Year in review

Last year I did a year in review post and it was so much fun for me.  I loved looking back at my old posts and going through the pictures on my computer.  There is so much that I remember but also so much I forget if I don't look back!   I thought I would do a review post again.  Some things I blogged about and others I didn't.  This gives me the chance to mention things that maybe I didn't get the time to blog about...like B's one year pictures!  I print my blog into a book at the end of each year so I like to have this little recap post at the end as well.  I also thought if I had some new followers it would allow them to learn a little bit more about me.  Enjoy my reflection on 2012!  

January

• We celebrated New Years with Lonnie's brother, Marshall, his wife Kristen and their twins.  We reserve a weekend (as close to NYE as possible) and we cook good food, drink good champagne, and just enjoy each other.  They are coming this weekend to celebrate and I can't wait!

• We celebrated Lonnie's birthday!  Speaking of this, he has a pretty big birthday coming up this week....He is going to be forty!

• 2012 started off with a bang when my mom fell and broke her ankle!  She came to live with us for 3 months.  Blakely was 3 months old when she moved in.  That time was stressful but it is when the special bond between B and Gran Di started.  Sometimes I want her to move back in! 

February

• I started using and became a bit obsessed with cloth diapers.  You want to know why?  Here is the post that sent me over the diaper edge.  Oh wait...maybe it was this one.  Either way I am glad that I did it.  
• I hosted a baby shower for my friend Katie and her little boy Eli.  It was a nature theme and turned out super cute.  Looking back I can't believe I hosted a shower at my house with a 3 month old and my mom living here.  I was crazy...
• Blakely cheered for Tom during the Supe.r Bowl.  Hopefully we will be cheering for him again this year!  And a win this time....

March

• I turned 30!
• We took Blakely on her first vacation to New Orleans.  
• We gave Blakely her first bite of real food.  Avocados! 

not a fan...

April

• I hosted a baby shower for my friend Courtney and her little girl Jayda.  I can't believe I forgot to post about that!  I will just share a few pics in this post.  We did a mommy to bee theme and it turned out super cute!

This is one of my favorite all time pictures of me and B.  So sunny and happy!

Courtney, Tina (holding Katie's Eli), me, Sarah, Jenny (holding B), and Katie.  Courtney's daughter Hayleigh in the front.  

• We took B on her very first boat ride.  
• We celebrated Easter with Lonnie's brother, his wife, and their twins.  
• We bought a shaved ice stand with another couple!  It was fun for a little while and I really wish it wouldn't have ended up the way that it did.  I know I haven't ever blogged about what happened but here is the main deal.  The wife of the other couple quit suddenly and we haven't spoken to her since.  She tried to make our lives as difficult as possible (didn't give us any of the accounting/tax info she had, etc) and I do not need to associate with people like that.  Trust when I tell you I could go on about her and this topic but I won't.  I have moved on!  Maybe sometime in the future when Lonnie and I have a little more time we will try that adventure again....alone!  

May

• We took Blakely on her first Florida family vacation.  Looking back at this post makes me wonder how this trip is going to go this year.  She was only sitting up last year and this time she will be 18 months old!  That just blows my mind.  
• Blakely got salmonella.  It was horrible.  That is all.  
• I celebrated my first Mother's Day with my sweet girl  

June

• Lonnie and I  celebrated 7 years of being together.  I seriously love that picture of him in that post.  
• We did spend a lot of time on the lake in June...before it got crazy hot.  
• Blakely learned how to crawl in June!  Looking back it seems like she crawled for such a short amount of time.  I know it was a while but she never crawls now so it just seems like it was a quick phase.  

July

• We celebrated 4th of July.
• We went through a bit of a rough sleeping patch with Blakely.  Good news is that she was such a cuddle bug during that time.  

• I never blogged about this and I meant to but Lonnie and I went fishing in July!  I'm not really a fisherwoman or whatever so this was kinda a big deal.  We had so much fun.  Like I can't wait to go again when the weather gets nicer!  It was so quiet and pretty darn romantic actually!

August

• B got strep for the first time...

• We took our first vacation with just the 3 of us to Cape Cod.

• B had strep for the second time.  UGH...

September

• We started thinking about baby #2.
• We took a trip to Los Angeles.  That was so much fun.  I am looking forward to the trips we have planned this year.  We are going to New Orleans in April and then Florida in May.  We don't have anything planned after that because we are super hoping that maybe I'll be pregnant.  We will see.  Please....

