Top 10 of 2025

You’ll have to forgive me for my delay. The plague has befallen the Shand household, and I write to you with a fever, intrusive coughing spells, and brain fog. I blame any incoherencies found below on my current state.

This year was another year of big life changes—milestones, if you will—not just for me personally, but for our family. So here’s the recap, to the best of my ability.

The Top 10 Milestones of 2025

1. Charles turned one.

This is a milestone for Charles, but also for his parents. We kept our baby alive for a year! Not to mention, a medically complex baby who plunged us into the deep end of parenting right from the start, and is our greatest joy.

I was so proud of the way Charles handled the party. Without hesitation, he dove into his slice of birthday cake: vanilla cake layered with housemade raspberry jam and finished with coconut swiss merignue buttercream.* Despite the crowd and loud cheering, he did not cry. And our friends sang Happy Birthday in perfect four-part harmony, unrehearsed. Charles’ godparents flew in from Florida, his grandparents from New Mexico, and a smattering of friends and children and babysitters (like “Nanny”) were there, too.

*his mother picked this out.

It was a joyous occasion.

2. It’s positive.

Surprise! At least, it was for us.

I had an inkling of the results because I was nauseated and terribly exhausted and had a headache, but this wasn’t part of “the plan,” and it surely could not be so.

It was, indeed, so.

In some ways this pregnancy was easier—my nausea was not as acute as it was with Charles’, where I was so violently ill all the time, I lived and slept on the couch (lying down horizontally made me hurl). This time around, my first trimester nausea could be ameliorated with food, so as long as I was snacking frequently, I was okay.

The nausea, however, never went away, and in fact it grew worse as the weeks went on. I also became increasingly averse to foods, and the only foods that ever sounded appealing were pastas (which does not bode well for gestational diabetes) and cured meats, which are not recommended in pregnancy. Additionally, around week 10 my pelvis got so loose due to a condition called SPD that it was recommended I avoid stairs and carrying anything more than 20lbs (uh…like my one year old?). I wasn’t even supposed to walk for exercise, not that I wanted to because moving my legs hurt. Some women are great at being pregnant; I am not one of them.

However, we found out we were having a girl, and this made us very happy.

3. We took an anniversary trip.

This isn’t a milestone, really, but little did we know, this would be our last trip “for pleasure” for the foreseeable future. It was a spur of the minute decision and I loved the spontaneity. Ten days before our anniversary, Rob suggested we go to Florida to celebrate, and we called Mother Maria (“Nona Maria” to Charles), and she and her husband said YES, COME STAY WITH US.

We brought Charles, of course, because he has a fan club in Florida. Maria threw a “little” party for us and we got to see our friends and announce that we were expecting baby #2. It was truly a homecoming, and we loved every moment of it.

4. Rob gets ordained (and I become a Presvytera).

This one is a doozy, and a complicated set of circumstances led this unexpected turn of events. Let’s just say all other doors to our future had slammed shut** and we were considering the merits of moving into Rob’s parents’ basement when he got a phone call from Fr. Joseph saying he needed a priest.

**we could include “participated in a once-in-a-century union strike” in our milestones this year

Fr. Joseph is Rob’s spiritual father from the Orlando days, and long story short, he suggested Rob submit an application for priesthood through the Antiochian Archdiocese. Two weeks later, we made a trip to New Jersey to meet His Eminence, Metropolitan Saba, and the next day, Rob received notification that he would be ordained to the Diaconate on Father’s Day (June 15th), and to the Priesthood the following Sunday.

And that’s how it went—miracle of miracles! Rob was ordained as Fr. John, just a month after celebrating his ten year reunion at Hellenic College Holy Cross. I could not be more proud of him. Axios, my love!

5. We moved to Utah.

For anyone keeping track, that is my fourth cross-country move in three years, and we had about two weeks’ notice to do so. RobFr. John was assigned to a church in Payson, Utah, and he began working for them virtually on July 1st. Our moving date was July 11th. I was 7.5 months pregnant and barely able to carry Charles up and down the stairs, so I wasn’t the most helpful. And with RobFr. John working during the week and helping with liturgies on the weekends, we ended up packing the majority of our belongings in the 48 hours before our departure.

We were so down to the wire that our uber drive sat in our driveway for 30 minutes while we packed our final bags and cleared out the refrigerator. (Had our flight not been delayed, we might not have made it.)

We did end up moving into RobFr’s parents’ basement, though not indefinitely as we had once envisioned. All of our boxes remained in a pod until we found a permanent place to live, and we were nomadic for three months.

While the logistics of transferring healthcare in the middle of one’s third trimester, and establishing care for a special needs kiddo, made me want to step into traffic more than once, the benefits of having family nearby and enjoying (very slow) walks around mountain lakes made up for it.

6. 40 Liturgies in 40 days.

There is a tradition in the church that when a priest is newly ordained, he completes 40 liturgies in 40 days. Most priests do not do this (it requires a commitment from chanters and parishioners since a priest cannot have liturgy by himself), but the church community here made it clear they would show up. And God bless them, they did.

