What a year 2011.

Overall, I think this was the most "un-happening" year in the sense that no drastic life changes were made. In 2010 we found out we were pregnant, bought a home, Andrew graduated grad-school, we had a baby, and our life completely changed in a matter of 365 days. However, 2011 was a complete opposite. There were no big events, no life changes, or anything close to that matter.

It was however the year that we evolved in our role as parents as well as husband and wife, grew as individuals, and really enjoyed this little life that we have begun. I would even go as far as to say that we did pretty good as "first year parents," and building the foundation for our future as well as our children's futures. And that's why I believe that 2011 was just as monumental as 2010.

In its own way.

So what did we do? Well, let's take a look. 

January.

My maternity leave ended and I had to go back to work. This was when I still worked days and Andrew was finishing up graduate school. So he would be home with Elliana during the day and I worked 3 days a week. Day shift. Crushed me. I wrote this post where I really poured out my heart.

Also, I made changes to the blog. Big changes. I changed the design, name, and feel of it. I had a schedule... although I have not stuck to it all year, I do plan on going back to my original thoughts for my blog. More on that later.


February.

This was the month that a big change happened in my life. Where I made the personal decision to start couponing more, researching more, and figuring out how to save more money, make money, and earn free stuff. And I am so happy that I did.

I also made one of the best purchases of my life. And that was the snuza. After reading about multiple SIDS babies, I just lost it at home, was a complete mess, and came to the realization that something, needed to be done. And that's when I met snuza. Snuza met me. And we become best friends for life. We obviously don't use it anymore, as she is much older, but we plan on using it with our future babies as well!

March.

This was a monumental month for me as I made the switch to night shift so that I could be with my baby full time during the day. And I have never regretted it from that day forth. It has been one of the best decisions I have ever made and I have loved to watch my baby grow every second of every day. Not missing a single beat.

Also, I remember March being important for my little ol' blog here. There were moments when I had thought about going private, but I quickly realized that this blog is not about keeping secrets or hiding who I am. Instead it's about showing my life, re-living the memories, and capturing the special moments. Plus, add a little bit of sass and laughter in it... and well that to me turns into one of my favorite hobbies to date. Blogging.

April.


April was just a relaxing month for us. Nothing big going on. We were getting very comfortable in this whole "parent" thing. And with me having switched to night shift, I was finally getting the groove of things. And... the baby was finally starting to take naps... 30 minutes or 1 hour at a time... but regardless... she was learning. As was I {how to survive on no sleep}.

I did however learn some lessons of being a mom just a few months in. I wrote about it here.

And of course, it was our baby's first Easter.

May.


My baby turned 6 months old. Half a year. It was big for us. Huge. We turned 6 month parents as well. 6 months breastfeeding also. It was a great month of celebrating these big things happening in our life.

Andrew also graduated from graduate school and we were SO SO proud of him! He even got a big boy job just a couple months prior. We were overjoyed and blessed.

At the same time, I switched units in our hospital and started working in the ICU. I couldn't be happier with where I am at today in my career.


June.


Summer was here. I feel like a brand new woman during this season. It's definitely my favorite season. I am always the happiest. And now that we have this little bundle of joy? It makes it even 10 times better. Because I get to enjoy it with her.

I also discovered something absolutely amazing. This stuff is DA-BOMB {I just love saying this, as I know it will embarrass me 10 years down the road... er.. or 1}. And you know what, it's even awesome in the winter time! I can't drink any other beer now. Once you go BLL... you can't go back.

Elliana also said "Mama" for the first time. My heart melted guys. Blob. On.The.Ground. That would be my heart.

We also left Elliana for the weekend for the first time ever to go to Andrew's sister's wedding in Arizona. It was hard, but we survived.

July.


Birthday month. This was my golden year. I turned 25 on the 25th. I have a beautiful home, a handsome husband, and blessed with a precious daughter. I have my health, and my family nearby. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world. It was a good birthday to say the least.

