Hope everyone had a wonderful end to 2011, and a positive beginning to 2012. I realize I’m a bit late posting a new year’s post, but when have I ever been on time for anything?

Never. {Ok, not completely true. Last weekend I worked in nursery at church and was there 2 minutes before the recommended time!}

I think I’ll go out on a limb and say that 2011 was my most favorite year of life to date.

Yes, there have been great years before—2008 comes to mind, since we got married and all that jazz—but the year our first child was born trumps them all. In fact, I think it was a little over a year ago that we announced to the world {i.e.: Facebook} that we were expecting. So, basically the entire year was spent preparing for and caring for little Elise, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.

Each month in 2011 had its very own ‘favorite’ event that I will always look back on fondly:

january

baby makes first official appearance…{via bump}.

february

enjoyed a ‘babymoon’ in Hawaii, including hiking up Diamond Head….{exhausting}.

march

apparently a pretty uneventful month as we have few pictures….ooh, but I did get my favorite childhood book sent to me!

april

baby shower in KC with some of my best friends….{and babies!}

may

2nd baby shower that both Grandmas attended.

june

we waited ever so (im)patiently for baby to arrive…{and waited…and waited…}

july

best. day. of. my. life.

august

took the wee one on a very memorable {and long} road trip.

september

met my tiny nephew for the very first time.

october

visits from lovely ladies.

november

Thanksgiving on Orcas Island with friends.

december

our first Christmas as a family of three.

So much has changed over the past year, it’s actually kind of difficult for me to remember what life was like when I had all that free time to do whatever I wanted to do.

I’m not a resolution person, but I do like to have things to aim for in life, so here’s what I’m hoping 2012 brings:

1. Help Elise learn to crawl, walk, and talk.

2. A vacation for just the hubby and I. {Somewhere warm, perhaps? And somewhere I can just relax. We’ve gone on vacations this year, but not a single one has been relaxing for me. }

3. More visits to see Grandpa & Grandma H in Idaho.

4. Spend some quality time with Grandpa & Grandma S, my brother, sis-in-law & nephew. And have Elise meet the rest of her great aunts & uncles at some point.

—possibly take Elise to spend a week on the farm during the summer.

5. Run {at least one each of} a 5K, 10K & half marathon.

6. Read the bible more and get back into a SHARE group.

7. Learn how to do something new {and do it well}:

—sign language, French/German/Russian, sewing with a machine, and/or yoga.

8. Develop the perfect quiche recipe.

9. Start up my design biz, for real this time. (http://www.etsy.com/people/sweetonedesigns …..sitting idle for 3 years)

10. Turn 30 with a smile on my face.

Yeah, I think that’s a solid starting point for me. At some point I’ll merge these with my ’30 before 30′ list.

Thank you for letting me share 2011 with you. Cheers to 2012, and all that lies ahead!

Plus, it’s wonderful for me to have time with other moms & dads and carry on an adult conversation.

As much as I love being a stay-at-home mom, the downside is that many days the only conversations I have (other than with Todd) are the ones in which both parties involved don’t even understand what the other is saying.

We started classes when she was about 2 months old. Being one of the youngest, she wasn’t quite sure what to think about all the songs, activities, and older kids, so she got overstimulated very easily. I’d usually spend the second half of class listening to the teacher while I walked around with Elise, trying to keep her calm.

But now, she loves seeing the other kids and learning new songs with me.

In fact, this is where she also met her very first best friend—whom we’ll just call, ‘little N’. They were born 5 days apart, so they’re at the same developmental stage. While the other kids crawl or run around, these two girlies lay beside each other and ‘talk’.

{and apparently sometimes Elise’s jabbering puts her friend to sleep. }

I’ve contacted my tech support computer genius guy (um….husband) to resolve this problem, so hopefully we’ll be back up and running soon. I could write a bunch to entertain you, but everyone knows the pictures are always the best part.

In the meantime, I guess I’ll go pack our suitcases. Off to the islands we go! Don’t be too jeal—they’re cool & rainy islands, not warm & tropical ones.

Despite the fact that Elise has taken over the blog postings for the past 4 months—err, longer actually, even while I was pregnant she was the star of this show—it’s not like our social life has totally gone by the wayside. We still get to enjoy non-baby time, it just doesn’t get documented as well.

