Friday, December 31, 2010

Goodbye 2010

I've been a terrible blogger, but I'm not apologizing for it. Life the last four weeks has been a wonderful whirlwind of traveling, working, celebrating, and resting. Life has kept me too busy living it to have time to blog about it. But here we are, the last day of 2010, and I feel like I owed something. So I'll try and give a quick recap, a brief update while Ali naps, before we are up and off again to celebrate the new year with our friends.

To say that 2010 was a great year would be so woefully understated. I've done a lot during my adult life: years filled with international travel and weddings and degrees and triathlons and home purchases. Big stuff. Exciting stuff. And I started off this year with a post about how we finally, for once, didn't have anything big going on. A year of just being a mom. Of just being a family. And somehow that "just" turned into more laughter and joy than anything "big" thing that's ever preceded it. To watch our daughter grow and learn and discover, to witness her moving from rolling to sitting to crawling to standing to walking and talking and laughing and playing games, has been the most fulfilling, incredible experience I've ever had. What an adventure it is to be a parent.

Our lives have moved from "big" events like international trips and ironmans to "big" events like my first weekend away from my daughter, visiting Santa, and feeling our son kick and move inside me. What a paradigm shift.

So yes, I've been remiss. But life keeps us busy.

And next year? Oh, next year. What an adventure that will be.

Of course I'd never dream of leaving you without a picture. Some of my blog friends have done fabulous posts showcasing their favorite picture from each of the twelve months. I had grand plans to follow suit, but honestly, who am I kidding? Not only would that take way more time than I have to sort through the thousands of pictures I took this year trying to eke out my favorites, but it would be an exercise in futility. I could never pick just twelve. So I'll leave you with one, of Alina on Christmas, enjoying the cold winter air and laughing at the falling leaves and generally just being a toddler, being the thing that has so fulfilled and delighted me this year.

My cup overfloweth. Thanks, 2010.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Wordless Wednesday: It's a . . .


(You'll forgive the lack of a proper apostrophe for "it's." Children's blocks apparently lack advanced punctuation marks, though I say you can't start them early enough. The set also lacked an exclamation point, though to do the sentiment justice, we would have needed about ten!)

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Newest Little Family Member

On November 12, our family welcomed its newest little member: baby Chandler! My brother Brian and his wife, Ragan, welcomed their first daughter into the world, and she is a BEAUT! Katie and I get to go visit baby Chandler in North Carolina next weekend (which will also be Alex's first time alone with Ali!), and I can't wait!

Here are some pics of the cutie patootie. *sigh* I just love sleepy little newborns.





Check out the feet on this gal! She's going to be a tall one for sure.
How on Earth does any new mother look this fantastic and put together???
She caught right on to the Thanksgiving family tradition. Eat, then nap.

Brian with his baby girl. Love.

Welcome to our family, sweet Chandler!!!