A glimpse of our 2025

Let me start off with saying what I’ve been telling everyone the latter part of the year… 2025 has been a year of endings, both for lives and relationships.

In 2025, we lost a number of significant persons and relationships ended unexpectedly.  To start, my 103-year-old grandmother’s (mom of 7, countless grandchildren and 10+ great-grandchildren) life concluded.  I also saw the loss of my mother-in-law, three extended family members (2 elderly and 1 in his preteens), and an acquaintance in her 40s.  We attended three funerals this year, having not attended one in person in two decades.

We didn’t expect a cousin’s marriage to end, a close friend’s relationship with his girlfriend to end, a family member’s marriage to be in shreds, or witness the divorces of two acquaintances either.  It’s been shocking and they all happened this year.

With the losses out of the way, this year we saw the addition of our baby girl to our family which completes the goal that DH and I shared when we were planning our family.  This year, we learned to navigate life with a newborn, toddler, and young child.  (When the baby arrived, we had three kids under four 😵‍💫).  At the time of writing, the ages of the kids are (almost) 1, 3, and 5.  How we make it through some moments is a story to tell, but we did it and we continue to do it every day.

From January until now, the firstborn has done a complete 180 at school.  Whereas she stayed at the cubbies and refrained from eating at school all day long in JK, she now attends school speaking English freely, eats all of her snack and lunch, PARTICIPATES, and raises her hand to answer questions every single day in SK.  She speaks to her teachers and expresses herself openly and without fear.  She takes part in Mandarin class too.  It’s a gigantic leap in growth for her and we are so massively proud of her.

The secondborn has acquired more vocabulary and speaks as much as her eldest sister now.  She eats a lot of snacks (is a bottomless pit) and copies what her sister does and likes.  She is so tender and sweet to the baby.  Many times this year, I forgot that she was still just a 2-year-old and still just a toddler.

Both play together nicely (until it all breaks loose), which is a glimpse of the upcoming chapter as we begin to have mostly school-aged kids.

The thirdborn came into this world this year as a newborn — small and snuggly, active and observant.  Since then, she has become more conscientious, curious, eats solids, uses her pincher grasp well, has a loud voice, exclaims excitedly when we talk and play with her, crawls fluidly, grins cheekily, claps her hands, stands on her own, and is currently wanting to walk.  She can’t wait to join her sisters in playing together.

This year, I got into money-making apps (like receipt scanning and playing mobile games to make money) and “couponing” thanks to a new friend.  In addition to Too Good To Go and Flashfood which I was obsessed about already in the last two years, this year’s new hobby sees me using more of my phone for making and saving money instead of doom scrolling on social media.  There’s so much more to learn too.  I used Threads more for reading.  I walked less this year (because of using my phone for games).

I finally attended a Zumba class again in person and experienced the explosion of endorphins and how great it felt to return to dance.  I did belly binding, visited a PT for my diastasis recti, and continue to experience lots of unwanted comments about my post-pregnancy body.  I exclusively nursed the baby on demand.

This year, we got to experience many things with our kids — all of which were free!  We attended a free event practically every weekend from May to September.  We attended the Strawberry Festival in Stouffville, barbecues and inflatables at 4 church events, barbecues/free food and swag at 5 city councilor events, art events for Mother’s and Father’s Day, Open Doors at Aga Khan, free carousel rides at the Kids Block Party at Pride of Canada Carousel, open house at the fire station in Aurora (and won substantial prizes at the neighbouring Loblaws), family fun day at York Region Public Works, annual Kortright Centre outing with Family Day, a crafts market at Madison Greenhouse in Newmarket, trips to both locations of the mini Science Centre thanks to the MAP pass, community centre grand opening event in Vaughan, free funnel cakes at the park, and free week-long admission to a local indoor playground (Doo Doo).  The free experiences includes our usual Creative Chef classes and special events at EarlyON centres too.  I signed up for as many EarlyON classes as I could with the baby especially this year: infant massage, baby sign language, Zumbini, baby rhythm and movement and songs.

The kids went to many new indoor playgrounds.  We went to Centre Island, Fantasy Fair (finally — we said we wanted to go since the second one started walking), and our yearly CNE trip.

We started attending ON y va (French EarlyON) and were able to get to know the facilitators well.  With them, we went to Reptilia, Carma Farms, (pumpkins at) Round the Bend Farm, apple picking at Downey’s Farm, and an indoor playground in Markham (Jolly Bubble).  I couldn’t believe how many free outings we were lucky enough to go on this year! ^_^

We visited EarlyONs in Scarborough, North York, and Vaughan for the first time (during DH’s paternity leave).  I’ve always been curious what other centres are like and this fulfilled my wishes.  We experienced a birthday party at the Scarborough EarlyON and got discounted tickets to the zoo too.

We started going swimming with our kids at the community swimming pool every weekend in the fall.  The baby actually received free swimming tadpole lessons too!  I got to swim with her in the pool.

We attended a wedding, baby shower, and 4 kids’ birthday parties this year.

DH and I continued our monthly date nights, and my mom and I had mommy-daughter dinner nights too.  Lots of new restaurants experienced.

We hosted a 60-person party for the secondborn’s 3rd birthday and afterwards, I realized how much I enjoyed planning and prepping for a party.  It spurs me to want to host more parties in the future.  Perhaps if we can declutter and get our house in order, a house party that we host could be in the works for next year?

I got two blog paid gigs this year, which is surprisingly only the second and third in the 12 years that I’ve had this blog.  I got paid to blog!

I attended the Parenting is Heart Work conference with the baby, alone.  I didn’t fear going out with the baby by myself whereas with the first one, I didn’t dare do it.  I realized that with each child, you become more confident as a parent.  I am more vocal and speak up when the need arises.  Going out with her with just two diapers, a change of clothes, and a baby carrier that I can strap her into by myself is confidence I never had as a first-time mom with the firstborn.

This year, I learned that one child is so much easier than three.  This is not to discount the work that parents of one or two children have, but when I take one out by myself, it really is so manageable and easy — I can’t describe it any other way.  It’s like you take on life on hard mode with three kids and when you suddenly only have one next to you, it’s a breeze.  I don’t even mind taking the older two out by myself.  (The oldest one learned to buckle herself in this year which makes things easier too.)

This year, I realized I enjoyed driving as it was like an escape from the hustle and bustle at home.  Even if the kids are in the back, they are strapped in and easier to manage.

I stopped blogging weekly about my motherhood thoughts and adventures in detail and publishing them for everyone to read.

I resumed a bit of transcription work in September after eight months off.  I feel super fulfilled with every transcript that I submit and I love working on new cases, but even if I don’t work, I’m quite happy to focus on family and my growing kids for a while.

For next year, 2026, I hope we still thrive as a family with three young kids and continue our fun-loving and free adventures while indulging in delicious food and staying healthy and active.  I look forward to the kids learning to swim, to the second one being in school full-time, for more ‘me time’, for more restaurants and delicious meals, for more money-saving and making opportunities, and more happy memories.  I hope to grow mentally as a person and physically strengthen my body with exercise when I have the time and motivation.  Maybe I can break the mobile games habit, but I like to think of this year as my “gaming era” haha.

Happy new year, everyone!  Thank you for tuning into my blog and reading my entries! ^_^  Hoping the best for you and that you get what you want.