Top 20 in 2010

1. What did you do in 2010 that you had not done before?

 Give birth to my precious boy

2. Did you keep your New Year's Resolutions and will you make more for next year?

I didn't make any resolutions because they always tend to be an epic fail, but I'm working on a post about my New Year's "Goals"...for some reason that word works better for me.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

No immediate relatives, but my cousin had a little boy named Jonah and several blog friends added sweet babies to their family as well.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

Fortunately no. I thank the Lord for every day I get to spend with my loved ones.

5. What places have you visited?

 Ecuador, Los Angeles, Wisconsin, Waco, and Houston 
 

6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010?

I would like to focus more on my relationship with the Lord. As a stay at home mom, my days go by much faster than I ever imagined and are incredibly full. I need to make my time with the Lord a priority every day, not just when it's convenient for me. I also would like to have more time to exercise so I can get rid of this baby weight!

7. What date from 2010 will remain etched in your memory and why?

May 17, 2010 of course...are you shocked? :)

8. What was your biggest achievement this year?

 Surprise, surprise, but that would be the arrival of my son.

In case you haven't realized by now, he's kind of a big deal to me. :)

9. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Just recovering from a c-section.

10. What was the best thing you bought?

 Definitely my "big girl camera"...I WILL learn to use that this year!

11. Where did most of your money go?

Paying off Patrick's med school loans...and I will probably be giving the same answer in 2020.

12. What song will always remind you of 2010?

"You are My Sunshine"...this has been Manny's favorite song since he was a wee little baby, and he still loves it. I find myself dreaming this song I sing it so much.

13. What do you wish you would have done more of?

I pretty much answered this in #6, but I will also add I wish I had been a better blogger as far as documenting our every day life.

14. What do you wish you would have done less of?

EAT!!! I pretty much eat like I'm still pregnant. I know breastfeeding is supposed to make you hungrier, but I don't think I can use that excuse anymore. Time to get a grip.

15. What was your favorite TV program?

I love The Big Bang Theory, Modern Family, and of course The Office. And don't judge, but Teen Mom is like my guilty pleasure...minus the guilty part. :) 

16. What was the best book you read this year?

Crazy Love...amazing book; will challenge your walk with the Lord...a must read!

18. What did you do on your birthday and how old were you?

I turned 30 this year and my husband surprised me with a fun family family weekend at a cabin! I can't believe over a month has gone by and I still haven't blogged about it. I've got to do that soon.

19. What political issue stirred you the most?

I try not to get too worked up about it, but probably health care reform simply because of the ways it can/will effect my husband's job.

20. Who was the best new person you met?

Other than my son of course, I'm going to agree with several other people who've posted this and say I have met some amazing friends through blogging! I never imagined that something I started doing to keep a scrapbook of our lives would ultimately lead to so many great new friendships for me. It's so fun and I always love meeting new blog buddies!

It has been an amazing year and I'm so thankful for that. I hope everyone has a safe and Happy New Year's! See you next year! (Sorry, that 2nd grade joke never gets old.)

Christmas 2010 {Part 1}

Well I have to say our first Christmas as a family of 3 was absolutely perfect, and as Manny's shirt proclaims, truly the "Best Christmas Ever." Granted, he doesn't have much to compare it to, but I have no doubt he loved every minute of it. :) I'm so thankful for the wonderful blessing of our family.

Bubs was such a good sport and really loved all of his wrapping paper gifts. I took a ton of pictures, but due to the fact that I am clearly in over my head with my new camera, a lot of them didn't turn out the best. This makes me so sad, and is really giving me the much-needed push to learn my camera (other than the auto setting)...which is what I was trying to do but failed. Needless to say, I have a post coming on all that, so let's move on to the recap of our Christmas! And yes, I will be including some of those bad pictures just so I have a record. :)

We spent Christmas Eve at my parents' house. We had a great time eating lots (of course) and as usual watched Christmas Vacation and laughed as hard as if it was the first time we'd seen it. That movie never gets old...it's the gift that keeps on giving for sure. Here I am with Bubs right before he went to bed. (exhibit A of bad pictures, but notice my mom's beautiful tree in the background!)

Christmas Day all of my family came to my parents' house so we could celebrate together. With 5 kids in my family, our spouses, and 9 grandkids, it was definitely a full house and so much fun! Very first thing we had a surprise for my parents. They have been wanting to get a new TV, so all of us kids decided to go together to surprise them with one. We wanted to have it set up and everything, so we came up with the idea to tell them we wanted to go take pictures of them with the grandkids so we could get them out of the house while the guys set the TV up. Only problem is it was fuh-reeeezing outside! So I'm sure they thought I was crazy insisting on outdoor pictures, but they obliged. The poor kids were freezing but we only stayed outside like 5 minutes so they managed to survive.

I think this was one of the last pictures we took before everyone headed to the car...you can see we're starting to fall apart.

 Poor Laci and Ellie were so cold but stuck together...they are best buddies; it's precious.

 My precious mom and dad...aren't they the cutest?!

