Hello 2017!

Is it really 2017!? I cannot believe the kids are a year older, we’ve been through another summer, and the holidays have once again come and gone. Having kids, time just seems to move that much quicker. The thought of Gemma turning four years old this year makes me so sad, because we really do not have a baby anymore.

When I look back at this past year I have so many thoughts swirling through my head. I culled through all my previous posts, noting the ups and downs of years past, and when I tally up last year, 2016 seemed to be right on par with the others. As for the highs, we traveled a ton, spent plenty of time at the beach, and thank goodness, the kids are healthy and thriving. But we had some memorable lows too. Gemma had a couple of trips to the ER, the country endured a long drawn out, exhausting campaign and election, that still has me sick over what is to come the next four years. Countries all over the world have sustained terrorist shootings and bombings, hate crimes have run rampant, a babysitter stole thousands of dollars from us, and the day after Christmas, we lost a cousin fur pup in a tragic accident. When I try to put this all into perspective, I just have to believe (and pray) that we are all going to be ok.

I am extremely superstitious. Not sure if you recall,  but January 1st 2016 kicked off with Gemma falling into a coffee table in the house we rented in the Hamptons. Watching your 2 year old getting stitched up, screaming so loud that she busts all the capillaries in her neck and chest, is not the most pleasant way to spend New Years Day. I remember saying to Jason, that if this was what the year had in store for us, I was nervous. I tried to declare January 2nd as our start to the new year, but any time something bad happened, I was continued to remind myself how the year started.

Luckily, this New Years went off with out a hitch, and without a stitch! We were ringing in our ninth year in the Hamptons and to celebrate, Jason and I got a babysitter, and went out with friends for a great dinner followed by seeing our favorite local band play, basically dancing the night away. It was super fun.

Coming into ’17, I took lots of time to reflect, looking back, to see how we’ve grown as a family. At these ages, the children are growing like weeds; they’re rambunctious and crazy, and I will completely admit, a tad spoiled. We were fortunate to have tons of family time home and away, and I hope this continues. I am very happy with the evolution of my blog, I love sharing our lives and stories with you. In the next couple of weeks, I will launch my revamped website. Plus, I am thinking about adding more video content, like candid uncut videos, so I would love to hear what you think.

Balancing it all is always my top priority with the fresh start of each year, so I really really need to figure out a better balance between work and home. It’s tough juggling both, and while the kids aren’t suffering at all, it leaves me wiped out from taking on too much. Maybe its taking on less, or maybe getting an office somewhere.

And the house hunt, for the second home, continues. I know, you are probably tired of hearing about it, we are just as tired (and over) looking for one! I have faith though. When it is our time, we will walk through that door, and know we’ve found the one.

As for the kiddies….

Ryder kicked off third grade in the fall, and he has been absolutely killing it. His time and hard work from sitting with tutors three days a week over the summer totally paid off. His school therapists that still see him this year are blown away by his progress. As thrilled as I am, we continue to push him. He is still behind the majority of his third grade peers, but he continues to make headway. With another season of soccer under his belt, he has really taken to the sport. We are considering him trying out for a traveling team, but we don’t want it to stifle his academic progress. He is also taking a hip hop dance class, which he seems to like. I just cannot wait to watch him in the recital this year! And now with winter in full swing, we plan to expand his love of skiing, with some day trips and weekend getaways on the horizon.

Siella loves, loves, loves Kindergarten. It really is always rainbows and sugarplums with her, and every day, she comes home with stories about her day and her friends. It’s a riot to sit there and listen to her go into such detail about her experience. She loves her friends, new and old, so much so that she can’t get enough playdates on the books. In a few weeks, she will be starting gymnastics which she has been busting for, since we miss the cut off for the September classes. I think she will do very well with it, because during lunch recess periods, she learned cartwheels, recently perfecting a one handed flip. So anxious to see where this new journey will take her!

Gemma continues to be our resident comedian, making us laugh all the time, with her huge personality. It may not be the things she says, but the way she says them that leaves us in stitches. She loves her pre school 3 days a week, so I’m sure regular pre school next fall will be a breeze. Her results from swim class have been amazing, and she has so much fun in her hip hop class. Watching her in the class is just hoot, and I promise to post more to instagram stories of it!

Jason always says he feels left out of the blog, so this year, I promise to include him more. Naturally, his travel to California and elsewhere will continue, in fact he’s leaving Sunday for another two weeks, or longer. Last year, he managed to sneak home for more weekends than in the past, which always helps!

For our family as a whole, I hope our traveling continues. Maybe one of these days, I will implement a long time dream of home schooling the kids and traveling the world for a year. Experiencing culture, learning another language, and forging those memories would be amazing for my children.

I hope this year will bring you all health, love, joy, faith and happiness. As much as I don’t want to harp on it, I can only pray that our new president will not be as bad as his barrage of awful tweets. I have definitely lost sleep over it, but I have no choice but to focus on my peeps, and love them and provide for them right now.

here’s our 2016 year in review, can’t jump on the #bestnine2016 bandwagon because I’ve got way to many memories in these little squares. feeling grateful for my three little miracles, our family and friends that surround daily, our health, and these beautiful moments we created. not sure what 2017 will hold for us but wishing you all a happy, healthy, joyful new year and thank you for letting me share our family with you all ???????? ~ Let’s Go Crazy by Prince #pressplay

A video posted by Brianne Manz (@strollerinthecity) on Dec 31, 2016 at 10:27am PST

Let’s do this 2017!

Ok, now, it’s your turn. Let’s hear what you would like more on this blog for 2017…is it travel, mom fashion, kid fashion, our NYC life? Happy New Year xo