2010 - A Review

2010 has come and gone, frankly it flew by for us!! I thought it would be fun to take a look back over the past year and look at a few of the highlights.

JANUARY:
It was all about getting the storage/craft room packed up and cleared out. This is the room that would become the nursery. I'm embarrassed to show these pictures-what a mess!! But I was in the middle of going through it all and tossing or packing things.

FEBRUARY:

~Matt and I took our annual trip to Estes Park-we picked up some yummy treats and enjoyed fondue one night, another tradition for this trip.

We also went snowshoeing our last day in Estes-the snow was perfect!! It was absolutely gorgeous that day.

Here I am-snowshoeing at 31 weeks pregnant!

MARCH:

~This was the month of baby showers hosted by amazing friends and co-workers!!

First was my shower at work-this cake was insanely amazing, I can still taste it!!

My good friend Derrick - out of all my guy friends, he was by far the most excited for us. He's a dad of two girls himself.

Theresa, my friend, co-worker and host of this shower-Thanks lady!!

East Side Shower-hosted by Ann, Stephanie and Robin (sadly she had to leave before we took these pictures!) Thanks ladies-for spoiling me and for all the great gifts and advice!

And one more...my sister and good friend Amy had a shower for me with all my former co-workers & friends. I never get a chance to see these ladies so this was fun!!

Maegan, Amy & I - this cake was gorgeous and was the most yummy lemon cake I'd ever tasted-YUM!! Not only that, it was gorgeous!! I'm not a "typical" baby shower cake kinda gal so this was perfect!

Opening the quilt my sister handmade me. Yes, you read that right. Maegan handmade me this quilt-LOVE it!

The group - fabulous friends!

APRIL:

~This month was all about finishing up the nursery-here's Matt putting the finishing touches on the clouds.

The tree is done!! Thanks to my friend Andrea for hooking us up with the projector!! We used that to draw the basic idea on the wall and then we free-handed the rest. Some of the leaves are covered in the fabric pieces left over from the quilt my sister made.

We also picked out "coming home from the hospital outfits"-as you can see there is one for a girl and one for a boy. We didn't find out what we were having so had to be prepared with both!

By mid-April my feet were hurting. Look at this nasty photo of my feet one night after work!! I would come home from work and take my shoes off and then go sit in the nursery to relax. I can't believe that I am showing you this again-once was enough wasn't it?

MAY:
~Still not making any progress, and about 10 days overdue, we checked into the hospital on May 2, 2010 to be induced. This was our last picture before starting the cytotec (cervix ripening) and getting the show on the road.

24 hours later, after stalling out at 6cm and the baby showing signs of distress...we went in for a c-section.

IT'S A GIRL!! McClellan Wynn Millner was born at 8:34pm weighing 9lbs 7oz & 21 3/4" long

This was the first picture as she was pulled out. When Matt said "It's a girl", I was shocked!! I really thought we'd have a boy, even though I'd been having girl dreams the few months leading up to her arrival.

Our first family photo-just minutes after McClellan arrived!

5 days later we were home - the neighbors had decorated the entire front of our house with pink "It's a girl" signage, balloons, and banners.

First Mother's Day - we got out for a walk and enjoyed the beautiful weather, and our even more beautiful little girl.

JUNE:

~Happy 1st Father's Day Matt!! We celebrated by taking him up for BBQ in Bailey.

JULY:

~McClellan and I went on a road trip to Kansas-she was perfect, sleeping pretty much the entire way!

Matt met us there a week later and we headed to KC for some Oklahoma Joe's BBQ-seriously yummy!!

Looking at this picture it dawns on me that this was the last weekend that McClellan used her pacifier. She really was never big on it anyway but we thought that we'd let her hang on to it while we had her out of her element.

Of course while back in Lawrence we had to take McClellan up to campus and start indoctrinating her in the Jayhawk culture-she fit right in with her Rock Chalk onesie and is without a doubt a true Jayhawk!

At the end of the month we headed to Breckenridge for a last weekend getaway before I headed back to work. The weather was lousy-cloudy and rainy the entire time, but we managed to get a few photos to capture the highlights.

