2011 in Pictures

We are finally reviving the blog...I cannot believe it has been about 19 months since I've posted anything about our family.  I feel like I was just dreading it yesterday!  But there are so many goodies that I captured of Gracie on the blog and I'm ready to recommit and start writing down more of our memories someplace other than a sticky note.  If you're reading this, and you haven't done so already, please read our 2011 Christmas Newsletter to understand what this summary of our 2011 is all about...enjoy!

Christmas Portraits 2011

As most of you know, I've been trying to do some photography as a side business this year. For the past several years I've been taking the girl's Christmas Pictures myself. This is a struggle because they know all my tactics and they know how to get around them. Gracie did really well, but it was so hectic with Clara screaming because she had to get dressed up, that I could't give the time I wanted to Gracie. Nonetheless, I got a few great pictures of both of the girls, and a few hilarious pictures of Clara. I hope you enjoy as much as I did.

Favorite Photos from 2011

Here are a few of my favorite pictures form 2011, incase you're looking for the abridged version. There are not necessarily my favorite because of the picture quality, rather my favorites because of the emotions or personality traits that are displayed in them.

December to Remember

We've had a great month so far. We're really taking advantage of the local activities for Christmas, watching movies, baking cookies, writing blog posts :-) We took a trip to New York City. It is my second favorite place in the US (so far), and I'll take it any time, but I especially love it there at Christmas time. We had fun, but it was a little more challenging than I expected with the girls. I think I may wait a little while before we take them back. Clara has to be willing to walk for extended periods of time before I'll try it again. My arms still hurt from having to cart her around, and we've been back for a week. We're looking forward to family time for Christmas, as we head to the Rices for Christmas Eve. I will surely post more pictures on Christmas soon enough. Merry Christmas to all!

A Busy November

Not too much activity again November as I traveled a bit for work and Ryan stayed ultra busy with work and school. Ryan's Grandma Gibbens passed away, and I'd like to add a picture of her from a few years ago to this stream eventually. For the first time we decided to go cut down our own Christmas tree. This wasn't quite as easy as I thought it may be. There weren't as many choices as I expected. I think a little more research next year will yield better results. We decorated the whole house by the first weekend in December and had plenty of time to enjoy it. We also enjoyed Thanksgiving with Ryan's broth Rob, Theresia, and Delilah. Ryan's sister Stacey, her daughter Alex, and his brother Travis were there as well as Aunt Lynn and Uncle Larry, my dad, and Theresia's mom, Lucy. It was a great meal and a nice time spent with family.

Fall Fun in October

Fall is our favorite season in the Gibbens house. We try to find as many fall things to do as we can, and still watch as much Penn State football as possible..which usually works out well because many games are on during nap time. In October, we headed back to Uniontown for Gianna's baptism and got to stop by Seven Springs while we were there with Grammy Beth and Aunt Dawn and Uncle Todd. The girls has a blast. We also spent a day with our great firends, the Zadeh family, at the PA Renaissance Faire in eastern PA. We stayed the night near Lancaster and toured around for the second time in lancaster on a Sunday (everything is closed there on Sundays....why can't we remember this?) We ended the month at another festival with Grammy Penton, Uncle Rob, Aunt Theresia and Delilah. It was a great little farm! We chose our pumpkins there and carved them just before Halloween. For Halloween the girls were a cowgirl and an indian...oh so fitting a theme this year!

Laying Low in September

Back to school time for Ryan and a new school for Gracie meant some much needed down time after a busy summer. We went apple picking on the way back from Aunt Jan's surprise birthday party at Massanutten...but that was about the extent of the excitement. We enjoyed some cooler days outside and tried to find time to spend together as a family.

Gracie Turns 3 in August

Gracie was 3 years old on August 20th. We had a very little celebration with Grammy Penton and Uncle Rory on her actual birthday and then a picnic nearby the next day. Ballet was the theme of course, and fun was had by all. I even decorated the cupcakes! If they want homemade parties next year, I'll never turn them down, but perhaps it may be time for one at some place where they do the work for you :-)

A July Full of Activity

July was crazy, but so fun! We took an extra long vacation to the Smoky Mountains for an Anderson family reunion (Ryan's mom's side of the family). Along the way we stopped for a few days in Asheville, NC. It was a mountain town for sure, but it was a lot of fun. They have tons of music everywhere there and lots of good people watching. At the end of the month, we celebrated Ryan's birthday by taking the girls someplace where we could all have fun, to Idlewild and Storybook Forest in Ligonier, PA. It was my favorite place as a kid, but I wondered if they may be too young yet. That was not the case. This place is perfect for families with little kids. They have four parks, but none are all that large. It's not wild and crazy by any means, rather a really family friendly great time. I can't wait to go back next year!

Jammin' in June

June was a pretty busy month. Our niece, Alex made her annual visit for almost three weeks this year. It was great to have her. Father's Day, baby showers, and picking strawberries were also on our agenda.

