Monday, December 31, 2012
One Year Ago
A year ago today it was day two of not feeling well. I was so nauseous out of the blue that I didn't know what hit me. It started on the 30th and I wasn't any better the 31st, BUT I did want MCDONALDs french fries and a strawberry shake. Not from anywhere else. That night Ryan needed to go town and begged and pleaded with me that I finally got my "sick" butt around and off we went. We picked up a test thinking it would be negative (or I did at least), ran our errands and found out I was sure enough pregnant with my sweet Dominick.
I don't think I had ever felt more surprised, worried, anxious, excited, lucky and nauseous in my whole life. I thank God every day for blessing our family in a totally unexpected and surprising way. I honestly wouldn't have wanted it any other way. Even though my pregnancy was unplanned Dominick has been the biggest blessing, he's made our life so much more fun and has brought so much love and laughter into our home.
I consider myself so lucky to live this amazing (but not perfect) life that I live.
A Year In Review
2012 was a very busy year for us and one that will go down in the books. I think this may have been one of our best years yet.
all day morning sickeness.
+My parents came to visit on their way back from Singapore.
May
January
+We rang in the new year finding out we were expecting a baby. And boy was that ever a big surprise! This month we wrapped our heads around the fact we would be parents, had a few doctors appointments to confirm the pregnancy and dealt with 
February
+Ryan took his EOC exam (a test for his career field) and scored a 90. He was given a fre comp day for his hard work.
+Aunt Sherry and Uncle Wayne came for a visit and we took them to Santa Monica and around base. We loved having them here.
March
+I celebrated my 24th birthday
+Ryan was nominated for Airman of the Quarter
+Ryan and I went to Glendale and had some of the best Italian food and visited the Glendale Galleria
+We went to the L.A. Zoo with some of our friends
+I entered my second trimester
April
+I was starting to feel Dominick moving and kicking around.
+I hit the halfway mark of my pregnancy
+We celebrated lots of birthdays for our friends this month.
+We went to a few BBQs at our friends' house
+We started on the nursery
+I went on a few girls nights that consisted of dinners and pedicures.
+Saw a friend move away
+We went to Michigan where we had lots of dinners with friends, spent Memorial Day in Holland at the beach,spent lots of time with family and we had a Baby-que.
+Ryan passed 2 Cleps (to get college credit) tests
June
+Ryan celebrated his 25th birthday
+Went to lots of baseball games with the credit union I worked for.
July
+We spent the 4th of July BBQing with friends and two of our friends surprised us with gifts for Dominick. We also watched the fireworks on base.
August
+We started having weekly Drs appointments
+We went to Santa Monica for a nice little day trip.
+We went to Pyramid Lake boating.
+We saw more friends leave Edwards.
+We hosted a BBQ and had a bonfire with friends
+My parents arrived.
+I saw my due date come and go.
+Ryan's promotion ceremony was also on the 30th.
September
+The biggest blessing in our lives made his grand appearance. Dominick was born on the 3rd (Labor Day).
October
+Ryan went back to work
+We attended the Med Groups dining out event
+We went to the Blvd Boo event in Lancaster with friends
+I got a new job
November
+I started back to work.
+We went back to Michigan where our families were able to meet Dominick for the first time. During our time there we had family dinners, dinners with friends and went to an MSU football game.
+Celebrated Dominick's 1st Thanksgiving and went Black Friday shopping.
December
+We had lots of dinner nights with friends and play dates with my girlfriends and their babies.
+We went to Mission Inn's Festival of Lights in Riverside, CA.
+We picked my parents up in Las Vegas
All in all 2012 was a fabulous year. While there were lots of ups and downs, we made it through it and have so much to be thankful for. We are blessed beyond belief and are so excited to see what 2013 has in store for us.
Friday, December 28, 2012
Dominick's 1st Christmas
This year we were really excited for Christmas as it was our little guys 1st. Initially my parents had planned on coming the day after Christmas, but sometime they decided they'd come a little earlier and we were so excited. Ryan hasn't been with family for Christmas the past two years and my 1st was last year. We love our families so for us it's just not the same; while we understand not EVERY year will we be with our extended families we appreciate the ones we are.
On Christmas Eve we had dinner with friends and had an untraditional Taco Rice, queso, taco pinwheels and cheesecake at our house. It was fun to celebrate the birth of Jesus with them. Their little girls were very excited and we tracked Santa while they were here. After they left we all got ready for bed and the excitement of the next day.
On Christmas we woke up, opened gifts {we were all too blessed in more ways than one}, ate breakfast and prepared for the days festivities. We were having friends over for dinner and Ryan was frying a turkey. We had turkey, homemade dressing, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, baked macaroni and cheese, rolls, pear salad and butter finger pie. It was DELICIOUS! Our day with family and friends was the perfect 1st Christmas for our sweet boy. He is one loved little boy.
On Christmas Eve we had dinner with friends and had an untraditional Taco Rice, queso, taco pinwheels and cheesecake at our house. It was fun to celebrate the birth of Jesus with them. Their little girls were very excited and we tracked Santa while they were here. After they left we all got ready for bed and the excitement of the next day.
On Christmas we woke up, opened gifts {we were all too blessed in more ways than one}, ate breakfast and prepared for the days festivities. We were having friends over for dinner and Ryan was frying a turkey. We had turkey, homemade dressing, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, baked macaroni and cheese, rolls, pear salad and butter finger pie. It was DELICIOUS! Our day with family and friends was the perfect 1st Christmas for our sweet boy. He is one loved little boy.
Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade
This year was Newport's 104th doing the Christmas Boat Parade. The theme was Surf, Sand and Santa. We had heard about it from a few of our friends here and after doing some research on it we new we had to go. We even started talking and making plans back in August and this was one event we weren't missing. When we found out my parents would be out here during the parade we were really excited to take them. They arrived on the 20th in Las Vegas; we picked them up and the next day we made the long journey to Newport Beach.
