2011 in Review

Apparently while I'm on vacation I am worse at blogging and reading blogs/commenting then when I'm working! Onward and upward!

With only a few hours before 2012, but I thought I'd do a quick recap post of 2011!

January

• Returned from my un-intended blogging break to announce our family is getting bigger!
• Reached the halfway point and found out that we're having a boy!

February

• Visited Lake Tahoe (end of January too!) and even though I didn't get to ski, I had a great time!

March

• Contemplated what baby boy's nursery was going to look like and wondered if I could convince the husband to paint squares on his wall.
• Had my first baby shower in NY with my family.

April

• Our friends hosted a baby shower for us in NC as well!
• I recapped my pregnancy must-haves!

May

• We decided to use cloth diapers.
• Celebrated our 2nd Anniversary.

June

• I shared Alex's nursery.
• We welcomed our sweet baby boy! And got his newborn pictures done!

July

• I shared Alex's birth story.
• We traveled home to meet family and friends and spent some time in the pool!

August

• A quiet month on the blog front.  Went and saw The Help and it had a great message (besides the intended story line).

September

• I flew with Alex to NY alone and made it out ok on the other side.
• Made my first diaper cake.
• I worried about going back to work.

October

• Took a little blogging break, was getting really stressed out.
• My little monkey celebrated his first Halloween.

November

• Did a cloth diaper update (pre-solids).
• Wrote a day-in-the-life post.
• Caught some super sweet giggles on camera.

December

• We got our first photo Christmas card as a family.
• Celebrated 6 months of our little munchkin!
• Celebrated our first Christmas as a family of 3!

Hubs and I are spending the night home, watching some movies/tv, enjoying a few snacks.  Most likely I'll be asleep before mid-night too!  No complaints here though.  2011 was fabulous, here's to 2012 and all that it will bring us!

Merry Christmas!

Joy to the world! The Lord is come: 

let earth receive her King!  

Let every heart prepare him room  

and heaven and nature sing. 

Merry Christmas!

#WEverb11 #6-#11: Playing Catch-Up #1

Rather than bombard you with several posts, I thought I would group them together from now on. Here's the first set to catch-up! -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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#6:  Favor

What was your favorite month of 2011?  Why did it beat out all 11 the other months?
      contributed by Jen [http://livingabrighterlife.blogspot.com] 

Ok, so I feel like all my replies are baby related, but hey that's what happened this year.

My favorite month was June!  That's when Alex was born!  I feel like the 5 before that were all just waiting in anticipation.  The 6 after that were great too
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#7:  Travel

Where did you travel this year? What was your favorite part? If you didn’t get to travel, where do you want to go next year?
      Contributed by Allison [hisbirdiesnest.blogspot.com]

I feel like we actually did get to travel quite a bit this year.  I went to my parents house 4 times this year, which is a ton!  At the beginning of the year we also got to go to Lake Tahoe, which was fun (though I wish I could have actually skiied!  I think my favorite part of all our traveling was everyone meeting Alex.  I was so happy he got to meet so much family and all of the love they showed us.  Next year I hope that we get to go on vacation as a family!
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#8:  Choose

What was the biggest choice you made in 2011? What caused you to choose what you chose?
      contributed by Melissa [53blonde.com] 

The biggest choice we made in 2011 (Though I guess it was really 2010) was Alex, and we had to 'cater' to him.  That meant we couldn't go out and just do whatever/whenever.  That felt huge to us.  Sometimes we felt stuck at home, but he is so easy/versatile that we definitely went out a lot and were not those ppl that stay home and do nothing because we have a kid.  We chose to work him into our lives instead of letting him keep us from what we want to do.
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#9:  Appreciate

In which moment did you find yourself flooded with gratitude? How will you rally around gratitude in 2012?
      contributed by Megan [everlastingpresent.com] 

