What I Learned in 2016

2016 was undoubtedly my biggest year yet. HUGE! I think we go through trials and hard times to build our character. It may not be our choice to go through hard, big things, but we can let those experiences build us to be stronger, better, and more grateful. My favorite quote that I have heard is, “Some women are lost in the fire. Some women are built from it.” I believe it’s attributed to someone named Michelle K but I first heard it when my friend Courtney spoke at Alt Summit, a blog conference, in January. It spoke to me because life is TOUGH. You can let it break you or build you, and when you let it build you, you can help others make it through hard times too.

Here are the top 3 things I learned in 2016!

1. I am STRONG. And so are you. I can’t believe I was able to endure 3 IUI’s and 3 rounds of IVF, and then carry twins while having preeclampsia. I gained 80 pounds by the time I delivered my babies, and I couldn’t walk down the stairs straight because my ankles were so swollen. I literally had to walk down sideways because my ankles wouldn’t bend. I could hardly breathe. And you know what? I’m proud of myself. I am way tougher than I thought I was. I can do really, really hard things. Doing really, really hard things is the only way to know that you can. It helps you gain confidence. I might have hard moments where I cry and think I can’t do it, but in the end, I can. And I did. And I will.
2. Life is 90% attitude and 10% circumstance. Let’s just be honest for two seconds and say the truth. LIFE SUCKS SOMETIMES! It’s SO HARD and it pushes you to the edge of what you thought you could endure. But I’ve found that our minds are more powerful than we can comprehend, and when we decide that we are going to be happy, we can be. It’s really as simple as that. My mom said something that really hit home to me over a year ago. She said that we can’t look at our trials like they are getting in the way off our lives. We have to look at them like they are our lives. That’s why we’re here; to learn and grow. We are going to have trial after trial and we can be happy despite those trials. Life will never be perfect and the sooner we accept that and know that life is messy, we can look at it differently.
3. Being a mother is worth every hard moment. Even though I went through so much to get my babies here, I was still worried. I knew it would be hard. You don’t become a mother because it’s the easy thing to do. What I knew I would feel, but not the full extent until I actually experienced it, is the most joy I would every feel. Sometimes you feel so much joy that you really don’t even know how to express it. I don’t think I experienced true joy until I became a mama. Until I heard my babies laughed or rocked them to sleep. It’s the most beautiful love that is otherworldly and I am so beyond grateful that I have the privilege of being Harris and Goldie’s mother.

 

Here are my favorites posts and memories from 2016:

1. Finding out I was pregnant!
2. Finding out we were pregnant with TWINS!
3. The twins’ gender reveal!!! (I still can’t believe we have one of each. It is too much fun!)
4. Our relaxing babymoon in Hawaii. This will always be one of my favorite memories with Tyer!
5. My baby shower with my sister-in-law Rachel, the silver and gold baby shower my mom threw for me, and the beautiful summer baby shower my friends threw me. These babies were celebrated to the max and we were completely spoiled with love! The last two baby showers happened after the babies were born because they came so much earlier than expected. We had to reschedule them!
6. Our twins’ birth story. It was challenging but what matters most is that they are healthy!
7. Harris and Goldie coming home from the NICU!

 

Here are some of my favorite (or most memorable) pictures from 2016!

This is the day we found out we were having TWINS!

We take a #parcellsundayselfie each Sunday and post it on Instagram. It will be fun to see our family grow over the years!

See what I mean?!!!!! HOLY CRAP!!

Visiting my babies for the first time since giving birth. I was SO SICK and felt so awful, I could hardly keep my eyes open. I didn’t even remember this moment until I saw pictures later and then it came back to me.

Right after giving birth, may body went into shock and I was shaking uncontrollably. My mom was there for me then as she always has been.

Thank you, sincerely, to everyone who has messaged me a kind comment and had any type of interaction with me. It is good relationships that make this life a good one! It has been an absolute privelege to share experiences with you. THANK YOU!