Grateful For You – A Reflection on 2o2o

Hello!

Today I have my take on a New Years card to share with you.

While it might not look like a typical New Years card, I thought this would be a fun way to reflect on the wild year we have all just endured.

Last year certainly didn’t look like a typical year for us. Not only did we welcome the final piece to our Williams Family Puzzle (baby Mars) but we were all suddenly confined to the walls of our house.
Not that we were the type of family to go travelling or out and about every weekend exploring with two tiny children, but with even the small things like our grocery trips and Kindy days being cancelled, it wasn’t the smoothest transition into our “new normal” as it’s called.

I have always been a bit of a hermit/homebody so staying home more than usual was less of a challenge for my son and husband, our baby girl knew no different.

I, like a lot of people, enjoy online shopping. Like, a lot. If I don’t have to leave the house and make eye contact with people, I’m ok with that. I am AWKWARD. Most people I meet have a terrible first impression of me because I seem “rude” and “not talkative”. I’m usually just trying not to panic about the lack of things I have to talk about from being at home raising children for the last four years. Back on track – parcels!

Parcels, parcels, parcels. My husband loves to tell everyone about the uncanny amount of cardboard boxes that have reached our residence over the last year. While most of it was for the children, their clothes (when I could find them), activities, all of their Christmas presents etc, there were absolutely a bunch of craft materials making their way into the house too. How else was I supposed to keep sane with a 3 year old, newborn and husband suddenly in my quiet space 24/7?!

That’s why there are so many boxes in this card. That excited squirrel on top of the pile? Yep, that’s me! The one running up the side with the “zoomies” – my son. The cute, chubby cheeked furry friend? Baby Mars with her delicious cheeks. The poor little guy, holding a single nut, staring off into space, questioning all of his life choices and wondering how we’ll ever fit all of these things into our little squirrel house? My husband.

Poor guy. Because of all I put him through last year, I feel this sentiment is for him. Although a lot was turned upside down for us, we made sure we made the most of what we had.

His work trips were cancelled and he had to work from home, but how lucky we were for him to still be able to work for this one-income family was not lost on us. Plus how many dads get to see most of what the first year of their baby’s life? Having my husband home meant I had an extra pair of hands for every newborn “explosion” if I were in desperate need of help, or just generally having a terrible day and needed to walk away for a few minutes. A luxury we certainly didn’t have during the most challenging days when our son was a baby.

The various items in the boxes all have different meanings. The books were mostly to show all of the things I bought for the children. The socks were the few wins I had with finding clothes for the kids. I didn’t venture out of the house for many months but when we were desperate for clothes for bub, I made a trip to the local shop and couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the empty racks. The only onesies available were BONDS, and while they’re adorable, it certainly doesn’t suit our budget to be spending $25 per onesie, even if they did have the cutest prints. Our girl was growing too quick to even consider it.

The ambulance was my least favourite part of the year, but a big one for us. We definitely didn’t want any unnecessary trips to the hospital of all places. But one day when I sat down to lunch, I turned to look at my then five month old daughter to see half of her face was covered in huge red welts which were quickly spreading to her neck and eyes. Turns out she reacted to the shake my husband was drinking, and he gave those adorable cheeks a quick kiss before placing her in her bouncer and heading back to his computer. Things were progressing so quickly we had no choice but to call an ambulance.

Confirmed: serve dairy allergy. Will retest when she’s 18 months old. It’s making planning for her first birthday that extra bit tricky!

The letters floating around felt right at the time, but I guess looking back at this card as I write this post, they could easily be there to show what I achieved throughout that intense year.

One of the main reasons I dived headfirst into starting a YouTube channel with an eight week old, and whole family at home was because a lot of other people would also be in my position. I watch YouTube to both escape the chaos and to fill my head with inspiring craft. I wanted to be that for other people. To bring some funny puns or cute characters from my little home to yours, in hopes to brighten your day just a little bit. To make you giggle at my avoidable mistakes or learn with me as I try some new things. If I achieved that, than going a little bit wild, stuck at home last year was worth it.

Just before I go, I wanted to include this picture that I found on Pinterest. This is what I found that inspired the colour scheme for this card.

I hope you find this card entertaining and can see the humour in the small things that kept us going during such an unusual and stressful year. I hope you are well and that 2021 treats us all better than last year!

If you would like to watch how this card came together, I’ll include the link for my video here:

Thanks for stopping by!

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