2010 - A Year in Review

I usually wait until a couple of days before New Years to do this, but I felt I should do this now because I've been making an attempt to blog more often (hence the multiple posts last week after weeks of nothing). So here's mine and Jake's year:

JANUARY: I turned 26 with a dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, The Cheesecake Factory on New Years Day in San Jose with my family. Jake and I also moved the following weekend into our house barely missing the rainy weekend by one day. One day. We also met with our RE in SF to aggressively move forward in the infertility journey. Our appointment was on my actual birthday.

FEBRUARY: Valentine's Day was spent at my other favorite restaurant, The Dead Fish, as per our yearly tradition. I can't get enough of that crab!!! Jake also found out that after the Spring 2010 semester, he'd graduate FINALLY! Justus (my little cousin) turned 1 and we unfortunately had to miss his official birthday party, but I got to spend his actual birthday with him to give him his present. We also had our first Super Bowl party at the new house, and everyone enjoyed themselves.

MARCH: Not much happened in March. We were in full swing of tax season and everything was great.

APRIL: Tax season finished with a bang (well, not really) and we spent the following day in San Francisco at the zoo. It was quite the relaxing day and just what we needed after a whirlwind season. On Easter, Jake and I found out that my cousin Katie was pregnant with her first child! We were sooo happy for her and her wife Lori. We still are. :)

MAY: Jake and I celebrated 3 years of being married! We decided to hold off on celebrations until June because the weekend following our anniversary (it was on a Wednesday), my cousin Megan and I made a covert cross-country trip to New Jersey to surprise our cousin Marie for her baby shower. That was a fun trip, and I really miss hanging out with the East Coast family. Jake also graduated from Diablo Valley College with an AA in Psychology and got accepted to SF State!

JUNE: Lake Tahoe was the perfect place to celebrate Jake and my anniversary. We stayed in South Lake and on our last day, drove all the way around the lake. It was about a 3-hour drive all the way around, and we made several stops along the way to check things out. We also went to Reno for a seminar where I met Jean, an old friend of my MILs who is one of the sweetest people I've ever met.

JULY: Adam and Barbara made it all the way from Arizona to spend 4th of July with our family. We miss you guys! Adam and Jake also hatched a plan to spend a week in Jamaica for the International Raggae Festival. They plan to go in 3 years. My Dad celebrated his birthday. :) Also, Jake and I took my cousins Jon, Megan and their sons Jalen and Justus to the California State Fair for the 2nd year in a row. It was hot...to say the least. Also, on the 18th, our nephew Jaxon Maddox was born. :)

AUGUST: This was it...the big one. On the 4th, Jake and I got the news that we're expecting! Jake's birthday is the 8th, so we announced to our parents via a picture in a frame at dinner for Jake's birthday and they were so excited! We announced to our families 2 weeks later and then spent the weekend with my Mom and Dad for my Mom's birthday. Jake also began his first semester at SF State pursuing his Bachelor's in Psychology.

SEPTEMBER: September was a busy month. I had my first doctor's appointment with my OBGYN and we got to see the baby wiggle and dance around on the ultrasound. I also went to 2 baby showers for friends and family. Jake and I attended our first Oktoberfest party at my friend Roni's house, and it was a lot of fun!

OCTOBER: Jake and I got to decorate our house on the outside for the first time for Halloween. Jake kind of dressed up by putting on prosthetic eyes (it's a long story) and we did it up right with spider webs, pumpkins and tombstones. It was fun to have our first trick-or-treaters ever.

NOVEMBER: My parents celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary on the 8th! A couple of weeks before Thanksgiving, Jake and I went to Texas to visit his Dad and Step-mom in Fort Worth. It was 5 days of relaxation and thunder storms. What a mix! The day before Thanksgiving, we found out we're having a GIRL! We got to tell our families in person through the weekend and everyone was really excited. Even my Dad acted like he had scored his own home run. :) Also, the results of the ultrasound itself revealed that Scarlett Leigh is perfectly healthy with everything measuring and functioning normally.

DECEMBER: This month started out a little sad and somber with the unexpected passing of my Dad's cat, Jack. I went to San Jose from Richmond, which in commute traffic took 2 solid hours (I was not happy), but to be there to comfort my Dad was worth it. I got to get together with Megan to make peppermint bark and I barely got my Christmas cards out in time. Jake and I both got everything on our lists (which he is especially excited about) and we got to hear Scarlett's heartbeat for the 2nd time.

For 2011:

2011 is no doubt going to be a year full of big events. The main one of course will be the birth of our daughter. I must admit, this past weekend I felt a twinge of "baby love" where I found myself falling in love with her, and I haven't even met her yet! After she's born, both Jake and I plan to change our lifestyles to be more active and healthy for her sake. We want to teach her how to play outside vs. inside with video games and TV all the time. We've picked out her furniture and I am anxiously waiting for furniture to be moved out of her room so we can move her stuff into it. I must also say that Jake is already feeling twinges of baby love himself. He always looks forward to seeing and feeling her move and kick. He also LOVES talking to her.

Happy (early) New Year!