Looking back on 2009

2009... looking back it has really been a great year for me... but also a very trying time for those in my family. There have been times of pure happiness and then times of nothing but heart break for those that we hold dear, so it will be nice to say good-bye to this year and invite in the new one.

Seth and I decided to turn down plans to meet with friends and just stay home tonight and spend this night together. Last year we didn't get to be together because he was in Iraq (he came home on the 25th of Jan... hasn't even been home a year yet!) The year before that I was pregnant and all I remember from that night was being sick and Seth calling me back into the room where we laid on the air mattress and watched the ball drop... (Seth was about to leave for Iraq on the 4th and I was moving back to Alabama so we had all of our stuff in storage!) The first New Year's we celebrated together (end 2006) we had a party at our house and that has been the best one yet! Our kiss was great and the following year was great- we learned we were pregnant that year and who could ask for better! (2007). Needless to say, we are looking forward to tonight laying on the couch with eachother and enjoying a glass of champagne and toasting this coming year - and praying for the best!

So, I thought I would look back on this year and include little pictures (if I can) for each month! Its fun to look back-

January was the month I had been waiting on since January 2008. I was moving back to California to set up our house and Seth came home! That was one of the best months this year!Ok, that took me awhile because I had to watch all my videos and talk to Seth about it and Gabe watched... Oh, I just love that we caught it all on tape!February and March just flew by... Gabe getting bigger and we just lived every day life to the fullest! Here's some footage of Gabe around the end of Feb, I can't believe how much he has grown! He had started to feed himself with the bottle, tries so hard to say Da-Da and meets "Sunny the Shark" for the 1st time! (yes, he still loves that puppet to this day!)
In March, Gabe got in his pool for the 1st time... yeah don't think we'll be able to do that this year! Seth couldn't resist jumping in the pool with Gabe and everytime afterwards too!

April was the month we got visits from Gram and Uncle Kev for Easter and then Uncle Joe a week or so later! Surprisingly, I couldn't find any pictures of Gabe and Uncle Joe together! In April, Gabe also got to see Mickey Mouse for the 1st time IN PERSON! We went to Disney Land with friends from Camp Pendleton and had a great time!

In May Gabe and I went back to Alabama for a few weeks and we were lucky enough to stay long enough to see Uncle Kev graduate and Seth flew home to surprise Gram and Uncle Kev! It worked- they were both so surprised and we had a great time the rest of the weekend.

Through June and July we spent time at the house. We had great family time in the water - because Gabe LOVES water! We went out on a paddle boat, took him to the pool a lot, and to the beach only one time- this is only because he wouldn't keep the sand OUT of his mouth!! Then he didn't like the sand too much if he couldn't eat it... ended up being a short trip compared to what I thought we were going to spend there!

In August my little baby turned ONE! I couldn't believe that a year had passed! We had moved out of California and we were on the way to Maryland around his birthday, so we took a pit stop for a few weeks in Alabama to celebrate his birthday. We had a great party with family and friends and Gabe made a MESS of the cake, but was absolutely beautiful doing it!


September we just got used to our new home. Gabe finally got the idea of walking! October brought Gabe and I back to Alabama! We spent a week or two there catching up with family again! (we have really been blessed in being able to see everyone as much as we have)

We went to DISNEY WORLD for Thanksgiving and had such a great time with my parents and Uncle Joe and Uncle Kev. Gabe loved all the parades and lights. We made many memories that will be cherished!
December brought Gram and Uncle Kev back to US in Maryland. We weren't able to go back home for the holidays so they joined us here, in the snow! We had the record amount of snow for the season in just one storm right before they came, so we still had a little snow on Christmas. Gabe had such a good time opening his presents from "Ho, Ho, Ho" and from all the grandparents! With all of us opening our gifts, it took 2 hours to finish! That is a record for the books I'm sure!


I hope you all have a Happy New Year! I hope to keep up with the blog too... I love to do it, just hard to sit down and do it! See you all in 2010!