I'm pretty sure this goes without say, but the moment I saw my son for the first time was just a flood of emotions.  Gratitude being one of them.  The fact that we were able to have a baby and not struggle like so many people do.  That he was healthy and a fairly 'easy' newborn.  That we had friends and family around us that loved him already and did whatever for us and him!
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#10:  Create

Share a creative project you undertook this year (art, writing, DIY, cooking, home decoration, crafts, photography … whatever comes to mind). How do you use your creativity to express yourself?
      contributed by Tara [twowishes.com] 

I was all ready to say my creativity was pretty low this year and then I went back and looked on the blog and realized that I felt extremely creative when we did the wall to the nursery!  I seriously love it so much and when I'm sitting and feeding Alex, I'll just look at it and think of the fun we had painting it and making it work.

I find that creativity is the easiest way to express myself because sometimes I tend to struggle with words, but when I create something I feel really proud of it and want the person I created it for to feel loved and the work that I put into it.  I really hope that in 2012 I can put my 'creative cap' back on and do some more projects than I did in 2011.
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#11:  Try

What 12 new things do you want to do/accomplish in 2012?
      contributed by Kimba [ultratrailgoddess.com] 

These aren't all new, but all things I want to do/accomplish!

1. Run in a 10K race
2. Pay off my car! - This will be the first car I've 100% owned
3. Seek out a new job
4. Some re-decorating around the house (mostly just accessories)
5. Create Alex's 1yr book
6. Finish my pregnancy book
7. Create photo books for the last few years and/or organize/back-up photos.
8. Reorganize my office/workspace/craft/sewing area
9. Highlight/Color my hair - I know this sounds silly, but I've never had my hair salon colored and only highlighted once (like 7yrs ago)
10. Find local things to do around Raleigh - especially free/kid friendly
11. Get myself back to church more regularly - We attended regularly before Alex was born, but a newborn really got us off track.
12. Read more!  I was reading lots before and I don't think I've read a single book since June. 

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6 Months!

Happy 6 month Birthday Alex! (Posting a little late)

Sleep:

• You've been going to bed around 7:30 - 8:00.  Some mornings you sleep in and I have to wake you up at 7:45/8:00 so I can feed you and get to work!
• You've been sleeping in on the weekends, until 8:30, and sometimes 9:00.
• At home you seem to be doing pretty good.  You do not like taking naps at daycare yet so we'll see how that goes!  Most days you are so tired from not sleeping at daycare that you come home and pass out!

Feeding:

• You are eating every 3hs (5x/day).  You take 6.5oz bottles at daycare.
• We started solids just before Thanksgiving.  So far, you've had cereal, pears, apples and sweet potatoes.  You love them!  Just once a day for now.

Weight:

• You weighed in at 17lbs 4oz - 46%

Length:

•  You measured 26 1/8in - 38%
  

Diapers:

• We're still doing cloth diapers.  We use the BumGenius Elemental Organic All-In-One One-Size.  You're on the second setting.
• When we travel or are out much we do disposables.  We also do them at night.  We just moved to the size 3's.
• Cloth diapering with solids is proving to be interesting!

Clothes:

• For most of the month you wore 3-6mo clothes.  The last week or so we broke out the 6-9mo clothes and packed away the 3-6mo ones.  Waiting for after Christmas sales to stock up a bit!

And let's be honest this is what you were doing most of the time in the crib for those pictures (we don't have the bumpers in while sleeping, just for pictures)

Personality/Likes/Miscellaneous:

• You absolutely love sitting up.  That is all that you want to do, you've pretty much mastered it.
• You sleep on your belly, face down.
• When we gave you solids, we couldn't get them in fast enough.
• You are quite the giggler now.  Especially when playing peek-a-boo!
• We traveled to NY/VT for Thanksgiving.  You did well on the plane again.  You charmed/flirted with lots of passengers.
• Spent time with both set of grandparents, and got to meet lots of new people on daddy's side of the family.
• Starting to jump in the jumperoo.
• We had our family pictures taken this month, but you weren't a big fan that day, kinda grumpy.
• You did not do as well after your 6mo shots. 