Our AC also broke this month. And that was torture unbearable to describe. We also had issues with the company our insurance people set us up with. A hot mess {ha} it became. We fired those people and went onto the next. And 9,000 dollars later {somehow we ended up replacing our working furnace too?} and we were living like humans again.

August.


We celebrated our second year wedding anniversary. And we recapped what an amazing 2 years of marriage we had. And another 70 more to go. If not more.

September.

Elliana got to go to the zoo for the first time ever! It was such a fun family affair, and we can't wait to go back again in the spring.

October.


Elliana had her first halloween. She was the cutest little cow on earth.

November.


Our baby turned 1. We celebrated the year that marked the best time of our life. Our lives truly began the day she was born. And it has been magnificent since.

We also celebrated Thanksgiving with both my parents and Andrew's parents. And Elliana started walking!


December.


We wrapped up the year with Christmas, and it was magical. It was everything I could have asked for it to be. And we are so thankful for the year that we have been blessed with. The gift of life is what we are most truly thankful for.

Thursday Randoms

1. Rolling on the ground. My daughter's new thing is that she loves to just roll around on the ground. All the time. And she kicks her legs up in the air. Makes lots of noises. Then does it all over again. This is how she hangs out most of the day.

2. DIY Canvases. So I did this project a couple of months ago, and then never got around to going back to it again, however a couple of days before Christmas I realized that I had these pictures blown up, these canvases purchased, and all this modge podge {sp} stuff hanging around and it just needed to be done. So I did 3 more. And I have to say, I was so impressed and so happy with the end result {and so were the recipients}. I think my brother kissed the canvas that I gave to him a million times.

3. Hott dress. I'm not sure if I mentioned this last week, but I had ordered a dress from Macy's for Andrew's birthday and it arrived like the.day.before. I had purchased a back up dress just in case. But no worries, it came in time and it was f-a-b-u-l-o-u-s. I love everything about it. It made me feel like a hott mama {just for a moment}.

4. Baby's sleeping. Why is it that the babies are just the sweetest when they sleep? And suck their thumb? I melt into a huge blob when I see her sleep. And on our way down to Louisville for Christmas, I got to stare at this all day.

5. Puzzle Picture. Um. Awesome. Let me tell you. The only reason I had gotten this is because it was free with my "save more bucks" but seriously, I would definitely pay money for this. And I will again next year. This is a puzzle magnet, and I can't wait to put it together with Elliana one day. In the meantime, it will hang out on our fridge {once I rearrange a few things}.

6. Christmas Matching. Elliana kind of set the tone for our Christmas outfit. I was originally going to wear jeans, heals, and nice shirt. However, once I put on her sweet little dress, I just knew I had to match her in some way. So remember that "back-up" dress I talked about above? YES. That came to good use here.

7. Back seat drivers. Does everyone else sit with their babies in the back seat when the husband is driving? I do every time. And we do weird stuff. Make weird noises. And annoy the husband. Ha. She brings out the child in me, what can I say.

8. Puppy love. No, not that Carson kind. This is one of those "dancing dogs." Holy moly what an invention. It took us forever to figure this thing out {don't laugh}. But in all seriousness, we could not figure out why it would stop mid-song. And then we realized we weren't pressing it down hard enough. Well. Ladies and gents. Now that we have that figured out, lets just say Elliana ADORES this thing. She hugs it. Kisses it. Claps her hands to it. I mean, b-f-f.

 9. Christmas AINT ova.  The calendar may say so, but I still have my little freebies arriving at my doorstep, and believe me, I'm not complaining one bit. In fact, these are my latest obsession.

10. Russian baby. She totally plays the part well. And the sass? Shut the front door, this girl has it down to a T. I don't even have to train her. It's an art she has mastered. Plus, I just adore this hat and coat so much. We get so many comments at the store when we go out. Elliana loves the attention.

11. MY BOOTS! My boots my boots my boots. These are the ones I have wanted so so bad. The Steve Madden Intyce. And I got them. And I love them. And I LOVE my MIL for getting these for me. They arrived in the mail yesterday and I was tempted to wear them to work. What? It would totally go with scrubs. These boots can go with anything... or nothing. Wink.

