A look back at 2011

My friend Susan at http://slmward.blogspot.com/ did this post so I thought I would too! It's just a look back at the last 12 months with my favorite picture from each month. I meant to post this on New Years Eve, but I forgot. I'm finally getting it up today, January 3rd!

January

Our sweet little Finley turned one on January 13th. This was a picture of her enjoying her birthday cupcake. She has changed so much in just one year! It's hard to believe that we will be celebrating her second birthday in just a couple of weeks.

February

This is when my sister came to visit us in California and we were having a girls day full of shopping! It was one of those days that I really enjoyed because it doesn't happen much, but when it does it is a lot of fun. H&M is our favorite store and so we spent most of our time in there.

March

Bella lost her first tooth and her second tooth on the same night. It was a huge ordeal getting them out because her big teeth had already started to grow in behind the baby teeth. There was a ton of drama, but we got them and now her big teeth are in. One of her top front teeth is loose now, but hopefully we can wait for it to come out on it's own.

April

I should probably put one up of Bella since it's her birthday, but anytime we have a family picture and we are all at least looking towards the camera, that is something to be proud of! This was taken on Pier 39 in San Francisco. My in-law's had come to visit and we were going to tour Alcatraz that day.

May

During the month of May we celebrated Mother's day, Jason's birthday, and our wedding anniversary. This picture is from Mother's day when Jason, Bella, and Finley got up and made me breakfast. We had french toast, hashbrowns (with ketchup), bacon, and chocolate milk, my favorite!

June

This was my first 5k in three years! I actually had my best time at this one and it made me excited about running again. It was nice and flat and we ran along the beach. It doesn't get any better than that! I ran until I was 9 weeks pregnant and then I had some problems and they told me to lay off for a while. It was really hard for me to just pick back up after I hadn't ran in 4 weeks so I have been walking 5 days a week since then. Walking is alright, but I really miss running and I can't wait to start back after this baby is born.

July

 We had family (by family I mean my WHOLE family!) pictures made when we were home during the summer. My parents like to send out Christmas cards with a picture of all the grandkids, so some time during the year we all get together for pictures. Pictures can be so stressful, but I'm glad that we have them. 

August

August was a great month for us! We moved back to Birmingham after living out west for three years! We also found out that we were expecting our fourth little peanut! This is a picture of Tyler and Bella's first day of school back at Our Lady of Sorrows. Tyler went there through 4th grade and Bella was there for preschool before we moved. I'm so happy that Tyler gets to spend his 8th grade year with all of his friends.

September

Here is baby number four at twelve weeks and five days. This was our second ultrasound. The first one was at almost nine weeks and it is really amazing how much they grow in just a few weeks. He looked like a little bean in the first one, but you can make out all of his body parts by 13 weeks.

October

Tyler turned 14, yes 14, on October 7th. It still blows my mind every time I tell someone his age. We could not ask for a better son. I know there will be some hard times ahead, but he is so not what I think of when I picture a 14 year old boy. He is so level headed and he knows exactly where he wants his life to go and the best way to get there. We are so very proud of him. 

November

On November 1st Jason and I found out the sex of baby #4. I wanted to wait until it was born, but he really wanted to know. We didn't find out with Finley so I told him it was up to him. I think he went back and forth about it because there are definite perks to not knowing the sex, but in the end his curiosity won out and he wanted to know.  I debated weather or not to post this picture because it is kind of vulgar, but I decided to anyway. So it's definitely a boy!! He is very proud of himself because every ultrasound we have had he has always shown it off. Even at 12 weeks the U/S tech could tell the sex. We still hadn't decided if we were going to find out so we waited.

December

Christmas was great this year! It is so nice to be back here and not have to worry about flying in and out and such a hectic time of the year. Finley still doesn't understand Christmas, but she had fun and she is really enjoying all her new things. 

Our New Year's Eve consisted of going to a wedding rehearsal, going to eat dinner, and then I was asleep by 10:45. I just couldn't make it to midnight. On New Year's day my brother got married so we got to spend the day with family. 

2011 was a great year for us, but I'm really looking forward to 2012. We will have a new baby sometime in March or April and HOPEFULLY we will be in our new house by the summer. I can't wait to see what else the year brings and I hope that everyone had a wonderful 2012. I've always heard that even years are better than odd years!