2009 was a year of many things. I didn't realize all that we were able to experience until going through our folders of pictures. Here is one picture representing each month this year for our family.
January
We decided to begin the potty training process with Anders. He was so excited to wear his new "undies." I admit, it may have been a little early. It took several months for him to be fully trained, but our goal was to train him before Eva was born (ha ha!). I'm just glad I have another 3 years before we have to go through that again!
February
My sister Carly and I were so excited to have the opportunity to go see Celine Dion in concert. This came as a total surprise because they were my aunt Cherilyn's tickets, but she was too ill to go (pregnancy ill, so it was okay). I absolutely LOVE Celine, so this was such a treat for me! Carly was more interested in watching Mia Michael's dance routines.
March
This month was the biggest month for us! We welcomed our baby, Eva into our family. We have loved every second with her. Anders has really proven himself to be the best big brother Eva could possibly ask for. I don't know how Christian and I were so lucky to have such great kids!
April
We were still staying indoors for the most part, due to our brand new baby. We were very excited for Easter and for Anders' to enjoy the annual Firth Easter Egg Hunt. He had a great time. I think he was most excited to do something for himself for the first time in about a month!
May
I'm not going to lie, May was NOT my favorite month. During this month, my anxiety hit big time. Christian went to Omaha for his summer labs for 2 weeks and I was home with potty-training Anders and brand new Eva. This picture actually reminds me a lot of those emotions because Memorial day was actually my breaking-point. This is the day I was such a mess that I scared Anders enough that he never left that top step of the pool the rest of the summer. Oops. I spent the rest of the summer trying to coax him off that top step of the pool. On a more positive note, Steve and Lezlee (Christian's sister) got married this month! I wish I had pictures of that!
June
How could I resist not putting this as our highlight for June? Eva's first pedicure. I was surprised how easy it was to paint her dainty little toenails and how difficult it was to take a dang picture of them! They were so cute and attracted a lot of attention. Having a girl is so much fun!
July
The milestone for the month of July was getting rid of Anders' binkie. We debated for months on how we were going to do it with as little damage as possible. With all the discussing, we decided to just try to let him throw it away himself. He thought it was a great game we were playing...until it was time to take a nap. He screamed and screamed when he realized what he'd done. This is the picture of him looking for it in the trash.
August
This is the only picture I have from my sister, Carly's wedding. This month was INSANE with events and gatherings. My brother came home from his mission and Carly had showers and other wedding events. Such a crazy month, but we were so glad to share it together!
September
My family decided to take a quick trip up to Yellowstone in September. It was so fun to watch Anders first exposure to camping (other than ward camp outs) and wild animals. He handled it a lot better than I did. For pretty much being raised in Yellowstone, I am one big Yellowstone baby! I have no idea where my intense fear of animals came from! The trip was very fun and we can't wait to do it again!
October
Anders turned 3 years-old on his birthday. He could not possibly decide between having a pirate birthday party or a Harry Potter birthday party. The solution? One of each! We had 2 family parties (for both of our sides) and he could not have been more excited!
November
We had quite the experience in November. We were able to spend the entire month in Fairview with Christian's parents. Christian set up one of his 5-week pharmacy school rotations in Mt. Pleasant at the Skyline Pharmacy. We thought that would be a good chance for our kids to get closer to their grandparents. I am so pleased to watch the special relationship both my kids now have with their grandparents.
December
This picture was taken at our annual Firth Family Christmas Party. Anders had a fantastic Christmas. He is officially at the best age to enjoy the magic of Christmas. My favorite thing to watch him do was stop at the mall just to wave at Santa. He would stand there and waive until Santa would recognize him and waive back. He was convinced Santa knew who he was.Wow! What an incredible year we've had. I just can't believe we have finally made it to 2010! This coming year is a big deal to our family. Christian will graduate from pharmacy school! See ya 2009! 2010...watch out!
This is not a "look how amazing my child is" post. I just feel so overwhelmed with how much I love my dang kids that I need to express it! When I say that we adore our Eva, I am speaking for each person in our family. She has seriously brought so much in to our family. I will be the first to admit...I cried when I found out we were having a girl. I dreamed about having an all boy family. I have learned that it really does not matter what gender your kids are, you love each of them in their own unique way. It is so fun to see how much Anders adores her. My favorite thing he does is put his head on her lap and let her do whatever she wants to his hair, ears, or face. I can tell it's her favorite thing too. She squeals with excitement and just eats him up. Anders still refers to her as "my baby" and it melts my heart. He asks, "when's my baby going to wake up?" Eva has turned out to be such an enjoyable baby. We weren't so positive it would be this way with how rough her first few months were (if you'll recall how she earned the name Eva the Diva). Now, she is nothing but smiles and fun. She is now a pro at the whole crawling thing. She completely ignores all of her toys and b-lines straight to anything that's Anders' laying on the floor. She is 100% content to be in Anders' room all day long. She just loves everything about him. We still all fight over her when she wakes up from her naps. We just can't get enough of her!