When Husbands become kids. I mean kids become Husbands.

Here's the thing about boys. Men. Husbands. Whatever you want to call them. They're all alike. In the sense that... they never truly do grow up.

You can have a 12 year old, immature, hairless, high-pitched pre-teen, and then you can have my 25 year old (as of like 5 days ago) husband, and I guarantee you wouldn't notice the difference.

Okay, maybe some difference. But those don't really matter. What's important is that they are the same species.


For instance, let's rewind here to a couple of days ago.

T'was the night before his birthday....I receive a text...

A: "Becky... for my birthday.. I request to play video games."
B: "Okay... your birthday is not until tomorrow."
A: "Yes. But it's my birthday week. So I request to play video games tonight."
B: "I request a Louis Vuitton bag. Since we are requesting things around here"
A: "Goodbye."

That was how our conversation went.

And then he came home from work. We did our usual routine. We ate. We played with Elliana. We giggled. Did bath time. Read books. And put her to bed.

I snuck into the office to check my email, when what do you know, the "pre-birthday" boy himself walks in to.... what do you know, "play video games."

Okay. Fine. Whatever. His birthday was in fact just hours away.

So he played. While I answered some emails and enjoyed my bud light lime. Oh yes, I forgot to mention that bud light lime came into the picture an hour prior. How else would I survive a night of video gaming.


That and twitter. Although, 99% of the time I feel like I am talking to myself... it does still serve the purpose of its entertainment. And then you get those select few friends who turn around and egg me on. I fall to peer pressure.


Oh yes, back to the husband. So. I'm sitting there next to him while he games like a dweeb {hott dweeb, might I add}. Talking to his little "friends" on his headset.  In all fairness, they are really his "real" friends. But still.


And then, 2 {or 6} bud light lime's in, a few tweets later, and I decide that I wanted to make some "animal" noises really loud into the "microphone" of the headset.

Well. My friends. I highly do not recommend this.

I  got kicked out. Andrew was embarrassed. I was giggling like a school girl. And here I am dragging my butt downstairs thinking... "what to do now."


Cookies? Why yes, that sounds like a marvelous idea.

I set the temperature to 350 and wait. And wait. And stare. It's 350. It probably "ding-donged" a long time ago. But I'm still staring. 10 minutes later, and then, I finally realize that oh it's ready for me.


Cookies go in. 10 more minutes pass, and I realize that it's supposed to be at 325. Fail.


Then, I pull the delicious chocolate-chip cookies out. No worries. They survived my little mistake. I put them on a pretty little white plate, salivating at the sight of their sweetness, when I quickly realize... Houston, we have a problem.


Cookies and milk? Or cookies and beer. Oh the decisions to be made.I was between a rock and hard place.

Unfortunately, the decision was made for me when I realized that the only milk that was left in the fridge was my daughter's organice whole mils... which so happens that there was only enough for her in the morning.

Being the good mom that I am, I made the responsible decision to forgo the milk and stick with the beer.

During this dilemma of mine, I receive this text from my husband {who is upstairs}...

Question of the hour. Did I go... or did I stay.

Well. It was his birthday after all.

And the good wife in me?

Grabbed my bud light lime. My plate of cookies... and...

"Honey. I'm home." - {with the animal noises left at the door}

Happy Birthday again, My love. Only for you would I endure this sort of torture in life.
Man, I love you.

Christmas Recap {Show Us Christmas}

What a great way to end the Christmas link-up hosted by myself and Aly by recapping all the wonderful things we did over the Christmas weekend! I hope everyone enjoyed all their gifts and were surrounded by those they love most.  I can't wait to see what everyone was up to!!

As for the S household, we were a busy little bunch.
Christmas Eve we started out by picking up the little one from my parent's house {Andrew's birthday was the 23rd and we stayed downtown that night}. We headed back home singing Christmas carols {ha} and then took a nice little nap {much needed}. 

Elliana got dressed in her "Christmas Eve day get-up" and she of course looked as cute as ever. I think that as soon as she put that outfit on she felt like she owned everything and everyone. She pranced around like a little beauty queen making all sorts of ruckus.

