A Year in Review: 2011

This is my third "year in review" post and I thoroughly enjoy these. It gives me a chance to look back on our year and everything we have done, gone through, and achieved. Not everything is 100% positive, because we all experience highs and lows throughout any given year....this year was no different.  We experienced the highest of highs, and we also experienced some challenging times.  And we made it.  And here is a recap of our year, in pictures of course!

We began the year as we traditionally do - up at the cabin in the snow! 

February brought the achievement of a long-time goal of mine:  being a published photographer.

March brought along several things.....massive baby preparations, my baby shower, and lots of baseball practice for Carter.  We spent many week nights and weekends either in our back yard or at parks/schools practicing with Carter. It was fun to watch him develop his skills.

April.....what happened in April? Oh yes, this:

And the beginning of this:

It has been such a joy to watch my two kids develop their bond over the course of the year.  Carter has been such an amazing big brother and I am SO proud of him!

In June, I got to see my mom achieve one of her goals - skydiving!!

We spent many summer nights at the softball fields with my family....Carter spent a lot of that time in the dugout with the big guys.

In August, we introduced Kendall to the cabin

We really stuck close to home this summer and fall, considering we had a new baby. No big trips were in our plans as we wanted to focus on down time with the kids.

August was another big month for a photography achievement....I won an award at the fair!

 And we also brought another new addition to our family:  Kya!

 Carter also explored swimming lessons.  At first, we thought it would be such an adventure for him, but the further we got into the lessons, the more it became clear that he was not going to cooperate. We will try again this coming summer!

I also got to see one of my life-long friends get married this year....and not just as a guest, but as her photographer. It was my honor to do the photos as a gift to her and I hope it was a day she will always cherish.

It was also another highly successful year for my photography business.  It wasn't as jam-packed every single weekend like it was the year before - it seemed to be more gradual and spread-out this year. And that worked out quite well since I'm now juggling two kids.

On the downside for the year, I lost my job. It wasn't expected, especially considering how the whole thing played out. But it did allow me more time at home with my kids. And I have found a new firm that's just fantastic! I'm hoping to stick with this place for the long-haul and I'm glad I was able to find something right before the holidays. It was certainly a life saver!

And that's pretty much our year. We didn't go on any super big vacations, but we did welcome a gorgeous baby girl into the world, and watching my two kids grow up and play together is far better than any vacation, hands down!

I hope you all had a great year, and here's to 2012!!!  Happy New Year!

A Christmas Summary

I am combining the Christmas celebrations into one post this year.  We pretty much had three big ones.....one with my family, one with just the four of us, and one with Eric's family.  And I will provide plenty of pictures, naturally.

Kendall has officially outgrown being swaddled for her naps and overnight sleeping.  She also rolls out of her sleep positioner, so we took that out of her crib and advised her daycare to do the same.  So sleeping free of all restrictions is fairly new to her.  But it seems to work just fine and she is back into her normal schedule.

 I did a lot of holiday baking this year.  I tried two new recipes - a shortbread thumbprint with black raspberry filling and a glaze, and the second recipe was white chocolate macadamia nut bark.  Both were fantastic and I received many compliments.

 On Christmas Eve, we went over to my parents' house to celebrate.  We had some great fingers foods and open gifts. 

 Don't Break the Ice was one of Carter's favorite gifts, and Dana challenged him to a game.  Carter actually won!  I have a feeling we will be seeing a lot of this game in the future - certainly brings back memories of my childhood!

 Kendall was somewhat active in opening presents.  She loved the bows and would occasionally pull on the paper.

My brother brought his girlfriend over.  They are moving to Alaska in a matter of weeks, so it was nice to spend time with him.

 Dana got Carter an awesome bike helmet.  It is quite fitting of Carter's personality, that's for sure, especially since he sported a mohawk for quite a while this summer.

On Christmas morning, Carter came running into our room, showing us the sword that Santa brought him.  He also received a VTech learning game system from Santa.  He and Eric spent quite a bit of time playing around with the different games (there were 8 total).

 Santa brought Kendall a stand-up music table.  Carter had one of these when he was a baby and absolutely loved it.  So we figured we (I mean Santa) would get her one too in the hopes that she would get as much enjoyment as her brother did.

 Peek-a-boo!

 Chewing on her phone.

One of the gifts that Carter received this year was skiing lessons up at Bogus.  We needed to make sure he had all the proper gear to go along with the lessons, so we got him some snazzy goggles and a ski helmet.  He also got new gloves.

 Kendall received lots of little toys to develop her manual dexterity.  It's so fun to watch her manipulate the toys....though they usually end up in her mouth to be chewed on.

 She also got some new books to add to her collection.  I need to find her a bookshelf!

 Once we were done opening gifts, I sent the kids to their rooms to play with their new toys while Eric and I finished cleaning and prepping for the big celebration later.

After her morning nap, I got Kendall all dolled up in her third Christmas outfit.  She was such a cutie!

 Once Eric's mom, stepdad, sisters, brother-in-law, and grandma showed up, we began another round of gift opening.

 Ashley, David & Kendall

Janelle and Kendall

 Ashley and Kendall

 Mr. Handsome and me

 After we were done opening gifts, we got ready for the big dinner party.  I was hosting 17 people this year!  Much bigger than what I'm used to, and I somehow managed to keep my stress level under control.

 Eric, his Grandma Dort, and Bill discussing how to make the prime rib.

 Game time! 

 Grammy Michelle and her grandbabies.