Bringing in the New Year

2010 was...busy? crazy? hectic? stressful? yes. But also, was it...fun? yes. eventful? yes. enjoyable? you betcha.

Theres always one thing about each year that sticks out to me. 2007 was all about Jake. It was our first year together, his senior year in high school..his life was my life that year. 2008 was more about my friends and partying, also my senior year. 2009 was all about family, the year I got pregnant and met my beautiful baby girl.

I'm not sure what will stick out most to be about 2010. I'm thinking maybe our apartment? Sure, its just a little tiny two bedroom third floor apartment..but it was the first thing that was ours, together. Its crazy to think in two short months our 12 month lease will be up..and we will be moving on to a new place. Which we currently have no idea where that place may be, may I add.

I have lots of hopes and wishes for 2011. While this past year has been a little bit on the crazy side, I'm hoping that this new one will be a little bit more of a smoother ride.

We brought in the new year in the comfort of our own couch (and new electric blanket!) Abby called it an early night, and Jake and I cuddled until 1 am..until both of our eyes were burning so badly we could hardly stand it any longer.

We sipped cold beer and ordered carry out shrimp from seaside. We huddled under the blankets together and watched the new Ben Affleck movie, The town (which was awesome by the way). We hit "pause" at 11:45 and watched the Dick Clark NYE show until the ball dropped. We kissed at midnight and made our wishes for the year to come. Our fifth new years together.

I slept peacefully that night knowing that great things were ahead of me.

I am so excited about this year. I have no idea what to expect, but I kind of like it that way. We hopefully will be out of our apartment and into a house in two months, another beautiful season of spring and summer are right around the corner, and my 21st birthday is in the fall. I have some big dreams and hopes about my career as well, but I'm not going to post anything about that..I'm too afraid of jinxing it :p

This year I vow to: stress less, relax more. eat healthier and go to the gym more often. take college more seriously. make dinner more, instead of eating out. craft more because it makes me happy. continue being the mother I always imagined myself being. and get along better with Jake. Lets sell how I'll keep up!

With the new year here, I've decided to try the daily challenge to a healthier life. You should try it too!

Happy new year, everyone. I hope that all of your wishes and dreams come true this year!

Sunday

Due to the legnthly-ness of the last post I decided to start fresh for today's story.

We found Abby's baptism dress! A whopping $60 it was (no idea they were so expensive) but my Grandma and I just couldn't resist when we saw my little one struttin' her stuff in the JCPenny's infant department. We lost it, laughed at squealed at how adorable she looked and had to get it. First dress we tried on and it was a winner. Can't wait to post pictures of her in it next Sunday :)

It was so special to get to spend the day with my grandmother today. She's my mom's stepmom (but obviously still just as much my grandmother as the blood related) and I never get to see her, let alone it being just the two of us. We caught up and had lunch at the local diner..while Abby made a mess of her spaghetti and her and I munched on nachos and blt sandwiches.

I came home, made some brownies, bathed Abby for bedtime and watched Shark Week on the discovery channel with Jake...and that's pretty much it for today.

That's okay that today was so mellow. It's so very rare that we just get to chill, Abby, Jake and I. & With a stroll around the mall and lunch with Grandma, home made brownies & a sudsy warm baby bath & new shows to watch..it makes for a perfect Sunday, just chillin with the family. I really couldn't ask for anything more.

Back to work tomorrow, the last shift and then I'm finally off for two days instead of just one. (read my previous post, it explains)

With that said, it's already 1am and the sleep deprivation cycle will continue through tomorrow night, and Wednesday morning.

Thursday things should finally be getting back to normal.

Day #4: Repacking, Ocean City, & Fussy Babies at the Boardwalk

This morning around 10am we packed our cars back up (thank god mine wasn't as packed this time, we had Jake's truck for extra storage) kissed my family goodbye & hit the road towards Ocean City. Bye cute little beach town, I will be seeing you again..I do promise you that.





It was about an hour long drive to get here, down lots of quite country roads which made for a long boring trip with just myself and a sleeping baby in the car. But we made it here, and while I do absolutely love the country scene of my Aunt's place..I must say, its pretty exciting to be in the vacation resort city.