AUGUST:

~I went back to work in August and honestly thought my heart was being ripped out of my chest. It was a rough month to say the least.

My sister came out the first week and took care of McClellan and then the second week Matt stayed home with her-that was a HUGE life saver in helping me get back to work without totally losing my mind.

Just a few pictures of McClellan in her total cuteness-the tutu is courtesy of her Auntie Mae. My sister went shopping daily with McClellan while she was out here. McClellan practically had a new outfit for each day between her Mimi and Aunt Maegan!

SEPTEMBER:

~McClellan had her first park experience and loved it. Not only did she look insanely adorable but she totally was digging the swing and being outside!

Mimi came to town in September also!! We had a great time together and there was more shopping of course...I'm telling you my child will never hurt for clothes with my Mom and Sister around!!

McClellan's first farm trip!! She loved the chickens that lived in the school buses at Grant Farms in Wellington, CO - they are responsible for the yummy CSA produce we rave about.

We took McClellan on her first hike in Rocky Mountain National Park - my sister and her family came out and we headed up to Estes for the day.

Family Photo time:

OCTOBER:

~McClellan went to her first Pumpkin Patch out at May Farms-love this place!! Tons of pumpkins to choose from but we already had the cutest pumpkin in the patch!

McClellan was busy this month-between the normal fall activities she also kept busy campaigning for best baby ever. She won of course-no competition!! (And yes, I'm totally biased people)

My sister and Keeton came back out for a visit and we hit up another pumpkin patch.

McClellan's first Halloween - and so she of course was the cutest pumpkin ever, ever, ever!!

NOVEMBER:

~My whole family met up in Estes Park for Thanksgving. We've done this before but this year was special having McClellan with us.

I even made my first pie!! I actually don't like pie, seriously. Each year I try to make something from my Grandma Ellestad's recipe collection, this year it was her pie crust with pitted pie cherries from Grant Farms-everyone said it was uber yummy so guess I'll believe them!

DECEMBER:

~We kept with tradition and headed to the mountains to find the perfect Christmas tree. McClellan loved it-this was her first time in the backpack carrier and she did great!

McClellan's first Christmas!! She was so excited and loved all the lights and sounds of the season.

We were blessed, and spoiled, yet again this year at Christmas. The truth is, we got our Christmas present back in May and nothing could really compare to the gift of our daughter.

As we kick off the new year and look forward to what 2011 will bring us, it's been fun to look at a few of the highlights of what is now "last year." So much has happened and so much has changed for us. We are so lucky.

I have no doubt that 2011 will continue to bring us blessings and lots of photo opportunities. I look forward to them all!!

Sunny Zoo-ba-loo Day

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

Merry Christmas from Me to You ...



Santa did it again...showed up, filled our stockings and spoiled us all!!

McClellan's stocking was filled to the brim and them some! Maddie was no different, over flowing with her favorite bones!

McClellan was waiting for us to start opening presents-I think she was eyeing the packages and deciding which to open first!!

Pardon the less than beautiful picture-I was sick as heck with a horrible cold that decided to show up on Christmas Eve. Super excited about my Rock Chalk Chocolate though!!

McClellan's first boom box!! It lights up and plays all kinds of music-she loves it!! Thanks Great Aunt Nancy!!

Happy about this one-a framed picture of my Sister and I!!

Matt was super excited about getting this hard to find beer for Christmas-he didn't think I'd actually look for it, let alone find it for him!! Surprise honey!!

McClellan and her Daddy reading one of the many books she got for Christmas - she was getting a little sleepy by this point, hence the thumb sucking.

Matt was pretty darn excited about the photo of McClellan in her Bronco's gear-Thanks to Ann my amazing friend and photographer!!

A sock Moose for Punky!! Way more Colorado appropriate than a monkey wouldn't you say?

The big hit of the day was the kitchen!! It sings, talks in Spanish and English & even makes "real" noises of the appliances-she loves it!!

And when it was all over...there was a HUGE mess. It stayed that way for awhile because we had to race around getting food ready and showering so we could get ready to head up to Longmont, again, for Christmas dinner.

I am hopeful this is the last year we do the two days in a row- I always have fun when we're up there but hate rushing around and not getting to spend time with "us". I think that going one day is a good compromise-ask me in 2012 how this worked out.

