2012 Lookback

2012 wasn't the worst year for us. There were so many joys, especially watching each second of Henry's life unfold over the past 12 months.  But 2012 was definitely full of challenges -  learning how to be parents (and feeling like you're failing at every moment, especially those first few months), balancing parenthood with our jobs, leaving our friends and colleagues behind and moving home, trying to re-assimilate ourselves in Tulsa - all while constantly battling some illness that Henry has managed to pass on to us from day care!  We've made a lot of great memories in 2012, some of which I've attempted to capture via photos in this post.  Excited to see what 2013 has in store for us!

Henry and me on New Year's Day last year.  Happy to say that we've both changed quite a bit since then!

This photo pretty much sums up Henry's attitude during his first month of life. It was challenging spending my days with such a fuss budget.  If it wasn't so darn cute!

Henry and I went on lots of arctic adventures in Chicago during my maternity leave.  Despite being snowed on, blindfolded by his hat, and propelled down the aisle of the el because I didn't put the breaks on his stroller, he was always a good little traveling buddy.

We tried just about every contraption on the market in hopes of getting Henry to sleep, including this nifty baby straightjacket.  Alas, all items were unsuccessful.  Though I'm happy to say that at 13 months old, the kiddo is FINALLY sleeping through the night. Whew!

Henry helped Daddy cheer on the Jayhawks.  Unfortunately Henry's unwavering support could not win them a national championship.

Henry and I traveled to Tulsa for a round of job interviews all by ourselves! All I have to say is thank goodness for the sweet TSA employees (shouldn't that be an oxymoron?) at O'Hare airport for helping us get through security pretty much unscathed.

We celebrated Easter in Chicago, and I got my job offer from Doerner, Saunders, Daniel, and Anderson the next day, making our move to Tulsa official!

Just a few days after Easter, we put in an offer on a fabulous house (without ever having seen it in person).  Good news is that we absolutely love it!

We spent an awesome weekend in Michigan with John's family, and learned that Lisa was having a BOY.

One day Henry morphed into a miniature John.

We said a very tearful (at least on my part) goodbye to Henry's sweet teachers at his daycare in Chicago, Little Green Tree House. While we just love the sweet teachers at his current daycare, we still miss LGTH.

Henry eats food! Although he refuses to eat most table foods, and he is even more opposed to feeding himself.

Henry's first horse ride!

Henry learned to swim (sort of) at Miller Swim School over the summer. He loves the water so much that we are considering putting him in more swimming lessons this spring.

We celebrated Henry's first 4th of July at John's favorite place - the lake! Henry loved  the fireworks and watching all his older cousins run around and celebrate!

Uncle Jim came for a visit! Henry was baptized over the summer, and there can't be a baptism without a godfather! Miss this guy so much!

We finally moved into our house in late July after having the bottom floor painted and other touches to make it our own. We just love having a "real" house as opposed to a condo, and Henry is a definite fan of all the extra space to crawl around and wreak havoc!

I'm so thankful for all the extra time we've been able to spend with our families. Henry is benefiting so much from all the love he's getting from his grandparents (including my mom, shown here).

Henry started rolling around sometime in July and hasn't stopped moving since. We realized instantly that we were in big trouble!

Theo joined us on September 1st! We went to meet him mid-September, and Henry could not have been more excited about meeting his new little cousin! I know these guys are going to be the best of friends! (P.S. Don't be creeped out by Theo's lack of a face in the pic - it's my latest attempt at disguising him on the internets, per his parents' request.)

We braved the hordes of hillbillies and took Henry to the Tulsa State Fair where he rode his first carousel. He was less than impressed.

Henry's first trip to the pumpkin patch!

Henry the Hedgehog dominates Halloween!

A fall photo-op

Henry has loved getting to know and spend time with his cousins!

Turkey Day with our little turkey!

First Santa experience, and it was downright perfect.

Henry's first birthday party! He definitely did not inherit my love of cake!

Henry turned 1 on December 5th!

My stepdad, Kirby, retired from OSU medical school and was honored at a reception with some Superman underoos.

