Triplets + Toddler: 2012 in Pictures

I stayed up 'til 3 am last night finishing our 2012 Family Yearbook. I had purchased a voucher for an 80 page book last Thanksgiving and kept putting it off. Last week I received a reminder that my 90-day voucher was about to expire.

All blogging and photographing nearly ceased towards the end of 2012. Between September 2012 and May 2013, I only blogged 28 times in 8 months. It turns out, miscarriage and a triplet pregnancy left little energy to capture memories with pictures and commentary. Nonetheless, I was surprised that I had to cut several pages from the yearbook to trim it down to the 80 page maximum. The yearbook had close to 300 photos, but I've condensed it to the top 40 most memorable moments and photos from 2012. These pictures feel like they might as well have been from ten years ago.

January

Jesse worked at Toys-R-Us part time on weekends and evenings. This left Jackson and I alone to come up with our own adventures, which occasionally included visiting Jesse at work.

In addition to being a stay-at-home dad to Jack, Jesse also began watching our friend's son, Connor.

February

This is the only picture I have of Jackson with his MawMaw.

I paid off my car.

One of my all-time favorite pictures of this silly kid.

March

We began the kickoff of first birthday celebrations with Jude's party in March.

I became the family's resident baker and practiced making all types of cakes.

April

We continued to cloth diaper. Jesse was able to keep up with laundry since he stayed home.

This was Jackson's second Easter before he turned one!

Happy 1st birthday, Jackson Lee. He was a pro at opening presents and eating cake.

May

At 13 months, we finally had a walker!

Jesse got creative for Mother's Day this year.

Surprise visits from the boys during lunch and recess kept me from falling apart at work some days.

Jesse was hired at a great school in a neighboring county.

June

We went to the museum and park whenever we could.

Ellen and Drew's wedding weekend

My first wedding cake, for my brother and his (now ex-) wife

Our family of three took a day trip to attend my college roommate's wedding.

July

Birthday lunches with sisters

Impatient sous-chef. So sneaky!

Happy 15th birthday, Adriana. One of my favorite decorations I made.

I bought and learned how to ride a bike. Jesse installed a seat for Jackson on his bicycle so we could take family bike rides together.

After watching Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead, we went on a juice fast. Jesse lasted 1.5 days. I made it for 5 days.

Jesse won lots of concert tickets through the radio station that summer.
We saw Roger Walters, Lynard Skynard/Allman Brothers, The Who.

August

After trying to conceive for many months, I finally had a positive pregnancy test!
Within a month I would learn that the "pregnancy was not viable" and I would get a D&C.

With Jesse going back to teaching, we toured multiple daycares for Jackson.

I attended intensive training on Reading Workshop, reorganized my classroom library, and decided to apply for National Board Certification in Early/Middle Childhood Literacy.

Jackson had his first haircut at 16 months old. Goodbye, curls.

September

We removed holly bushes, planted flowers, and purchased patio furniture.

Jesse traded his Scion in for a Prius to save gas money on his long commute.

I upgraded to a SmartPhone. (This phone would later be the source of extreme stress!)

October

Our most recent professional family pictures. (It might be time to take some more pictures, huh?)

One of my favorite pictures of the boys at the pumpkin patch.

Jackson had his first sleepover with MiMi and PaPa so Jesse and I could celebrate our 5 year anniversary in the mountains.

We attended the wedding of my high school friend, Monica. This was from their photo booth at their reception.

Jackson absolutely loved daycare. He dressed as a bear for the Fall Festival.
This was the only time he dressed up because he had a nasty stomach bug on Halloween.

November

PaPa with his boys at Thanksgiving.

After feeling nauseous on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, I took an early pregnancy test and got an instant positive.

December

Due to the previous missed miscarriage, I only had to wait 2.5 weeks for an ultrasound.
Jesse and I were shocked to discover there were THREE heartbeats.