2016 - A Look Back



I know it has been far too long since I have written on this blog. Considering, preparing for and actually carrying out a move is hard work. It takes up a ton of time and almost doubles in time when you're sick and pregnant. If I only would have figured out the caffeine was making me feel terrible, maybe it would have gone a little faster. Who knows, because while it was making me sick, it was helping me stay awake to pack. What a double edged sword. Hopefully the caffeine aversion is only for the pregnancy and not for life. I don't think I could handle two children and no caffeine. So here are some big things that happened to the Wollenberg family in the year 2016 (not in any specific order).




1. I was able to go to New York and attend Live with Kelly and Michael. This was awesome, yet in the following months it became bittersweet because of Michael leaving the show. It still isn't the same and I hope they find someone great for the show,


2. Zoe played in the snow for the first time when we visited Connecticut. She was super cute. We haven't gotten enough snow to play since we moved to Illinois, but winter is far from over. I'm not going to rule out snow season yet. I bought a big maternity coat just in case it snows or gets super frigid. It was very cold when we moved here, thankfully my regular coat had a little extra room for my growing belly.



3.Zoe turned two! She has been a pretty good two-year-old. Like any kid, she goes through phases. I think she's the best and the cutest, but I may be a bit biased.



4. Zoe started really talking a lot this year. Now she's always talking. She says very funny things. She also speaks very clearly. People always comment on how clearly she speaks. I just tell them its because her mama talks too much. Between the two of us, poor Nate is always listening to someone. She is also a master negotiator. Her negotiations are usually about TV or food. 

5. Zoe's condition for her bladder reflux improved but still required corrective surgery. We found out in the spring that she had gone from a grade 5 on both sides to a grade 1 and grade 3.5, However, in the fall she got a couple of UTIs making it obvious that she needed to have corrective surgery. Luckily, she had the outpatient surgery and she bounced back quickly. We will follow up with a new urologist in St. Louis in a couple of months to see how successful the surgery was.

6. We took Zoe to play on the beach for the first time this year. Because of her condition, the beach was something we had to be very careful about. We had to check the bacteria levels of the water and we had to make sure she was very well covered with sunscreen. Her medicine makes her more susceptible to sunburn. We did take her to the beach one day and she had a ton of fun. I think she had way more fun than mommy though. I was definitely worried about everything. #momproblems Plus, we had so much stuff to lug out to the water. I don't know about you, but when the sand is hot and you have 700 things to take to the water it seems like the walk to your landing spot on the beach is miles long. When we were walking back to the car, I was carrying stuff and Zoe. By the end of that walk, I was carrying Zoe like a football and she was very confused. It was fun seeing her play in the ocean and the sand. I'm glad we did it before we moved. Also, we ate Whataburger on the way home. That makes any trip a success.



7. We took a very long road trip this summer. We drove from McAllen to St. Louis to Milwaukee and back to McAllen. Of course, we stopped overnight along the way. We spent some time with family and friends in St. Louis for about a week and a half. When we were in St. Louis, Zoe went to her first Cardinals game. She LOVED it. Sadly we left early and I ended up getting a terrible stomach bug that landed me in the hospital for a few hours. Nate was a delegate for the National LCMS convention in Milwaukee so Zoe and I spent a good deal of time with our family friends, the Kelm family. It was awesome. Zoe loved playing with the Kelm kids. She had the best vacation of her life.



8. Teddy became a part of the family. To learn about Teddy go to this post.



9, We moved! In October Nate accepted a call to be the pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Hoyleton, IL. We moved the first full week of December. It was CRAZY moving in December but we did it. Not only is it one of the busiest times of the church year, both Nate's and my 30th birthdays were this month. We are settling in slowly but surely. I'm not too worried about getting it all done immediately. I will update you all on our new home once there aren't as many boxes and I can take some pictures!


10. We found out that we're expecting Baby Wollenberg #2! We are excited!

We have been very blessed in 2016!

That's all for now! God is good!

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