Hi friends,

Tomorrow, we are all going back to our work/school/childminder, but with a more positive attitude and looking forward to what next year 2020 will bring.

Last year has been the most trying, but yet the happiest we have had to date. The most trying for me as a mum of two gorgeous but very energetic boys and trying to keep up and on top of everything while working full time. I have to say that lately the only feeling that I can say for definite that I am feeling is absolute and utter exhaustion. Yet one smile, a hug or love you from one of my boys and it all makes is worth it.

A lot has happened this past year…

First of all, my boys stopped being minded by our relatives and we hired a childminder to help us out. To say that she is a blessing would be an understatement. She makes our life so much more easier and manageable. She is flexible and can mind boys any working day and all she needs is a days notice and boys absolutely adore her. Yes, we do pay quite a lot per day, but at the same time it is absolutely worth it.

In 2019 we also discovered that Matthew might have an asthma and had to learn how to manage his condition and prevent any attacks from happening. Since the beginning of the year he had 6 attacks and 3 of them we needed to be hospitalized for, but the last three we managed at home. I will write our journey in one of the upcoming blogs to what we did and how we manage it now. We still do not think that he has asthma, but as they cannot diagnose it until he is five we have to go with what doctors think and give him appropriate medication.

In 2019 Alexei also wanted to become a youtuber and asked that we make a video, which as a first attempt was not that bad 🙂

We also went for a lot of walks in the parks around Ireland and traveled quite a bit.

In 2019, I have also finished my academic career and said goodbye to Trinity College Dublin and moved on to Biopharma industry and it was one of the best decisions I have made when it comes to my career development.

We also started doing up our house and upgraded kids rooms and living room with much more to come:

We learned how to plant and grow vegetables and even got to eat some courgettes:

Matthew got his first haircut and started looking like a really grown up boy and of course, for me, this step was very emotional:

We went on holiday to Spain and walked the Camino de Santiago way.. at least between San Sebastian and Orio. We were very proud of Alexei as he made it all the way on his own two little feet at the age of five:

We discovered new places in Ireland, celebrated 2nd and 6th Birthdays, and welcomed new member of the family: little pup called Ava, who entertains us with her energy and loves to climb on tables to eat human food …

We also sadly had to say goodbye to a loved one:

Looking back at the year 2019 I feel so blessed to have an amazing family and so many opportunities. My only regret that I have is that I did not get to write as much as I wanted. I want to capture these moments better for my kids and for myself and memories fade and life goes one, kids grow up too fast and it is so so important to take time to reflect and pause on moments that make this time so full of joy and happiness.

We are so lucky to be blessed and be able to say goodbye to the amazing year surrounded by family and loved ones and to be able to spend time with each other 🙂 And we are hopeful that this new year will bring us as many positive emotions as the last year did.

I hope you all had an amazing year and wishing you one the happiest, successful and fruitful years for 2020!