2010 Year in Review

2010 was a FABULOUS year!!! It was a very eventful, exciting and all together wonderful year for Team Holmes. The below is what you get when you don't update the blog with any text throughout the year. My 2011 "family" resolutions are as follows:
- Update Ella & Mac's blog with TEXT monthly!
- Travel with the kids to at least 2 out of state locations
- Have a family photo professionally taken
- Have a date with each of my kids alone each month.
January was off to a rough start with me being almost 7 months pregnant and in the hospital with pneumonia - Tony held down the fort like a champ! In fact, I think this is when Ella started trying out her new potty - we thought "heck, she'll have this potty thing down in no time"....needless to say, we are still fighting the fight!
February was pretty uneventful as we saw Grammie and Grampie Vitek off for their annual Florida getaway- marking this year the first Florida trip that I have missed in 12 years and Tony in 4 years!!! We met on of Ella's friend - Anna and her mom at the grocery store one random morning. Anna actually had a picture of her and Ella from school with her that day - according to the teachers, they are besties!
As March started, we all eagerly prepared for baby boy Holmes' arrival within the next month (early April). Even Ella got into the spirit, helping us make the crib and then "testing" it out for comfort. But baby boy had other plans - and due to a faulty placenta - MacCraiger Williams Holmes, Mac, was born via emergency C-section on March 11th at 11:32pm at a healthy 6lbs 10oz and 19.5 inches long. Uncle Bill came over to stay with Ella the night Mac was born and thus began Ella's love for her "Uncle Bill"! We got some much needed help from Grammie Betty, who came out to stay with us for Mac's first week. It was a crazy first month and it all went by in a blur!
In April, we were very fortunate to have the most beautiful spring, so for my 12 week maternity leave, I got to enjoy record breaking warm temperatures while basking in my new mommyhood with Mac! Plus we started our nighttime walks - Tony and Ella would play at the park and Mommy and Mac would speedwalk around the hood.
May marked my 38th birthday and my first Mother's Day with 2 babies! As Mac started to make more eye contact, Ella enjoyed poking, playing and just plain staring at Mac. And he can't take his eyes off his big sister - we know we are in for some trouble once they both start running amok together! A few important milestones happened in May. Ella graduated from her toddler daycare room into the big 2 year olds and to celebrate they had a picnic at her school (pics on blog). Also Ella went to her very first birthday party (well except her own) at her friend Lindsey's house (right down the street from us). She had a great time with Lindsey and Anna - and Tony and I had an equally enjoyable time with Anna's parents - Jen and Kevin (The Biggies), who have become great friends of ours!

June quickly came and I was back at work for 4 days/wk. Tony stayed home a day and Grammie watched Mac for 3 days a week, in order not to put him in daycare until he was 6 months. Tony had his 1st Father's Day with 2 babies. We had our master bath remodeled. Ella started swim lessons. And towards the end of the month, we had tornatic like activity in Western Springs, which took a huge tree down, roots and all, in our front yard. Thankfully no one was hurt - except our lawn! The big tree trunk, that laid there for over 2 weeks, was the perfect house identifier for Ella's big birthday bash a week later. Ella turned 2 on June 24th - and we had 30+ people (12+ kids) over to celebrate this momentous occasion!

July started off with an AWESOME holiday weekend. Again record high temperatures, with nothing but sunny skies, helped make weekend activites all the more enjoyable! Our subdivision, Ridgewood, had a 4th of July parade in the park. So we decorated Ella's bike and Mac's stroller and marched on over (pics on blog). We ran into Lindsey, her sibilings Colin and Maddy, and her parents, Lisa and John (The D'backs) who also became very close friends of ours. We also had our guest bath remodeled that month.
The summer months were the best I can remember - not only with all that we did, but the weather was idyllic EVERY weekend! Lots of park, pool, playdates and playtime outdoors! We took Ella to Millenium Park - she loved running around in the water, the bean and the BP bridge! We tried to visit many different parks around our house- Katherine Legge, Springdale and SpringRock.
September, we took the kids for their first professional photo shoot at JC Penney's - which turned out adorable! (pics on blog) Ella's vocabulary seemed to take off - lots of full sentences. Mac got 2 bottom teeth (actually came in August)!! October - we went to my 20th high school reunion. For halloween, Ella was a princess, butterfly fairy (?) and Mac was a pirate, I was a Viking (not of the MN variety) and Tony was the Hangover dude. Ella had a halloween program at school in which she didn't sing one word to one song - as well did not do any of the hand gestures or even stand up when she was suppose to (that's my little independant girl). Also big news that month, Tony found out his company was bought, being relocated to Kansas and his last day would be 3/30/11. November came roaring in with Tony's 40th birthday - which was celebrated by family and friends alike (even Ella's friends came to celebrate!). Mac got 4 upper teeth. We also took a 3 day vacation to Vegas to throw away some money! We managed to have front row seats for Cirque d'Soleil's LOVE show - which was phenom!
We celebrated Thanksgiving actually ON Thanksgiving this year! We then found the xmas holiday season upon us. Ella got a real kick out of setting up the tree and hanging ornaments! She also hit the jack pot, discovering my old happy meal toys which included the whole gang from Toy Story - which is her new obsession ...even more so than Tinkerbelle! Tony and I find it refreshing to actually be able to watch a movie (Toy Story 1, 2, 3, Tinkerbelle or Nemo) instead of the typical fare of Gaba-Gaba and Dora. Mac just likes watching Ella - she can now make him laugh on command and she just loves giving him "tickle, tickle, tickles". A visit to Santa produced a picuture of a screaming Ella, an oblivious Mac and a laughing mommy! Next year Tony is getting into the picture! Xmas was a great holiday - Ella "got" the whole present thing and actually wanted for a bike, camera and umbrella! She got her bike and camera and dozens of other needless gifts - and so did Mac. Of course Ella's umbrella from "santa" didn't arrive until a week after xmas (thanks to the elves at Amazon)! But all in all it was a wonderful holiday season. Ella had her first sleepover on NYE - her friend Lindsey stayed with us and we rang in the new year at 8pm and were all in bed by 10.
That brings us to 2011 - we are excited to see what the year brings us. Here's to another wonderful year filled with love, laughter and excitement!