2011: Year in Review

January ~

Ryder brought in the New Year sick, just like he did in 2010, but he was soon feeling better and enjoying being a curious, hilarious, fun-loving 22 month old.  Mommy was 15 weeks pregnant when the New Year came and this is the month we found out our new addition would be a baby girl!  We had fun having family and friends over for the big reveal where we all found out the news together when we bit into our PINK filled cupcakes!  Mommy had a birthday this month :)

February ~

We celebrated Valentine’s Day this month and Ryder finally showed interest in watching TV, only Blue’s Clue’s though!  He got his very own thinking chair and still to this day refers to recliners as thinking chairs.  We decided that our baby girl would be named Maisy Liza and got a glimpse of what she looked like through 3D sonogram.  Ryder went to his first Monster Jam and loved watching the monster trucks.  By the end of the month Ryder’s nursery got converted to a big boy room!  Complete with bunkbeds, a toybox, a workbench, and all Harley Davidson decor. 

March ~

March is always a very busy and exciting month for us.  In the beginning of the month Mommy & Daddy celebrated our 3 year wedding anniversary with a weekend away.  We replaced most of the carpet in our house with wood floors so we had a week of renovations going on.  Then it was time for Ryder’s 2nd Birthday!!  We had a cook-out at Poppy’s for his party and had a great turn out of friends and family.  At the end of the month Ryder went through his first round of Constraint Induced Therapy where we casted his right arm to encourage his brain to start making new pathways to his left arm & hand in order to gain better function.  This was a very stressful time for us…yet very rewarding!

April ~

Ryder spent half of April with his arm still in a cast but the longer it was on the more he adjusted to it, then finally after 3 weeks we were able to get it taken off.  He went back to using his right hand but gained a lot of strength in his left arm.  Mommy was 7 months pregnant and started getting overloaded with Doctor appointments.  Everyone was taking lots of precautions to make sure Maisy was healthy!  We celebrated Easter this month and Ryder absolutely loved going on Easter egg hunts!

May ~

Mommy was getting H-U-G-E but celebrating Mother’s Day was a great reminder that all of the pregnancy pains are SO worth the end product of becoming a Mommy to these beautiful children.  We got the news that Ryder’s therapist Miss Erin would be moving which made us so sad to be losing someone so important to us.  Some really great friends put together a dinner and Maisy got LOTS of cute things!  This made the anticipation of her arrival reach its peak.  By the end of the month we had her room ready and we were all ready for her to get here.  Ryder spent lots of time in her crib talking about his baby sister.  He even made his own set of stairs leading up to her crib.

June ~

The weather was nice so Daddy & Ryder spent lots of time outside and at the pool.  Mommy stayed inside doing last minute preparations to get ready for baby girl!  We had a celebration for Maisy lunch, the blog name changed to Marsh Madness, we celebrated Alan for Father’s Day, and then Maisy made her big appearance on June 24th.  She was 8 pounds 8 ounces, 21.5 inches long, and perfectly healthy!  She was such a wonderful addition to our family.

July ~

July started with Daddy on Paternity Leave and Mommy on Maternity Leave enjoying every second at home with our children!  Ryder proved to be such a great big brother, always very concerned with what was going on with his new baby sister.  He was very patient with us in all of the new transitions.  Having a new baby around along with Mommy trying to heal from another C-Section brought on some big changes in his routine, but he handled it like a champ!  We had lots of visitors and were so proud to show off our newest Marsh :)

August ~

This month Maisy flashed us her very first smile!  Ryder started making lots of progress with potty training using his potty chart.  We were having so much fun being home together, making library trips, doing crafts, and even joining the YMCA.  All good things must come to an end…Mommy eventually had to get back to work and it was back to Nana’s for Ryder & Maisy.  At the end of the month we had to go stay in a hotel because Hurricane Irene caused an extended power outage in our neighborhood.

September ~

In September we celebrated Labor Day weekend then had some more really crazy weather that caused some pretty serious flooding.  The floods caused a lot of damage in our neighborhood, including a huge dam to break which meant we had no access to Nana’s house for a few weeks!  By the end of the month Maisy had already turned 3 months old and Ryder was 2 and a HALF! 

October ~

We always start off October with Daddy’s birthday – this year was a milestone!  We went to the State Fair which was a lot of fun and definitely something we’ll be doing every year.  A couple of “firsts” happened this month: Maisy rolled over, she started eating baby food, and Ryder got his very first haircut!  6 inches later he was still our long haired little boy, and still being called a girl!  We enjoyed lots of Halloween festivities like going to the pumpkin patch, pumpkin carving party, and trick or treating.  Ryder dressed up as a Pirate and Maisy was a Panda.

  

November ~

We participated in the National Kidney Foundation’s Kidney Walk for the 3rd year in a row as Team Ryder.  Ryder had a lot of follow up doctor appointments this month and got all good reports!  Thanksgiving was filled with lots of family, food, and reminders of everything we have to be thankful for.  Our Christmas spirit started stirring up right when Thanksgiving ended.  We decorated, put up our tree, and Ryder got to sit on Santa’s lap for the first time ever. 

December ~

For us December was ALL about Christmas.  We saw Santa a few more times, shopped, wrapped presents, went to Christmas parties, and finally the big day came.  It was so magical this year, the kids absolutely loved it.  Well Ryder loved and understood it all, Maisy just loved the wrapping paper and the fun toys inside!  We’re ending the year with a 6 month old and an almost 3 year old.  Just when I think things can’t get any more fun…I’m sure they will!  

2011 has been another great year for us.  We got to watch our son learn and grow all while overcoming many obstacles.  We got to meet our baby girl and experience that deep bond and love all over again in a whole new way.  One word to sum up our year would be BLESSED.  We are so thankful to God for every blessing He has given to us, even though the road hasn’t been perfect or always easy, He knows exactly how to get us to that perfect place He wants us to be.

Here’s to another year!