#Nelsendays2015 Week 1 and reflections from the past year

It feels so strange to write "Week 1" after documenting all the way to 52 last year.

When I first started taking a picture each day and documenting the week's photos on here, I wasn't sure if I would get tired of the process and/or forget so many times that it made more sense to stop.

Early on, I did set a reminder on my phone to help me remember, but very quickly it just became a part of my every day.

And looking back on my instagram account at the photos that were tagged under the #nelsendays2014 hashtag makes me glad that I started. It's really crazy to see how life can change in a year.

At this time last year, I was teaching 5th grade and just barely over the 12 week mark of pregnancy so still not even close to telling people outside of our immediate family.

Now, being in the classroom feels like it was a lifetime ago. I really do miss my kids a lot. Being a teacher was definitely my calling and I'm so thankful that I got to give the past seven years of my life to it... even if my original plan was to only give five ;) But those extra two years of waiting on a baby taught me so much about my myself, prepared me for being a mama, and gave me sweet memories as a teacher that I am so grateful to have experienced.

I go into all of this to say that an act as simple as taking one picture a day has made me appreciate the ordinary days even more, knowing that those days are sometimes filled with the simplest and sweetest memories of this stage of life we're in.

Particularly on a week like this one, where our little buddy is working through his first real cold and needing lots of extra snuggles (and nighttime meals... his appetite has definitely not been affected!). Our days have involved little getting ready time as we've both pretty much stayed in our PJs (or in my case, yoga pants and a tee when I've managed to work on that workout goal of mine) all day.

So here's to another year of documenting daily growth for our little family.

Day 1:

Charleston trip from last week- making Mickey Mouse waffles with this sweet girl and watching her dance in between each bite. :)

Day 2:

A blurry picture because Tally was extra excited about having Ryan home. :)

Day 3:

Sweet boo fighting off a fever and giving lots of sweet snuggles in his sleep.

Day 4:

A sweet smile that meant the worst part of his little cold was over.

Day 5:

My sister, Noah and Maddox spent their last day of winter break with us and got to see Ryan get his feet to his mouth for the first time. He had been working on it for quite some time. ;)

Day 6: 

Tally gave the perfect pose to sum up our day (week could also work here). The super cold weather couldn't have hit at a better time. Staying inside and lounging this week has been just what we needed.

Day 7:

One of my favorite parts of the day is reading books with this little buddy. He loves looking at the pages and talks and wiggles as I read. A lot of times I'll lay him on his back in his crib or on the changing table and hold the book over him so that he can have maximum wiggle room. This boy loves to wiggle.

On Saturday, my Ten on the 10th will be a list of my favorite children's books for this age, voted on by the amount of squeals and wiggling that occur while I read. :)

Last month, Anna from Living the Leviner Life wrote her own Ten on the 10th post of new and old things that made her happy. You can check it out here!

And tomorrow, Elizabeth Chapman and I will be interviewing each other on our blogs and revealing the banner and button for the Mid-Month Confessions link-up. Hope you're getting your list of confessions going so you can join us on the 15th!