October

• I became super emotional about weaning when we were almost finished with nursing.  Breastfeeding was one of the greatest experiences of my life and I am so very thankful I was able to do it.  I can't wait to do it again!  I might not stop next time because no one tell you that you instantly gain 10 pounds...UGH!!!    
• Blakely turned ONE!  
• We had B's one year pictures made.  I just finally got these in so I will post some of my favorites!  

• We took a trip to Big Ce.dar Lodge.  And this is why I love doing this review post...I already forgot that we did that!!
• We had a super fun Halloween.  

November

• Lonnie and I went to Miami...just the two of us.  
• We had our wine and gourmet dinner.  It was so nice to get fancy and get out of the house!  

• We celebrated Thanksgiving with Lonnie's family in Oklahoma.  

December

• I completed the Christmas Countdown.  I am so glad I decided to do it this year and I can't wait to keep the tradition going next year!  
• We went ahead with our FET and , although it didn't work, we were able to enjoy the holiday with our miracle daughter.  
• We sent out super cute Christmas cards that I forgot to post on the blog.  Here is the picture that was on the front and it said "OH WHAT FUN!"

• Blakely got strep for the third dang time...seriously...it's getting ridic.  

• Me and my girlfriends had a Pajama Pin.terest Christmas party!  I never got around to posting about that either but it was so much fun.  We all brought a dish (or 3) that we had been wanting to make from Pin.terest, we wore our pajamas, and then played dirty Santa.

There was so much food.  I had to take the centerpieces off of the table just to fit it all.  It was amazingly yummy!

normal face...

crazy face...

grab somebody's boob....

everyone looks away...

Me and Sarah Marie!

• One of the best things that happened in December is that 2 of my very best friends got engaged!  Sarah (above) got engaged on Christmas Eve Eve.  Ceej (also know as CJ) videoed the whole thing and she didn't know.  I got to watch it and I cried...so so sweet. They are absolutely perfect for each other and she deserves a good man.  She thought she was getting an iPhone but when she opened the box he had written "will you marry me" and had the ring in there.  It was his Aunts ring and it means so much to Sarah to be wearing it.  Ok I have to stop or I am going to cry again!  Also, my friend Keisha got engaged on Christmas Day.  She has been with him for 5 years and just never thought it was going to happen so he definitely surprised her!  
• We had a wonderful WHITE Christmas.  I think I am still recovering :)

What a great year!  I can't wait to see what 2013 will bring!  Happy New Year!!

14 months

Blakely turned 14 months old on December 13th!  Obviously I am a little late posting but I wanted to jot down a few things I want to remember.  

• she has a few new words!  
• More-It sounds like muh.  I like that she can say this but it is tough to figure out exactly what she wants more of!  More food, more daddy, more of a certain toy.  
• Tree-sounds like tee.  
• Banana-comes out either na-na, na-na-na, and sometimes even banana.  She knows where they are on the counter so she will go to the counter, say NA-NA, and then try to climb into her high chair.  
• She got her bottom left tooth next to the middle ones on 11-23.
• Blakely made her first trip to Idabel, OK for Thanksgiving with Lonnie's family.  I am just now realizing that I haven't posted about Thanksgiving!  Here are a few pics of the great time that was had!

B and Collier

She loves flying with Daddy

She wanted so badly to play football with the bigger kids.  She kept running out into the middle of where they were playing.  

B and Syble with matching jammers.  

• She has become obsessed with her Minnie
• If you say loooooooooooove Gran Di she tilts her head to the side and smiles really big. Sometimes she tilts so much she falls over.  
• She loves nose kisses.  I started this one morning by just rubbing my nose against hers and she giggled.  Now it is a thing.
• She snuggled up with me so much while I was sick and on bed rest for our FET.

• She spends almost every Sunday at Gran Di's house.  Everyone involved loves this.  She gets to go play with all of her toys over there.  Mommy gets to watch football and Daddy gets to nap...WIN!  She just loves her Gran Di.  

• Lonnie and I spent the night away from B for the first time.  She stayed at our house with Gran Di, Jenni, and NanaBob while we went to Miami.  
• She has learned how to take her shirt off.  Then she wants me to put it back on.  It's like a game to her.  

