2011

It's the last day of 2010.  What a busy year it has been!  I thought after all the craziness in 2009, life would slow down a bit in 2010, little did I know what this year would have in store!  I have a feeling 2011 will be just as crazy!  Here's a look at all of the things that have made life pretty hectic the last couple of years.

2009:

*Planned a wedding.

*Got married in June.

*Finished my final semester of college which included student teaching.

*Got my first real teaching job in November, finished students teaching a week early, and started teaching 6th grade.

*Graduated from college after 4.5 years.

*Duane started a new job which allowed him to be home A LOT more (still so thankful for this job).

2010:

*Finished my temporary teaching position and the job hunt was on again!

*In May, I was hired at a new school as a permanent 6th grade teacher.

*Celebrated our 1 year anniversary.

*Just 1 month after our anniversary, found out I was pregnant with Baby G.

*Started my new teaching job.

*Found out we are going to have a SON!

So as you can see..life has been pretty busy!  With Baby G due in just 11 weeks and Duane starting grad school in January, I know that life is going to continue to be busy and hectic.  However, I am SO excited to see what 2011 has in store.  Luckily, God already knows what's in store for us and will be beside us every step of the way.  That's something I am grateful for!

I'm not really one to make new years resolutions because I'm not good at remembering to fulfill them.  I'm more of a day-to-day person.  That being said, I know there is one thing I would like to accomplish this year and that is allowing myself to SLOW DOWN!  Now I know I can't very easily stop time, and that's not what I mean by slow down.  You see, I'm pretty non stop most of the time.  It seems like instead of "living in the moment", I'm constantly thinking about what's next.  This comes with my type-A personality and I've been this way my whole life.  My mind is always racing, my car is always speeding, and I'm always walking faster than my legs can move.  With Baby G coming into our lives, I want to make sure I don't rush through any of his different stages of life.  I want to enjoy every second of my son and take time everyday to enjoy the tiny person God has blessed us with.  I've heard about a million times how fast kids grow up, so now is no time to rush!

So that's my goal, slow down, take me time, and try not to give myself so many panic attacks in 2011.  Here's to hoping it works!

Here are some of my favorite pictures of 2010!


{Skiing at Perfect North for Duane's birthday, February 2010}


{Florida for Spring Break, April 2010.  Sidenote: I hope my stomach looks like this again...doubtful though!}



{South Haven, Michigan for our 1 year anniversary, June 2010}



{Kaia graduates obedience school!  June 2010}



{Fourth of July, 2010}


{We're pregnant!  July 2010}



{Our friends the night we broke the news to them.  July 2010}



{It's a BOY!}



{We're going to have a SON!!  October 2010}



{Our painted house!  October 2010}



{Our new nephew Korbin.  November 2010}



{Kaia in the snow!  December 2010}



{Christmas Eve 2010}



(Christmas Eve 2010}

Happy New Years blog friends! :)

Baby G's Nursery {First Look}

Baby G's nursery is not yet complete, but we have started getting it ready!  Duane has been busy painting and is glad to be finished.  I'm so excited to get the whole thing finished, but I know I need to be patient and wait until after our showers to put everything together.  I'm excited to post some pictures of the nursery for the first time today! :)

Here is the nursery thus far. . .


{Looking in from the door.  Don't mind the green shades, they will be gone soon!}

Lots of people ask me what the theme of the nursery is.  I don't really have an overall "theme".  Not that I have anything against animals, or sports, or cars (I feel like those are common nursery themes for boys) I just didn't want to use one for Baby G's nursery.  I'm kind of pulling some different elements together to make Baby G's room totally "boy-ish" and also trying to keep it classy.  I've used a couple of different things to figure out colors for the nursery.  The first was of course the bedding.

I registered for his bedding at Land of Nod.  I LOVE the bedding I picked out and can't wait to see it on his bed!  Here it is...

{Find it here}

We don't have the bedding yet.  I'm hoping to get it from one of my showers.  I can't wait to get it because I know it will really pull the room together!  From the bedding, I decided I wanted to paint the walls a blue color.  It took me a while to find a blue that I thought went with the bedding, but I finally did.  After Duane had painted most of the walls blue, I thought it might look good if we painted one of the walls red.  It's a pretty bright red, but I really like it's contrast with the blue!  Here are some pictures of the paint. . .



