2010–a year in photos

2010 in photos VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

I threw together a quick album of various photos from 2010, trying to keep it to two or three pictures from each month. The biggest thing for me was seeing how Nicole went from a toddler to a little girl this year… she literally gre up right in front of my eyes!
I didn’t think I did a lot this year – aside from have a baby, that is, but 2010 was really huge beyond that. Here’s a rundown that goes a little further than the photos: (the photos in this post are not duplicates from the album)

January – decided to start looking into adoption as an an option to continue expanding our family; experimented with sewing, baking, and cooking. Babysat part time a bit. Organized, visited Childrens Museum, and had fun overall.

February – scraped down wallpaper (holy terrible job batman), got new couches for upstairs (our first real furniture purchase, yay! one of many this year), rearranged the livingroom for the first and second of two thousand times this year, made candy, baked buns together, made a flower girl dress, made a wedding cake, repainted the kitchen/livingroom/hallways upstairs. Got pregnant, felt like crap during those last three, didn’t know why.

March – found out why. March 1st, positive pregnancy test. Broke down into tears, went into shock, and then picked out the tandem stroller I wanted before Chris even got home to find out I was pregnant. Rearranged the livingroom some more, made hair clips, Nadine visited from BC, ate lots of toast.

April – felt worse, ate more toast, got bigger (Nicole and I both)

May – Chris made Nicole a play structure, I felt better and made homemade pizza pops and then worse and made more toast. Chris celebrated his 25th birthday, and we had a surprise party for him with steak dinner. It got hot really early and we pulled out the pool. We started a little garden and got excited. I ruined my back for a while digging out holes for small trees and tomatoes and learned a lesson about taking it easy when you’re pregnant. Just kidding, I learned nothing at this point and didn’t start taking it easy until August. Nicole with tree for size reference, this is supposed to be an annual photo and we’ll see if I remember.

June – went to the zoo, the Canon Rebel I’d been saving for went on sale and Chris bought it for me, I took a lot of pictures and started studying to learn manual shooting. Chris worked on the basement and got the playroom and basement reinsulated, studded, framed, drywalled, mudded, sanded, and painted. (whew!) I made salsa, the basement flooring went in, and we all played outside. We ate fresh young veggies from the garden and we were all excited about it.

July – Canada Day celebrations, strawberry picking, a small town fair. Lots of hanging out outside with friends and family. Nicole got her ears pierced for her birthday and was a trooper. (month later they were taken out when they got infected and I decided to let them heal over because one of the holes was terribly off-center and I couldn’t take it any more.) Nicole ran around a lot, I slowed down a bit. We did a fancy tea party for her third birthday with family, and a ‘puppies and kitties’ party with her friends that turned into more of a pool party. The basement was finished and we worked on Nicole’s room.

August – Nicole’s room was basically finished, although still needs new curtains at the beginning of 2011. We found out we were having a baby girl and Nicole got very excited about her new baby sister Olivia. We went camping with my family, and we wound up adopting our inlaws dog, Lily. I got huge and slowed down a lot.

September – I did a lot of crocheting. My craft room was finished and beautiful and clean and neat. (it stayed that way for months, right up until Olivia was due/born in November. Now it’s a hot mess and I need a good hour in there.) I got my hair cut off. Nicole and her cousin started a small once-weekly preschool class. Hunting season, and Chris dissapeared. Nicole and I played in the leaves.

October – I turned 21. No, just kidding, 24. I was going to have a crafty party like last year but then the thought of throwing a party made me panic and I did a quiet Girls Movie Night In with a few close friends instead. Chris was in the depths of hunting season and forgot to get me a gift and I took it very graciously. I continue to milk it today, and can probably keep referencing it quietly until next year. He will probably not forget next year. We finally did the nursery. I took pictures for friends, Nicole had fun in preschool, and my sister in law helped me out tons with Nicole while I flopped around being huge. I sewed a little bit. We all played in the leaves.

November – I wound up very overdue. I sewed things for the nursery to pass the time, and my sister in law took Nicole several time a week for playdates.  Nicole painted a canvas for Olivia’s room and it was one of my favourite projects of the year. Chris had a crazy moustache for Movember and I had a baby. Olivia Christiana was born on Tuesday at 6am, home four hours later, and baptised on Sunday. Our family of three became a family of four. We hosted a big big party to celebrate. The sister-in-law I’d made a wedding cake for had her baby six weeks early, and while we’d been half a trimester apart for our pregnancies our baby girls were born 8 days apart. My mother-in-law was down to meet Olivia and visit, and was still in town to meet baby Lynsie too, who was due around Christmas time!

December – Busy sums it up. New baby, preparing for Christmas, new baby, new baby, preparing for Christmas, new baby. The holidays were crazy for me, since I was still adjusting to life with two kids and busy with a newborn, and I looked forwards to them ending this year. They were really fun for Nicole though! Presents, sledding, waterpark. Sleeping over at Grandma’s, staying in a hotel, chaos and fun. Schedules totally thrown to the wind, much to my dismay. Nicole got totally spoiled for Christmas, everything from a mobigo (‘my computer’ she says) to a little drumset to playdoh to a big ball with handle to bounce around on. I got contacts. Olivia got big fast. Chris framed up and drywalled the laundry room.

 

So, that’s our year in review! Actually a pretty busy year. We renovated and redecorated two bedrooms and the main living area upstairs and downstairs, as well as the craft room, plus Chris started on the laundryroom and downstairs bathroom. We had lots of fun with Nicole, and we had a baby. What a crazy year! I wonder what 2011 will bring???