Corey and Brian Make it Legal!

A couple of Friday's ago Josh and I were honored to join our friend Corey, and our new friend Brian, her fiancee, downtown to witness their marriage. We met up with a few of her other friends and after the ceremony we all went out for drinks, had dinner at the Melting Pot and had a great night. Josh and I then spent the night at the Nines thanks to an online deal and the babysitting wonders of my dad and step-mom Kaye. Saturday morning we joined the newlyweds for breakfast at Mother's Bistro, one of our favorites. A good night to kick off their wedding year... the big celebration is this summer in Alaska!

Christmas Photoshoot

Before we got rid of the Christmas tree we had to take some photos with it since it's had so many presents under it before Sam could finally get in there and explore a bit more. A great opportunity for some cute photos.

A Year in Review - So Long 2011!!!

A year in review...

 

2011 got off to a surprising start in January as I was in my 9th month of pregnancy and dealing with an elevated blood pressure and going through fun tests to determine if I was dealing with pre-eclampsia. After a couple weeks I got a phone call at work on the first day I was to train my replacement for maternity leave and was told I was leaning towards mild pre-eclampsia so they were going to induce. Pack your bags and come to the hospital tomorrow night at midnight to check in. Umm... ok. Needless to say my trainee didn't get very much information in my final 6 hours of work. After almost 28 hours of labor which included nearly 3 hours of pushing Samantha Kelly decided to join us January 28th. She not only was the best part of the year but has been the best thing that has ever happened to us.

Other than Samantha's birth the year was kind of a bust. December 2010 brought some good friends moving away for a few years, and a couple days after Samantha was born another moved to be with the love of her life. :o) Having friends leave and my mom live so far away with a newborn around was definitely trying, but we got help when we needed it and were lucky that Sam has been an easy baby, even if we do still miss friends and family that are living away. (Glad to have you back though Corey, as of now!)

March 7th brought the darkest day I think Josh and I have ever seen as his dad passed away suddenly of a heart attack. We got to the hospital in 30 minutes from the phone call with Sam and all but he was gone probably before he ever hit the ground at home. We were lucky that there are so many family functions that we saw him just a week prior and glad he had a chance to meet his granddaughter and spend time with her for 5 weeks. I think about Wayne every day and miss him dearly, more than I ever thought possible.

 

Returning to work was a fairly smooth transition and Samantha gets to spend little bits of time with different people each day, but it was still not something I was ready for, and I'm still not. I love my time off with my little girl. Over the summer the school district I work in lost a long time faculty member, and my former principal, it was my second packed funeral of the year. Shortly after that we put our house on the market as a short sale as the economy, me working part time, and having a whole other mouth to feed has taken it's toll. We're ready to get out and move on with our lives... unfortunately that part drags on into 2012. A "short" sale is anything but.

We did have 2 summer weddings that were both very fun, one that Samantha came to, and one that was adults only, which meant Josh and I got to spend our first night baby free while we stayed the night at Skamania Lodge. 2 bright spots during the summer, back to back weekends. There were also a couple handfuls of babies born to both family and friends. Between July and November someone was having a baby!

 

As fall set in it seemed like we were just living day to day to and just trying to enjoy our new addition and look to the future. Then right before Thanksgiving Josh's grandmother finally succumbed to Alzheimer's. She spent the day with her family, went to bed, was checked on around midnight, and then 2 hours later checked on again and she was gone. Really not a bad way to go minus the Alzheimer's. Grandpa said he hopes to go the same way whenever his day arrives. We had a nice Thanksgiving, and then right before Christmas a family friend of the Berger's who we had played volleyball with for a few years died of lung cancer. That funeral carried into 2012 with the holiday madness and will happen next weekend. After that we're hoping the year of sadness will be done!

 

We are currently planning Samantha's first birthday party and are excited for what the year brings. One of my closest friends has officially moved back home, another is planning on coming back this summer, and hopefully my mom and step-dad will get a transfer and be back before the end of the year as well. We have 2 weddings on the schedule for the friends moving back this year, and possibly another one... we'll see. 4 funerals, 2 weddings, countless births, and one amazing baby of our own wrap up the year. Here's to 2012, hopefully no more funerals, moving out of our house, friends and family coming home, and endless love.

 

Happy New Year to anyone who reads our blog. If you care enough to read up about us we appreciate having you in our lives.

Scooter/Walker

A while back at a consignment sale I bought Samantha this scooter... it wasn't until we got it out at Christmas that we realized it stands up for walking too. That was a great find! Sam will sit on it, but doesn't know how to move it yet, but she's all about walking with it. Just in the last few days she's gone from not wanting to stand up without holding onto sturdy furniture to standing up with anything and wanting to walk all over the place. No first steps yet... but any day now we're sure...

Christmas Pics

Just a few random photos from the days after Christmas 

feet don't quite reach the floor yet...

Christmas with the Baldwin's

Friday before New Years we headed out to Canby for our final Christmas of the year. Just in time too! Sam got a Christmas book with Grandpa Eric's voice reading the story... she wasn't quite sure what to think at first, slight confusion why she could hear grandpa in the book when he was right in front of her. I have a feeling we'll enjoy reading that one every year. She also got a Duck pillow pet, among other presents. She just loves pillows right now, body slamming into them and cuddling anything soft. Now we just have to figure out where to put all Sam's new treasures!

Going for a ride on Grandma Kaye!

Christmas Chair

This is how we learn how to get off our new chair... now that she's been with it for a couple of days she can now get herself in and out of it... although she doesn't like to sit on her chair unless we put her on her bottom, she mostly just stands on it and climbs all over. She doesn't cry anymore when she falls off, and sometimes she doesn't even fall, she steps off carefully.

I love this sequence