2025 End of Year Life Update
Hello again, NEO Homeschoolers!
Remember me? Lol. It's been a loooooonnnng time since I last posted, but I promise there's good reason for it. A lot has happened in my little corner of NE Ohio, so to finish out 2025, I want to share an update with you all and fill y'all in on my goals and ideas for 2026. There's a lot to get to, so let's jump in!
2025... Man, what a year! I'd say, overall, it's been a very good year for my family. My daughter, Maureen turned 3 years old and got celebrated like a princess in May. I got to participate in helping kids within my church have fun connecting with and learning about Jesus through VBS in June. My hubby and I enjoyed creating community within our home when we invited friends from church over to watch fireworks on the 4th of July. We got the joy of helping to welcome Sloane's baby sister, Sawyer to the world in June, and had the pleasure of celebrating Maureen's bestie's birthdays with them in April and September. I started NEO Homeschool Connections, and have had the privilege of watching this little community grow as I expand on my basic idea for the blog and begin to explore new ways of sharing advice, insight, tips, and of course, my day to day life as a homeschool mama. I've researched and become more confident in my choices for homeschool in the coming years. Finally, I got to watch Maureen enjoy the sweetest connection with her friends, especially her two besties, Max and Sloane. I absolutely love their little friendship and have so enjoyed watching it grow and evolve as all three kiddos continue to grow into who God calls them to be.
The biggest news of 2025 by far though is the news that Maureen Grace is a big sister. As of December 24th, at around 7:30 in the evening, we welcomed our sweet, baby boy, Joshua William into the world. He was born 7 weeks early with determination and fight. The doctors and nurses didn't even have time to give me an epidural Joshua was so determined. It was officially the first and last time I will be delivering a baby au naturel... no pain meds whatsoever! My little man is thriving to the best of his abilities though. He's in the NICU, obviously, but he is breathing on his own and showing signs of being almost ready to take a bottle after barely a week of life. Technically, he's only supposed to be 34 weeks gestation as of Tuesday, December 30th. We are so grateful for Joshua's health and well-being, as well as my continuing, relatively easy postpartum recovery.
So, in case it wasn't obvious, pregnancy with Joshua was the reason for my hiatus from posting. Pregnancy presented me with ongoing challenges such as daily nausea and constant fatigue that made it very challenging to keep up with the rigorous posting schedule I'd been maintaining prior to becoming pregnant. Unfortunately, with Joshua's early birth and my family's ongoing adjustment to life with a premie, I believe it's going to be a while before I am fully able to get back to any kind of regular posting schedule. That being said, let's talk about my goals and hopes for this blog in 2026.
Goals & Dreams: My Top 5
#1. Slowly work toward posting on a regular basis again. I'd love to get back to posting 3 times a week, but would be thrilled if I could even get back to posting weekly in the coming year.
#2. Continue to expand my content and grow my audience. Ultimately, I'd love to expand this blog to have sister blogs covering other areas in Ohio... maybe even nationwide someday. Those are big dreams though, so for 2026, expanding my audience and reach within NE Ohio would be fantastic.
#3. Create an active social media presence to go along with this blog. I'm thinking Instagram to start... a place to share recent and upcoming posts as well as photos and videos of my daily life as a homeschool mom. Social media, especially the kind where I'd have a public profile, is completely new to me, so I'd definitely be asking for grace as I learn the ropes.
#4. Continue to research and share my findings on all things homeschool. From curriculum choices to co-op options to daily routines, I really want to dive in and learn as much as I can in 2026. Of course, I will do my best to share all that I learn with you all. 😄
#5. Find ways to receive reader feedback on my content. One of the most important things to me as I look to expand my blog in the coming year is that my readers have a voice. I had started doing this research prior to becoming pregnant, but it got put on hold with pregnancy. Now that Joshua is here, and as my family and I become more adjusted to life as a family of 4, I'd love to find fun ways to engage my readers and get some feedback on the kinds of content you all like best and want to see more of in the future.
Working on this blog has become a passion of mine, and I've sincerely missed it while I've been pregnant. While it may be a while before I get back to the posting schedule I had prior to having Joshua, I am committed to putting in as much time as I am able to during this time of adjustment. I hope you'll stick around! Thanks for being here, and here's to the end of 2025 and new beginnings in 2026!! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!