Looking Back At 2011

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Another year is now upon us, and one of the most exciting years of my life (and Jason’s as well) is now behind us.  2011 was a very exciting year for our household.

One exciting point of last year was that we got to settle into our new home.  We moved into our new hours in early December 2010, but almost as soon as we had moved in we went on vacation, so we didn’t really get to work on making our house a home until 2011.  We have repaired, painted, and decorated our house, and we have worked on it for the entire year.  We still have some work left to do, and lots of dreams of what we’d like to do, but we certainly accomplished a lot over the past year.  It has been so much fun finding where to put everything.  One of the best parts was putting together Nick’s nursery.  Nick and I have also really enjoyed our new neighborhood.  We went on many long walks while the weather was nice, and Nick loved going out in the yard to look around.

Of course the very best part of the year was the arrival of Nick.  Watching him grow the past eight months has been amazing.  It is so much fun seeing how he changes and advances.  We both know how lucky we got because Nick has always been a very happy baby.  He’s had his moments of course, but for the most part he has slept well and he’s so happy.  I can’t tell you how many people have commented on how much he smiles.  We could not have asked for a more wonderful little guy.

Amazingly this was the first year since 2003, and even longer for me, that we haven’t gone on vacation.  Going away is really important to me.  I often get the itch to travel (I inherited that), and it amazes me that I made it through the year without going anywhere.  The closest that I got to a hotel stay was the hospital.  Of course our last vacation was over Christmas 2010, so it has still only been just over a year since we went away.  There were times when I really wanted to go somewhere, but overall we’ve had so much fun with Nick that we haven’t missed vacation.  Now that Nick is getting older though I can’t help but dream of our next vacation.

Another exciting part of 2011 for me was starting Rock-a-Bye Parents.  In early fall I decided that I really wanted to start a blog where I could tell about what was going on in our lives and where I could write down about all of the things Jason and I have learned since becoming parents.  Jason did an awesome job setting the blog up (and he has written some really great posts).  I have had the best time posting here and getting it all started.  I hope in the coming year that I can find the time to keep up with it even more.

2011 wasn’t perfect of course.  What year is?  We had our ups and downs financially.  My car died and I had to lease a new one.  Nick was born and came with bills (need I say more).  Jason’s job has caused us grief, but things are looking up there.  Still it was probably one of the best years we have ever had.  I am very much looking forward to the year ahead.  I’m sure that watching Nick turn into a toddler will be both a joy and a sorrow.

I wish all the best to you and your family, and I hope that 2012 is a wonderful year for you.