Anyone who has ever given up something for Lent knows that forty days feels interminable. When Fr. John started the 40 liturgies, we were staying in Salt Lake City and he was commuting an hour each way to Payson. He would leave at 6:30am and return at 8:30pm or later. While it was an invaluable experience for Fr. John, it was incredibly taxing on our family. (At 8 months pregnant, barely able to lift Charles, still vomiting regularly, I was not at my best.) We decided to get an Airbnb in Payson beginning August 1st, and this was a blessing in many ways—not only did I get to see Fr. John if he had a lunch break, but I was also able to take Charles to liturgy during the week as well.

At a different time in my life, I would’ve attended every liturgy and it would have been a holy bonding experience. As it is, I’m grateful we all survived.

7. I gave birth to a daughter.

The night of my induction date I could hardly sleep, and not just because I went to the bathroom twelve times. I was nervous about how it would go, given the 42 hours of labor I had with Charles.

Before the sun rose that morning, Fr. John drove us to the hospital in Lehi, 45 minutes away, while Charles stayed with my mom at our Airbnb. Despite my nerves, there was a relaxed and optimistic atmosphere in the labor room—which, by the way, was huge. It had two couches, a bed, an incubator station, a bassinet, a private bathroom, and some extra space to do cartwheels. My nurse, Abbie, and my midwife, Jenny, were wonderful. I felt I was in good hands.

Pitocin, however, was just as horrible as I remembered, and after six hours of irregular contractions coming in waves that never fully receded, I was ready for an epidural. Jenny suggested breaking my water to “speed things along,” and I insisted on the epidural first.

Fifteen minutes after receiving the epidural—before they could even put in a catheter—our daughter was born.

Vasilia Joy is named after St. Basil (THE GREAT) because he is a meaningful saint in our family, and Fr. John’s dad was christened Basil. Since Charles is named for my dad, Vasilia is named for Fr.’s dad. Joy is my paternal grandmother’s name, and it is how I characterize my husband based on the movie Inside Out. Additionally, Vasilia was born during the Nativity of the Theotokos, and one of her icons is called “The Joy of all who Sorrow.” So Joy works on multiple levels.

8. We bought our first house.

The closing date was one week after Lia was born during my early postpartum sleepless haze. I’m glad they considered me rational enough to sign the paperwork because I can’t say I remember a lot of the details. It’s a beautiful house with a built in mother-in-law suite, a balcony, and a view overlooking the mountains.

We have never unpacked boxes with such permanence before. It is both surreal and a relief. We love our house and our neighborhood and our neighbors. We hope our friends from near and far will visit and stay with us.

9. Charles learned to walk.

In March of this year, at one of Charles’ Early Intervention visits, I asked his physical therapist about the trajectory for him walking since it had been such a struggle to get him to crawl. She said she’d never had a client with Down Syndrome who walked before the age of three.

And with that, I sought out different physical therapists.

We found the most wonderful team at Bizzy Bees Therapy in Rhode Island. Laura (PT) and Justine (OT) were our heroes and Charles’ biggest fans. They helped him make huge strides, and one of the hardest parts about leaving Rhode Island was leaving Bizzy Bees.

Thankfully, Charles took that foundation and built on it with the help of our new PT in Utah. Lia’s arrival seemed to spark extra motivation in him because he went from taking 1-2 steps to exclusively walking in just a few short weeks.

I’m still struck with wonderment when I see Charles walking around, strutting like a miniature Greek man with a belly full of tsipouro, cute as can be, defying odds and expectations.

I am so proud to be his momma.

10. We parented two under two.

I thought it couldn’t be done. I panicked when my mom’s month-long stay was ending, and I immediately booked flights for Zemen to stay with us. When Zemen’s two weeks were ending, I begged her not to leave, citing that our town has no dry cleaning business and she could start one.***

***I stand by this suggestion.

But the day came when my mom was gone, Zemen was gone, and my in-laws were gone, and I had to make it on my own while Fr. John worked many long days and nights.

The evenings went something like this:

Charles needs to eat dinner. Lia wakes up right as I sit down to feed Charles. She cries and has a dirty diaper. I give her a fresh diaper and return to feed Charles. Lia fusses. I put her in my lap. Charles refuses to eat. Lia starts to cry. I try to get Charles to eat something, but he will only drink milk. Lia cries. I finally give up and feed Lia. Charles walks around, looking for mischief. When I don’t get up to chase him because I’m nursing Lia, Charles lies face down on the tile floor. I call him over. He sulks. I hold Lia upright because of her reflux. I try to read Charles and Lia a book, showing both of them the pictures. Charles gives me the look of one who has been betrayed. He goes into his room. Lia cries when I put her down. I brush Charles’ teeth. I check on Lia. I dress Charles in his sleep sack and attempt to sing him to sleep with Lia screaming in the background. He doesn’t fall asleep. I attend to Lia. I check on Charles. After many prayers, one of them, then the other, falls asleep.

It feels exhausting, but Lia’s smile breaks my frustration, and Charles’ giggles remind me that this is the sweetest time to enjoy. And soon they will be off playing without me, disinterested in vying for mom’s attention. I see glimmers of their future friendship whenever Charles wipes Lia’s face with a muslin cloth or claps when she’s on tummy time. And Lia just adores Charles, giggling no matter what he’s doing—including shoving a straw in her face from his honey bear cup, thinking this is how she should hydrate.

These are the times of our lives, as they say.

May the coming year be full of joy, sweetness, and no more cross-country moves.

And I wish you all the time of your lives, too.