Recently though, we got to help Ryan celebrate his 30th birthday with a surprise shindig that Aubrey organized. Lots of cheese & wine, and cake! (okay, technically Elise was there, but she was asleep upstairs the entire time)

I just realized that there are no pictures of just Todd & I together. So…..maybe we actually don’t have that much non-baby time out and about amongst society. Elise still seems to be hovering around wherever we go, but that’s perfectly fine with me. She’s the best accessory I’ve ever had. Plus, it’s a proven fact (done by my own scientific research) that you become 100 times more popular in public when you’re with a baby.

It’s a favorite nickname these days.

Runner-up is Droolie. Because she’s really good at doing both of those things.

Happy Anniversary, my love.

Cheers to 3 fantabulous years as husband & wife, and numerous more years together. You are my best friend, my steady rock when I am weary, and a more amazing father than I ever dreamed of (and I had some big dreams). I’m pretty sure we’re not exchanging any kind of gifts today, since that’s not really our style–(spoiler alert) or at least I didn’t get you anything. But I want to let you know, as you’re hard at work providing for our family, that you’ve already given me the best gift in the entire world*.

And she doesn’t want to go down for her nap.

*In fact, you could probably get away with never giving me another gift, and as long as we have her, I’d be totally okay with that.

Elise says:


I just got back from a 5000 mile road trip! I got to see my grandmas and my grandpas, my aunt & uncle, and honorary aunts & uncles.
Oh, and I made lots of messes for Mommy & Daddy to clean! When Mommy gets a chance, she’ll post some pics…but I’m taking up a lot of her time.
Bye!

Dad, you raised us to be adventurous and taught us how to fly. You took us snow skiing in the winters and water skiing in the summers, as rewards for long days in the hay fields and working hard on the farm. There were no family trips to Disneyland or princess tea parties (of which I’m thankful), instead it was camping and canoeing and exploring the great outdoors. You raised us with loving hands, scarred & cracked from your years of hard work. Not just to be ‘good people’, but to be children of God and know what it means to truly care about others.

(one of my all-time favorite pictures of me and my daddy)

Papa Barry, you raised my husband to be the man he is today. And for just that feat alone, I think you’re amazing and the best ’2nd dad’ a girl could have. He has your intelligence, kindness, generosity, sense of humor….and your quirkiness. I often see your personality shine through him and it doesn’t make me scared, it makes me smile.

Our baby has some truly amazing men in his/her life. I’m just so excited for them to finally meet!

.   .   .   .

Many months ago, we got a package in the mail from Grandma Harris, and one of the surprises inside was this shirt and a photo, circa 1981:

Any resemblance?

Mostly though, as a Christian, I celebrate the day my savior rose to victory from His grave. He died for my sins, He died for yours. What more of a gift could you ask for than that? And it’s the only day of the year that we sing my favorite song at church. I get chills and tear up every time. It’s awesome. He is awesome.

However you celebrate Easter, I hope it’s a wonderful one for you.

–There’s a human growing inside of me. A real, live, human.

–My monthly weigh-ins are a highlight for me.  I really had trouble gaining weight during the first trimester, so it’s a fun adventure for me to see how many pounds I’ve been adding on recently.  My last weigh-in showed a 5 lb. gain and I thought Todd might actually high five me (something he used to do a lot but now refuses to do until the baby is born). I’m hoping for at least 7 lbs. at today’s appointment.

I know, I know….I’ve had women tell me how lucky I am to be trying to gain weight, not trying to lose it.  I don’t doubt that my day for that will come, but in the mean time—peanut butter, peanut butter, peanut butter.

– I just realized I’m in my 3rd trimester.

–I LOVE being pregnant. Love love love it.

Sure, I can’t run like I used to, do my job like I used to, plan fun summer excursions, or enjoy a nice glass of wine with my husband like I used to.

Instead, I gladly accept all the aches and pains, the endless nights of  poor quality sleep, the all-too-frequent trips to the bathroom, the uncomfortable feeling that there’s no longer enough room in there for both food and baby.

Because every time Junebug kicks (which is A LOT now), every time I look at my changing body, every time I feel a twinge in my back, I am reminded how incredibly awesome beyond words it is that we have this blessing.

I am doing everything in my power to keep this baby healthy and leaving the rest up to God. I am just the vessel that is responsible for keeping this tiny human comfortable until he/she enters the world.

And there is nothing, nothing in this world that I would trade for that.