Traditional Christmas Letter – 2018 Edition

With officially sitting down to write this, our 3rd “family Christmas letter” in so many years, I think that officially makes this a “tradition” (and something to look forward to every year), eh?
2017 Letter // 2016 Letter

If you follow along with my blog, my Facebook, or my Instagram on a regular basis, you probably have a pretty good idea of what our year looked like, but in an effort to give a complete overview of the year 2018 in the Abbey house, I’ve put together this Christmas letter (and hopefully at least a few of you are here reading this because you got the note in our Christmas card & hopped on over! If so, welcome! I’m so glad you’re here!)

2018.
The year has equally flown by, but at the same time also felt like such a slow year (that’s probably because I’ve spent 9 of the 12 months pregnant).

We kicked off 2018 with Braelynn turning 3 years old. We celebrated with an “If You Give A Mouse A Cookie” themed birthday party & packed out our house with guests! The “Mouse Books” (as she calls them) still to this day remain some of her very favorite (and Amazon has 2 seasons of a tv show based off of the books – she loves those too)!

In February, I was featured, for the 2nd year in a row, by the Captured::Pittsburgh Open Air Gallery in Shadyside. February is always their “wedding/love” themed month, so I always enter a handful of wedding photos & I was so honored to have one of my images chosen for the 2nd year in a row! The opening night of the gallery also hosted record low temps for the city of Pittsburgh – it was so cold that Derrick teased (but was half serious) that I was not allowed to enter any more galleries in the winter. We literally could not feel our toes for hours afterward!

Fast forward to this month: the December theme for the gallery was “the holidays” & I submitted a few photos – and an Abby’s Saturday image was picked!! Poor Derrick – another winter gallery feature! With the opening of the gallery being just a week & a half before I was due with our baby boy, we decided to not make any solid plans to attend the gallery opening – and it’s a good thing we did! The day before the gallery opened, we welcomed our baby boy into the world (but, put a pin in that, we’ll get to that in a bit!), so I still have no yet seen my image printed & displayed in the gallery space! I’m hoping that after my first postpartum visit, that I can scoot over & see it (if you happen to be in Shady Side at any point this month – I’d love for you to stop by & send me a photo!! The Gallery sits in the alley space right across from the Apple Store.)

On April 24, 2018, Derrick & I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary (how is that even possible?) We photographed a wedding out of town that weekend, so we called that our “anniversary celebration getaway” (even though we worked for most of the time we were away).

Speaking of weddings and Derrick – he officially came on as my second shooter for the 2018 wedding season! With my sister Ellen (my usual second shooter & go-to-girl) having a baby in early spring of this year, I knew I was going to need someone I could count on to help me out on a regular basis. Knowing that, Ellen & I have actually been training Derrick to second-shoot for about a year prior to him becoming my “official” second shooter. He’s become a pro at dragging all of my stuff around, setting up light stands, chatting with the DJ, becoming BFFs with the groom & groomsmen, and taking awesome photos. It’s been a ton of fun to have him along for the ride on wedding days!

As I mentioned, my sister Ellen had a baby this past spring! In fact, we welcomed 2 new cousins for Braelynn into the family! At the end of March, Ellen & Jonathan welcomed baby Alethea into the Eichelberger side of the family, and about 6 weeks later, Derrick’s brother & my BFF Naomi welcomed baby Alexandra into the Abbey side of the family! AND, literally right in the middle of those sweet baby girls being born, we found out that we were also expecting!

So, of course, that is the BIG news for our family for 2018 – that our family is growing! In July, we found out that our new little addition is a BOY. We were absolutely thrilled. I mean, we would have been happy to have another girl (in fact, Derrick was secretly hoping for a 2nd girl because, as he put it, “I know all about having a baby girl now”). Braelynn was convinced that our baby was a girl – she had even named her “Margaret” (after Daniel Tiger – her other ongoing favorite character’s – baby sister). But nope – it’s a little dude. We were worried how Braelynn would take the news, but she’s adapted quite well to the fact that she’s getting a little baby brother. She came to our ultrasound & saw him squirming around on the screen and she came to a doctor’s appointment with me & was able to hear his heartbeat once. She absolutely loved to feel him kicking me, she constantly walks up, buries her face into my belly & talks to him, and tells everyone that we meet that she’s going to be a big sister.

We welcomed that little boy into our world on December 3, 2018! His name is Leander Roxas Abbey and he was 6lbs. 13oz. & 19.5″ long at birth. He arrived 11 days early (and Mama was totally okay with that). We delivered at The Midwife Center in the Strip District of Downtown Pittsburgh – it was an absolutely incredible experience (one I’ll be writing about in detail in the coming weeks – so if you like to read birth stories, stick around)! He is now 8 days old & absolutely perfect in every way!

Big sister Braelynn remains a bit nervous around her baby brother. She loves to help Mommy & Daddy by bringing diapers or helping around the house, but she is still a bit shy to get close to him. We keep asking if she’d like to hold him & she always says, “No”. It’s a big adjustment having this little man enter our world – one that we’re obviously all still adjusting to!