• She has really started showing an interest in books.  She will sit by herself and flip through the pages for quite a while.

We love you so much sweet bug!  I know 2013 is going to bring even more fun with you!  

And now a Christmas post...

We had a fantastic Christmas.  Even though we got sad news a few days before, I was determined to not let that ruin my mood.  Thankfully, a certain 14 month old healed my heart.  

I hosted Christmas Eve dinner for the first time.  We usually do it at my Grand's house.  I offered to do it here this year because, let's be honest, it is much easier to keep the baby in her comfort zone.  That way I didn't have to constantly be worrying about what she was getting into and we could put her to bed at her normal time...perfect!  

We had a great time chatting with family.  I had really good intentions of getting a group family shot but that didn't happen.  The last time we did that was 2004 and we really need a new one!  That was before Blakely AND Lonnie!

We don't do gifts on Christmas Eve...we just have dinner together.  I made these sliders that I found on Pinterest.  I have made them a few times before and everyone loved them so much they wanted these instead of a ham.  Sounded good to me.  We also had twice baked potatoes, bacon wrapped green beans, and a salad with my Grand's homemade thousand island dressing.  Everything was wonderful!  

Blakely stayed up about an hour past normal bedtime.  She was entertaining everyone and happy so I let her stay up.  Plus it was Christmas Eve and I thought maybe she would sleep in just a little bit the next morning...and she did!   I posted about a few other things we did on Christmas Eve in my Christmas countdown wrap up post yesterday.  

Christmas morning was absolutely wonderful.  When Blakely woke up we bought her in our bed to snuggle.  We stayed there about an hour.  That is seriously the best time.  She gives kisses and lays her head on us and dozes for a few minutes.  Then she pops right back up and plays for a few minutes.  Then repeat.  It is adorable and gives mommy and daddy time to wake up!  

We finally brought her upstairs to see what Santa brought.  

At first she was like "What's all this?"

Then she realized she could play!

stocking...

A stethoscope from her doctor kit.  Not sure she has taken this thing off much.  

We've been doing a LOT of this since we can't go outside because of the snow.  

She helped unwrap some of the presents.  

After we opened presents as a family of three, we headed to my mom's house.  Santa visited Gran Di's too!  My mother went WAY overboard.  I am beyond happy to keep all of these toys at her house.  

She was a little overwhelmed at first.  Then she just moved down the line from one toy to the next.  

Uncle Matty (my brother) bought her this sand box/pool/ball pit combo.  She loved it.  He also got her some To.nka trucks to play with in the sand in the spring...love!

finger puppets...

Little Peo.ple Zoo.  

After we finished exchanging gifts with my mom and brother, the rest of the my family came over.  We ate brunch and opened presents.  My child is completely spoiled.  She is the first baby in my family since my brother 26 years ago.  So yeah....spoiled.

She is a bit scared of this right now.  I'm not sure why but I don't give it long before she will be riding all over the hosue.  

My cousin got her a Mickey that is wearing a Denver Bron.cos jersey.  Of course she loved it.  My other cousin lives in Colorado so she is, of course, a huge Bron.cos fan, so she thought this was just wonderful.  I tried to tell them that B only cheers for the Patr.iots.  They are determined to sway her...not going to happen!  

My Grand got her this backpack/suitcase.  It could not be cuter...

And then there is the princess castle.  Oh me.  She loves this thing and it is now at my house.  I should have made it go home with the person who bought it for her!  JENNI!  I am losing real estate in my living room fast.  We have got to set up a playroom or I am going to go crazy.  Anyway, she loves this thing.  She crawls in and out all the time.  Puts all her stuffed animals in there for a nap.  She covers them up and then gives them all kisses.  Great toy.  Big toy...

all day

Every day when Lonnie gets home from work he gives B his pager.  She loves the thing for some reason.  So Santa brought her a doctor kit.  Whoa....great idea Santa!  She carries that thing around constantly and keeps the stethoscope on most of the day.  Adorable...

It started snowing Christmas afternoon so we all left my moms.  It ended up snowing pretty good so mom came over here and got snowed in with us.  We all snuggled up and watched a movie.  

It was a great Christmas.  My child got way too much stuff but I am thankful to know she is so loved by my family.  She was exhausted after such a big day.  She slept 2 1/2 hours past her normal wake up time!  

Sweet girl.  Sleeping just like her mama.  

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!