Happy New Year's Eve!

Hope everyone has a fun and safe New Year's Eve tonight! Our big plans include staying in and trying to stay awake to watch the ball drop. Grandma Marshall is driving our new car out today from Michigan so we will all ring in the new year together.

1. What did you do in 2010 that you'd never done before?

Well, I had a baby :)

2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions and will you make more for next year?

I didn't really make any because I know I never keep them. I've decided to write down some realistic goals for 2011. I'm hoping if I write them down they won't fall by the wayside.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Besides me :) I did have a good friend have a beautiful daughter in June.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

Fortunately, no.

5. What countries did you visit?

Just the good old USA.

6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you didn't have in 2010?

A little more organization. Oh... and more money wouldn't hurt either.

7. What dates from 2010 will be etched in your memory, and why?

3/06 - My brother got married in Key West.
3/13 - I found out I was pregnant.
3/14 - I told Freddy I was pregnant.
10/30 - Our little baby boy was born.

8. What was your biggest achievement of this year?

There was the whole having a baby thing :)

9. What was your biggest failure?

I think gaining the extra weight before I got pregnant was my biggest failure.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Nope.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

My little Nikon S4000 to keep in my purse.

12. Where did most of your money go?

Bills and rent :(

13. What did you get really excited about?

Marshall's first Christmas and our trip home to Michigan.

14. What song will always remind you of 2010?

Good Night by Black Eyed Peas. I know it actually came out in 2009, but they played it all the time in 2010.

15. Compared to this time last year are you a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer?
a) Happier
b) Fatter
c) Poorer

16. What do you wish you'd done more of?

My craft projects.

17. What do you wish you'd done less of?

Sitting around in front of the TV.

18. What was your favorite tv program?

How I Met Your Mother

19. What was the best book you read?

Is it going to be sad to say I really didn't read too much in 2010? That's why one of my goals for 2011 is to read at least 50 books.

20. What did you want and get?

My baby boy.

21. What did you want and not get?

A house.

22. What was your favorite film of 2010?

I'm not much of a movie person but I did enjoy The A-Team.

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

I turned 34 this year. The night before Freddy and I went to the Mets/Tigers game. It was about 100% humidity and my feet and ankles swelled up like balloons for the first time during the pregnancy. The day of I took off from work and we had a nice dinner and went to see The A-Team.

24. How would you describe your personal fashion concept of 2010?

How about a lack of... I hope to do better in 2011.

25. What kept you sane?

My putties.

26. What political issue stirred you most?

Pretty much anything Obama did. I was especially irritated by the Credit Card reform.

27. Who did you miss?

I miss my family everyday.

28. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010.

Nothing really turns out the way you planned.


I'll be posting my 2011 Goals tomorrow to keep me honest.

Be safe out there!

~AKO

A Look Back on the Holidays

When I logged into Blogger today I noticed that this is my 100th post! When I started this blog last year I really didn't know what I wanted to do with it. I still really don't. I just play it by ear each time I sit down to write a post. I never imagined I would still be blogging after 100 posts. Yay me!

I have a few pictures to share from our trip to Michigan over the Christmas holidays to visit my family that I've finally gotten a chance to upload. We were planning on returning to New Jersey on Sunday, but due to the storm that buried the East Coast, we didn't leave until Tuesday. Marshall's schedule was all out of whack from being on vacation so we were up most of the night Tuesday night and didn't get too much done on Wednesday as planned.

We decided to drive so we had our little Focus jam packed full of stuff to make sure we had enough supplies for Marshall. In the end I think I overpacked but I figured it was better to have too much than not enough.





We weren't home for 24 hours before the spoiling of the baby began. Marshall didn't spend too much time out of Grandma Marshall's arms.





I had just missed the smile in this photo. Marshall has been smiling a lot lately in response to people talking to him. He especially smiles a lot after he's been changed. I guess he enjoys being in a clean diaper :)





Marshall also met his Grandpa Marshall for the first time. In addition, I also met my new Step-Brother and Step-Sister for the first time since my dad's marriage to his girlfriend, Sue, in October. Unfortunately I wasn't able to make the wedding since I was getting close to my due date.





My brother and sister-in-law's first Christmas in their new home.





And what would Christmas be without...





Super Mario Brothers!! And yes, that is my sister playing Mario while holding the baby.





Still on the quest for the smile shot. I was very close with this one!





And this was one of my favorite shots of the week...





All in all a pretty good Christmas this year. I'm pretty excited for next year when Marshall will be a little more aware of what's going on. We all got lots of cool things this year. Plus Marshall got to meet my extended family for the first time since he was born. Most importantly is that I don't think I'll have to buy any clothes for Marshall for a really looooong time.