After two days of tons of activities, two days of driving back and forth to Longmont, McClellan was crashed out!! Her little reindeer booty up the air-too cute!!

I can't believe that McClellan's first Christmas is over-gone, done, behind us. It makes me sad. I'll be honest, it wasn't the Christmas I'd dreamed of. Moments of it certainly were. She was spoiled beyond belief by all of her family, absolutely. But what I really wanted, really and truly wanted, was time. Just time to be with her, time to watch her experience Christmas for the first time.

Maybe, hopefully, next year there will be more time.

McClellan's first Christmas Eve

As you can see McClellan was pretty darn excited about her first Christmas Eve.

This will probably be the last time she wears this Christmas dress - unless I can figure out a way to make it into a Valentine's dress in a couple of months!!




She loved sitting under the tree amongst all the packages - she couldn't decide which one to tear into first - yes, she has no problem helping open packages!!



We headed up to Longmont for the evening-lots of yummy food and tons of family to give out lots of attention. Here's cousin Zack with McClellan-

Great-Grandma & McClellan - I love seeing them together. Tonight "GGma" asked me what McClellan needed and what she could get her-I told her, "time, just time to be with you."

When we got home Santa had dropped off our "Santa Jams" - this is a tradition that Matt helped Santa start a few years ago. Every year that we are in Colorado for Christmas, Santa brings "Santa Jams" while we're in Longmont and leaves them for us to find when we get home. This was McClellan's first year getting Santa Jams and she was a real trooper staying up extra, extra late to take our Santa Jam photo.

"The children we're nestled all snug in their beds, while visions of sugar plums danced in their heads."

Santa & some time with McClellan's BFF

This morning we headed to Southlands to get McClellan's picture with Santa-she has actually already done this once but I wanted one with her Christmas dress, so we did the whole Santa picture thing again today. We met our friends Betsy and Clare up there and both of the girls rocked their Santa photo shoot!

McClellan did great and if I do say so myself, looked completely adorable in the dress that her Mimi bought her!!

McClellan told Santa that she wanted the Jayhawks to start playing like the #3 team in the Nation & wanted them to win the National Championship this year. Santa looked at me, with that deer in the headlights kind of look, and I told him not to worry, I'd break it to her.

I explained that this year, Santa might not be able to come through for her, especially with the National Championship. I thought this was a great time to talk to McClellan about being thankful for what we do have-so I reminded her that Josh Selby is eligible to play now and that we should be thankful for that. I also told her that she shouldn't give up hope and that we cheer the Jayhawks on each and every game, up until their season ends, no matter when that might be. She seemed to understand.



After the Santa shoot was complete, and our wallets lighter after buying the "Donner package", we headed up the sidewalk to get some pictures of the girls together -


Clare- "They are seriously going to make us sit out here in the cold and take more pictures aren't they?
McClellan - "Yep - looks that way."



McClellan - "Hey-maybe if we cheese it up a bit they'll get their shot and we can go home to eat and nap?!"

Clare - "You look at my mom and I'll look at your mom."

~apparently McClellan agreed to Clare's plan

"Let's try the deer in the headlights expression - Mom's think that's all sorts of cute and innocent looking."

McClellan - "Hold my hand Clare ... I think if we give them the BFF's holding hands shot they'll finally decide they have enough and wrap this thing up."

~they were right - we got our perfect shots and called it a wrap.

The whole time we were taking their pictures, and believe me, it wasn't quick, people were stopping to comment on how cute our girls are-one little boy even walked by with his dad and said "Hey-their humans!" We laughed and his Dad said "Yes they are, and I'd say they are two of the most adorable humans ever." We of course agreed 100% - who wouldn't??

Ok, seriously, I can't tell you how happy I am that I have Betsy (yeah sorry, we don't do photos) and that McClellan has Clare. It's been so fun getting the girls together, watching them change and grow ... and it's been so nice for ME to have Betsy to bounce new mom stuff off of, laugh and be "real" with.

Thank you Betsy and Clare!! We love you guys - we'll miss you when you head to Jolly Joplin for Christmas but we can't wait to get together when you get back!!

7 months old today!!