Henry was our little Christmas angel.

New Year, New Start

I've always loved January 1st and have seen it as an opportunity for a fresh start, to begin the year with a clean slate and a fresh attitude.  This year, like in most years past, I'm feeling the same refreshing feeling related to starting a new year, which is kind of strange since we've spent the majority of 2012 starting fresh. Our move to Tulsa was not the first big move we've made in our adult lives. Our move to Chicago in 2005 was a pretty huge change for us.  But we have learned that moving when you are 25, childless, and newly married is a lot different than at 32 with a 6 month old. 

We are finally settled in our new place and in our hometown but it definitely wasn't quick or easy and we still have a long way to go. It's been so awesome being so close to family, especially now that H. is mobile and extremely active. We've had a lot of fun showing Henry around to all our favorite spots and trying all of the cool new restaurants in Tulsa.  In spite of all the fun we've had since we've been back, I still miss Chicago very much.  I imagine Chicago will eventually be like the college girlfriends I used to go out with every weekend but now see only once or twice a year. I'm just not to that point yet, and am counting the days till we visit in January.

All this being said, we have SO much to be thankful for this year. We are healthy, Henry is healthy, we have fantastic jobs, and the love and support of our families. While all is going well, there's always room for improvement, which brings me back to the point of writing this post: new starts.  With this new year comes some New Year's resolutions.  We rarely keep ours, but here's what we have slated for 2013:

John (only) resolves to spend less time on the computer.

I, on the other hand, have tons of resolutions:

1. Get organized!  Not only does this entail cleaning up and getting rid of excess, but it also includes planning meals, folding and putting away the laundry before it's so wrinkled it needs to be washed again, getting gas before I'm below the 'E', and having a work morning where I'm not running around the house like a crazy person.  I've yet to figure out how exactly to execute on this resolution, but I'm going to try!
2. Run another half marathon or two.  I'm signed up for the OKC half in April, but it might be fun to run a half in Chicago sometime this summer.  Given that I haven't taken more than a few strides since before I was pregnant, this is a loft goal, but one I'm determined to meet. I even bought a treadmill to facilitate the training.
3. Be more social. When you're busy, it's easy to get caught up in work, home stuff, and family, and our social lives suffer as a result. I'm going to make a concerted effort to be more social in 2013 and turn down fewer invites for happy hour.
4. Go on some dates.  Despite having two ready and willing babysitters within a few miles of our house, I can count on one hand the number of times John and I have taken advantage of this and gone out to dinner or a movie since we moved.  So, I'm going to make a list of restaurants I want to try and movies I want to see so that I am more motivated to get out there and have some quality time with my boo thang.

That's it for me! All are attainable and are aimed at making life fuller and happier. Cheers to everyone, Happy New Year, and let's get on with 2013!

Christmas Recap

A Merry Christmas was had by all in the Beck household. Henry was super fun this year - very curious about all the new stuff he got and all the hoopla surrounding the week.  We made a lot of fun memories and are looking forward to all the new traditions in our new house.  Hope everyone had an awesome Christmas!

Not sure about this Christmas business...

Checking out his new stuff!

Reading a book in his new chair!

Banging out some tunes on his new piano!

Not sure who has played the piano more: Henry or John.

Lots and lots of presents!

Practicing walking!

'Twas the Night Before Christmas

We've had a very busy Christmas Eve full of fun family traditions. We started the day off with the (sixth, maybe?) annual Adams Christmas lunch.  The event was on a brief sabbatical last year due to us all spending the holidays in Chicago, but it's back on and was SO fun to see and catch up with everyone. It was also fun to have all the new additions to the lunch: Henry, Ethan, and Theo.  Lots of fun and good conversation was had by all. I would say that we are overdue for a reunion.

Cousins!

Steph and me making cookies for the cousins lunch

We rounded out the evening with the annual mexican Christmas Eve dinner at John's parents' house. They are always so nice to include my family, so it's a nice big group. And the food, as usual, was amazing.  John and I are completely stuffed!

The Ladies and Babies.  This is probably about as close of a look the blogosphere will get of baby Theo's face!