As soon as we got a text from the guys that they were done, we loaded back up and headed home. We got inside and mom and dad didn't notice the tv right away. They were talking about lunch or something and finally my dad was like, "What?" because we were all standing around and smiling at them. Finally they noticed the tv, and were so shocked! It was SO fun to do a surprise for them after all of these years that they've done so much for us and always made Christmas memorable and incredibly special. It was a great memory. :) Love you SO much mom and dad!

Next it was time to open presents! Of course the kids really got into it, and Manny really got into, well, the paper. Laci helped him open most of his gifts.

 

There was one gift of Laci's that Manny really wanted to help her open though...it was so funny how he kept going over to it. Laci was so sweet and let him help. :)

Don't you just love his precious outfit from SheShe Made?! I will post some more pictures of him in it in the next Christmas post too...he looked like such a doll in it.

My parents got him a Leap Frog Musical Activity Table, and he loves it!! I'm not sure what we did before this thing. They also got him a fun cell phone where you can record messages...he loves that too.

 

After the kids opened their gifts, the adults did a Dirty Santa gift exchange. This is so much easier than buying gifts for everybody, and is also so fun! Patrick scored an awesome back massager (that he pretty much got for me so he wouldn't have to rub my back) and I got an amazing electric blanket and cookbook/craft idea book that has tons of cool things I can't wait to try.

After that we had a yummy lunch and then just relaxed the rest of the day...it was a great time! This post is already incredibly long, so I'll post about our little family Christmas at home in a separate post. I love Christmas time but am always sad when it's over...although I am ready to have my decorations down. Be back soon with more!

{Mostly} Wordless Wednesday: Christmas Edition

We had a wonderful Christmas, and I hope to post about it soon. Things are still a little busy with the holidays, in addition to the fact that Manny has not one, not two, not even three...but FOUR teeth coming in at once! Makes for a very, ahem, full day. But I hope to get caught up on posting soon. In the meantime, I thought I'd share a few of the millions of pictures I've taken recently, along with 2 videos of Manny.

I took these awhile back and used one of them for our Shutterfly Christmas card. Love him in this outfit!

This would be Manny throwing a fit on Christmas Eve. :) We were at my parents' house, and this is the highchair I used as a kid. Daddy wasn't getting him his food fast enough, so he was not happy.

And here is Manny Clause throwing a little fit on Christmas day. Sometimes he crawls off to explore, then gets too tired to crawl back, so decides to "call for assistance."

Watching Frosty the Snowman on Christmas day. That kid loves him some cartoons!

This was Christmas Eve Eve at our house. I got these cute monkey Christmas pj's last Christmas when I was pregnant and they looked HUGE! Of course my boy fits them perfectly now.

This last set of pictures is from a few weeks ago but I had to include them. All he wants to do now is stand! He loves to crawl to the hearth and pull up which makes me a nervous wreck. (We have since purchased a padded protector for the edge.) See that huge tree next to him? He kept picking it up and flailing it around (it's made of straw), nevermind the fact that it's twice his size!

When he's not pulling up on the hearth, he likes to go over and look out the window...he reminds me of a little puppy dog...so cute. :)

This first video is from last night. He was playing with his new Leap Frog Activity Table my parents got him for Christmas (which he loves!) and we were being crazy parents. Yes, we are those parents who talk and act silly to entertain their kid. :)

This next video is from about a week ago. It's so fun when I get on the floor with him now because he comes right over. LOVE it. :)

Here Comes Manny Clause

Call me "that mom" if you like, but I couldn't resist when I saw this Santa outfit at the Rhea Lana consignment sale this summer for only 2 bucks. The days in which I can do this are numbered so I might as well take advantage of it while I can. Merry Christmas from Manny Clause & the Martin Family! :)

 

Manny the Menace

I've been trying to get pictures of Manny in all of his fun Christmas attire. However, he is pulling up now and SO active that it makes it quite a bit harder to photograph him! He is such a menace these days. I thought I'd share some of the "outtakes" from our recent photo shoots. :)

I wanted to get some pictures of him in his cute reindeer pj's with his buddy Maxx.

 

But he quickly realized Maxx was there, and wanted to play.

 

So decided to tackle him. Poor Maxx. Doesn't stand a chance.

This was right after he threw Maxx out of his chair so he could stand there.

You can see Maxx lying on the floor. Poor guy can't catch a break.

Something else funny he's started doing is sticking a toe out of his pj's. If his pj's are the button-up kind, it seems he always manages to find a way to get his big toe out...certainly by morning he has one (or both) out.

Here's another day we were trying to snap a few pictures, but he wasn't interested for long. We got a few good ones, but he was looking at something above me - not sure what? - so I kept trying.

Since he wouldn't sit still, I thought I'd give him Rudolph to hang on to and keep him entertained.

But um, yeah...that didn't really work.

 

Then he decided to ditch Rudolph and chase down mommy. That's usually what he does right away when I sit down on the floor...and I can't say I really mind. :)

Oh my sweet boy...such a menace but SO much fun! I know the adventures have just begun. :)