2013. What a bloody brilliant year it has been. I could ramble on for ages but instead I’m just going to give you a few bullet pointed highlights, because who doesn’t like bullet points? In fact after four months out of the classroom I’m itching to make a PowerPoint presentation but for now, bullet points will have to do!

• At the start of 2013 I was just three months pregnant. We had our 12 week scan in the first week of January and started to let everyone know. It was lovely how pleased for us everyone was.
• The start of January also saw the end of morning sickness and I started to enjoy being pregnant. For the first time in years I was happy to wear clothes that hugged my figure and I took the opportunity to eat what I fancied without feeling guilty about it. (In hindsight this wasn’t such a great idea but I bloody enjoyed it at the time!)
• At our 20 week scan in March we found out we were expecting a boy – and then we managed to keep it secret from most people for the rest of the pregnancy.
• At Easter I went on a one week Spanish immersion course in Malaga which was entirely paid for my EU funding. It was a lot of fun and it was a great help for my Spanish too.
• I came home from Spain just in time to celebrate my first wedding anniversary with my wonderful husband.
• The summer term at school was hard work as I got more and more pregnant and tried to work out how to teach while sitting down. Teenagers, it turns out, don’t really have a lot of sympathy for tired pregnant teachers.

• I made it to the end of term though and started maternity leave at 37 weeks pregnant, 19 days before Toby was due.
• And then a week and a half later the Chief made his appearance after an uneventful and speedy labour. As far as births go I think I had it pretty easy!
• The next couple of months passed in a whirlwind of crying babies (and parents on occasion), sleepless nights and dirty nappies. Shell-shocked pretty much covers it.

• By about October I actually started to really enjoy having a baby and life settled into something of a routine. This probably coincided with Toby starting to smile and laugh and generally be a lot more fun to look after.
• The last few months of the year have been amazing. Toby seems to do something new every day and as we head into 2014 we are starting a whole new phase including baby-led weaning. We’ve given Toby a few bits of food to play with but nothing has made it as far as his mouth yet. I don’t think it’ll be long though. I can’t wait to see what the next few months brings – I predict we’ll be seeing teeth, sitting unaided, moving (one way or another) and hopefully a return to sleeping through the night (I don’t want to jinx it but he’s managed over 12 hours undisturbed sleep the last three nights!).
• And of course I can’t forget that the last three months of 2013 saw the start of this blog. I’m having a lot of fun writing it and I’d like to thank everyone who has taken the time to read and comment. A big thank you too to all my new Twitter pals – I know I’ve not been at this long but I already feel like part of a community and I’m looking forward to getting to know more people (and maybe even meeting a few) in 2014.

And there you have it – my 2013 in a nutshell. I’ve had an absolutely amazing year and I’m so lucky to have shared it with my wonderful husband. It’s hard to believe I hadn’t even met him this time three years ago! He was an amazing support throughout my pregnancy – always there to rub my back or pull me up off the sofa. And since Toby was born he has shown me that he is just the best daddy ever. It melts my heart to see him and Toby  together, they love each other so much!

I can’t wait to see what 2014 has in store for our little family. I’ve got a few plans of my own too but that’s for another blog post. So for now I will wish you all health and happiness for the New Year. And seeing as I am in Scotland after all – Happy Hogmanay.