Oh, 2019.

I have so many feelings about you. For the most part, you were a year of overcoming obstacles and emerging with growth. It was a year of many, many small victories and really beautiful, special, cozy memories.

2019 was our second full year of living in Maryland and by now we truly feel like we were always meant to be here and that we really feel like we are 100% a part of this neighborhood and community. We enjoyed lake days, pool days, summer concerts, and other adventures in our neighborhood.

We strayed away from Maryland a few times and had some incredible adventures — there was our week in the Outer Banks, creating a new tradition we look forward to for many years to come and there was our weekend in New York City, celebrating Zach and the National Down Syndrome Society’s Buddy Walk with some incredibly important family and friends. 

We all stayed relatively healthy and got caught up on all of our doctor’s appointments for possibly the first time in a decade — with all of the moves and focusing on the kids first, that’s a huge feat! Zach even got a clean bill of health at the cardiologist’s office!

We watched Addie thrive in school and activities this year — art camp, girl scouts, soccer, reading and so much more. This has been an incredible year of the most insane growth for our little lady.

Our kids spend hours and hours every week outside, just the two of them or with multiple friends, exploring and imagining and loving up on nature. We’ve overcome scary moments of losing Zach and finding ways to keep him safe while still giving him room to grow and be independent, too.

I’ve begun my dream of hiking the Appalachian Trail (in sections) and have been the healthiest of my life thanks to nutrition and fitness changes this year. It’s incredible how much more energy I have and how I’m able to tackle illnesses and issues first with food and always with my workouts. 

We’ve hosted Ladies Nights (and guys’ nights!), gingerbread house parties for the kids, two outdoor kids’ birthday parties and an Easter and Thanksgiving. Filling our home with joy, laughter and loved ones is one of my favorite memories of 2019. 

I’ve also loved watching our Frederick County nonprofit, Friendship by LiliZach explode. We’ve started to impact families in our area who have received a Down syndrome diagnosis and we’ve seen our dreams start to come true. 

We’ve definitely come out of 2019 stronger than when we entered it and I think we can also say we are healthier in mind, body and spirit really excited for 2020 and beyond. Our secret is to treat every day as an adventure and every adventure as a memory.

Happy New Year to you!