What we've been up to:

• Week 23
• Week 24
• Week 25
• Happy Thanksgiving! 
• Week 26

And because I think it's fun to compare (though I wish I could work Picasa better!)!

24 Christmas Questions

I saw Little Moments Like This post this today and I thought it would be fun to do the same!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? It depends.  I'm mostly a wrapper, but I do love a good gift bag.  Depends on the gift, if it's hard to wrap (and Kurt won't do it for me) then I go with the gift bag.

2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial. For as long as I can remember we've had artificial at my parents and we got an artificial one a few years ago.  I honestly don't know if we'll ever get a real one (I know some of you are cringing at that). 

3. When do you put up the tree? Usually the weekend after Thanksgiving.  Since I don't do Black Friday shopping, I use that to get decorations out.

4. When do you take the tree down? Before New Years.  Generally 3-4 days after Christmas (depending on travel).

5. Do you like eggnog? I just told my husband this the other day, I have never even tasted EggNog.  I really should.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? Hmm, I don't know if I really have one.  I loved my cabbage patch dolls though!

7. Do you have a nativity scene? No, but I just told Kurt that I wanted to get the Willow Tree House one.  I think it would be fun to get Alex a plush one like I've seen around the blog world lately.

 
8. Hardest person to buy for? Kurt.  He's totally the person that does his research and buys it when he has a bonus or something.  He has every tech gadget out there!  I can never figure out what to get him. 

9. Easiest person to buy for? Alex - there are so many great kids toys out there.  I had to stop myself.  I did my best at keeping it low key this year since he really has no idea what is going on, but it was so hard!


10. Mail or email Christmas cards?  Mail!  I love the Erin Condren cards we got this year!  (repeat from yesterday's post)

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Hmmm, I really can't think of one.  I've gotten a few from random people that weren't really my cup of tea (not my style clothes, etc), but nothing that was terrible.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? This is hard.  I love Christmas movies (and music).  I love "How the Grinch Stole Christmas", "Elf" and all the Hallmark channel movies too!

(IMDB)

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?  I'd like to say like October or something, but so not true.  I used to take 2 days off from work and do all my Christmas shopping then.  This year, I spread it out so that I could take Alex to playgroup and do some shopping.  I started in early December.

14. Ever recycled a Christmas present? Not that I can remember

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?  7-Steps (can you make them w/o coconut - guess that would only be 6), Peanut Butter Butterscotch/Choc Chip Rice Krispies.  Umm, all of them! :-)

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? I'm a white lights only girl.  I don't have any colored ones in my house!

17. Favorite Christmas song? I LOVE Christmas music.  I like every variety, my favorites are probably more religious, like "Angels we Have Heard on High/Gloria", "Silent Night", "O Come All Ye Faithful".  For "non-religious", I'm becoming a huge fan of the Sugarland Gold and Green Album.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? This year - Home!  And I am soooo excited about that.  Usually, it goes something like this.  About 3 days before Christmas, drive 13hrs to the in-laws, on Christmas Eve, drive 3hrs to Kurt's Grandmother's and back, on Christmas morning (at like 5), drive 4hrs to my parents, 3-4 days after Christmas, drive 13hrs home.  Ugh, that's like 36hrs over 6-7days!

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer?  Dasher, Dancer, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, Prancer, Vixen, Rudolph - I think I got them all!

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? We have a star that I bought when we got our tree from Target. 

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? I've always done Christmas morning (sometimes with PJ's on Christmas Eve).  With weird travel, we've done gifts 2-days before, then family gifts on Christmas Eve and then gifts with my parents on Christmas day.  This year, we're doing Christmas morning, with PJ's Christmas eve, though I don't know if I'll wrap the PJ's this year.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Traffic/driving/drivers!  I have to go by a shopping center to get home from work, it's kinda hard to avoid and oh my goodness the ppl going to WalMart drive me ca-razy!  Then there's driving around the mall and trying to find a parking spot.  Makes me think I really need to find a new way home and do online shopping!

