starting off right

Can you believe it's 2011?! Honestly, I can't. The years fly by, faster and faster each time. This time last year I was amazed by the fact that I was going to have a baby the following month... now I can say that my baby turns one next month! I can't even wrap my head around it!

That said, we've had a full New Years break. Thursday I had off, though Trav had to work. So Gwen went into daycare so that I could give our house the start of a much needed big clean, and take care of some other chores and errands. I did take advantage and sleep in a bit in the morning, which was lovely and so needed. I sleep so much better and sounder on those days when Trav and Gwen are off to their respective daytime places. When we're all home, I find myself sleeping lighter because I'm always in a state of waiting for her to wake. I sleep much better when Trav gets up with her on weekend mornings... I know she's taken care of and I don't have to be the one to jump when she cries. But still, I'm sort of listening a little, for if she's really giving him a hard time and he's getting frustrated. So those days when I know that he's at work and she's playing at daycare... well then I can really shut it all out, turn of my ears, turn off my brain and just sleep! Its wonderful.

Post sleep, I had a busy and productive day. First, the hardest but also most important and lovely part of the day, I visited the wife of the president of our company. Shiva really is such an amazing tradition, a beautiful way to remember and honor the lost, to share your grief. It was actually my second trip out to their place, and I'm glad I went.

After that it was all about prepping the house for New Years. Ro & Pat (and GG), and Babs were all coming over... so I wanted the house to be ready. The bathroom was scoured, there was a trip to the grocery store, the whole house was picked up and straightened, the laundry all put away.

I also hit up the Home Depot to use part of our gift card on this:

We finally got a new programmable thermostat! Its so nice... 7 day programmable, so we can have different settings for the weekend and weekdays. Plus we can have four different temp settings for during the day. We have our warmest times in the morning and evening, so we're all comfortable when we're home and awake; slightly cooler for at night, so we can sleep well (not too hot), but so that it doesn't get too cold for Gwenie; then the coolest setting for during the day, when we're all out. Its Energy Star and it is so much nicer then our old one, which only had one hot and one cold setting, and didn't differentiate between days. Hell, by the end, it didn't even keep the time correctly.
Yay for being greener!! 

In any case, it was a busy, productive day.

Friday we finished cleaning in the morning... Trav vacuumed and dusted. I finished picking up and hung up all our holiday cards. We also put away another piece of baby gear that Gwen has outgrown. It was pretty warm out so we went for a walk (all four of us), and enjoyed some fresh air before coming back to start cooking. People arrived after a gave Gwen dinner and put her down, and we spent the rest of  the night hanging out, eating way too much, and drinking fake bubbly.

We flipped the TV to watch the ball drop just before midnight... then smooched and clinked glasses.

(2011 is scary!)

After that Ro & Pat took off pretty quickly, and after some quick putting away of food, Babs and I were ready for bed. Trav was crazy and stayed up for a bit to watch hockey. Unfortunately a good nights sleep (or what was left of the night) was not in the cards for me. Gwen had been waking almost hourly since I put her down, don't know if it was because there was stuff going on downstairs (though I think we kept it down well), or if she's having teething pains or going through a growth spurt (she wanted to eat every time she woke, and still ate like a horse today)... but it continued even after everyone left. Finally, we I was up with her at 2, and finally got her to sleep, only to have her wake again a half hour later, I gave up and ended up sleeping with her on the futon in her room. Its not my favorite thing to do... I wake up sort, I don't sleep well... but its better then being up every hour or less! I slept with her there until 5:30, when I tried (and failed) to put her down in her crib, so I brought her into our bed, where I could at least be a little more comfortable.

Girl was still awake and ready for the day at 6:30! Trav was an angel though and got up with her, so I could sleep a bit (when I did until 9:30), then we switch. At 11:00 I went to peak at him and he was just waking up, so I roused Babs too.

A little bit of lounging and waking, then it was off to that International pancake place.

Gwenie enjoyed her pancake... and I enjoyed eating her bacon.  ;-)
We forgot a sippy cup, but we improved, much to Gwen's amusement...

Its a little hard to tell, but we dribbled water from a straw for her... she loved it!

After that it was a lot of relaxing. Babs hung out until after dinner, then was off to her parents. She's back to California on Monday, and I don't know when we'll get to see her again. It was amazing getting to see her in October, November, December, and January... but now it will probably be until next Christmas at least.  :-(  Its hard having your longest, best friend be across the country.

All in all though, an amazing way to ring in the new year. As for now, I'm going to sign off for the moment so that I can get ready for bed and hit the hay early. I'm praying for a better night sleep tonight. Wish us luck!!!

More in the coming week, but here's hoping that your 2011 has gotten off to a great start.