We've tucked our little nugget into bed, and I'm hoping some visions of sugarplums are dancing in his head. While I know he won't totally know what's going on tomorrow, I am positive he will be excited about all the goings on. I can't wait to see his face when he sees what Santa brought him! I've always loved this time of year, but having Henry has made the holidays about a million times more awesome!

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Major Catch-Up Post

I can't believe it's been three weeks since I last posted! Let that be a testament to how busy our December has been! Work-wise, December in Chicago is the slowest month since everyone goes away for a week or two for the holidays.  Apparently that's not the case in Tulsa, since I've been busier this month than any other month in my career, meaning John has had to take on the role of Mr. Mom while I've been working. He's a saint!

Here's a brief run-down of what we've been up to:

Henry officially turned one on December 5th. I'm still in denial that I have a toddler now instead of a baby.

We celebrated Christmas with my dad's side of the family on December 8th.  Since we spent Christmas in Chicago last year with brand new baby Henry, it had been a couple of years since we had gotten together with my stepbrother and his fam.  Below are my dad, stepmom, and Justin's two awesome girls, Jadyn and Jesi. Henry loved hanging with his cousins!

Kirby retired from OSU after 38 years! His colleagues hosted a great dinner in his honor on December 10th, and we were so happy to be included (even if I was a bit of a zombie from pulling my first near all-nighter of my entire life).

Henry was in a Christmas program at school and was the most precious little angel ever, even if he was sick (hence the rosy cheeks and red lips). Poor little punkin ended up with an ear infection that weekend.  Glad he's well now, though, in time for Christmas!

Now that we have a real house instead of a condo, we have taken advantage of all the fun decorating we can do with lawns and front doors (clearly, we need to get out more). John put up Christmas lights for the first time ever, and we think they look pretty cute, especially the Charlie Brown Christmas tree in our front bed.

Henry has been busier than ever, trying as hard as he can to destroy everything in the house, or at least cause as much disorder as possible.  I secretly love it, though, and am so excited by all his curiosity.

We are finally ready (I think) for Christmas! We did some last minute scrambling yesterday to get those last few gifts. Looking forward to lots of family time this week!

Happy Birthday to Henry!

Yesterday we hosted Henry's 1st birthday celebration a few days early.  It was so great to have so much family over to celebrate our precious little guy.  It's been such an awesome year as new parents. Cheers to Henry!

Delicious cake! (That we will be eating for the rest of the week)

With Nannie and Mimi

Such a big boy!

Not so sure about all the people singing to him

Also not so sure about the smash cake... He refused to eat any of it! What kid doesn't like cake? Apparently mine.

"Get this sticky mess away from me!"

Presents!

"Oooooh"

Lots of books!

Sleepy birthday boy

Playing with cousin Reese

Turkey Day the Tulsa Way

Apparently I'm on a roll with the rhyming titles (see last post).

This was our first Thanksgiving in Tulsa in a couple of years.  Last year we were grounded in Chicago, waiting for little Henry to arrive. Oh, how things have changed since then! We hosted at our house this year and were so thankful to have both my family and John's join together for dinner.  Not only was it awesome to have everyone together, but it was great to not have to eat two Thanksgiving dinners in one day.  We were a smaller group than usual, since David stayed in KC and Lisa, Niel and Theo were not able to make the trip up from Austin. But it was great to be together nonetheless.

After stuffing our faces, we headed out to Lights On at Utica Square. When I've been in past years, it's been really festive, with hot cocoa, warm coats, and caroling.  But it was hard to get in the spirit with temps in the upper 70s all day (note the sleeveless shirt). It was a far cry from the freezing cold Thanksgivings we've spent in Chicago in past years.

I think our first Thanksgiving in our new house was a success. I'm looking forward to starting more new holiday traditions in years to come!

Steph and Pancho relaxing before dinner

Henry having his pre-dinner "cocktail"

The table

He is definitely John's son - obsessed with electronics!

Little turkey!

Here's to new family traditions!

With Auntie Steph at Lights On

Henry and Grandmomma