The best year yet

We had a lot of fun on our new years eve this year. Both my Mom and my sister had surgery this week, and my brothers were off at a party, so Bryant and I decided to give my family some peace and quiet and went with his parents, who have been in town all week, up to his aunt and uncles home. His grandma and aunt and uncle and a few cousins were there as well.

(My brother-in-law Tyler, my mother-in-law Robyn and Bryant's Grandma McFarlane)

We spent most the night playing garbage (A Stokes version of phase 10... with a lot more competition involved...) answering trivia questions, playing pool and snacking on food. At midnight, we all counted down while watching the ball drop in New York on the TV. We all got a good laugh when we got down to "3...2...1.." and the TV shut off. Apparently, their TV is timed to automatically shut off at midnight haha! But don't worry, we still kissed and cheered and ran outside to watch the fireworks!

 (Bryant getting after everyone for cheating to make him lose at garbage.)

Savannah stayed awake until 1am! She had tons of fun chasing after Bryant's cousin's baby for hours on end. (We really have to break Savannah of her of her hair-pulling habit though...) And really loved all of the attention she was getting from everyone.

2011 was definitely a year to remember! It will always be my dear little Savannah Jane's birth year. It has been a tough one. A really tough one. I've given up my time, cut back on working, cut back on school, friends have fallen away, and my freedom has been restricted. But I can, with all honesty say, that I wouldn't give back this year, or being a Mom for any of that back. I loved every second of this year. All the tears, the worries and stress can't even make a dent in the joy I have had watching my baby grow and learn and explore. She's so perfectly happy, so perfectly healthy, so perfectly perfect that sometimes, after I kiss those chubby cheeks and she kisses my nose, I can't help but stand back and feel like crying with happiness. How did I end up with such a perfect life?

(Savy was in her jammies by 11, but there was too much going on to sleep!)

My resolutions for this year:

-Find our own place. At this point, I don't care if it's an apartment, condo, town house, or house. I just need more space, even if it's only a little bit bigger. If I don't have to have my couch and TV in my kitchen and Savannah has her own room, I'll be satisfied.

-Really crack down on school this year. It needs to get done ASAP

-Cook more often, get adventurous with recipes and trying new ones, and eating healthier.

-Lose the rest of this baby weight. I lost 20lbs in the few weeks that followed Savannahs birth and then never lost any more. I'm not going to be mistaken for pregnant by another person again (unless I really am pregnant, but that won't be for a long while...)

-Spend more time taking Savannah to experience new things. I've got lots of park trips, picnics, vacations, museums and fun planned for her this summer

-Get my apartment organized. De-junk and de-clutter. Clutter causes me stress, and I plan to throw all that stress out!

-Make a new friend. Hopefully a new friend with a baby too. I'm a little desperate for friends since most of mine don't have kids and don't really want to go hang out with a baby in tow. I need a friend that I can ask for parenting advice, hang out at the park with and laugh about the crazy things our kids do without them looking at me like I'm crazy, or give me the whole "well, we would invite you out to dinner with us, but I'm sure Savannah has to go to bed before we are done..." I need a good, dependable friend. Plain and simple.

-Be a better mom. I'm not going to worry so much about the messes Savannah makes, I'm going to enjoy making them with her.

 (Midnight kiss!)

Happy New Year everyone! Lets make 2012 the best yet!

An exciting new year

Well, here were are, another year over and a new one about to begin.

Last year, I wrote about my resolutions, and as is customary, I didn't keep many of them.
This year, however, my priorities are different. It's no longer just about me. I have many things that need to be done and accomplished before my little girl gets here.

So here it is! My annual list of "Things I want to do, but chances are I'll forget about them or not have time to finish them" list.

A.K.A. my 2011 new years resolution list.

1. Get a baby registry done by the end of January
2. Have baby girl's room done by the end of February
3. Sign up for birthing classes the first week of January
4. Finish my online classes by the beginning of March
5. De-clutter my apartment (mostly, this means making Bryant go through the 20+ white button up collar shirts he has)
6. Pay my car off, then put that money towards Bryant's car
7. Get that darn honeymoon scrapbook done (last years resolution was to have it done by May)
8. After I have baby, be able to fit back into my pre-pregnancy clothes by the time we go out to Mt. Shasta in July, that gives me roughly 12 weeks. I can do it!
9. Spend more time training Ace.
10. Try to be home more in the evenings
11. Open an Etsy shop
12. Learn not to be so anxious and stressed out
13. Be more adventurous when it comes to meeting new people. I'm in need of some friends
14. Be the very best Mom that I can be to my sweet little girl!

This year has been such an amazing one.

Bryant and I celebrated our first anniversary at Disneyland in May

(photo from Disneyworld on our honeymoon in 2009)

We went to Mt. Shasta for the 4th of July


A few weeks later we found out were were pregnant with our first baby

(26 weeks!)

We went to Jackson Hole Wyoming to go river rafting (yes, I went through class 3 and 4 rapids pregnant!) and it's was Ace's first camping experience.


I went to my first Macfarlane family reunion and we got to go to Yellowstone



Bryant and I have grown so much closer to each other this year as well. We've been able to learn what we need and expect from each other and we are able to communicate and are not afraid to tell each other when we don't agree with something. We've also learned how to better express our love for each other. We've learned to read into each others emotions and how to better deal and help with them.

I'm so terrified, yet so unbelievably excited for 2011.
It's going to be our biggest adventure yet!