We got settled in, and then headed down to The Marina Deck for dinner, a place I've gone to with my mom and step dad for as long as I can remember. We walked the docks and ooh'd and ahh'd over the million dollar yhats, we sipped wine and green tea, we tried to catch lobsters out of a live lobster claw machine, I ate steamed shrimp & Jake had hot wings & cheese fries (so typical) and little Abby had her first real 'out to dinner' meal. & By that I mean we actually ordered her a dinner off the kids menu, and she ate it. She's getting so big. She very much enjoyed her kids spaghetti and applesauce on the side. Oh, and she knows how to drink out of a straw! No idea how she learned it, but she was just sipping away my ice water right out of the sraw like a big girl! She was so funny while we were there, even the other tables close by were cracking up when she was playing "where's abby?" with her dress. Such a classy girl.

After dinner we headed down to beloved boardwalk.




I've been excited to go there since this whole vacation got started, but my little one had other plans. We spent about 20 minutes in the arcade before she decided it was about the right time to have a melt down. I should of expected it, really. It was late, and it's been a long few days. Jake won her a ball out of the claw machine, which kept her entertained for a little bit, but not long enough. & On top of her sleepiness, we forgot her stroller so we had to buy a little tiny one in one of the shops & she was not feeling it. Neither were we, no place to put our bags or lay her back & give her a bottle while we pushed her around..honestly, our night probably would of been much better if we had our normal stroller. We had just enough time to stop at Dumpsters Dairy Land & get Jake a chocolate dipped ice cream cone & a mint chocolate chip milkshake for me before Abby literally was basically hanging off her stroller screaming bloody murder. Jake was frustrated, I was frustrated..we had a million bags to carry & not enough hands and poor Abby just wanted her bed.

Needless to say we got home an hour ago & little missy hasn't even left her car seat yet because she's in such a deep comfy sleep I just can't stand to wake her. When she's uncomfy or wants to stretch out, she'll wake up..right? In the mean time I'm enjoying sitting on the deck with a glass of sweet tea people watching off Coastal Highway. Jake's in bed..and I believe it's about time for me to join him. Night y'all :)

Day #3: More Beach, Southern Hospitality, and The Wizard of Oz

Another morning and afternoon spent at the beach today. Seriously, I could do this every day. Especially now that I have Jake here with me. We all laughed and loved and just enjoyed each other. This time Abby decided to take her extra long nap at the beach. Which was quite convenient for mama, I got to work on my sun tan! The tide was way out today, making this weird but perfect little pool at the coast that my Aunt and I sat our sun chairs right in and sunk our toes in the wet sand. We squealed like little girls when a big wave would come & almost knock us over, and then laughed so hard at each other trying to not float away we almost peed :p Abby woke up & her big cousins dug her, her own little pool to play in..which she just loved, of course. & Can I just say how much I love having Jake here with us now? I really really love him.




















After we all got cleaned off Jake and Abby and I decided to head down to main street to check out the town. I want to live here. I want to live here. I want to live here! It's so cute & small and it's always what I dreamed of myself raising a family in. A cute, small, every-one-dies-famous-in-a-small town type place. This is it. And it's on the beach? Even better. I want to live in an old, but nice and big southern house on main street. A street where American flags are hung by every light post, where you can just stroll the streets and see pictures and crafts for display..rather than a man in a suit fussing into his cell phone. Where people park their tractors in their driveway, where there's cute little beach shops filled with paintings and funky t shirts and cowboy hats and old used books, where your local movie theater looks like it was built in 1950 but is still up & running and showing two shows a day at 3 and 7, where there's adorable little southern tables set up outside coffee shops with warm welcoming smiles from your friendly neighbors, where there's an old ice cream parlor..an ice cream parlor that's run out of someones house, where you can walk in the streets with your baby because no cars will come zooming by..and if they do, their going slow enough and just kindly go around you, and smile and wave as they pass. This is the way life should be. The city life is not for me. I'm a southern girl at heart and this little town has just amped up that inner Dolly Parton more than you could ever know.