23. Favorite ornament, theme, or color?  We usually use the white and silver bulbs that we bought.  We have a few sports ones that we've been given.  This year I love the First Christmas ornament we got Alex and I can't wait to start a new tradition and get him a new one each year.  Theme wise, I stick with silver and white, plus either blue or red depending on the room.  And then snowmen!

24. What do you want for Christmas this year? I really didn't have anything I really wanted this year.  I made a "wish-list" of things that I wouldn't mind, but nothing that was an I really want. 


And because I couldn't resist, this is what Alex is wearing today.  "Elf-Sized"  I love it!!!

I really need to go take some more Christmas pictures tonight!!

#WEverb11 #5: Befriend

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Learn

Did you meet any new friends this year? How did they impact your 2011?
      contributed by Jen [http://livingabrighterlife.blogspot.com] 

I have a really hard time meeting new friends/new people. When Alex was born I struggled a lot. I was home alone many days and I knew that I needed to do something about that. I also knew that it would be important to meet kids Alex's age so that he had kids to play with out side of daycare. I joined a mom's exercise group at the hospital. When I was there I met several new mom's and they were all really nice. I invited a few to a party that we had at the house to get to know them. We also formed our own weekly playgroup. It is definitely harder now to go to playgroup. I can't always go to weekday playgroups (except in December I can join!) but I do try to go to the weekend outings that we have scheduled.

This year I also "re-friended" a college friend. She had a baby a few weeks before Alex was born. It's funny how you all of a sudden can have something to talk about! She was always one of those people that it was easy to talk to after months (years?) of not speaking and this year we started talking a bit more and it's great. We don't talk all the time. We just randomly send one another emails and if I'm in town I'll try to meet up with her. I really feel like I need to work on befriending more people. I am making that one of my goals for 2012.
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Check out the other replies for today's prompt!

Christmas Card 2011

Whoa, I last blogged on 12/4, are you serious?!?!  The holidays are soooo busy.  So while I play catch-up on blogging, I thought I'd share our Christmas card.

For the last 2 years I've made our Christmas cards but this year I knew I wanted a picture card and I love it.  In October I ended up ordering them from Erin Condren.  So worth it to have the address labels already and the great colored envelopes! 

I won 25 Shutterfly cards on another blog and have plans for those too, just as soon as they make a 30hr day!  :-)

#WEverb11 #4: Haiku

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Learn

Sum up your year, via haiku.

a new life is born
our family has grown
memories are made


I'm not much of a poetry person, that was not easy!

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#WEverb11 #3: Learn

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Learn

What lesson did you learn in 2011 from “The School of Life” rather than a classroom?
      Contributed by Julie Jordan Scott [http://www.fivepassions.com] 

This year I learned to be content.  I've always been one who wanted more.  I always wanted what was next in life, to be married, to buy a house, to have a kid, a different job.  I know that there is always something more that I will want, but with Alex's arrival I have learned that I need to be content with what I have.  I have learned that if I don't start living with what's going on today, I'm going to miss all those milestones and developments.  I don't want to be wishing away Alex's childhood.  I want to enjoy it watch him grow.  I want to enjoy my time with my family and build memories to last a lifetime.  So what if the picture isn't perfect or we don't have the best there is.  Time to be happy with what I have!


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#WEverb11 #2: Listen

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Listen

What song did you listen to in 2011 to completely change your mood? Think about ways you can you add more music to your life in 2012. 
      contributed by Bella [bellaonthebeach.wordpress.com] 

I am a huge music lover but this was really hard for me!  Mostly because I love to sing along!  Yes, I'm the one you see singing in the car at the stoplight next to you.  :-)

I'd have to pick "Walk on Water" by Britt Nicole.  I heard this song on Biggest Loser and I searched and searched to find the full song/lyrics when I first heard it.  It was really inspiring to me.

