Top 10 of 2012

Here it is the post that sums up the highlights from our year. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did getting to look back at all we have been blessed with in 2012.

Lots of firsts and finals...

Now that Rose has transitioned from a baby to a young toddler I realize all the things that she has accomplished this year.

Rose right after New Year 2012

Rose enjoying the snow a few days before 2013

I completed a year of breastfeeding and Rose had her last bottle. Rose is off and running and now sleeps in her own room through the night. No more swaddling or being rocked to sleep. I really miss not rocking her to sleep and don't regret a single moment I spent holding my baby girl.  

Justin completed a whole year working for Bechtel Kitchens

Poor Justin has to work with my dad and brother and then come home to me…needless to say my mother is his favorite Bechtel J

Rose turned 1!!!

We celebrated this milestone with friends, family, and cake! I am already busy planning party #2.

Beach vacations with the cousins

Rose got to sink her toes in the beach for the first time. Her favorite activity was chasing the seagulls. Lucky for her, Nana found a stuffed toy seagull for her (and we have 2 extra for backups!) so she can keep her bird fetish going strong away from the beach.

The Honda is STILL going J

Last year the Honda flipped 300,000 miles, this year except for a few months when Justin was doing some trouble shooting, she has continued to be my daily driver. It would be really nice if Honda decided to exchange her for a brand new car sometime this coming year…

Justin {almost} finishes Rose’s book nook

To be fair it's actually a lot farther along then in this picture, I just like to
remind Justin he promised it would be done weeks ago!!!

Justin has completed LOTS of other projects for Rose, so we'll cut him some slack here.

Poor Justin, never really gets a break L He works all week for my dad and with my brother and then has to complete my projects when he’s home. This is why my mom is his favorite person!

Rose’s 3 days at child care

So due to Uncle Matt’s accident (we are just happy Matt is doing so well!)  Rose was in child care 3 days this past year. It was a wonderful center and we loved her teachers. I think Rose really enjoyed the other children, except that they gave her the worst cold of her little life! This mommy just wasn't ready to send Rose off to a child care center, everything worked out and Rose returned to spending her week with Grandma and Nana.

Rose is a social butterfly :)

Being around other children is very important for development and we have made sure that Rose spends time around other children. Grandma takes her to library story time, we go to church (not as much as we should), and we are starting a music group in January. I am also looking into other opportunities to have Rose around more children (hopefully without getting sick!). 

Heather turns 30

I spent the day home with Rose and we made this hand print artwork for me to have forever :)

Well it was inevitable, I had to reach this milestone. If you would have told me when I was 20, that when I reached 30 I would be married with a toddler I probably would have laughed in your face, but life is AWESOME and I am excited to share this next decade with my little family.

We get a new roof

The final room in our home to remodel is the back bedroom and bathroom which will be our master suite. We have been delayed in this due to a leak in the roof since we bought the home. This fall Justin and my brother put on a new rubber roof, so far so good! Now we just need more time and money and it will be finished!

2012 was a terrific year for us and I hope that 2013 brings everyone many blessings!

Christmas

Merry Christmas!!!

Rose spent the morning being spoiled by her Papa and Nana along with Uncle Bruce and Aunt Kate :)

Then we spent a relaxing evening together playing with new toys!

We kept gift giving very simple this year and just purchased gift cards to restaurants or stores for everyone. Rose did get a special gift for Nana and Grandma, though. We gave each of these special ladies another ornament for their collections and a MPIX mini accordion documenting Rose's first year.

Rose has all week home with mommy and a few play dates planned to keep us all happy :)

Merry Christmas Eve

Rose has had a busy few days leading up to Christmas. On Saturday we met Anna for the first time! Brahm is a super big brother and Rose enjoyed playing with his toys. Mostly they engaged in parallel play, until Rose realized Brahm had glasses, then the chase was on (luckily Brahm wanted to be chased)!!!

Rose is teething and miserable :( Her little nose keeps running and she is very unsettled. So it was a nice distraction to have pizza and presents with Kate and Jon on Sunday night.

I LOVE Christmas Eve :)

I think the day before is even more exciting than Christmas because of all the anticipation and preparation for the festivities, plus we usually get some presents on Christmas Eve too, so that doesn't hurt either :)

Christmas Eve also marks the 1/2 year for our wedding anniversary, so Happy 6 1/2 Years to us!

Our little Rose is also 20 Months old today :)
Here is just a quick update on her development:
-using 8 word approximations/words consistently
-using another 10 words sporadically and making a lot more sounds
-starting to pick out 2-3 colors (I think blue and purple are her favorites)
-wonderful pretend play with her dolls and stuffed animals
-can drink from an adult cup with no spills
-likes frozen peas and blueberries
-tried fish for the first time and liked it
-always points out the moon
-runs, climbs, kicks, and throws
-does things on purpose to get us to laugh

We spent Christmas Eve with Grandpa and Grandma after installing a new dishwasher for Nana (if you need a dishwasher go to Clarks in Fleetwood. Then Justin will show up with your new dishwasher, install it, and take the old one away for you!)

Rose enjoyed all her presents and LOVED fondue :)

  

  

Rose has already received bunches of new toys all month, after tomorrow there will be a sudden decline in wrapping paper and bows, she might not like this...

Christmas celebrations

We had a jammed packed holiday weekend J Rose got to attend my Christmas party at work on Friday afternoon and although I mostly spent the time chasing her around the restaurant we had fun!

Saturday after our normal trip to the Farmer’s Market we went to a Music Together class which was a demo for prospective families, and their holiday party complete with Santa and friends.

Rose really enjoyed the class. This class was very large; the class we will join in January will be capped at 10 children. Rose was initially very clingy to Justin and I, but as we started singing and playing with instruments she got much more comfortable and moved about the group. We are really looking forward to going every week!

So back to Santa. We didn’t bother taking Rose to sit on any Santa’s last year. I figured she was too young to understand what was going on and I really didn’t need a picture of a stranger holding my child to pack away with her baby items. But since Santa was there we gave it a try. I told Rose this was Santa and he is a fun guy who our culture uses as a symbol for Christmas (I’ll give her the whole rundown when she is older, but thought I should at least try and tell her something). Anyway, as soon as I went to sit her on his lap she cried (which really made me feel better than if she had just accepted being placed in some strangers lap). So we got some very nice pictures next to Santa J

Since we didn’t get home until after noon and then it was even later when Rose finally went down for a nap, we decided to try an outing to Christmas Village, figuring Rose would be able to stay up past her normal bedtime. Ok, if you get nothing else out of this post here it is: DON’T GO TO CHRISTMAS VILLAGE (at least on a weekend close to Christmas). There was a lineup of cars on 183 back to Old Church Road. So after we finally arrived the parking attendants were very rude and seemed more interested in chatting with each other and waving their wands, then actually getting you to a parking space. I also think $9 for an adult is overpriced. Anyway, Rose seemed to enjoy some of the lights and now we can say we went. IF we go again we will definitely plan to go when it is less busy.

We ended the weekend celebrating Papa’s birthday. Rose got an early Christmas present from great-grandma...FINGER PAINTS :)

So we had to try them out :)

And no birthday is complete for my dad without a homemade angel food cake. I think this year's was the tallest yet!

Rose was enjoying a mix of chocolate and coffee ice cream thanks to Nana.

Rose got Papa a pair of oven mitts (for when he grills), anyway, she thought they were fun and hopes he enjoys them.

And now we're on the final countdown! I can't wait to have even less room in our house with all of Rose's new toys ;)