Today is the last day of 2019. I am currently drinking a coffee while my baby is wrapped on me, sleeping on my chest. A view that is much different from this time last year.

Overall, 2019 was an incredible year. The most obvious reason being the birth of our sweet baby boy Otis. What a dream. He sure did make this one of the most special years of my life.

Although so many great things happened this year, there was also a lot of loss. In February, we lost my uncle Al and it was a heart breaking loss of someone so special to us. He lived in Thailand so our goodbye’s were phone calls and messages, rather than hugs and tears together. In May, my sweet bff Gramps left us at the age of 97. I knew this day had to come but that didn’t make it any easier on me or any of us. He had been such a huge, important part of my whole life that I truly couldn’t picture it without him here.

But, here’s the thing. I truly believe that with loss, there is life and these two incredible men are proof of that. Here’s why I believe that the world gave us Otis when it did:

1) We found out we were pregnant just after losing uncle Al. An incredibly emotional and draining time, but this was a beam of light for us.

2) We made it past the first trimester and were finally able to tell our friends and family right when Grandpa passed away. This news really lifted up our family during the most heart breaking time

3) Our due date was November 16th, the day before my Dad’s birthday. Yet another sign (and reason to make me cry)

During my pregnancy, I felt so sure we were having a boy especially because of the things I listed above! Otis fills our hearts with love just like these amazing guys did.

We found out we were pregnant in February, so the majority of the year involved pregnancy, which tbh was not as horrible as I thought it’d be. I really tried to keep busy and like myself by walking, staying creative and making lots of plans and I think that personally worked well for me.

We did a lot of really great things and spent time with the people we love most. Thinking back to even the past year is overwhelming, so my apologizes that this isn’t a round up of the decade, because I assure you I can’t remember that far back well enough to make it a blog post.

I thought it would be fun to do a little wrap up of 2019 by categories! So here you go!:

// travel - Started the year off in our favourite place ever again! California! This time around we were in Palm Springs, Joshua Tree, Long Beach and Venice Beach (all literally dreamy spots!) one of my favourite trips we’ve ever taken. In the spring we went on a road trip to Detroit with my brother Dave and his partner Mikey - we had so much fun and loved it! Finally, in August we did our version of a “Babymoon” and went to Brooklyn, New York for my birthday and had such a lovely time.

// career - I had another really great year at Uberflip. Still a busy bee and working to make people happy as best I could, and while pregnant too! Planned a charity event that raised $50K for SickKids, and a lot of other things I am proud of. Also had a lot of speaking engagements, on panels, podcasts and talks all about happiness and company culture. I had a goal to do more of this in 2019, and definitely did just that!

// missed the mark - I really fell short on my podcast, sadly. As soon as I got pregnant I was just so tired at the start that I couldn’t muster up the energy. I recorded one to talk about getting pregnant but then all the sudden it was time to prep for the babe and poof, the year was over and Otis was here. I also didn’t complete all my “19 for 2019 goals” although did cross of a few big ones!

// creativity - I made the decision early on in the Summer that my blog needed a big overhaul, and more importantly to be switched to a new hosting site. After lots of hard work and frustrating (at myself) moments, I launched my new site and couldn’t be happier with the end result! I also attended a really great creative conference called Atelier which was wonderful and definitely left me feeling inspired.

// pregnancy - We found out we were pregnant in late February and I just knew I was, and told Pete that. Overall, I would say the pregnancy went really well. I only really felt horrible during the first trimester, and very minimal morning sickness and nausea because Otie was an angel even in my belly. Work was super excited for me and supportive, and Pete was as sweet as can be taking care of us and making me a smoothie every morning. The biggest shock of all, is that I didn’t feel massive and disgusting the way I assumed I would. To be honest, I felt pretty damn beautiful with being pregnant. That was a pleasant surprise.

// motherhood - I am about to do a whole other post on my first two months post partum, but so far I am feeling really good. There are obviously stressful and frustrating moments, but overall we are both feeling just so happy and in love with Otis. I promised myself that if we gave birth to a happy, healthy baby that anytime I was feeling tired, stressed and beyond that I would check myself a remember how lucky we are. I am incredibly grateful everyday for Pete and our baby boy. We are SO in love.

// music - My favourites from the year are Rex Orange County, Kacey Musgraves, Lizzo, Post Malone, Chance the Rapper, Florence, Shawn Mendes, Harry Styles, Father John Misty + Frank Ocean. Favourite concerts of the year were Florence + the Machine and The Strokes.

// movies - Sad to say we didn’t go to the movies as much as we normally do, but my favourite movies of 2019 were HANDS DOWN, Booksmart + A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood.

// shows - Unbelievable, Atypical, Stranger Things 3, Mindhunter, The Society, 13 Reasons Why, When They See Us, + Queer Eye.

I have SO many thoughts, feelings and goals for 2020, but that will be in another blog post soon!

HAPPY 2020, LOVES!