Back to our year: we weren’t sure if we would end up going on an “actual” vacation this summer, simply because of me being pregnant. Let’s be honest, the list of things that Derrick wants to do for a vacation that I could actually participate in while pregnant is pretty short (if you aren’t sure what I mean: Derrick’s ideal vacation revolves around riding roller coasters). We originally had just planned to spend some extended time at the Lake House in Deep Creek Lake, MD, but then my Mom discovered this incredible deal for Busch Gardens & we simply could not pass it up. Could I do much there? No. And it was about a million degrees while we were there (I lost my ankles over those days, it was rough) but we had so much fun. We went the week before Labor Day & the park was pretty much dead. Most rides had super short (or none at all) wait times and the kid’s rides were all walk-ons. Braelynn was in heaven. She loved it & I simply enjoyed watching her.

Since I was pregnant all summer, we didn’t venture off to any new amusement parks (sorry Derrick). To make up for it, we did buy season passes for Kennywood & we visited the park about once a week. Braelynn loved that – her favorite ride was “The Elephants” in Kiddieland & she held to that, even after our trip to Busch Gardens! We did go to Idlewild for Community Picnic Day & traveled out to go to Knoebels with the Abbey’s one day – but that was it as far as amusement parks go for us, as a family! Derrick & my brother Steve did take a day to go to Cedar Point & get their fill of thrills in, but that was it!

So, even though we did end up taking an “official” family vacation, we still spent as many weekends at Deep Creek Lake as we could. Braelynn & I were even able to spend some extended extra days there over the summer with my Mom & Ruby. Basically, if we could make it work out to get away & I didn’t have a wedding booked, we did it! In July, we got to host Derrick’s parents, PJ & Cameron at the Lake House for an overnight (as they were on their way down to the beach). It was so much fun to show them what the Lake is & now they can picture what we mean when we talk about it!

At the end of September, I had a terrible scare when my glucose screening came back with bad results (if you are unfamiliar, gestational diabetes is something they test for at the beginning of your 3rd trimester – they test by doing a 1-hour screening, and if you fail that, you have to go back & do the actual 3-hour test). I got the call that I’d failed the test as I was driving up to Derrick’s parent’s house – with the intention of spending a week with them. It freaked me out – hardcore. I changed all of my plans and rushed home to take the 3-hour test as soon as possible, I just couldn’t sit around & wonder if I had gestational diabetes or not. The test was absolutely brutal. But, thankfully, my numbers all came back in completely normal range & I passed the test.

After that though, I totally changed up what & how I was eating. It’s not that I was eating “bad” (it wasn’t like I was eating a pint of ice cream every night & drinking chocolate milk for breakfast every morning), but I had definitely taken certain “liberties” with the excuse of “being pregnant”. Basically, I switched over to a low-glycemic diet. It absolutely changed everything about the last trimester of my pregnancy. I actually lost weight (which, you aren’t supposed to actually try to do while pregnant – it just naturally happened), my blood pressure which had been consistently border-line high, dropped back down to “low” levels, and I have been able to wear my wedding rings again. Honestly, I considered that the biggest win of all! I had to have my rings actually cut off of my finger when I was around 18-weeks pregnant with Braelynn because I was so swollen, so to be able to still wear my rings from 27 weeks on – I just couldn’t believe it. Plus, I suddenly felt 100% better and I “magically” had more energy.

As if that wasn’t enough, I also got bit by a tick while out shooting a wedding in October. I found the little bugger before he had really gotten embedded, but it still freaked me out – especially when I woke up about a week later with the bite completely encircled in red, inflamed skin. Needless to say, I ran to MedExpress, where the doctor who saw me calmed me down & reassured me that she didn’t think I had contracted Lyme’s Disease. She thought it was just an infection & put me on an antibiotic. Typically, I’m not a person who likes to take medicine, but I wholeheartedly took that antibiotic. Thankfully, it cleared up 100% and the bite & mark have completely disappeared.

Right after that, Derrick had his own “diabetes” scare after he had his DOT physical at work & they suspected that he might have diabetes. We figured it had to be some sort of weird fluke – he has been eating the same diet that I have & has actually been losing weight (way to go, Derrick!) He had to go get some blood work done (which, if you know Derrick, is quite the mental process) but everything came back 100% normal. Thank the Lord.

So, basically, we’re done with the weird health issues!

Personally, other than being pregnant, I shot 18 weddings this year – the most I ever have. And I shot 16 of them while being pregnant. It’s been quite the season! Especially since I was desperately sick for the first 18ish weeks of this pregnancy. Looking back, I honestly am not sure how I survived & still did everything I did. Every once in a while, I panic & think that I must have missed something! Someone must still be waiting for their wedding photos, right? I also read the entire Harry Potter series in those first 18ish weeks – I needed something to distract my brain & they were the perfect distraction. I’d never read them & with a Harry Potter themed wedding coming up this past August, I wanted to be prepared!