We belong here. & Clearly Abby agrees ;)

Later on the whole group headed out on the town & went down to the local arcade. They had go karts, games, moon bounces, climbing walls..every one had a great time..besides my little one. I think the sun has gotten to her these past couple days, and she's just really freaking exhausted. We've been doing so much & she's just not used to it. She was super sleepy the whole time we were there, I felt so bad for her. I snuggled her up and followed the crowed around as they won prizes and zipped up the climbing walls like they were spider man. There were times here & there where she'd laugh and giggle and point and have fun..you could tell she really wanted to have fun but she was just too tuckered out, poor baby.






Every one was headed to go get ice cream afterwards & my little cousin Joey decided he was with Abby - sleepy and fussy. They were all on bikes, and the line for the ice cream shop was super long and Jake hates long lines..so he offered to ride Joey back home so he could get Abby in bed..and I would just ride Joey's bike home. Well, yeah. I haven't rode a bike in about 5 years, and it was very entertaining (to say the least) when I was first getting started. People laughed and pointed as I waddled across the intersection because I was too afraid I'd tip over if I tried to cycle across. Once I got going..I loved it. My aunt and I fell behind the crowd and were just wheeling around under the summer stars. I did pretty good I must say! The only times I almost crashed were because I was laughing so damn hard. It was so windy and I made some comment about how I felt like I was in the wizard of oz, and we both burst out into huge, hard, belly laughs as I hummed the "witch on the bike scene" music and she shrieked out I'll get you my pretty, and your little dog too! It was extremely hilarious & I'm still laughing thinking about it. It was fun.

The fun ended quickly once we got closer to the house. We noticed that every one was still outside, and I thought it was really strange that Jake, Abby, and Joey were all still sitting in my car. It wasn't long before we realized that we were locked out. Thank goodness there was an after hours on call service that was able to bring us a key. But in the mean time while we were waiting, I stood outside of the car while Abby and Joey sat inside in the AC..sweaty with frizzing hair & getting eaten alive by 1000's of mosquitoes..because that's whats moms do.

It's been so much fun spending time here with my Aunt's family, so I'm kind of bummed to say we'll be leaving in the morning to go another island close to here to spend some time with my mom & step dad for the rest of the week. I'm bummed, but excited at the same time. & really hoping they have some sort of wifi hook up :)

We shall see what adventures tomorrow brings :)

Day #2: Beach, Barbeque, and Ice Cream

I got to take my baby to the beach. & I still can't believe it. I've been day dreaming about taking her on her first vacation since I first found out I was pregnant last summer, and it's here. And we're loving it. My girl is a water baby, just like her Mama. We sat right on the coast line and let the waves roll up & splash our toes. We strolled up and down the beach and looked at sea shells. We played in her baby pool and played with beach toys. She was happy. Mama was happy. Life is good today, life is good today.











can you tell she didn't like her sun hat too much?



My baby was so sleepy after the beach she took a 4 hour nap. That's Abby Leigh history. It gave me some time to relax. Kick back on the deck & listen to the stream flow. I gotta hand it to all you single mama's out there. I've only been here a little over 24 hours without Jake and it is hard work to do it all alone! Don't know how you ladies do it! I'm exhausted.

I'm not quite too sure what's better after a day out on the ocean than a home cooked barbeque, outside on the deck, salty air breezing through your hair, with the greatest family in the world on a warm summer evening. My baby girl loves corn on the cob. Almost as much as we enjoyed watching her gnaw at it :)







& is a summer vacation night ever complete without ice cream? I think not. After dinner we headed down to the local creamery which served us the most delicious home made ice cream I've ever had. Country peach flavor..yum. I forgot Abby's stroller so we all had to take turns walking and talking my sweet girl. She just wanted to get up and go, but she just can't quite do it yet. My uncle was letting her put her feet prints on the foggy ice cream shop windows, my aunt and I kind of turned our heads and giggled we don't know them! But it quite amusing and quite cute to see her little tiny toe prints on the glass :p & can I just say how much I love my cousins? My oldest cousin Andy and I grew up together, basically as brother and sister and I just adore him. My littler cousins, Michael and Joey are just so sweet and so gentle with Abby I just don't know what I'd do without them. Oh, my Aunt and Uncle are pretty amazing people too :) Love you, Cook family!




The perfect ending to a great day? Jake surprised me and arrived a day early! I was pretty startled when he came strolling in my room at midnight, but I was so excited to see him! We went outback and fished for about an hour and then crawled into bed together. I missed him :)