Trying to sum up this past year in words is proving difficult, probably because 2022 has been nothing but contradictions: It was uneventful but somehow still chaotic, slower than previous years but also not as restful. The days all looked alike and sort of ran together, and the overarching theme that dominated our year was constant colds and coughs. Twenty twenty-two saw us very prone to sickness. (And in that, we’re definitely not alone.)

It wasn’t all bleh though. Somewhere along the way, amidst many playdates and bedtime stories, I started to feel like I had found my rhythm as a mother of two under two. Jude grew up before my eyes, and is now a threenager who cooks his own breakfast, takes turns tormenting and comforting his sister, and talks like he’s a full-grown adult. (Some of the things he says are so hilarious, I’ve made an actual list in the Notes app on my phone.) Ayla is no longer a baby, but a budding toddler, and the pair have grown into close confidants. Honestly, seeing them transform into autonomous lil’ humans has been the cherry on top of my year.

Without further ado, here are the most notable happenings of 2022:

Respiratory viruses ran amok in our household.

Not the the most glamorous thing to start with, but by far the most prevalent. Every six weeks, like clockwork, at least one of us came down with something. It all began last January, when Covid finally bit me and Scott in the butt. The symptoms were inconvenient, sure, but we were somewhat relieved to finally get it over and done with; what we didn’t foresee was the string of brutal viruses that would follow. Truth be told, Covid was a walk in the park compared to the rest.

I hadn’t had the flu since childhood, but it got me twice this year—once in April (when Scott caught it, too) and again after Jude brought it home from school in the fall. The poor kid was a zombie for 24 hours (on my birthday of all days), but luckily, my parents happened to be in town and were a big help. Jude’s default is pedal-to-the-metal, and seeing our tiny tornado so docile made me nervous.

Two weeks later, he still wasn’t 100 percent, so we sadly called off his Cars-themed 3rd birthday party. And it’s a good thing we did, because a few days later, I started showing the same symptoms. Similar to round one in the spring, I was sick as a dog for 48 hours and could barely drag myself to the shower. If you’re wondering why you didn’t receive a Christmas card from us this year, it’s because I was bedridden (and practically dying) on the day of our scheduled family photo session. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

To drive my point home: It’s December 30th as I type up the first half of this year-in-review, and I’m currently nursing a sore throat, cough, and earache since returning home from our holiday travels. Ayla’s also feeling under the weather. I know it could be much worse, but I’m still hoping that 2023 finds us with much stronger immune systems!

My blog’s wellness page came to life.

I’ve been wanting to merge my wellness website and my personal blog ever since I closed my nutrition business in 2020, but I kept putting it off for the longest time because the project seemed too cumbersome. Well, with the help of a designer I found on Etsy, I finally finished it earlier this year! You can now read the unabridged version of my health journey and find all of my wellness-themed content in one place.

We finished Ayla’s nursery (four months late).

But I think the end result is darling! You can check it out here.

I watched a ridiculous amount of celebrity documentaries.

It didn’t matter who they were about, I watched any and all I could find on Netflix—even one about a comedian I’d previously never heard of. (It’s called Tig, and it’s so heartwarming.) From Audrey to Meghan & Harry, for whatever reason, this sort of thing was my cup of tea in 2022.

While we’re on the subject of television, I also tuned into my fair share of drama series, including Maid (everyone should watch this 10-episode masterpiece), This Is Us (I bawled at that ending!), Anatomy of a Scandal (incredibly interesting, especially in light of the Me Too movement), and Midnight Mass (another wonderfully dark Mike Flanagan creation). I finished 13 Reasons Why as well, and I’m so glad that train wreck is behind me. The final season was awful.

Friendships were made and solidified.

One of the most gratifying things to witness this year was Jude make new friends and strengthen old bonds. There’s a small handful of kiddos (including his cousin, Mara) that have won his heart and earned his loyalty forever. Jude has a lot of love to give, and he often expresses his affection through very assertive hugs—not everyone’s idea of fun, but you gotta give him points for enthusiasm. Thankfully, it would take much more than that to scare his best buds away.

Jude tried his hand (er, foot?) at soccer.

He’s an athlete, y’all! Turns out the kid can run. For thirty minutes every Saturday morning in the spring, he’d practice soccer drills in the neighborhood with his peppy coach and a handful of wide-eyed toddlers…and on the few occasions that he didn’t take off to hide out (and poop in peace) at the nearby park, it was real darn cute to watch. TBD if he plays again this year.

He’s also been taking swim lessons at Emler since 2020, and like a true Scorpio, he’s a natural in the water—so much so that he jumped up two levels in the span of a week. I think swimming may actually be his sport (for now).