Walk on Water by Britt Nicole

You look around
It's staring back at you
Another wave of doubt
Will it pull you under
You wonder

What if I'm overtaken
What if I never make it
What if no one's there?
Will you hear my prayer?

When you take that first step
Into the unknown
You know that He won't let you go

[Chorus:]
So what are you waiting for?
What do you have to lose?
Your insecurities try to alter you

You know you're made for more
So don't be afraid to move
Your faith is all
It takes in you
You can walk on the water too

So get out
And let your fear fall to the ground
No time to waste
Don't wait
Don't you turn around and miss out
Everything you were made for
I know you're not sure
So you play it safe
Try to run away

If you take that first step
Into the unknown
He won't let you go

[Chorus]

[Bridge:]
(Step Out)
Even when a storm hits
(Step Out)
Even when you're broken
(Step Out)
Even when your heart is telling you, telling you to give up
(Step Out)
When your hope is stolen
(Step Out)
You can't see where you're going
You don't have to be afraid

So what are you waiting for?

[Chorus]

For 2012, I really would like to bring more music in by expanding my music selection.  I'm most definitely a country girl, but I've heard some artists lately (like Adele), that I definitely like.  Expanding out and find more artists that I like is the perfect was to add more music to 2012.  (Oh and I'm sure I'll have some kid's music added in too)

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#WEverb11 #1: One Word

Ok, so second post for the day, what you say?  Yes, I'm going to do my best to participate in #WEverb11 this year!  I've never done anything like this, so you may have to bear with me!

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 Choose one word.

Encapsulate the year 2011 in one word. Explain why. Imagine it’s one year from today, what would you like the word to be that captures 2012 for you?

In the spirit of where this all started… this is the same first prompt from 2010.

For me the word that best explains 2011 is blessed.

This year we were blessed with so many things, the biggest being a happy, healthy, baby boy.  We've had such a great year.  Everyone is happy and healthy.  We've been able to see family and friends (at home and traveling).  We have jobs, we have a home, and we have amazing people around us.  We've laughed, we've cried and most of all we've made it through with very few scrapes, bumps, or bruises.  We've watched our little boy change so much over the last 6months, it's incredible.  2011 was such a blessing!

The word I think I would like to capture 2012, is accomplished.  We have some financial goals that we'd like to accomplish sooner rather than later.  I also have some career goals/changes/advancements that I'd like to accomplish as well.  Oh and I'd say surviving the first year of Alex's life will be a huge accomplishment (while solely breastfeeding would make it even better)!

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It's OK . . .

Today I'm linking up with Amber and Neely (for the first time)!

It's ok:

- to want to get Alex the same outfit in the next 2 sizes, I love it so much! (The pants are my fav!)

- to feel sad/guilty when I have to leave for work every morning.

- to have come to grips with the fact that we may have to supplement in the next few months (more on this later).

- to have a Christmas wish list that's mostly clothes, shoes and jackets.

- to be several weeks behind posting pictures on the baby blog.

- to have plans to lots of baby holiday pictures this weekend!

Source: sturnerphotos.com via Lauren on Pinterest

- to look forward to the mess that will happen tonight as I leave Kurt home to feed Alex solids himself.

- to have sent Alex to daycare in pants that were too small/too short for the last few days.  I was in denial that he needed to move up, but I came to grips yesterday!

- to listen to Christmas music all day and not get tired of it!

- to be really excited about Christmas this year!  (see above!)

- to put off doing work, dishes, etc just so I can get some more giggles out of the little guy.

- to have purchased several holiday onsies for Alex on CyberMonday and no other Christmas gifts (I had every intention and several shopping bags full of stuff, that were discarded)!

- to send out/take funny pictures of Alex whenever possible, hopefully he'll find them funny in the future!

What?  Can't you put both feet to your mouth while laying down?