2022 in Review

Happy Tuesday that feels like a Monday!! We had a great weekend over here! I hope you guys did too!  Even a few weeks into January, I still had to post my 2022 in Review... 

This may be one of my very favorite posts because I have a feeling I might look back on these years from now and love seeing what life and this season looked like for us... 2022 was a big year for The Riddicks. We bought a new car, purchased our home, I finished my fifth year of teaching on maternity leave, we welcomed JANE and grew from a family of two to three, we traveled, saw family, completed some home renovations, and really just tried to soak up as much of baby Jane as we possibly could. 

Here's a little look back through pictures of the twelve full and fun months that made up 2022 :) 

And if you want to catch up with the Riddicks 2021, you can see that here. 

Without further ado...here we go! 

JANUARY 

The year started off with a snow that made those first few days of January so much fun!! 

And I was seven months pregnant with Baby Riddick, who we didn't know boy or girl!!

A lot of mornings looked like this - reading our Bibles with coffee and tea before work and school!

And a lot of our weekends looked like this...cozied up cheering on our teams in football. 

We even got to sneak in a little trip to Kentucky at the end of January to soak in some more beautiful snow! 

What a cozy and cold, fun month to start the year!! 

FEBRUARY 

February was such a fun and BIG month in 2022! 

On February 1st, we purchased our HOME! What a blessing - we are still so thankful every day for that gift! 

And then three weeks later, we purchased a family car that we had been praying for! What a whirlwind, but such a blessing!!! 

February also brought along Valentine's Day and being eight months pregnant! 

Pierce made a special dinner for us that night, which was crazy thinking about the last time it'll be the two of us... 

The end of February was filled with Showering Baby Riddick, and we will never forget it!! 

My sweet teammates planned the sweetest shower at school and the school gifted us with our carseat and stroller set, which we now use every day!!! 

My sweet students had planned the most special shower after school the day before...

And then continued to "petition" for people to vote "Girl" during the school day 😂  I'm glad we didn't disappoint them hahaha

And our sweet family friend threw us such a special baby shower the very next weekend. Pierce and I felt SO blessed as we welcomed Baby Riddick!!! 

MARCH 

March held the last day of teaching for a while... 

And saying goodbye to this little classroom...

While setting up this sweet room... 

March 26th came as little baby Riddick's DUE DATE... 

And Pierce walked about a million miles with me as we waited for *Jane* to come!! 

APRIL 

Really, April is summed up on just one day. April 5th, 2022. The day we welcomed little Jane Arbel Riddick into our family!!

Oh, this sweet little girl changed our lives all for the better. What a gift from the Lord!!!

We will never forget that day and how gracious the Lord was to answer SO many prayers in her arrival. 

That month. That season. Just truly one of our VERY favorites. EVER. 

We celebrated so many firsts that month - first moments home as a family of three, first little GIRL in our arms, first Easter together... You can read a little more about the first few weeks with Jane here, but we loved each and every day SO very much. What a true gift!!! 

MAY 

One month old baby Jane. *Cue all the tears* 😭😭😭

May included my first outing out with little Jane! Headed to Hobby Lobby to pick up some supplies for Pierce's birthday gift. 

Which we celebrated with a dinner out a few nights later! 

And three days later, this is what turning 29 looked like. No make-up, messy hair, and a little baby girl in my wrap, and I couldn't have loved it more.  

Jane took her first road trip to Louisville in May!

And smiled so big when she met all of the students she had been hearing for nine months 😂 

Really though, I just spent as many days as possible with this little girl snuggled close...Oh, I loved the month of May in 2022!!

We ended with a little family trip to the drive-in over Memorial Day weekend...It's one of our favorite places to spend summer nights!!! And having Jane there with us made it all the more fun.

JUNE

The beginning of June marked packing up my classroom and saying goodbye to that sweet and special place...

My last little mirror pic I sent to Pierce...this time with Jane joined me haha 

Pierce celebrated his first Father's Day with little Jane!

We spent most of our summer like this...Jane tagging along in this sweet wrap and us hanging out with friends and family! 

Jane was starting to find her precious gummy smile. 🥰

And we spent many summer evenings on walks at the park! So. Many. Walks. And we loved it all!

JULY

July held Jane's FIRST flight to Washington DC! 

She did so great and continued to have nine more over the next six months! 

And we got to meet our precious little niece Lucy and fell in love so quickly!! 

We even got to take a walk down memory lane to see Pierce's old childhood home in Virginia. 

AUGUST

August brought four months of Jane Arbel's little life! 

And it also brought about the beginning of a small home renovation of Pierce starting to remove our popcorn ceilings...wow, did we learn a lot in this process!!! We ended up finishing it up in October...yikes! And you can read about our updated living room here. 

August also marked a trip out to Wyoming to see Pierce's parents and celebrate his Dad's 60th birthday!

And then a Tampa Bay Buccaneers game in Nashville with my family to celebrate my dad's birthday and cheer on the Bucs (and the Titans) in pre-season! 

We loved that fun month of August for sure! 

SEPTEMBER

Five months old and we were loving our fall together! 

Lots of snuggles... 

And mornings at home playing! 

And Pierce and I managed to sneak in a few date nights as well.

We got to watch lots of football and enjoy so many perfect fall days! 

OCTOBER 

October marked a lot of firsts for this girl...including some meals with Mommy and Daddy.

We planted mums and decorated for fall...

We finished our living room renovations... 

And Jane got to take her first trip to the pumpkin patch!

We soaked up every bit of October fall in Tennessee...

And then ended the month with this little cutie's first time at the beach! 

She loved it, and we did too!!

And Pierce and I celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary in our favorite place. 

The end of October was marked by our first Halloween...Salt, Pepper, and Pumpkin Pie Spice. 

NOVEMBER 

November gave us lots of snuggles... 

Slow mornings at home... 

And the beginning of Jane's first Christmas season!! 

We even got to spend Thanksgiving with both families - in Kentucky with mine and then traveled to Texas to see Pierce's... A full month, but a good one!!

DECEMBER 

December was the best and simply full of all things Christmas with this eight month old. 

Christmas pajamas...

Reading with Christmas blankets... 

Cozy nights at home...

And exploring everything she could! 

Pierce and I got to sneak out for a few fun Christmas dates...

And Jane got to experience her first snow! 

Christmas with this girl was the very sweetest!!! 

And we ended the year the most grateful for the gift of this little family and all that the Lord gave to us in 2022. 

What. A. Year. Thanks for following along in this fun and little journey!! It's the biggest blessing! We hope your year was full of the Lord's blessings too as you reflect on 2022, and we are wishing you and your family a very blessed 2023! We can't wait to see all that the Lord has in store. 

Happy New Year (a little late!)

Love,

The Riddicks