We celebrated Easter weekend in Rayne.

April is my favorite month to go to Louisiana, simply because we spend a lot of time outside, and the weather is always ideal: I’m talking 70 degrees with sunny skies and a light breeze. This particular Easter was also Ayla’s first trip to Rayne (at 7 months old), so it was especially memorable. She was finally able to meet Gammy and Pappy, as well as her other relatives, and she handled the unfamiliar surroundings like a champ. Ayla is definitely not as extroverted as Jude (aka Mr. Center of Attention), but she doesn’t mind a party, as long as she can quietly observe and take it all in on her own terms. She was all smiles the entire weekend!

Summer was a busy work season.

My boss was on maternity leave from May through August, which meant that my colleague Erin and I were responsible for holding down the fort. As a full-time mother with only semi-reliable childcare (for Jude), this was no easy feat. My workload basically doubled over night, causing me to have to seriously strategize how I was going to balance it all. This temporary struggle gave me a much deeper respect for working moms and got me thinking about the major childcare conundrum we face in this country.

As stressful as this particular season was, I also found it to be an amazing learning opportunity and incredibly fulfilling chapter with the Hormone Healing RD team. I took a more active role in our online community for women, and I also began interpreting GI MAPS for clients to help improve their gut health—something I’m passionate about and have been hoping to specialize in since I became an NTP.

I’ve been Amanda’s Clinical Nutrition Assistant for two years, and I still get excited to “go to work,” so to speak. I’m grateful to have found a job that not only perfectly aligns with my interests and personal health philosophy, but also allows me the flexibility to prioritize my family.

Ayla began sleeping through the night consistently.

This was a major win for both of us—goodbye, sleep deprivation! It’s a new feeling, y’all. She still wakes up before 6am to nurse most days, but my plan is to wean her off of breastmilk entirely by March. I’ve absolutely looooved this breastfeeding journey with my baby girl, and I will be sad to see it come to an end. But 18 months seems like a good stopping point. She’s growing up so fast!

The Alleman clan vacationed in Gulf Shores for a week.

We’ve been talking about returning to Gulf Shores for a few years now, and I’m so happy that we were able to make it happen in June. I won’t go into too much detail (because I summarized it all in its own blog post), but this trip was special for so many reasons, including the fact that it was our first ever family vacation with Jude and Ayla—neither of whom had ever traveled anywhere aside from Rayne.

This was also the week we found out that we are going to have another nephew join the fold in January 2023! Gulf Shores has been the location of a lot of firsts for my family, and my nostalgic heart will always find a reason to go back.

I wrote an article for the summer issue of the Ember Journal.

The founders of this stunning magazine are what I can only describe as my kind of people—Catholic, NTPs, writers, wives/mothers—so when I stumbled across their Instagram account, I was hooked. I instantly subscribed to their quarterly journal and reached out to Katie (the editor) about contributing. A phone call and a Zoom meeting later, I was set to write an article on the myths surrounding dairy for the summer edition.

My hope in the beginning of my correspondence with the Ember team had been to become involved in the production of the magazine going forward, but life and work picked up around this time and made it difficult for me to contribute regularly. Regardless, it was an honor to meet these inspiring women and have my writing featured at all—and I’d like to think that the door to participate more in their future endeavors will always be open.

We joined Lifetime Fitness and got a Costco membership in the same month.

Scott and I hadn’t been to a gym since probably 2017 (and it shows!), so when his coworker recommended the new-and-improved Lifetime Fitness facility that’s conveniently located five minutes from our house, we thought we’d give it a go in the name of our metabolic health. And for a hot second, it was lovely.

For most of August and September, we took full advantage of the luxury amenities and superior childcare, spending an hour or two at the gym most days of the week. Every Saturday morning, you could find us at the pool with the kids to beat the heat and get Ayla used to the water before her own swim lessons began in the fall. All of this “exercise” didn’t exactly result in me becoming the fittest version of myself (I treated it more like a spa than a gym, not gonna lie), but for a while, the monthly fee was worth the relaxation it afforded.

That is, until the kids got tired of going, and—in Jude’s case—threw a tantrum every time I tried to convince him to accompany me. We could have forced the issue until he came around, but in the end, we decided it was too much money to spend if the whole family wasn’t enjoying it. (Ayla was also having a hard time in the nursery, further confirming our conclusion that it just wasn’t the right time.) If we still live here in 3-4 years, I can totally see us trying again; by then, Jude will be old enough to actually partake in the kids’ fitness classes and sports activities, and Ayla hopefully will have come out of her shell a bit.

