Dzubi Dzubi Dzu: Looking back on 2011

I've seen a couple of people doing "looking back on the previous year" and yes we are half way through January, but I thought it was pretty fun going through my blog posts and remembering our year.

January 2011: In January Jason and I dropped Aspen off in Midland for almost a week and drove to Taos, New Mexico for a skii trip. This was my first time skiing in NM and I loved Taos. Colorado of course is goregeous and great skiing, but NM was surprisingly just as beautiful and much less crowded--and a much shorter drive!

Aspen also enjoyed a couple trips to the library during our colder months.

February: I started the month of February producing my first modern dance show, No Assurance (the 2nd year is this weekend!). It was an amazing experience and something I ended up loving more than I expected.

Aspen turned 18 months old during this time. I can't believe looking at these pictures how small she looks!

March: We celebrated one of my favorite holidays, St. Patrick's Day.

The weather in Austin is why people love to live here and we started to take Aspen on picnic's to our local park. A kid rolling around playing and eating, what more could you want!

Aspen went to her first petting zoo at the rodeo and although I was worried she was going to be trampled by the animals, she loved it. I can't wait to take her back to the rodeo this year!

April: This month we celebrated my nephew's 3rd birthday. Cameron is the oldest of all the grand kids on the Dzubinski side--all the little ones are always looking up to him.

We also celebrated our second Easter with Aspen. She of course looked adorable in her Easter dress and even got to enjoy an Easter egg hunt at a local park.

May: This month brought on some warmer weather for some swimming, a trip to visit Jason's parents in Midland, and just the normal playdates and hanging around.

This was also the month that Aspen decided to climb out of her crib and we had to change her to a toddler bed. We definitely did it before we were thinking of doing it, but she is our little monkey so I'm not surprised and she did great adjusting to her new big bed.

June: This month Aspen got a visit from her Uncle Matt who live in Minnesota. They got to enjoy some swimming time in our inflatable pool at our old house.

We also celebrated Father's Day and Jason's one request--to sleep in. When you have an early riser like we do, sleeping in can be the best gift.

July: This month was a great month for our family because my brother got married to Corry over the fourth of July weekend. We decided to drive from Austin, TX to Minneapolis, MN and then onto Duluth for the wedding. It was scarey thinking about doing it with a toddler, but we made it and I think we would do it again.

Aspen also got to spend some time with alot of her family that doesn't get to see her very often, like my mom. It was great they got to spend that time together. We even got a picture of 4 generations of ladies--my grandmother, my mom, me, and Aspen.

At the end of the month we got together with Jason's side of the family and went on our annual family vacation. This year we rented cabins in Marble Falls on Lake LBJ and it was a fantastic time. We spent lots of time swimming and relaxing.

August: Of course the big event this month was Aspen turned 2 and the other huge event was she was a potty trained--a huge accomplishment in my eyes!

In the middle of this month I started a new job teaching dance at a new studio. Aspen also started her first dance class at this studio. She is still in it and loves it, which of course makes her mom happy :)

September: We celebrated Jason's 28th birthday in Chicago this year while Aspen went and stayed with her grandparents in Midland. We also put our house on the market and two days later expected an offer. We spent the rest of the month finding a new home.

October: We celebrated my neices' 2nd birthday and welcomed my other neices' birth on October 31st. Aspen got really into Halloween this year and went trick-or-treating for the first time.

We also closed on our house and moved into our new home on Halloween weekend. We went from barely 1,000 sq. ft. to our new home which is 3,000 sq. ft. We are still adjusting to all the space, but loving it!

November: Of course November being the best birthday month, we had lots of people to celebrate: my dad, my nephew, my brother, and sister-in-law. Oh yes, and I turned 27 this year. The big activity this month was hosting Thanksgiving in our new home. We finally had the space to do it, so we took on the challenge and it great getting to be the hosts!

December: Aspen was over the moon about anything Christmas so we had a great month of lots of celebration. We traveled to Midland to visit with Jason's family, travled to Fort Worth on Christmas Eve to see the Cowboys play at the epic stadium, and we celebrated Christmas day at our new home and my dad came for dinner.

Aspen also had her first parent observation day in dance class and I got to experience being on the other side of this day for once (being a dance teacher ;)). It was so cute watching her skip around in her leotard and ballet shoes.