And the wonderful painter. . .

And here is the furniture. . .


{Crib is from Baby's R Us}



{Dresser is from Baby's R Us}


{Shelves from Target, currently on sale! :)}



{The swing will not be staying in the room.  Once Baby G is here, we will most likely move it to our living room.  It was given to us by a friend and happened to be the exact swing we registered for!}

I chose to go with white furniture, although it seems like most people choose brown for boys.  I thought white would match my color scheme a little bit better.  The nursery only has one window, so although there is plenty of light, I thought white would brighten up the room a bit.  Plus, the trim is all white, so I thought white would match well.  And of course in the back of my mind is always the picture of a little girl's nursery.  If I ever have a daughter, I know I'll want her furniture to be white.  That was my thought process. :)

The knobs that came with the dresser were just plain white, and I thought they looked a little cheap.  The knobs in the picture came from Anthropology.  They weren't cheap, but I love the way they make the dresser look much more custom and antique-ish.

Well there it is!  The first pictures of Baby G's nursery!  There are still lots of items to add, but I'm excited we were able to get a good start over Christmas break!  Leave me a comment and let me know what you think! :)

Christmas 2010

**Warning...LOTS of pictures to follow!**

Well Christmas has once again come and gone.  So much anticipation for just one day..but it's always worth it!  This was mine and Duane's second "married Christmas" and our final one as a family of two (ok, 3 if you count the large, incredibly furry dog).  It was another great Christmas.  Busy, but lots of fun!  We're both still trying to recover from it today (Duane is currently passed out on the couch:))!

We started off the festivities on Friday evening.  Duane and I opened stockings from each other before leaving for Christmas eve service at church.

{Duane opening his stocking}

{Kaia opening her stocking}

{I'd have to say, I have the best husband!  I got a gift certificate to get 3 prenatal massages in my stocking.  Is he great or what?!}

{Before Christmas Eve service}

After church, we headed to my parent's house to have Christmas with my mom's side of the family.

 

{Duane LOVES Sally..and the feeling is mutual!}

{Mom's pretty tree}

{My mom's mom with all of her kids}

Christmas morning, Duane and I opened presents from each other.  Duane got me a super cute camera bag I'd been really wanting!  It's a Kelly Moore bag, and I just love it!  Duane got a wireless keyboard for his iPad along with Apple TV.  Duane also got me a present for Baby G..my favorite Christmas book, How the Grinch Stole Christmas! :)

{My new camera bag!  Find it here!}

After we opened presents here, we went over to my parents house to see what Santa left us.  He left Duane and I lots of stuff!  Baby G even had a stocking that was stuffed full!  

I was so excited to get this diaper bag that I've been wanting since I found out I was pregnant...

{Find it here!}

{Santa also brought me a necklace with Baby G's birthstone.  Hopefully he doesn't come way early or late!}

About this time, I was ready to head back to bed...but we still had 2 more Christmas gatherings to go to! Whew, it was a long day!  After my parents house, we headed to Duane's parents house.  It was fun to watch our niece, Haylea, open all of her presents.  It will be a crazy Christmas next year with a 3 and 1 year old along with a 9 month old!

{My cute baby boy bracelet from Duane's parents}

{Last Christmas without Baby G}

{Duane's poor dad was in a mountain biking accident a week before Christmas.}

To wrap up our day we went to my Dad's parents house to celebrate Christmas with the Heffernans.

{Sisters with a vintage flare!}

{Grandpa with his new TV}

{Grandma with her great granddaughter}

Now you can see why Duane and I need at least a couple of days to recover!  What a busy, but fun couple of days.  I'm so thankful to have so much family close by to spend Christmas with.  It's a lot of traveling, but I'm glad I got to spend time with everyone.

Of course, I can't forget to show you all of Baby G's presents...

This kid is already spoiled!  I can't imagine what Christmas will look like next year!

And of course...Kaia got lots of goodies too!

One of which, she's already destroyed..surprise, surprise!

I hope you had a fabulous Christmas!  I'm off to see Wicked with my sisters, mom, and aunt! :)