2011...a pictorial year in review!

Hai! Happy New Year everyone!!! How was your night last night...what'd you do?! We went out for dinner & drinks at a local piano bar with a couple friends of ours, then stayed at a hotel while my sister watched the babe {I still call her a baby b/c regardless of how old she is, she'll allllways be my baby}. We had a great time, but I'm happy the holidays are over & a new year is here once again!

As promised, I'm here to deliver my annual photo recap of the past year - forgive me in advance, lots of my pics from last year will be of the munchkin...my life sorta revolved around her last year {and for the rest of my life, ha!}. I can't believe I'm starting my third year of blogging this year! The Dennifers have a lot planned this year, so I can't wait to see what the year brings & I am so honored all of you have decided to join me {or stay with me} for the ride! Anywho, without further adieu, my recap of 2011:


January:

We did absolutely nothing for NYE last year because we had a 2.5 month old, so my favorite & kind of unnerving moment in January was getting Amaya's ears pierced. You can kinda see the pierced ears in this photo of her playing under her activity mat/gym thingy. :)

February:

Amaya trying out her Exersaucer for the first time...

And celebrating the hubbs big 3-0 birthday with friends & family!!

March:

Celebrating our second wedding anniversary {went out for dinner/drinks & a movie}...

Amaya's first St. Patty's Day!

And cheering on our Alma Mater {G-M-U Know!} during the 2011 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament!

April:

Amaya's first Easter... :)

May:

My 28th Birthday Brunch...the food was ahhh-mazing!

And Amaya's first trip to the pool Memorial Day weekend 2011...

June:

Dennis' first Father's Day with his Baby AJ!!

{please excuse the photo quality, the lighting was bad in the place we went}

And my first girls trip since Amaya's birth to Montego Bay Jamaica, woot!

July:

Amaya's first modeling "job" ;)

August:

Braving Hurricane Irene & the first earthquake I ever remember in VA all within a week of each other! This pic (shown as originally posted/unedited) was taken the weekend of the "hurricane", which amounted to little more than heavy wind & rain.

September:

FINALLY finishing my very first furniture makeover, yaay!

And the wedding of some close friend's of ours...

And reconnecting with some old friends @ my TEN year high school reunion - eeek!

October:

Celebrating my beautiful Munchkin's first birthday - I can't believe how quickly that year flew by!

November:

Our first family vaca to Disney World!!

Thanksgiving 2011...

December:

Amaya's 2nd Christmas! We have a tradition of letting her open one gift (jammies to wear that night) on Christmas Eve - it's something my mom used to do with us as kiddos & I decided to carry it on with my child{ren}...

{NOTE: this is just a Christmas Eve pic from my phone, I've yet to upload the Christmas morning pics from my cam}

So that wraps up last year for me, hope you enjoyed my stroll back thru my most memorable moments/times in 2011! I am hoping for 2012 to be a very productive year for me & that we can accomplish everything we have planned in the house. Praying that God continues to Bless me & my family...and wishing the same to all of you - my wonderful readers! Can't wait to see what this year holds for us! 'Till next time!

Shhhhh...it's a surpise!

The {hubbs} big 3-0 birthday party that is! I must, once again, apologize for my lack of posting - I have been swamped at work (still playing catch up from my time on maternity leave) & I have also been super busy planning this big 'ol party for my hubby. **fingers crossed** He'll actually be surprised. Before I get into all the deets, let me tell you about my husband & surprises. They don't mix. He's the kind of person that guesses what is gonna happen in movies/shows & blurts it out (so ANNOYING!), he's also the kind of person that looks at the shapes & anatomy (literally) of wrapped gifts & tries to figure out what they are {&& he's normally right, urrg}, & finally he's the kind of person that notices ev.ery.thing - seriously & I have lots of examples.