Then all of a sudden 2010 is almost over. This year went by pretty quickly. I think, for me, it went by quick because I was pregnant for most of it. Marshall is 2 months old today and growing like crazy. I'm definitely looking forward to 2011 and watching him grow and learn new things. Something I'm going to do this year that I haven't done in the past is write down some realistic goals that I would like to acomplish in 2011. Then, at the end of the year, I'll be able to look back and see how much I was able to get done that I wanted to. So you can expect a New Year's Goals post in the next couple of days. I don't want to call them resolutions because I feel that calling them resolutions doesn't make them real. I mean, really, who honestly completes their New Year's resolutions???

Hope everyone enjoyed their holidays this year and are looking forward to 2011!

~AKO

The Lions Win!!!

That's right! The Detroit Lions have now won 3 games in a row with their win against Miami today. That's a 3 game winning streak, folks! The first 3 game winning streak since 2007!





~AKO

Merry Christmas!!!

Marshall's first Christmas...





~AKO

Cookie #3: No Bake Cookies

All I can say here is yummy goodness!







I also made some peanut brittle tonight as well. This was my first crack at it and it actually turned out!







Can you believe that Chistmas Eve is 1 week from today???

~AKO

Cookie #2: Gingersnaps

I had big plans to make Gingerbread Men tonight, but for the sake of time opted for the less time consuming, but equally delicious gingersnap cookies.









Tomorrow I make no bake cookies and peanut brittle. I'm leaving the sugar cookies for Saturday since they are going to be a bit more time consuming. I plan on doing cookie cut-outs complete with colored frosting and sprinkles.

~AKO

Cookie #1: Peanut Butter Blossoms

True to my word I'm getting these cookies done!

With such a late start I decided to start with the easiest of the 3. Plus, there isn't anything that I really watch on TV tomorrow so I can spend more time on cookies :)

Tonight I made the Peanut Butter Blossoms in four easy steps.

Step 1




Step 2




Step 3



Step 4 - Enjoy!!




They don't taste too bad if I do say so myself.

~AKO

Cookie Time!

So with money being a little tight this year and with the arrival of little Marshall I decided to make cookie packages for some of our family as part of their Christmas gifts. The cookie plan includes peanut butter with hershey kisses, sugar cookies, gingerbread men, and no bake cookies. I may try to do some fudge and peanut brittle if I have time. My deadline is Sunday so I'm going to try and take care of one kind each night. We'll see how this goes by the end of the week :)

And now for some updated photos of Marshall. He is now 6 weeks old and changing every day...

His brooding look...





Worn out after a diaper change...





And C-Lo hating us silently from above...





~AKO

Disaster

In a word that is how I would describe my house right now... a disaster. Right now the only time I can really clean anything in my house is during the 2 hours after dinner and before I drag myself to bed.

We made it past the 1 month mark for Baby Marshall. I have his 1 month photo with the bear, but haven't had a chance to get it uploaded yet. I was actually able to get one without him screaming so that is progress I think :) He's been pretty fussy the past couple of days, which I think can be attributed to his 6 week growth spurt. As a result my days are pretty much shot even for a nap. It probably wouldn't be so bad if it were warmer and we could take a break from the house and take a walk to get some fresh air. Right now it is a little too cold to take a 6 week old outside for extended periods of time.

Last week I purchased one of these in an effort to still carry Marshall but also get some stuff done... An ErgoBaby!




Marshall fell right to sleep when I put him in it and I was a cleaning machine! Since he's going through a fussy phase right now he wants nothing to do with the Ergo and my poor house is suffering :( I actually had to start a task list of stuff that I need to get done so I don't forget anything.

Some of you may remember the to do list that I had going before Marshall was born. Well, I finally got one more item checked off yesterday. After 2 years, I finally ordered and framed our wedding pictures for display. I am bound and determined to complete this list! Now I just have to complete his name cross stitch and get our bookshelves organized.

1. Purchase a new sofa and love seat
2. Purchase a new crib, changer, and dresser
3. Clean and organize the office/storage room
4. Organize our bedroom to make room for crib
5. Switch out the old computer desk for the new one
6. Put up curtains in living room
7. Put up blinds/curtains in main bathroom
8. Put up blinds/curtains in small bathroom
9. Put up curtains in dining room
10. Put up all pictures, art, and other various wall hangings
11. Purchase china cabinet for china still trapped in boxes
12. Put up curtains in kitchen
13. Complete cross stitch name picture for Baby O
14. Order pictures for and complete wedding frame collage
15. Clean apartment!!!
16. Purchase bathroom space saver for baby bath supplies
17. Organize closets to make room for baby clothes
18. Organize bookshelves to make room for baby storage
19. Put crib together
20. Put dresser/changer together

Here's to finding more time to blog... and other stuff!

~AKO