Thanks for the memories, 2011!

We thought 2010 was a big year, but 2011blew it out of the water.  We will always remember 2011 as the year our lives changed and became fuller than we ever imagined possible.  So, here's a look at some of the memories we've made.

In January, ground was broken for our first home.

We also found out we were having a baby girl!

In February we celebrated our 5-year engagement anniversary.

And learned how to cook a Mexican meal for Gary's 27th birthday.

In March, we went on our babymoon to San Antonio, Texas.

In April, we captured my pregnancy with amazing maternity photos.

And at the very end of the Month we closed on our house!

In May, we hurriedly painted and decorated in anticipation of our baby girl.

On June 1st our baby's due date came and went.

Then in the wee hours of June 3rd, we met our baby girl Eliza Joy Ann, and we felt love like never before.

In July, Eliza celebrated her first holiday.

And we celebrated five years of marriage!

In August, Eliza started giggling.

In September, Eliza had her professional 3-month photos taken.

And I turned 28 years old.

In October, Eliza was baptized in Rochester.

And we celebrated Halloween.

In November, we finally had a finished deck!

And we traveled to Florida for Aunt Alissa's and Tio Luis's wedding.

And in December, Eliza had her half birthday.

And we celebrated her first Chrismtas.

Tonight, as I type, our baby is sleeping and will wake up in 2012 to a year of big possibilities.  It will bring a trip to Harry Potter World (and maybe Disney), Eliza's first birthday, a new job for me, and a trip to England, not to mention projects for the house including finishing the basement and upgrades to our kitchen.  Our family resolutions for 2012 are to slow down, save money, and establish a bedtime routine.  :)

In closing, I'll repeat myself:
Thanks for the memories, 2011.  We won't forget you!

Eliza's First Christmas

Aside from the fever that turned our normally happy-go-lucky girl into a snuggly reserved girl, Eliza had a good first Christmas.  We enjoyed the family time and giving & receiving of gifts.  Here are some pictures of our day.

Once again, we hope you had a Merry Christmas!

30 Weeks!

Wow, Eliza had moved out of the 20s and into her 30s.  We'd really like time to just slow down so we can enjoy every moment of her little life!  This past week, Eliza got to spend two days at home with her Granna Troutman to make sure she was fever-free (she was).  She was so excited to go back to daycare to see her friends and wealth of toys!  But the biggest point of the week was the new tooth that poked through,and then the second tooth that's made a small appearance.  She also tried peas for the first time.  It's hit or miss with Eliza and spoonfeeding, many times she is just not into it.

Here are some pictures from Friday!

Peeking out through her car seat

Playing in the toy basket

So happy!

Mommy's Sweetheart

Tooth!

We're happy to report that Eliza's first tooth has broken through on her bottom gum!  This little development probably added to the rough weekend she had, and definitely kept her from sleeping well this past Monday night. 

No pictures yet (have you ever tried to get an infant to open her mouth and let you look at her gums?), but trust us, it's there!  Eliza won't be chewing on our hands anytime soon! 

belated 29 Weeks!

With Eliza's most recent sickness and the Christmas Holiday, we forgot about Eliza's 29 week update!  Since that was several days ago, I'll instead give you a status update as of today.  :)

Eliza is doing better.  Her fever seemed to break for good Monday (yesterday) morning and she was so playful yesterday.  We went back to our home, and although the night was still a little rough (we're pretty sure teeth are to blame for that), she's SO much better.  Thank goodness.  We are praying that our little one gets healthy for winter!  We've had enough sick baby in the last couple months. 

Here are a couple recent pictures:

Back home, sporting my new hat from my Aunt Kolleen and family!

Almost happy on Christmas morning

We hope you all had a fantastic Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

The day has arrived!  We hope it's been merry and bright for all of our family & friends.

Before opening presents in family PJs

Later in the morning, Eliza wearing Aunt Alissa & Mommy's Christmas nightgown--approx. 30 years old

We'll be back in the next couple days with a full post on Eliza's first Christmas!

1 Day Left til Christmas

Merry Christmas Eve!

We had a wonderful dinner with the Roms today, but poor Eliza is just sick sick sick.  Not exactly the day we had in mind when we envisioned her first Christmas Eve.  If we've learned one thing about parenting so far, it's that nothing ever goes as we envision--it's necessary to go with the flow.  Unfortunately for us, that means no midnight church, which is one of my favorite things about Christmas.  Instead, we think we'll read the Christmas story and sing Silent Night at home.

Eliza did perk up today for about two hours, and we got some great pictures!

Looking at the doggy!

All smiles

Merry Christmas Eve!

Only 2 Days til Christmas!

We finally made it to Rochester this evening, several hours after we originally intended.  Gary and I decided last night that we would call the Dr. in the morning because Eliza has had a cough the past two weeks and there's been a confirmed case of RSV at daycare.  So, we called and explained her symptoms and they had us come in.  As a side note, we LOVE our pediatrician.  As luck would have it, we've ended up in her office at least once a month since Eliza has been born, and lately it's literally been every two weeks.  So we had a laugh about that today--that we just wanted to come in to wish her a Merry Christmas!  Anyway, it turns out that Eliza does have some wheezing in her lungs, though very quiet.  But the big surprise was that she has an ear infection!!  We had no inkling that this might be the case, as she hasn't pulled on her ear or anything that would have clued us in.  Hopefully that means we caught it early.  Oddly enough, all three of us are currently on antibiotics so we just aren't the healthiest for Christmas this year.  But, we're still enjoying ourselves.

Without further ado, here are Eliza's pictures from today!  I couldn't resist this shirt from Target the other day, it's just too cute!

Playing in my crib

Mommy, I keep telling you that's MY camera! 

Sitting in Mommy's rocker cradle, checking out Raggedy Ann

I'm Santa and Mommy & Daddy's favorite!

Getting to know Mommy's Raggedy Ann doll

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve!  We'll be enjoying Rom family Christmas and we can't wait!

3 Days til Christmas!

Sorry for the  late update.  I've been battling sinus pain/migraine the past three days.  Boo.

Today was our last day of work before the holiday and Eliza's last day of daycare.  We're excited to have the next several days together as a family!

Mommy's Favorite Gift, so true!

Why aren't there presents in here?

Daddy is making me laugh!

Since rice cereal on the spoon is going so well, we decided to try sweet potato puree tonight.  I had made a batch last week and we froze it in individual cubes to thaw out for individual servings.  It worked out really well!  Eliza didn't love her first few bites, but she got into it after awhile.  We only gave her about half.of the puree (thinned with some breastmilk).  We'll stick with sweet potato for at least a week before trying a new food!

not so sure about this!

Tomorrow we have some last minute things to do before we head to our hometown for the holiday weekend.  We'll be back to continue the countdown!

4 Days (that can't be right, can it?!) til Christmas!

Today was Polar Express Pajama Day at daycare, so Eliza wore her wintery pjs all day!  Lucky girl.  I wish the court had pajama day!  ;)  We don't have a Christmas-y background for this evening's pictures, but they are adorable nonetheless.

I love playing!

Oh hi, I'm just standing all by myself.

Mommy kept saying "cheese," but I don't know what that means.

We also have been having great success with spoon feeding this week!  So here's a video of our big girl eating some cereal.

Tomorrow is our last day of work before we're off for the holiday!  We are so excited.