Like the time I tried throwing him a surprise birthday party at my house when we were in college. I got all his friends to come out...all of them & he noticed one of their cars & figured out what was up. Or how about every Christmas, he'll look at how a present is wrapped & say "That's something electronic," or "That's a DVD/game" & this happens pretty much every Christmas. And one more example - what about our first wedding anniversary. I was sooooooooooo excited to give him his gift during our trip to NY. I bought him some awesome tickets the the VA Tech vs. Boise State football game/season opener (this man lurves FB). Well I got the tix on Stub Hub & I bought them waay in advance, so I wasn't going to receive them by the time our anniversary rolled around. So my plan was to make tickets to give to him {like in photoshop or something along those lines} & a VA Tech tee shirt, then explain that we were going to the game (if he didn't get that already, lol). Welp, he walked in the house while I was making the tickets & he glanced at my computer screen, then proceeded to ask 21 questions about what I was doing. I told him nothing, he should have left it at that, but he didn't - he's all, "I saw VA Tech & Boise State football helmets, what are you doing?" So you know what I did? What any self respecting {7 week pregnant mind you} woman would do...I balled my eyes out, then flipped out on him about how he always ruins my surprises. Oh yeah, then I demanded he give me my anniversary gift RIGHT now. Ha! Yeah, not one of my best moments, but hey I was pregnant, so that was my excuse {& don't worry - I apologized}. Anyways, all this is to say, he's pretty difficult to surprise. So, IDK why I'm doing this to myself again, but I figure this is a BIG birthday, so why not try once more?!

So here is the plan:

Since he just got a new car, he said we don't have to do much for his birthday, but I told him that I'd still like to at least take him out to dinner & get him at least a small gift. I suggested going to the National Harbor, which is a new'ish shopping/dining/hotel/harbor district in the DC Area & I told him he could select any restaurant he wanted. It's niiiice. So, he picked Rosa Mexicana, which has YUMMY sangrias & great Mexican food.

 

After dinner, I am gonna suggest that we go grab a couple drinks at Bobby McKey's Piano Bar. He'll think it's just for a couple drinks & to hang out before going to pick up the baby (my sister is watching her for us), but when we get there, all of our closest friends will be there to surprise him!!! His best friend/cousin/best man at our wedding is even coming up from southern VA (4'ish hours away) to celebrate with us & I just know Dennis is gonna be super duper excited to see everyone! But, that's not it...my sister has also agreed to keep the baby overnight, so I'm planning on this being our first ever baby-free night & booking a hotel at the National Harbor too! I am SO excited to have a night alone with my hubby - it'll be awesome. I'm sure I'll miss my Baby AJ, but I know her auntie will take good care of her. :) Ahhhhhhhhhhh. So excited. I feel like it's my birthday! 

Now, let's just hope no one ruins this surprise! Oh & PS - I haven't been doing much DIY'ing or D&R'ing because of this awful weather - I hate winter, but spring is right around the corner & I'll be doing much more then. In the mean time, I'll share deets on the babe & our home plans for this year. 'Till next time!

2010...a pictorial year in review!

Time certainly flies these days. I can hardly believe tomorrow is the final day of 2010! It was such an awesome & blessed year for the Dennifers...I can't believe it's almost over, but I'm ready for 2011. I loved doing this year in review last year, I think it's a great way to wrap things up. So without further adieu, here are my most favorite moments from 2010:


January:

Ringing in New Years 2010! This was our EIGHTH time ringing in the new year as a couple - looking forward to many many more!

Our fraternity brother & sorority sister's wedding!

And my BFF's baby shower. :)

 February:

Getting my BFP!!! Wooo :)

And the hubbs 29th birthday dinner at Medieval Times - it's also the same night I got my first BFP. :)

March:

Our first wedding anniversary & NY trip!

{cutting the top tier of our wedding cake, which btw was still YUMMY}

{in times square in NY}

April:

Announcing our big news to everyone!

May:

My 27th birthday party!

And finding out we were on team pink. :)

And my little {sorority} sister's college graduation party!

June:

 My baby sister's high school graduation!

And my good friend's wedding...

July:

My BFF's bridal shower

August:

My dad finally finishing up & getting his high school diploma - my parents were VERY young when they had my older sister & so neither of them actually finished high school on time. So proud of my dad!

And my BFF's wedding!!

September:

The VA Tech/Boise State Game!

Baby AJ's first baby shower!!

October:

Finishing one of my fave rooms in our house - the nursery!

My 2nd baby shower!!

My 3rd & final baby shower @ my office!!

And of course - *top moment of the year*...the day our little miracle was born!! :)

November:

My baby's first Thanksgiving. :)

December:

And her first Christmas!

Ahh 2010, great awesome year. Filled with lots of ups & downs, but mostly joy. I'm ready for a new year, with my family, friends & loved ones! The hubb's 30th birthday is this coming February & I am planning a BIG surprise shin-dig at a local piano bar. I hope I can pull it off - it's so difficult to surprise him. And of course, our 2nd anniversary - which I always look forward to! We are also planning a big home renovation project (more on that coming soon), our first family vacation & of course my little sweetie's 1st birthday! Thanks to all of you for reading & providing support over the year - I love my blog friends!! Here's wishing you & your families a very happy & safe new year! 'Till next time!