A Look Back In 2010

Earlier today I was thinking about some of my New Year's resolutions for the next year. I decided to look up what mine were last year to see how well I accomplished them. I actually did better than I thought I had. I didn't do any scrapbooks, but I did make photo books for 2 of the 3 things I wanted to scrapbook. I didn't have a baby, but I am pretty close. We did get our old office redone into the new nursery. I did make all the blog books for 2009, but I haven't done any for 2010. I did do all the Photo books i needed to, and I did a better job of staying somewhat caught up. I am only about 3 or 4 behind right now, which is better than I was last year. I do feel like I spent a lot of time with Christian and we were able to do a lot of fun things together. I still feel like I could do more and could do better. I am not trying to make an excuse, but I feel like I wasn't able to do as much as I would have liked with Christian do to all of the sickness/tiredness of being pregnant. I have to do better this next year, but it will not be easy with two of them. I did clean out a ton of things in my house multiple times and organized and re-organized several areas of our house. Of course I am not completely satisfied with this because of the type of person that I am. This is not a bad thing though because it keeps me on top of things around here. I do feel like I did a lot in 2010 in this department though. Jason had a big year just himself. He ended up getting 2 promotions at his job. In the spring he went from being an associate product manager to a product manager. This had been a long time coming and it was great for him to finally have this role in his career. Then much to our surprise at the end of the summer Jason was offered the Marketing Manager position at his company, Bear Archery. This was a huge promotion for him and we were both so excited. I am so proud of him for how hard he works and how well he always has succeeded. He also got to go on his first deer hunt that was super exciting for him. He turned 30 and he found out he was going to have another son. He also decided and started taking classes to become a catholic. This has never been something that I have stressed or even worried about with us, but Last winter he came to me on his own and told me the shocking news that he wanted to be catholic. We were hoping to have all his classes finished before the new year, but he still has three left and then we have to decide when he should be converted. If you know my husband this alone is huge in his life and something I never dreamed would ever happen. We are all very excited but not making a big deal about it. Jason and I are not good with things being made into a big deal. I think this sums up 2010 for Jason and I have to say it was a year to remember. My year wasn't quite as big as Jason's, but I had a lot of blessings as well. Just getting so much accomplished around here was good for me. Having a successful pregnancy has been a huge blessing. As a result of Jason's Promotion I was able to cut back some of my hours at work and I only work between 10 and 15 hours a week and it really is closer 10 hours. I love it! It is great to see my clients and be home so much. I am very lucky to have the job I have where I can set my own hours, make really good money, and see all my wonderful clients that I love. This year was great for me in getting to really enjoy and spend so much time with Christian at this fun age. It won't be long and he will be in school and we won't have all this time together. I would have to say our family vacation to Mexico was a favorite also! Christian has grown up so much in the last year. He is close to being potty trained. he talks and carries on conversations that you wouldn't think possible by a three year old. he really got into swimming this summer. he went tubing for the first time and really got into boating on the river with everyone. He started watching movies more and it is so funny to hear him quote them. He sleeps in a big boy bed now and he is so excited to be a big brother. As a family we have grown closer and stronger with all of the ups and downs that we had in 2010. Overall I look back and think of this as a great year for our family and I can only hope for 2011 to be even better for us. I will have to post my goals/New Year's resolutions tomorrow!

Christmas Day @ Mom & Dad's

Our last stop on Christmas day was to my parents' house. We carried on our tradition of lining up on the stairs and all walking down. Youngest goes first and oldest goes last into the room to open presents. The kids were all excited to see all the presents under the tree. Christian got the present he had been waiting for from his Grandma and Grandpa Shetler. It was a big train set! When he was opening it he was so excited that he goes 'Merry Christmas' in the middle of unwrapping it. Jason and I were cracking up. Of course he wanted to open it right away and start playing with it, but we didn't want to lose any of the parts. Christian also got Emily the train from Thomas that he had been wanting. Uncle Johnny got him and toy dinosaur set, Aunt Mary and aunt Martha got him some hot wheel cars, Aunt Becky got him a little people's Nativity set, and Aunt Alisann got him a recorder and a music set. Christian was excited about all of his gifts. Alisann went in together and got the girls and Eli all ornaments from Dakri's and then we got each of them a little something to go with them. Emma and Anne got scarves, maggie got a purse and Lilly and Eli got a toy. Jason and I got James and Patrick stools with there names on it. They ended up being way more work than I intended, but I am glad that they liked them. John was so sweet and got all of his sisters a Godiva chocolate gift set. He is such a sweet good little brother. Jaxson got spoiled again and got his outfit to wear home from the hospital from his Grandma Shetler and his Uncle Johnny got him a cute little sleeper and bear blankie. We all went in and got mom and dad a gift card to West Baden in French Lick. We did this last year and they loved it and wanted it again. We also got them an ornament from dakri's that has everybody's name on it. Jason got a new pair of boots from Mom and Dad and together we got a couple of pieces to start a Christmas village. My dad has always collected the Department 56 Dicken's village and I thought it would be fun to start collecting that also. I got a warm up/lounge outfit, new tennis shoes, and cuddle duds long underwear. After presents we had a awesome dinner of prime rib and twice baked potatoes and all the sides to go with it. It was delicious! After dinner we had dessert and played the Wii dance Michael Jackson version. It was fun! I thought I was going to go into labor trying to do thriller. It didn't take long and Christian was worn out from the long day with no nap, so we had to head home. It was a wonderful Christmas spent with all of us together!