I went back through the entire year of posts and put together this year in review. It’s quite amazing to see how our little family grew, how blessed we were, and how much we did over the past year!
January
January brought lots of snow and fun. After the snow melted, Bella Grace decided it was time to come out of her cozy home and meet us. After a quick, intense, 100% natural labor, Bella was born. We were immediately head over heels in love and in awe of her beautiful, dark, head full of hair.
February
In February, we settled in as a family of four. Bryson went from crib to toddler bed. My days were filled with nursing, and nursing, and nursing.
March
More posts about breastfeeding and the 31 Day Challenge took up most of March. My days were still consumed with nursing.
April
In April, I turned 22 and Justin turned 23. My parents treated us and the kids with a trip to the Birmingham zoo. A trip where I totally forgot to bring diapers for Bella, had to hunt down a perfect stranger with an itty bitty baby, and ask her if she had a diaper to spare. Oh, the horror. Talk about embarrassed. We also took a trip to the aquarium and made our first trip as a family of 4 down south to visit my in-laws. April brought sorrow as tornadoes ripped through our area, my father-in-law was sent back to jail after falling into addiction once again, and several other (extended) family problems came to light. It was a rough month.
May
May brought our summer to do list and big plans for the summer. I made our first batch of homemade play dough and worked on our living room. We took the kids to Alabama Adventure, Day Out with Thomas the Train and learned that age two was certainly terrific, but not terrible at all. (Don’t worry, I’m paying for that with age 3. Promise.) May also marked the one year anniversary of Monica’s murder.
June
We basked in the sunshine, summer sweets, and simple pleasures during June. I began making homemade baby food for Bella and homemade sidewalk chalk for Bryson. It was a fun month filled with family time and growing babies. Bella finally started slacking off with nursing, so I didn’t feel nearly as tied down.
July
Bella turned 6 months old in July. We gave our bathroom a Glidden makeover and made some yummy rainbow cupcakes and rainbow pudding pops. We celebrated the 4th of July with friends and watched the fireworks at the Potato Festival. We took another trip down south to celebrate my mother-in-law’s birthday.
August
We focused on our laundry room makeover during August. Whew, that was a job! Bella started crawling, got her first tooth, and growled at her ice cream. We celebrated Autumn’s first birthday at the park, spent time at the lake, and visited the playground often.
September
Bryson was our little helper as we worked and completed the laundry room makeover. We made another batch of homemade play dough with some Halloween touches. That post is the most popular post on my blog. The fall fair came around and the kids had a blast. I shared my thoughts on pageants and opinions on elective induction. As far as the blog goes, It’s Gravy, Baby! got a full makeover and switched over to WordPress.
October
Simply put, October was fabulous. We went on our first family vacation to Destin, FL. We visited the pumpkin patch, went trick-or-treating, and decorated the house for Halloween. Hubby and I also took part in a wedding and I had to leave Bella for the first time. Thankfully, it was only 8 hours, but it felt like longer to me.
November
We were still playing outside in November! We celebrated Thanksgiving early with my family then traveled south to celebrate with Justin’s family. We fancied up the house for Christmas with some pretty holiday decor and planned our Christmas activities.
December
Bryson turned three! We celebrated at the Discovery Museum and Chuck E. Cheese. We took the kids to Christmas at the Falls, to see Christmas lights, we watched Christmas movies and read several Christmas books. We made ornaments and cute preschool crafts. The kids were both very into opening gifts and we had a wonderful month. We were still playing outside during December, not that I’m complaining!
This month will bring Bella’s first birthday. I look forward to watching my little family grow and thrive during 2012.
What a year! It’s so fun to look back at pictures and see how much the kids have changed. Bryson has grown into such a little man and Bella looks more like a toddler than a baby! I hope 2012 is a wonderful year for you guys!