Things I Should Have Blogged About in 2011

Looking back through my blog, I did 50 posts in 2011! Which is more than 2009 and 2010 posts combined. Much of it had to do with documenting our addition we put on our house. But as I think back over the year and compare it to my blog posts, there are definitely a few things missing.

Like, when I got to meet Jude in September! Jude is my best friend Bethany's fourth baby.
He is a precious little boy and it was so much fun to get to spend a weekend at their house. I loved being there without my kids because I got to enjoy her kids so much more than I usually do (our kids are the best of friends and we love it, but they are usually off playing together).

Eden Dawn (my namesake)

Truman (a.k.a. Tru-dawg, Truey)

Briar, who I call Bean or Beanie or Brizee Bean. She and I really bonded on this visit - she was my little shadow all weekend and I loved it!

It was great to have some one-on-one time with Bethany too and just get to catch up. I miss living near her so much! I am so grateful for those 4 years we had near each other, but it makes it even harder to have her far away since I now know how great it was.

Also, I never blogged about my in-laws, who both had a lot of health problems this year. Jon's father had a (successful!) liver transplant in 2010 and was doing well in his recovery, and then we found out Jon's mom has ovarian cancer. She had surgery and went through chemo and responded very well {that sentence doesn't touch what she went through - it was quite an ordeal}. She was just feeling somewhat normal again, when we found out Jon's dad had to have his pancreas removed, so he just went through that surgery. It was a trying year for them and I am so grateful that they are both still with us. They are wonderful in-laws and are a great Grammy and PopPop to my kids.

love these two so much!

Lastly, I didn't get a chance to do a post about our the new addition to our family - - Siena! We finally decided that the time was right for our family to get a puppy. We got her on December 10th and are all completely in love!

the night we brought her home

Sophia has wanted a puppy for sooooooo long!

Anthony wasn't sure if he did, but he is now smitten!

I am loving her! It's like having a baby in the house again.

and even Daddy, who was somewhat against getting a dog, is quite taken with her!

in fact, it was him that took this picture of her...I mean, come on, who could not fall in love with that face?!