I turned 32 yesterday and had a lovely birthday filled with family, friends, frozen yogurt, 2 delicious dinners out (yup. I’m taking the “eating for two” thing pretty seriously) with my sweet husband, a couple of birthday cakes, and some very thoughtful gifts.  I like starting off the new year at a new age… it just makes sense to me.

I thought I’d recap my year with some favorite moments from 2011.

ellery’s new year’s resolution last january…

 

i watched as these two became quite the BFF’s:

 

 

this kid started walking just before his first birthday…and soon after began mowing the lawn (we live on almost 3 acres, so it just needed to happen).

 

in april, my girl turned 3.  and so began her love affair with tinkerbell.

 

 

in may, my mom made a dress for her that she still wears at least 3 times a week.

 

also in may: my nephew Sean was born!

 

we spent our summer evenings outside with popsicles.  grant learned all about sharing.

 

he also learned his big sister’s talent of rifling through the fridge.

 

unfortunately, we had to see my mother go through some serious surgery, followed by treatment for fallopian tube cancer.

 

i complained about how unfair it was.  she didn’t complain once. 

instead, she created her own head-scarf pattern and sewed like a mad woman all summer long.

and as expected, she kicked cancer’s sorry ass to the curb- if you know my mother, that wouldn’t surprise you one bit… and as of a month ago, she is in remission! even though she was pretty cute bald, her hair is growing in and she’s looking tres chic these days!

 

my chef husband and grant bond over a cookbook.  and grant’s favorite playtime activity?  playing with pots and pans of course.

 

i saw my shy little girl transform within a few months at preschool.  her teacher told me that she is the “class nurturer”- holding kid’s hands when they’re sad.  melts my heart 🙂

 

once i left the kitchen for 2 minutes, only to return to this…

 

we spent a lot of time with “the cousins” (minus baby sean who lives in chicago).

 

grant got into his first fight.

 he really is a lover though- the sweetest boy i’ve ever known… you can read more about “the kissing bandit” here.

 

i enjoyed seeing ellery’s little friendships grow, especially the one with “friend Caroline”

 

loved catching moments like this one- ellery and grant cuddled up while watching a movie.

 

i set up three separate Christmas photo shoots with the kids because getting them to cooperate was out of the question.

here are some outtakes.

 

the first try (told you she lives in that dress!)….

 

second attempt:

 

and third….

 

we had some decent success with the last batch…. here’s the best one i got!

I want to wish you all a very happy and healthy new year! 

I have a lot to look forward to in 2012, the biggest thing being a new little one in March- we are all excited for some newborn love- especially Ellery!  I will be purging a lot of stuff to make more room in our small house…. oye… and I hope to do some more sewing now that the holidrama is over!

 Thanks for reading our little blog… it keeps us on our crafty toes, and i hope it inspires you to make stuff too!

-Erin