2017-Our Year In Review

A New Year is the perfect time to look back at the year just gone and look forward to the next.

The fact that January 1 is on a Monday this year makes it seem even better, I am not sure why.

I can’t say 2017 has been the easiest year

The first two months were spent in hospital as the end of my pregnancy took a big toll on my body.

Despite all of this, in March, our third (and final) farm baby arrived and he is a joy. A sleepless joy but a joy nonetheless.

I cannot believe he wasn’t even here this time last year and that this will be the last time I will be able to say, I had a baby this year.

I am not sad about it though. I am thankful. Thankful for three, healthy, happy children who I can dote on and hopefully watch grow up.

In 2018, we have a seventh, third and first birthday to look forward to and I cannot wait. Their relationships grow and change on a daily basis and it really is a joy to watch.

We have all had to adapt to another family member and I think it has been relatively painless. I’m not saying it has all run smoothly but we are still here and that is all that matters.

We spent a hard week in hospital with Boo when the baby was just eight weeks old but we got through it and, while we have no solution to the reason we went into stay at Alder Hey, there is at least a little hope for the future. She is one special little girl who has two parents and two little brothers who will be fighting her corner every step of the way.

I vowed this time last year that the blog would change. I don’t do as many reviews. The only things I review now are things that I absolutely love and that I would use anyway. I don’t mind reading reviews on other blogs but, for me, I started a blog to write about the things that I cared about and that mattered to me and I wanted 2017 to be the year that I reclaimed that.

I do feel better about my little place in cyberspace. Most people get writers block from time to time and I have had periods when I feel less enthused than others but I have just taken a step back, spent time with my family and waited for the creativity to flow again.

I have also decided in the last year that more of a focus on our family on the farm in general is the direction in which I want the blog to go. It is what makes my blog different to other parenting blogs and I think that is a good thing.

I would say in the five years I have been blogging here, it is only in the last year that I have truly found my voice and it feels good.

I hate New Year’s resolutions. I have plans for the next year- weight loss, poultry expansion and decluttering but I am not in a position to write everything down because, with three children, I feel like I am winning at life if they are all wearing matching socks.

I may not have read a book since Baby J’s arrival. The only TV show I have managed to watch religiously is The Great British Bake Off and Mary Berry’s Country Houses but these thing don’t matter, do they?

From my home to yours, I would like to thank you all for all the support on the blog (and in real life) this year. It is very much appreciated.

Do stick around in 2018. Let’s see which new animals I can sneak in past my farmer.

Happy New Year.