Before the parade we ate at Five Guys, it was a first for my parents and I don't think it disappointed. We ordered 3 fries and it came like this. Needless to say it was a little much, but we all enjoyed it.
The weather for the parade was perfect. It was crisp and a little chilly, but nothing we weren't used to being from Michigan. We got there late due to traffic, supper and feeding Dominick, but we were able to see the last hour-hour and a half and we had a good viewing spot. We parked near Balboa and it was a fun time had by all.
Before the parade we ate at Five Guys, it was a first for my parents and I don't think it disappointed. We ordered 3 fries and it came like this. Needless to say it was a little much, but we all enjoyed it.
The weather for the parade was perfect. It was crisp and a little chilly, but nothing we weren't used to being from Michigan. We got there late due to traffic, supper and feeding Dominick, but we were able to see the last hour-hour and a half and we had a good viewing spot. We parked near Balboa and it was a fun time had by all.
Mission Inn Festival Of Lights
We had heard great things about the Festival of Lights in Riverside so this year we definitely wanted to check it out. We went with some friends who all have babies and it was kind of too much so our time there was cut short. Ryan and I would have stayed much longer, but I think people's patience with crowds were running short so we made the long drive back to base. What we did see was beautiful and we said that maybe next year we would try again. Apparently there is Santa, reindeer and more.
If you know Ryan and I, you know that we will try to tackle anything with Dominick. He's such a good baby so we still try to get out and about with him. He absolutely LOVED the lights and he was still pretty happy.
The Festival of Lights has over 3.6 million lights, it's a free event and it was beautiful...if you're into that kind of thing. Just beware that there is a lot of people, but theres some street vendors, ice skating rink, horse drawn carriage rides (which we didn't do, but wanted to) and much more.
The horse drawn carriages were beautiful. Some of them were lit up and looked like the carriage from Cinderella and the horses hoofs were lit up. AMAZE!
Anyways, here are some pictures from our night there.
If you know Ryan and I, you know that we will try to tackle anything with Dominick. He's such a good baby so we still try to get out and about with him. He absolutely LOVED the lights and he was still pretty happy.
The Festival of Lights has over 3.6 million lights, it's a free event and it was beautiful...if you're into that kind of thing. Just beware that there is a lot of people, but theres some street vendors, ice skating rink, horse drawn carriage rides (which we didn't do, but wanted to) and much more.
The horse drawn carriages were beautiful. Some of them were lit up and looked like the carriage from Cinderella and the horses hoofs were lit up. AMAZE!
Anyways, here are some pictures from our night there.
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| My sweet friends Leah and Lauren |
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| Walking into the hotel. It started snowing |
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| These people were singing on the balconies of the hotel rooms |
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Christmas Traditions
Since this is Dominick's first Christmas, I've began thinking of fun traditions I'd like to start in the next few years.
+Christmas pajamas. He has a few pairs of Christmas pajamas so I'd like to keep that going.
+25 Days of Christmas Books. I think this would be fun to do during his childhood years.
+Christmas ornaments. We order a family ornament every year. Our 2010 one talked about distance as Ryan was away at BMT this year. 2011 was just a simple one and this years included a baby. I think they're perfect. I'd like to keep this going.
+Activity Advent Calendar. I think this would be a fun little way to countdown until Christmas and give him something extra to look forward to each day.
+St. Nick's Day. December 6th, I guess this isn't a Christmas tradition, but a December tradition.
+Visiting Santa. While I don't want Dominick to think that Christmas is ONLY about Santa, we do want to follow along with the tradition.
+The same Christmas breakfast or dinner every year.
+Christmas pajamas. He has a few pairs of Christmas pajamas so I'd like to keep that going.
+Christmas ornaments. We order a family ornament every year. Our 2010 one talked about distance as Ryan was away at BMT this year. 2011 was just a simple one and this years included a baby. I think they're perfect. I'd like to keep this going.
+Visiting Santa. While I don't want Dominick to think that Christmas is ONLY about Santa, we do want to follow along with the tradition.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Christmas Lights
One of my favorite parts of Christmas is all the lights. I just think they're so pretty and so magical. After doing some research I surprisingly found that Southern California has many opportunities to see lots of Christmas lights and we are going to take advantage of them within the next few weekends.
Mission Inn Hotel and Spa in Riverside has a Festival of Lights. This hotel is a four star hotel and a historic one at that. They have over 3.6 million lights, fresh snow falling, horse drawn carriage rides (I think around Riverside) and other fun. This weekend we are hoping to make it there to see what this is all about.
Next weekend my parents are flying into Vegas on Thursday and either Friday or Saturday we are all going to the Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade. Last year this was rated number 2 on the Top 10 Destinations for Holiday Lights. We're excited to go, but we're even more excited to have my parents joining us in the fun.
Mission Inn Hotel and Spa in Riverside has a Festival of Lights. This hotel is a four star hotel and a historic one at that. They have over 3.6 million lights, fresh snow falling, horse drawn carriage rides (I think around Riverside) and other fun. This weekend we are hoping to make it there to see what this is all about.
Next weekend my parents are flying into Vegas on Thursday and either Friday or Saturday we are all going to the Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade. Last year this was rated number 2 on the Top 10 Destinations for Holiday Lights. We're excited to go, but we're even more excited to have my parents joining us in the fun.
This year both of these "events" or holiday lights displays are on the America's best places for holiday lights list. We are so excited for both of these. Now we just have to decide if we're going to go to The Grove to see (what we have heard from many friends) the best Santa around or if we're going to go to another local mall.
all images are off pinterest
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