Happy New Year 2015!

Mason

Logan

James

Before I get to 2015, I want to say a few things about 2014. If you've been following my blog you probably know that 2014 was probably the hardest, craziest, and also one of the best years of my life. My little family of 3 doubled in size!! And my first baby turned double digits! I spent almost 5 months pregnant, almost 5 months in the NICU, and the last few months finally trying to find the new "normal" for my life and my family (we're still trying but we're getting close!). This time last year we thought we were having 1 baby. WRONG! I learned so much about myself, my family, my friends, life in general. So here's a little of what I learned:

• Life is crazy and unexpected! Never take anything for granted! 
• I am stronger than I ever imagined (and so is Brian). I can do amazing things. I had triplets (again Brian helped)! Who does that?! Well, me and my triplet mom friends that's who!
• I have an amazing husband. (We'll see if he reads this because he thinks I never say nice things about him. Ha!)
• I have an amazing and supportive family (I already knew this but they showed me even more this year than ever before!)
• I have a great job. (Already knew this too but Jack just proved it again this year!). I love that I get to go to work and do something I enjoy with people I respect. And that I get respect back in return. As much as I love staying home with the babies, I could NEVER do that every day! (Props to the moms who do it!) But I also don't feel pressure to work to the detriment of my kids either. Again, I have the best job ever!
• I "met" some of my best friends this year and I haven't really even met them in real life! I have some wonderful, funny, super supportive friends whom I've only met on Facebook! You may think it's crazy, but my triplet mom friends are the BEST EVER! I can't wait to meet some of you this summer! Yay!
• People who work in the NICU are angels on Earth. They do God's work. And I owe them more than I can ever repay! 
• Preemies are the strongest babies. They have something extra! They are truly little fighters! And I have 3! They're going to do great things I know it! They may kill me in the process but I'm ready for the challenge!

Ok so now on to 2015! We end/start every year at our house with the NYE Mann Olympics. This year was the 4th Annual NYE Mann Olympics. What's that you ask? Well Brian came up with the Mann Olympics a few years ago and it's probably my favorite tradition that we have! Every NYE we stay home and play games all night with Addison (and we drink grown up drinks too). Some normal games (like cards and board games) and some silly games (like guess what's in the box without looking). Some games from this year include: write your name with your toes, frog game, popcorn toss, paper towel/TP tower, cotton ball/shaving cream nose game, Jenga, war, and more! Oh, and we keep score too. And we have prizes.

Here's a few pictures from the 4th Annual Mann Olympics:

Paper towel/TP tower game - Brian won!

Blowing cards off the bottle - winner has fewest (not 0) left

Cotton ball nose

Key game

Here's the final scoreboard. I won of course. I'm a 3 time Olympic champion! Like my prize?! Brian made it! 2nd place got money though!

Brian and I also got dressed up and went out to a very nice dinner with friends before the Olympics! I got to buy a new dress too! Yay!

Here's a few pictures from dinner:

I wanted to take the boys' New Years pictures last night but they weren't having it! They hated the hats! Here's the best I got last night!

Me and Mason

Brian and Logan

Shannon and James

Brian found the hats BTW! I love them! Here's a few more New Years pictures from our photo shoot today! No group picture this time because, again, they hated the hats!

Mason

Logan

James

Oh, I guess I should tell you my New Years resolutions! I told Brian my resolution was "to not be fat on the inside" this year! Ha! I sometimes say that I'm "fat on the inside" because I eat like a fat person. Luckily I don't LOOK like a fat person. But I feel that way. Before I got pregnant I was in the best shape of my life. Most of my clothes fit again now, but not all of them. And they don't fit WELL. So, here's my New Years resolutions (the serious ones that make sense to normal people):

• Eat healthier.
• Drink more water (64 oz. a day).
• Exercise at least 3 times per week.
• Run at least 2 times per week.
• Spend 1 day per month with just me and Addison.
• Cook dinner at least 1 time per week. I used to cook dinner most nights but since I got pregnant Brian has taken over dinner responsibility. I really want to cook dinner 3 times per week but I need to ease into it! And find new recipes that take less time to prepare!

I think that's enough! Brian's resolution is to create a budget and stick to it. So I guess that one applies to me too! (I HATE budgets! But I know they're a good thing so I'll give it a shot!)

Thanks so much to everyone who has supported us over the past year! We couldn't have done it alone! All the prayers, dinners, carpools, kind words, etc. mean so much! I know I've said it over and over again but I really mean it!

Here's to a great 2015! And hopefully less surprises!