Relaxing in May

May was a relaxing month. Ryan had just finished a particularly grueling semester, so it was a nice break. We didn't do much, but we got some fun pictures of the girls.

Clara turns 1 in April

As is my style, we partied all month for Clara's first birthday on April 29th.  First birthdays are SO special, and I'm glad we got to share it with so many members of our family.  We also spent Easter in PA with my family.

Family Fun in March!

March was a great month! We spent a little more than a week in Florida, and I have to say...if the weather in Florida was like it in March all the time, I could definitely live there.  We had SO much fun taking the girls to see the sites in Orlando.  It was by far, our best family trip yet.  Can't wait to go again! We also stopped for a visit in Okeechobee and saw Grammy, Grandpa, Mema, cousin LillyAnn, and Grandma and Grandpa Anderson.

Slowing down in February

In February, we had some down time after a busy start to the new year. The snow melted and I went to London for work...which was very cool, even though I missed the girls SO much.

Welcoming 2011 with a Bang!

Our year began with a New Year's celebration at my sister and brother-in-law's house in Pittsburgh. It was the most fun New Year's Eve I've had in years! I wish we could do it agin this year! We also met our new nephew, Cooper in Georgia. And we ended January with a bigger bang than when it began...an awesome snowstorm!

Reviving the Blog

If you have recently received an invitation to view this blog and you are wondering why when there's no new content...stand by, there will be soon.  You'll see in the newsletter you should receive within the next few days that we're bringing back the blog.  We don't have any exciting news to post here. We are just reviving the blog with some added protection of our girl's information.

-R

Clara Breaghan

Clara Breaghan ("BREE-in") was born on Thursday, April 29 at 5:14pm. She weighed 9lbs, 9oz and was 21" long.

She was 9 days late, and I had to be induced twice before she decided to join our family. However, the labor, once it began was an amazing experience. Yes, I had an epidural, but it was still completely different from the violent experience I had with Gracie at Fairfax hospital. Everything/one was calm, patient, and so wonderful. I can't say enough good things about Loudoun Community Midwives or Inova Loudoun Hospital (labor and delivery nurses were so great, post-pardum nurses were mediocre).

Clara is a true joy. She is such a calm baby. She only cries when she is hungry or has a belly ache, and sleeps 95% of the time. She is eating very well, and already established her own schedule. Gracie has been so great with Clara. She is very concerned about her when Clara cries. Gracie also loves to give her kisses, and she is quickly learning the meaning of the word "GENTLE!" She did pop Clara one in the face tonight when "helping" to give her a sponge bath, but I'm sure those little incidents will happen. Hopefully strong disapproval and a little extra attention will help make the urge to act out not so tempting.

I already feel so differently about this experience. I was very pessimistic about the whole situation until recently, afraid of not being able to give the same kind of time and energy to Gracie and also that I couldn't handle two kids. But so far, so good. I really feel like we've gone from juggling a kid to working together as a family. It's weird that it has happened so quickly, and may be partly in response to trying so hard to make it a positive family experience for Grace. But it has been great for me too. I love being a mommy!

Welcome Clara!

Catching up on some pictures

All Snowed-In

Gracie and I had a great week, while we were snowed in. We did all kinds of things...things I didn't even know I remembered how to do. We played with every crafty item in the house (play doh, at least three different kinds of paints, stickers, etc.) made Valentine's cards, had many tea parties, baked cookies (at her request, which was too cute!), made obstacle courses, and played in the snow a little and got stuck trying to get back to the house. Whew! I'm so glad for the time, but am also glad we can now get out of the house to have a little fun. Here are a few pictures of our fun week...I still wish I would've taken more, but Gracie doesn't seem to enjoy the camera in her face as much as she used to:

Snow Storm - Feb 5-6, 2010

Winter wonderland!

Gracie enjoying the ride...even though you can't see her face...she's having fun!

poor girl is so bundled up that she can't sit up well on the sled

mommy and Gracie enjoying the ride

Daddy and Gracie venturing out into the neighborhood

This is my favorite picture...this is one of the main roads near our house (South Lakes Drive). People were actually still trying to drive on this road, weaving back and forth between the lanes to dodge the 20 or so trees that had fallen on this street. When I saw this...I was impressed by this storm. Pretty cool!

I'm not exactly sure when we'll get out of our neighborhood. But by the looks of these trees, it may be a little while...not that I'm complaining!

This is not our car, but I feel bad for the person who does own this car. It was really smashed up.

This is the side road out of our neighborhood. There were only four trees down on this road.

This is also not our car, but looks pretty darn cool!

This is the tree in our yard. It is beautiful with all this snow on it.

The bushes in front of our house...very heavy with snow.

The bush on the left is also ours. It used to be about 7 feet tall, but we don't really like it, so we're hoping it stays like this. There are also two small trees in our back yard. We wouldn't mind if those fell down too. But we're very thankful that none of the many large trees around our house haven't fallen in our direction yet.

This is the view out our front door. It doesn't really look as impressive as it does when you venture out a bit.