Noah crashed our December 2010 earlier than expected. I wasn't ready. Menny had not finished the house projects I wanted done. Who were we kidding? We had NO clue what we were in for.
January
We spent time in Idaho with Grandma. We basically just survived this month. I remember several days just sitting and trying to decide if I had time to do anything before Noah woke up again. This month was all about Noah and sleeping as much as we could.
February
We gave Noah a name and a blessing. I dreamed of this day for years. The day my worthy Priesthood holding husband would bless our baby in the perfect outfit with our family supporting us. We were blessed to have both families there with the exception of Grandpa Rodriguez and Grandpa Wahlen. Noah met his Abuelita Rodriguez, tios and primos.
Uncle David came to live with us.
Noah and Mommy went to Minnesota to visit the Bellows family with Grandma. Noah was the star of the show. On the way home we didn't get seats and ended up going from MSP to SFO to SLC without the help of Grandma. Noah handled the flights like a champ and slept most of the time. Mom was a complete mess...thank you to whoever designed the MSP airport and put in a mothers lounge for stressed out moms traveling alone with a 10 week old.
We got smiles out of Noah in the tub.
March
Menny surprised me with a birthday party complete with a cake shaped like a camera. Noah shopped all day with mom and didn't complain once. Maybe because he got his Superman jammies :)
April
Ericka and Krystal came from Idaho to have our annual Girls weekend. We shopped, ate, tried new recipes and chatted into the late hours. Can't wait for next year!
Noah charmed them in his new jammies.
Noah found his toes.
We spent Mothers day in Texas. Noah got to meet so many cousins, aunts and uncles. Mom and Dad got to eat lots of good good food.
May
Noah learned to jump and went to church in his sunday best.
June
Noah was in love with mirrors, monkeys, eating and being outside.
July
I started working a little from home. The Bellows family came and we took lots of senior pictures and family pictures.
We had lots of family time.
Noah rode the horse and the four wheeler at Uncle Jon's house.
Chester Floyd Wahlen left us. We sure miss him. We miss his laugh. We miss his "love ya". We miss his wisdom. Menny misses his airplane chats. Noah misses racing around on his chair. We will never forget how much he gave to our family and our mom. Love ya, Chet!
August
Grandma came to babysit Noah so we could spend our 4th Anniversary in Logan.
September
Noah started to take baths in the BIG tub. He started to stand and climb all over everything. He loved playing with Uncle David. We gave Noah his first haircut and attempted our first family photo.
October
Abuelo Rodriguez finally got to meet Noah. Grandpa and Grandma threw Noah a Curious George birthday party. Noah loved Abuelita's tamales and climbing the stairs. Noah took his first steps at Grandma and Grandpa's house.
Noah was a monkey for Halloween
November
My mom moved into a new house and we spent some time helping her get settled. It's weird to not go home to Aberdeen anymore.
We celebrated the first year that Menny didn't have to work Thanksgiving day.
December
Noah turned 1 !
Grandpa Gardner passed away at the age of 93. He will be missed but we all know he is much happier.
Thats 2011.
We survived 2011. We survived our first baby. We survived sleeping 2-3 hours at a time. We survived the worst sleeping infant that I have ever heard of. We survived lots of overtime and crappy schedules. We survived 2 funerals.
We had fun. I learned to love more. We taught Noah to fly. I learned to shop less. I learned to make tamales :)
I wish I had more pictures. I wish I had more stories documented.
Lets make 2012 better. I will be more patient. We will work hard and play harder. I will focus on what is important. I will push myself harder. I will document.