Meanwhile, Mama and Papa are running around the house trying to get thinks packed and get the car loaded for the weekend. Not to mention the ten million presents we had to somehow squeeze into the car. That was fun.

Eventually, we made it. We got ready. Everyone got themselves all spiffy good looking and headed out the door to my parents house. Well, first, we had to roll around the ground like a wild woman. And by we, I mean Elliana.

At my parents house the Christmas music was playing, the home smelt of my mother's home cookin' {russian home cookin'} and the mood was set.

My brother, sister-in-law, and nephew arrived shortly after. Lots of hugs and kisses went around as I hadn't seen my brother for over a month {what a shame, we live only 30 minutes away}, and I even gave him his birthday card/present then. His birthday was November 30th. Oops.


In no time, we were gathered around the table, giving our Christmas toasts, and eating a mucho delicious meal. Mucho mucho. The dogs were begging at our feet in their usual style, and the kiddos were ready to go and play.

Due to the ridiculous amounts of presents {took up almost the whole room} we had to open presents in spurts. And we had to start soon if we ever wanted to get done and get to bed.

And the chaos began. One after the other. Presents were being thrown. My nephew was opening presents that weren't his. Elliana was getting lost in the piles. Drinks were getting spilled. And the P household had turned into a real-life zoo on Christmas.

We had to finally stop and take a break it was so insane.

So what do we do when we take a break? Why, we go and eat more. That is what Russians do. We love our food, and we love to take breaks. Because we hate being overwhelmed. Wait... I think everyone is like that, no?

missing Dad and Andrew in picture

At one point, I had both babes in my lap. My precious Elliana and my nephew that I adore to pieces. These two are a riot. Only a picture can show you. Evidence. Two kids? Practice makes perfect.

And then back again. This went on for hours. Eventually we finished around midnight. And to say that we were pooped out would be an understatement. Elliana of course did not make it through the night and had to go to sleep around 930. And she slept like a baby.

Christmas Day we woke up early at my parents house, loaded up the rest of the stuff, gave Elliana a quick bath, and got her into her dressed into her cute little Christmas Jammies.


She of course snoozed in the car, and we arrived to Louisville in no time where Andrew's parents, sister and brother-in-law, and nana were waiting for us.
We ate a nice hearty breakfast {never disappointed over there} and then soon gathered around to celebrate Andrew's birthday. That's a first. Seeing as how he was born 2 days before Christmas, we cannot celebrate Christmas until we celebrate his birthday.

So we opened presents and cut the cake and said... "Hurry up Andrew." Not really. But I'm sure that's what we all were thinking.
And then we opened presents for hours. Elliana wasn't as into the opening of the presents this day as she was the night before, but I think that's because she didn't have her crazy wild cousin around showing her the ropes.


Regardless, we all had a blast.


Elliana got pooped out again, took a nice nap, while dinner was being served. We ate a nice Christmas dinner, with {per Andrew's and his sister's request} a special deep fried turkey and it was glorious to say the least.

Here are the dogs. Also waiting to taste one of the sweetest things to have blessed this earth.

gathered around the fried turkey

The night ended with drinks, basketball, and a whole lot of baby stealing phones, remotes, and pressing buttons.

Oh what a joy.

And early the next morning, we enjoyed more amazing family time. More great food. And Elliana got lots of snuggles from her grand-pa.

We were all pooped by the end, and it has definitely been wonderful to finally be home. However, we came home with 6 full large trash bags of stuff, not including the big item boxes.... and we have no desire to put it all away.

I've started.... but I sure have a ways to go!!

And about those gifts? Here is just a glimpse of some of those goodies that our families spoiled us with!

and I forgot to add the Keurig in this picture...
because we do have one of those now. Hahaha. Yes. He was thrilled.

I hope everyone had an amazing Christmas... can't wait to see it all!! Grab a button and link up! {please do provide a link back to mine or Aly's blog if you plan on linking-up. You do not have to share the button, unless you choose to.}

 

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