Derrick still maintains his roller coaster Instagram & YouTube channel. He hit 1,000+ subscribers to his YouTube channel this year & is now able to monetize his channel (meaning, he can now get paid for all of the views he gets on his videos)! He works so hard on all of the content he puts out – he definitely deserves it! Further, Derrick released a CD this year! He has written probably close to 100 songs to go along with his YouTube channel original videos, so he took the time to pull his favorite pieces, refinish them a bit, and was able to publish them as a CD! You can find it on Spotify & iTunes – go listen!

He still works at Shred-It – 4 years strong now. If you ask him how he likes it, he’ll shrug and say it’s a job. His real passion obviously lies with roller coasters & music. Hopefully one day soon those things can overcome Shred-It!

As for Braelynn, she’s all 3-year-old toddler princess. She loves to dress up (dresses & skirts are mostly what she wears), is still obsessed with her mountain of stuffed animals, loves to read (we go to the library once a week), and has quite the imagination. She is very independent and will sit & play on her own for long periods of time (which is so helpful when Mommy is working or doing laundry or trying not to puke her guts out – which was the case all spring/early summer). Her current obsession is the movie Tangled & all things Rapunzel. We almost constantly have the soundtrack playing as background music and she dreams of growing her hair out “really really long”.

She absolutely loves playing with baby dolls. She typically brings a stuffed animal or baby doll with us wherever we go, and if it’s a baby doll, she also has to bring a whole bag of stuff (a bottle, pacifier, baby cream, and a toy for her baby) – you know, just in case. She’s going to be the best big sister!

She loves doing “school”. She does all sorts of little projects with my Mom whenever she is over there and I’ve been doing workbooks with her here at home too. She calls me, “Teacher Mommy”. She has decided that she wants to be an artist, just like her Auntie Emma. She is constantly drawing & her drawings have details! For example, her people have irises inside their eyeballs & eyebrows! What 3-year-old thinks of these things?

Braelynn finally conquered potty training once & for all this year – and that includes no longer wearing a pull-up during long car rides or during the night! Potty training was quite the process for us, but it all seemed to just click into place last winter (after trying so hard to get her trained last summer) and she’s done fabulous ever since. In fact, I think transitioning to no pull-ups at night & during long car rides was harder on Mommy & Daddy than it was on Braelynn! She also has finally learned how to sleep in her own bed all through the night! One of my big goals for this year was to get her to sleep in her own bed, all night long, even if it meant hiring a sleep coach (yes, those actually exist). I did talk to a sleep coach on the phone (just a quick 15-minute call) but we didn’t end up actually following through & hiring her for the full-blown package. The few tips & tricks she shared really worked & it’s been wonderful (it was a tough transition, but has been totally worth it in the end).

I had all of these lofty plans to really landscape my yard this summer. I even enlisted a friend of mine’s help in telling me what to plant, how, & where, since I’m totally clueless about those things! But then, I found out I was pregnant & the 24/7 morning sickness kicked in. Needless to say, all of those lofty plans went out the door. Next spring though! I’m really going to tackle the yard!

Seeing as how we have welcomed another member into our family, we had to make some decisions about our house. We decided to finish the 3rd floor so that Derrick’s office and musical/recording equipment could move up there and what had been his office/our guest room could transform into the nursery for our baby boy. What we originally thought would be a quick & simple process turned out to be a bit more than we realized (yep, we felt like we were in the middle of an HGTV renovation show). In fact, it’s still a work in progress! But, it’s come quite a long way & we’re very close to being done! When it’s done, the space is going to be absolutely fabulous & totally worth the wait & the work (huge thanks to my Dad & brother who have spent several weekends working with Derrick to renovate the space)!

Meanwhile, Derrick has moved his “office” temporarily into our dining room – so we have a nursery! It has been so much fun to actually put together a space for the baby, before his arrival! When Braelynn was born, we were temporarily living with my parents after moving across the state, so I didn’t have the chance to put a nursery together for her until she was about 6 months old. This time though, it’s been so amazing to plan & decorate & anticipate baby boy’s arrival with putting together his nursery space.

And now he’s here! He might only be 8 days old, but already it’s so hard to imagine life without him being with us.
And yes – everyone keeps asking to see “more” photos of him! I’ve been slowly working away on doing some newborn photos of him, so look for those soon!!

PHEW – now you know why I write these Christmas letters digitally. Can you imagine if I printed this beast out to mail to our family & friends? If you’ve read all of this & made it this far – you deserve a gold star! Thank you so much!

Believe it or not, this is not the end! I have so many exciting things coming to my blog soon! I’ve got 2018 highlights from all the weddings & engagement sessions I photographed, the super popular behind-the-scenes post of me working through the year, an Abby’s Saturday bloopers reel, my 2019 goals – so, lots of fun to come! I invite you to stick around & enjoy!

If you enjoyed reading this, I invite you to subscribe to my blog via BlogLovin’ – it’s the easiest way to keep up to date anytime I post anything! If you’d like a step-by-step tutorial for setting that up, you can check out this post I wrote here! It’s super quick & easy and you’ll never miss another blog post I write again! I promise, not everything I write is this long!