2011- A year in pictures
I have to say, I think I'm one of the only people I know who is really very sad to see 2011 go. Unlike quite a few previous years, which I was more than happy to see go away, 2011 was a year completely full of momentous occasions for our family. We also faced struggles and trials, but it was the happy moments that stick with me the most.
When I did our family Christmas card this year, I decided to do something a little different. Mostly because this year was so very different for us. We became an "us" this year, well at least officially. In doing our Christmas card, I had to pick one picture for each month. That was HARD! So many BIG things happened, it was so hard to pick just one! So here is 2011, our year in pictures.
January 2011:
On this day last year, a certain someone got down on his knee in front of me and asked me to marry him.
From that moment, January was completely consumed with wedding plans, engagement pictures, me getting to know his family, and preparing for him to join our family.
Of course, January also brings a special birthday in our family. Payton crossed over the threshold of little boy into big boy. He turned 5 on January 9th and we celebrated Transformers style.
February 2011
February 5th, 2011 we became Mr. and Mrs. What an amazing day! I could post 25 pictures from that day, so I will just limit myself to one.
It wouldn't be a holiday in this house without me posing the kids of cheesy pictures. Valentine's Day 2011.
February also brought another birthday. Jason rang in 25 years on the 24th. We had cake and presents at the house, then celebrated later with more cake and playing 'minute to win it' with his family later (SO much fun!).
March 2011
March is the only month that brings two birthdays in our family. First mine, on the 11th. The dreaded 27th. I swear, the years are passing faster and faster as I creep closer to 30. Sigh. Jason and the boys threw me a shindig that weekend. My pregnancy was announced to Jason's family that day, when I finished opening my presents, Jason said there was one more present that I was getting but it would take 9 months to be here. :)
We joined in on the cheesiness for St.Patrick's Day. I'm proud and Irish, so the cheesiness hits an extreme.
The second birthday of March falls on the 31st. Avery turned 7. He made the decision to have his birthday in April, so on his birthday we opened up a few presents and had some cherry pie that Grandma Meade made for him.
April 2011
Avery's 7th birthday party was one of the funnest ones I've done. Harry Potter. I'm a nut. I've raised a nut. It was fantastic, a great day!
Easter.
May 2011
May started out with Avery cashing in on one of his birthday presents. A fishing trip.
It also brought the boys' first encounter with the Toy Fairy.
Summer semester at UAA kicked off with Jason starting college! Here he is on his first day of school!
And a look into what college with kids is like.
As the summer came ticking closer and closer (which is a bittersweet time of year in our house), we took a trip up to Eklutna Lake for pictures and some fun and quality family time. The boys proved that they are true little Alaskans as the waded through the COLD water. It was all we could do to keep Payton the fish from diving right in!
Avery's last ever day of first grade.
The family time continued as we neared the end of our time together before the boys' 9 week summer trip to North Carolina, Jason took us to his parents cabin for the first time. So that is where we spent our last weekend together.
The last day of May, we found out that our new little addition to our family would be a bouncing baby boy!
That night we brought the boys to the airport. And 9 weeks began ticking.
June 2011
I think understandably, I was not a fan of the summer and just wanted it to pass by as quick as possible. This was heightened this summer due to me being put on strict bed rest in June. This was also the first time I have ever been away from one of the boys on a birthday. Rylan James turned four on June 12th and oh how I wanted to hug and kiss that boy. So that weekend (since it was before bed rest) I went on a girls road trip with my friend Amber. The first night we went to Denali and stayed at the Denali Princess Lodge, the second night we went up to Fairbanks and North Pole. It helped keep my mind off missing my baby's birthday. I left poor Jason to fend for himself for a couple of days.
We also acquired a little surprise for the boys and named her Denali. We kept her a secret the entire time they were gone.
July 2011
this was the month that seems like one big blur. For Jason, it was spent juggling work, taking care of me, and his first semester of college. For me, it was spent in bed. I wasn't allowed to do ANYTHING at all. So Grey's Anatomy and Pinterest were my best friends. I hit the 20 week mark in July, and that week Jason did some pictures of me. I called these "Declan half baked".
August 2011
we were all back together again. Jason set me up with a day's worth of food by my bed, and caught a flight down to Chicago. From start to finish he was gone about 24 hours and brought back some extremely precious cargo late one August night.
August also brought mine and the boys' first time at the Alaska State Fair. Jason's parents found a pharmacy that would rent out a wheelchair. I rode around in style (thank goodness that no pictures were taken!) while everyone got to experience the fair together.
We also FINALLY celebrated Rylan's fourth birthday with a candyland party. Jason did the whole thing and pulled it off amazingly. The cake was my favorite part! Rylan was quite the happy boy!
Right before school started, the boys had a short little fishing trip with Grandpa and Jason.
And before we knew it... school started. Avery started 2nd grade and Payton kindergarten. It also kicked off Rylan's last year at home. WOW. Where has the time gone?!
September 2011
we got back into a routine in September, everyone busy with school. Jason and I were both taking classes full time, Jason also started a new job. While the beautiful fall colors were out, we snuck out to a park in Chugiak and shot some family pictures.
October 2011
we had a fall themed baby shower for little Mr.Declan in October. I don't have very many photos of it because my camera was bumped on to the manual setting and everything just blurred. But I do have a few. It was an amazing day and it was so wonderful to celebrate Declan's impending arrival with friends and family.
Halloween pictures of our superheroes
November 2011
I was ready to pop.
and on November 13th, I did.
a few pictures from Declan's first weeks.
December 2011
we spent most of the month adjusting to life as a family of 6. Before we knew it, finals were over and it was time for our first Christmas away from the boys while they spent two weeks in Iowa. We made the best of our time without them- getting a lot of bonding time with little Declan and then had quite the Christmas when they got back.