In the same month, we finally bit the bullet and became members of the Costco club. Not sure why we thought this would help us save money on groceries, because so far, we haven’t gotten out of there under a couple hundred bucks. But, I will say, our pantry’s never been so well-stocked with delicious snacks! Items we buy on repeat: diapers, paper towels, fresh berries, frozen fruit, industrial-sized peanut butter, tubs of yogurt, egg bites, beef sticks, sparkling water, cassava flour tortilla chips, dark chocolate, and the occasional takeout pizza from the café. (Not exactly health-promoting, but so simple for last-minute weeknight dinners.)

Scott and I saw a movie in theaters together for the first time since 2019.

If I’ve missed anything since the days before Covid, it’s going to the movie theater. This has always been one of our go-to date night activities, and Scotty was ever the gentleman when I asked him to take me to see Where the Crawdads Sing. (Hardly his kind of movie, but he actually really enjoyed it!) I read the book when it came out a few years ago and wasn’t that impressed, but the beautiful trailer had me salivating. Needless to say, I fell in love with the on-screen version (which was filmed in the marshlands around New Orleans), and even ended up seeing it again with my parents a month later. Definitely my top flick of 2022!

Other memorable films I’d recommend: Top Gun: Maverick (an all-around fantastic film that stands on its own two feet) Hocus Pocus 2 (not as satisfying as the original, but still entertaining enough), Klaus (the most heartwarming Christmas movie of all time), and Single All the Way (a super cute Netflix holiday rom-com featuring a gay couple).

Frisco was our playground.

While we didn’t do a lot a traveling this year, I’d like to think that we made up for it by taking advantage of what our own city and its surrounding areas have to offer. Among the places we ventured to were the Frisco Fresh Market (pretty frequently), the Frisco Fair in April, The Frisco Snow Cone Lady during the summer, Play Street Museum (all three locations), Scheels Sporting Goods, Santa on the Square in McKinney, and Radiance: A Holiday Lights Spectacular in December. Oh, and a new diner by our house called Berries & Batter became our go-to brunch spot! Their freshly squeezed OJ is impeccable, and the interiors are Instagram-worthy.

We also attended more neighborhood functions than in previous years, such as the Fourth of July bike parade and Christmas in the Trails. I never appreciated this part of DFW before we had kids, but I realize now how lucky we are to live in such a family-friendly city! Rain or shine, there’s always something to do.

We got smart about our toy organization.

All of the kids’ toys used to be lined up against the walls of our foyer (aka the playroom), until I got smart and purchased this Montessori-style shelf from Ikea. A “real Montessori playshelf” can sell for $300+ (insane), but this one functions similarly and is a fraction of the price. Now I actually look forward to organizing and rotating their things out each month.

Jude started pre-school.

When Scott and I heard that our church offers a pre-school program for 2-year-olds and up, we were intrigued. After asking around and doing some research of my own, we enrolled him last winter to start in late August. He attends three mornings a week from 9am-2pm, and it’s been a game-changer for all of us. He adores his teachers and classmates, and only ever has good things to say about his time there. (I share more about our positive experience with Little Friends of St. Francis in this post.)

Jude has always thrived in structured and stimulating environments surrounded by kids his age (he’s a classic extrovert), so I knew that Caring Little Friends would be a great fit for him. That said, the first week of school was the same week he took to climbing out of his crib, making the dreaded transition to a toddler bed unavoidable. Even though this initially brought about a phase of difficult evenings and early mornings, it didn’t take the kid long to get adjusted to both. (Potty training is a different story—pray for us.)

My parents hosted Ayla’s 1st birthday party at the farm.

And in true Cajun fashion, the entire town showed up! Only kidding, but it was a pretty big shindig, full of friends and relatives (including Scott’s sweet parents) who showered our little sea urchin with so much love and attention. She was suffering a mild case of the sniffles at the time and wasn’t in the most cheerful mood, but it was her party and she could cry if she wanted to.

I on the other hand was living out my ultimate childhood fantasy. My mom had expertly decorated the farmhouse like an underwater paradise, and my mermaid-obsessed inner child was smitten. Meanwhile, per usual, my dad put Jude to work on the farm.

Something else that made me immeasurably giddy in 2022: Hocus Pocus 2 premiered on Disney+ the night before Ayla’s party, which meant that me and my bros got to watch it together! Scott benevolently took Ayla back to my grandmother’s house for bed while the rest of us Hocus Pocus fans huddled together in the living room for a viewing party. I’d give the movie a 7/10, but the experience was hands down a 10/10.

I found a therapist who gets me.

She’s the exact opposite of my first therapist: not conservative or Catholic, but spiritual in a new-age kind of way, and for whatever reason, we click. We talk about the enneagram a lot, and my current homework assignment is to read up on the downfalls of 9s (that’s me!). I’ve been seeing her twice a month since October, and she’s already helped me grow in a number of ways—most noticeably, as a wife and mother.

