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!

Hellooooo out there!

::nervously peeks in::

My word. I think this has got to be my longest break in blogging besides right after the baby was born. The worst part is, I really have no excuse other than the fact that I have been super busy with our trip, then catching up at work, planning one of my best friend's baby shower, Christmas shopping, Thanksgiving planning, office Holiday party planning, sending thank you notes for Amaya's birthday gifts, ordering holiday cards, etc. Basically just life! And now T-Day has passed us up - time flies so quickly!

I honestly haven't been DIY'ing much or doing much besides hardly working working hard, dealing with a recent doozy of sleep issues with the munchkin (& as a result the hubbs & I) & getting ready for the holidays! I looove the holidays - my favorite time of year, woo! I *may* have a couple of DIY projects coming up for the holiday season & of course, I'll be sharing the deets for my best friend's upcoming baby shower, which is in mid-January - alarmingly soon! I plan to do a special WIWBW each week leading up to Christmas for each member of my family, starting with yours truly tomorrow! Oh & I know I owe y'all the professional pics from munchkin's party & a Disney recap + pics, so I'll be getting that together soon.

But for now, I just wanted to check in to say hiii & Happy {belated} Thanksgiving!! How was your holiday weekend?! Oh oh ohhhh & to share our family pic taken by my awesome neighbor & friend & what I'll be using on this year's holiday cards:

Stay tuned for more... Till next time!

Gone to get HAPPY!

{Photo Credit}

At the happiest place on earth that is! :) I'll be back Saturday & I'll try to check in on Sunday or maybe during our trip from my phone?! I can't wait for 3 nights, 4 days of R&R (or as much as you can get with a babe in tow)...have a great rest of the week everyone! 'Till next time!

The only thing I want this Wednesday?!

Is for everyone out there to participate in this awesome community service project Osh Kosh B'Gosh {who's clothes I may or may not be addicted to for Baby AJ ::wink::} is holding for the children of Japan affected by the horrible earthquake & subsequent tsunami:

http://www.carters.com/Cranes-For-Kids/cranes-for-kids,default,pg.html

They are willing to donate up to 50,000 articles of clothing! The hubbs & I are going to be making several to send in this weekend hopefully. What an amazing gift to those children who's lives have been turned upside down. And that's all I want this Wednesday - even if you just make one, please try to help! 'Till next time.

Two years ago today...

I married my best friend, my one & only, the best man, husband & father to my child that I could have ever prayed for. Love you babe! 

The hubbs BIG 3-0!

Well, it's all over...and I must say, the hubbs had an awesome last two birthday weekends! Yep, I said TWO. We celebrated both weekends with friends & family. Last weekend, I took him out for dinner & threw him the surprise party & this weekend, I threw something small for friends that couldn't make it last weekend & for family. It was so much fun. And he was actually surprised, woot!

So last weekend, we started our evening out at the Westin, which was sooo nice! I loved it & so did the hubbs! He was so surprised & excited when I told him that we were leaving the baby with my sister & checking into a hotel for the night.

@ the hotel

After we got settled in, we headed over to Rosa Mexicana & had some yummy Mexican & shared a whole pitcher of sangria - yum!

I gave him a $100 gift card for a deep tissue massage at dinner, which he loved. I'm actually kinda jealous even though I bought it for him, lol. I need a massage so bad. I kept saying that I get a pre-natal massage when I was pregnant, then the babe came, so yeah that never happened. I NEED one very soon though - I know my muscles are all tense! I digress. So anywho, after dinner, I told him that I wanted to take him to this bar I really liked, so we walked over - little did he know, a bunch of our friends (including his cousin/best man who came up from 3.5 hours away!) were waiting for us. We walked into the bar & the lady asked if we had reservations or if we were walk-ins. The hubbs started to say walk-in, but I quickly said reservation (I told him I made reservations b/c the bar gets packed). The hostess almost gave it away, but I settled my tab with them, then we walked in & most of our friends were there waiting!! It was awesome, he was sooo surprised. Too bad I didn't get a picture of his face when he walked in! Here are a couple from the bar though:

Confetti!

Since this was our first baby-free night since AJ was born the night was still young, we decided to head over to another bar/restaurant with some friends after several hours at bar #1. :) This bar had a mechanical bull & everything. After a few hours there though, I was exhausted. I'm talking 'bout to fall asleep in my food sleepy, so I said goodbye to everyone & D walked me back to our hotel room around 1am. I then passed out, but told him that he should go back out & hang out some more - so, they all went to yet another bar! I didn't even hear him come in, but he said he came in at like 3am or something like that! Then we slept in without waking up in the middle of the night. It was glorious, but I missed my baby badly by the time morning came around, so after we checked out, we made a quick pit stop for some hot Krispy Kreme Donuts.

::cue hallelujah music::

There's only one Krispy Kreme in the area & my sister lives by it, so we just had to stop. :) It was delish! Then we picked up my boo, who was sooo happy to see here mama & daddy. And I survived for a whole night without her. I missed her like crazy, but we enjoyed our night out together!

Then, just this afternoon, we had some friends & family over that couldn't make it out last weekend to round out the big 3-0 celebration!

Baskin Robbins ice cream cake = ahhh-mazing

My dad came to today's get together & brought AJ's high chair that we have been waiting on - I can't wait for the hubbs to out it together, although my munchkin isn't on solids yet. As soon as my dad came in, he said hi to everyone & made a beeline for "his baby". She loves how silly her grandpa is!

 

 

She's such a ham for the camera now, hahaha. Isn't she getting big!? And keeping her mama busy, which is my usual excuse for my lack of regular blogging, but I really am gonna get back on the wagon. And now that spring is in the air, I'll be doing more DIY projects, including a desk refinish/makeover, a spring/summer wreath (my DIY initial wreath from last year kinda fell apart because of last summer's heat wave) & a few small projects around the house. We also have a couple major projects that we plan to tackle - our goal is to get all of our projects in this house done ASAP so we can buy a bigger, "forever" home in the next few years. Our little family is quickly growing too big for our 2 bedroom townhouse. Oh & I have gotten started on my 12 weeks to better photography project, I just need to write up a post for the first lesson. And of course, I'll continue to update on all things little munchkin' - I love that baby sooooo much, she's our whole world. :) PS - my baby buying obsession has NOT ended, I think I'm going to start weekly or monthly what I'd like to buy for my AJ this week/month series. Anyways, stay tuned & thanks for sticking around thru my blog slacking period. '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!