Farewell 2011, it's been great!
When I did our family Christmas card this year, I decided to do something a little different. Mostly because this year was so very different for us. We became an "us" this year, well at least officially. In doing our Christmas card, I had to pick one picture for each month. That was HARD! So many BIG things happened, it was so hard to pick just one! So here is 2011, our year in pictures.
January 2011:
On this day last year, a certain someone got down on his knee in front of me and asked me to marry him.
From that moment, January was completely consumed with wedding plans, engagement pictures, me getting to know his family, and preparing for him to join our family.
Of course, January also brings a special birthday in our family. Payton crossed over the threshold of little boy into big boy. He turned 5 on January 9th and we celebrated Transformers style.
February 2011February 5th, 2011 we became Mr. and Mrs. What an amazing day! I could post 25 pictures from that day, so I will just limit myself to one.
It wouldn't be a holiday in this house without me posing the kids of cheesy pictures. Valentine's Day 2011.
February also brought another birthday. Jason rang in 25 years on the 24th. We had cake and presents at the house, then celebrated later with more cake and playing 'minute to win it' with his family later (SO much fun!).
March 2011March is the only month that brings two birthdays in our family. First mine, on the 11th. The dreaded 27th. I swear, the years are passing faster and faster as I creep closer to 30. Sigh. Jason and the boys threw me a shindig that weekend. My pregnancy was announced to Jason's family that day, when I finished opening my presents, Jason said there was one more present that I was getting but it would take 9 months to be here. :)
We joined in on the cheesiness for St.Patrick's Day. I'm proud and Irish, so the cheesiness hits an extreme.
The second birthday of March falls on the 31st. Avery turned 7. He made the decision to have his birthday in April, so on his birthday we opened up a few presents and had some cherry pie that Grandma Meade made for him.
April 2011
Avery's 7th birthday party was one of the funnest ones I've done. Harry Potter. I'm a nut. I've raised a nut. It was fantastic, a great day!
Easter.
May 2011
May started out with Avery cashing in on one of his birthday presents. A fishing trip.
It also brought the boys' first encounter with the Toy Fairy.
Summer semester at UAA kicked off with Jason starting college! Here he is on his first day of school!
And a look into what college with kids is like.
As the summer came ticking closer and closer (which is a bittersweet time of year in our house), we took a trip up to Eklutna Lake for pictures and some fun and quality family time. The boys proved that they are true little Alaskans as the waded through the COLD water. It was all we could do to keep Payton the fish from diving right in!
Avery's last ever day of first grade.
The family time continued as we neared the end of our time together before the boys' 9 week summer trip to North Carolina, Jason took us to his parents cabin for the first time. So that is where we spent our last weekend together.
The last day of May, we found out that our new little addition to our family would be a bouncing baby boy!
That night we brought the boys to the airport. And 9 weeks began ticking.
June 2011I think understandably, I was not a fan of the summer and just wanted it to pass by as quick as possible. This was heightened this summer due to me being put on strict bed rest in June. This was also the first time I have ever been away from one of the boys on a birthday. Rylan James turned four on June 12th and oh how I wanted to hug and kiss that boy. So that weekend (since it was before bed rest) I went on a girls road trip with my friend Amber. The first night we went to Denali and stayed at the Denali Princess Lodge, the second night we went up to Fairbanks and North Pole. It helped keep my mind off missing my baby's birthday. I left poor Jason to fend for himself for a couple of days.
We also acquired a little surprise for the boys and named her Denali. We kept her a secret the entire time they were gone.
July 2011this was the month that seems like one big blur. For Jason, it was spent juggling work, taking care of me, and his first semester of college. For me, it was spent in bed. I wasn't allowed to do ANYTHING at all. So Grey's Anatomy and Pinterest were my best friends. I hit the 20 week mark in July, and that week Jason did some pictures of me. I called these "Declan half baked".
August 2011we were all back together again. Jason set me up with a day's worth of food by my bed, and caught a flight down to Chicago. From start to finish he was gone about 24 hours and brought back some extremely precious cargo late one August night.
August also brought mine and the boys' first time at the Alaska State Fair. Jason's parents found a pharmacy that would rent out a wheelchair. I rode around in style (thank goodness that no pictures were taken!) while everyone got to experience the fair together.
We also FINALLY celebrated Rylan's fourth birthday with a candyland party. Jason did the whole thing and pulled it off amazingly. The cake was my favorite part! Rylan was quite the happy boy!
Right before school started, the boys had a short little fishing trip with Grandpa and Jason.
And before we knew it... school started. Avery started 2nd grade and Payton kindergarten. It also kicked off Rylan's last year at home. WOW. Where has the time gone?!
September 2011we got back into a routine in September, everyone busy with school. Jason and I were both taking classes full time, Jason also started a new job. While the beautiful fall colors were out, we snuck out to a park in Chugiak and shot some family pictures.
October 2011
we had a fall themed baby shower for little Mr.Declan in October. I don't have very many photos of it because my camera was bumped on to the manual setting and everything just blurred. But I do have a few. It was an amazing day and it was so wonderful to celebrate Declan's impending arrival with friends and family.
Halloween pictures of our superheroes
November 2011
I was ready to pop.
and on November 13th, I did.
a few pictures from Declan's first weeks.
December 2011
we spent most of the month adjusting to life as a family of 6. Before we knew it, finals were over and it was time for our first Christmas away from the boys while they spent two weeks in Iowa. We made the best of our time without them- getting a lot of bonding time with little Declan and then had quite the Christmas when they got back.
Farewell 2011, it's been great!
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