. Pretty.” Heart.Melted.

We had dinner together and after we cleaned up, the big people realized that Hannah was sleeping in her bouncer and the five other kids were down in the basement playing. It was just tall people talking and finishing sentences. Weird.

Mike set his timer for 7:30, we poured sparkling beverages into cups for everyone, and counted down to an early new year. Fiona desperately wanted to kiss someone at “midnight” and as Cooper seemed uninterested (or terrified – running across the room saying “no. no. no.”), she laid a sweet Buggy kiss on Uncle Brad’s cheek. He didn’t seem to mind.

I can't figure out why our New Years
celebrations have been so tame for
the last 6 years ... SIX KIDS since 2010!

We let the kids stay up later than normal as they were having so much fun, but we still packed it up before it got too late. Mike and I watched the ball drop in New York City and called it a night. In addition to partying it up with our friends, we again made a few family goals for the new year.

• Declan: his response is “hockey.” I’m interpreting that as he wants to attend a hockey game.
• Quinn: Learn to ice skate.
• Fiona: Build a snowman. And go to the Ice Castle. (she’s strategic and wants to ensure we go back to the ice castle this year!)
• Sara: Go on a weekend family trip (going to GR doesn’t count. An actual mini-trip).
• Mike: Go camping with friends (Pilchers – we’re looking at you!).

It looks to be a rather big year for the V family. Fiona will be having a couple surgeries in the next few months to get her out of pull-ups and will start Kindergarten in the fall. We will add a second school kid in September as Quinn heads to preschool full-time. Declan will hit the pool for formal swim lessons and will do all things that two-year-olds do. I am hoping to run a 5k or two and Mike and I have a few house projects on our agenda.

Overall, it sounds like there will be plenty of blog fodder. Keep reading to see how we do on our family goals – and what other craziness we find ourselves in.