There were many a wine dates with marissa.

Therapy in another form. (I’m all about self-improvement this year, obvs.)

I finally baked my first loaf of sourdough bread.

It wasn’t bad, but the homemade cinnamon rolls I made when my parents visited in September are the kitchen experiment I’m most proud of.

Scott and I planned a weekend trip to North Carolina for our 7th anniversary…and then cancelled it a month before.

*Celebratory drinks at Eight | 11 Place.*

Surprisingly not because of illness, though! Ayla was still breastfeeding multiple times a day, and rather than take her with us, we decided to cancel and cut our losses. I was disappointed, but sort of relieved…? The main reason we booked this trip in the first place was because the airline credit from our cancelled babymoon to Mexico last year was expiring, and we didn’t want to miss out on a flight that was already paid for.

Don’t get me wrong, I was excited to explore Asheville! Lance was even planning on meeting up with us, and it was his idea to sleep in a yurt in the middle of the woods for a unique glamping experience. But in the end, the timing wasn’t ideal for any of us, and the trip mostly just felt forced. Making the call to stay home removed the pressure to wean Ayla earlier than I wanted to, and I was very much at peace with this decision.

We took Jude to the State Fair that weekend instead, and it turned out to be one of my most cherished memories of 2022.

We toasted to my turning 31 at Monarch in Downtown Dallas.

Hands down a highlight of 2022 was our fancy double date with our new best friends, Hannah and Mark. Hannah was Jude’s first (and favorite) nanny, and her daughter Addy is one of Jude’s closest pals—so you can bet we’ve spent a lot of time getting to know each other this year! Hannah also has an October birthday, so it made sense to celebrate together. Our thoughtful husbands get full credit for planning a night we’d remember: Our dining experience at Monarch was one for the books, and the panoramic view of Dallas’s skyline was breathtaking. I haven’t eaten anywhere that fancy in a long time, and it was nice to get all dolled up for an evening on the town.

Ayla took her first steps at 14 months old.

Her and Jude have that in common—my little late bloomers. Ayla waddles like an old lady when she walks, and I’ve taken to calling her Marceline (after my granny). It’s ridiculously cute.

I read a grand total of 6 books.

My list of finished books gets shorter and shorter every year, now that I’m a mom, but I’m focusing on quality over quantity these days. Two of the six were phenomenal reads, and both nonfiction: She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, and Unprocessed: My City-Dwelling Year of Reclaiming Real Food by Megan Kimble are exceptional pieces of journalism that I think everyone should pick up and read ASAP. The former has recently been turned into a movie, but I haven’t sat down to watch it yet.

We had a very Cajun Christmas.

Believe it or not, this was my first Christmas with my extended family since 2018 (an eternity!). Covid prevented us all from getting together for our regular holiday shenanigans in 2020, so as you can imagine, I was ready for the festivities this year—which included a swamp tour with Papa Noël on the Atchafalaya Basin, drinks around the fire pit, Family Fued: Christmas Edition, and our two annual Christmas parties on the 23rd and 24th.

We drove down on the 20th and left on Christmas Day, which was just enough time to catch up with everyone, but had us home in time to avoid the winter freeze that left most of Rayne without water. I’m pleased to report that Ayla and Jude surpassed our expectations in how well they did, both on the road and on the farm. Jude, especially, relished the company of his cousins and shadowed Pappy every chance he got.

To top it off, we were also able to host a small gathering for Scott’s family on the 30th, complete with a chili bar, epic cheese board, and ice cream cake. Scott and I agreed that this was one of the smoothest and enjoyable holidays we’ve had as a couple.

The last day of 2022 was perfect.

New Year’s Eve was nothing spectacular—we had zero plans, nor did we see anyone outside of our four-member family—but there was something remarkably peaceful about it. I specifically recall the afternoon: We took the kids to a nearby park, let Jude ride his scooter along the running trail, and pushed Ayla in the swing (her favorite thing). It was a beautiful day, and we stayed out there for several hours, heading home right before sunset. If it weren’t for our growling stomachs, we would’ve stuck around until dark.

Instead of waiting up to catch the ball drop, Scott and I settled in to watch the first episode of Netflix’s Wednesday (I’m a huge fan!) and were in bed by 9:30pm. To some people, this might sound boring or lame, but it was everything I could’ve wanted. Mentally, I felt rooted and connected, lighthearted and optimistic—a very good omen for the year to come.

Enjoy this recap? Revisit my reflections on 2021, 2020, and 2019.

Reflecting on 2022.