What day is it again?  Anyone else totally lose track of time in the week between Christmas and New Year?  Our hearts are full and our schedule is off.

But here we are.  Another year [almost] in the books.

2018 has been quite the year over here for our family and for Live Well Play Together Blog.  It’s hard to believe that we’ve been in this little corner of the internet for almost 2 years.  When I tell you that every single click, comment, share, purchase, like, email, DM helps.  I mean that EVERY single comment, share, purchase, like, email, DM helps. It helps to support the blog, provides helpful feedback to me as I work to create helpful content, and it helps others see the blog that might otherwise miss it.

As we wrap up this year, I am really thankful for all the ways you support Live Well Play Together.

THANK YOU!  THANK YOU!  THANK YOU!

Now. How about a little walk down memory lane as we re-cap some of the highlights of 2018!

We Welcomed our Littlest into our Family

And we cannot imagine our life without him.  Everyday is a new adventure (just like it’s always been) around here – but even more so with two incredible little boys running around with us now.

You can read about his birth story here.  (p.s. at the time of the birth story post, we thought his blog name would be Hug.  It’s what Little called him for MONTHS before he was born.  But it didn’t stick for me.  So, for now, he’s the Littlest.)

Live Well Play Together turned 1 year old!

And I shared all the things I learned in the first year here.  It’s hard to believe that in just a few short months (aka basically tomorrow), we’ll be celebrating another blog birthday over here!

I set out on a mission to SIMPLIFY and I kind of did it.  (And I kind of didn’t.)

Back in the very beginning of the year, I adopted Simplify as my word of the year. 

We were getting ready to welcome our Littlest and I knew that I wanted to create systems to better streamline work (aka blogging), motherhood, and home.

But of course, I had NO IDEA how adding another little one into the mix would change some things.  And while the transition from 1-2 was easier for me in many ways, I definitely would not call it SIMPLE.

It’s a process for sure, but I can confidently say that we are working hard to simplify things around here, and it’s something that I’m carrying with me into 2019.

I got to work with one of my favorite Baby Gear brands on a 6 month contract – and it was super fun.

I had the opportunity to work with Baby K’tan this year to share many of the ways their products helped us with our transition to two kids. I used the original Baby K’tan Baby Carrier a bit with Little, but believe me when I say that baby wearing quickly became an essential for me when we had the Littlest – especially in the early days, but even now, almost a year in.

I’ve had the opportunity not only to share on the blog about how much we love these products, but also have many conversations with other moms about how they have helped us.

Baby wearing definitely counts as a “simplify” success for 2018.

To read all of my posts with Baby K’tan, see here

Top Posts from 2018

Of course, it’s always fun to see what posts are the most popular from any given year.  I love to create content that is helpful and engaging for y’all – so it makes me so happy to see what you love and what gets shared.

Here are the top 3 posts from 2018:

Leprechaun Sand: A Fun Science Experiment for Kids + Free Worksheet

This last minute science experiment ended up going viral earlier in the year.  It was humbling and exciting.  It’s a super fun activity and we ended up doing it over and over again around St. Patrick’s Day.  It’s also got a simple worksheet you can download – so it’s great for home school – or just a fun activity with your kids!

Rainbow Paper Craft for Kids

Another fun craft that we LOVED.  This rainbow paper craft is great for color recognition, sorting, and fine motor skills.  Little just asked me recently if we could do it again.

And I can’t wait!

Adjusting to Life with Two Kids: A Day in Our Life

This was a fun post to write, but man – times have changed a lot since those early days!  I did say that everyday is a new adventure over here, didn’t I?

Looking Ahead to 2019 + Reader Survey (& Giveaway!)

It’s crazy for me to even think about “looking ahead” to 2019.  2018 has been a wild ride.  We’ve had our share of ups and downs, celebrations and frustrations.  We’ve been stretched to grow and we’ve learned a lot.  But, it was definitely just a blink.

Hubs and I made a list of “things to get done before January 1” recently and we are making our way through it.  (Lest you think I have it all together, on that list is “buy 2019 planner” still because even though I use my planner daily, I still don’t have one for next week…)

I’ve been taking a little bit of time away from the blog and social media basically since Thanksgiving, while I’ve been spending some time focused more on family and home.

That said, I’m also working on the new content and scheduling for Live Well Play Together for 2019.  I’ve got lots of ideas – but I’d love to get your input as well.

I’ve created a quick survey for you to complete that will help me better understand what you like/dislike and want to see more of on the blog.

Your answers are anonymous, but they REALLY help me know what to focus on in this space.

It shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes to complete (most likely less – unless you have a lot to say…and I want to hear it if you do!)  And as an incentive, I’ll give a Starbucks gift card to one person who completes the survey before January 15.  All you have to do is enter your email address into the survey so I know where to send it if you win.

*This won’t sign you up for my email list or newsletter.  I’d love you to sign up on your own (& you can in the side bar to your right), but this is just a way to say THANK YOU for answering the survey questions.

Take the Reader Survey Here

Thank you all again.  It means SO MUCH to me when you stop by the blog.  I’m excited to grow with you in 2019.  So stay tuned, friends.  It’s almost that time.

Now, go enjoy every last bit of 2018.

Happy New Year!

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