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.

In all we had a great year and I know 2012 will be filled with lots more fun and surprises!!

Merry Christmas!

I've always loved the Christmas season, but this year was especially special because Aspen actually understood the concept of Christmas. We took so much joy in picking out her gifts and really hyping up the day--who knows what we are going to do without using Santa as a reason to be a really good girl!?!
Our Christmas Eve was definitely not a traditional one this year. My gift this year to Jason was tickets to the Cowboys game on Saturday afternoon. It's pretty convienent that my sister-in-law lives in the area and my in-laws were at her house for Christmas, so they helped by watching Aspen--Thank You! Even though the game was miserable, Jason says he had a great time. Neither of us had ever been to an NFL game and hopefully it wont be our last!

After the game we drove home. It was a peacefully drive back, Aspen was exhausted from all the playing with her cousins, she slept the whole way back. In the morning I grabbed my camera to catch her face when she saw her Santa gift put together in our living room.


Coming down the stairs...



Pure joy!

 
Santa definitely did a great job picking out a gift for Aspen this year--she must have been a really good girl! He got her a house that is made out of cardboard so you can color on it. We haven't seen much of her the last two days. Jason swears she would sleep in it if we let her!

We had a great morning opening a couple of gifts. Jason did an awesome job this year and got me a video camera. I'm so excited to have one for capturing family events and being able to use it for my choreography, performing, and teaching!


The other "big hit" Christmas present was this Simba stuffed animal. He hasn't left her side much the last couple of days either.

Aspen got some clothes from her great Aunt Mary that she was showing off and a book from Uncle Matt and Aunt Corry she loved. She also got a great art table from Papa and Nanny, that she has been doing some drawings on already and Mom is so happy to have a designated "art area".



Best Friends!

My dad came over and joined in the Christmas fun and Aspen definitely enjoyed having her Poppy around. I just love the holidays!

Once I figure out this camcorder I have some pretty cute videos to post too, but for now I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and now on to a great New Year!



Dance Class

Last Friday the parents were allowed to come into the studio and watch a couple of things the kids have been working on. I was obviously so excited to see Aspen and it worked out that Jason was able to make it too. I think he was pretty impressed to see how creative the teachers have  to be to keep 10 toddlers interested!

Aspen's attitude toward attending her dance classes is night and day from when we started. She wasn't crazy about it at the very beginning, but now she just loves it. The best part for Jason and I is being at home with her and she starts playing one of the little games they do in class. It's pretty hilarious seeing her interpretation of the games.

What a sweet ballerina.

The first activity they did involved some stars. They would dance around with them and then have to put the star on different parts of their body.

 

It was pretty funny once we came into the room. I was proud that she continued with the activities and didn't come over to us, but she definitely knew we were there. She kept waving to us, dancing right in front of us, and even throwing a "cheese" our way a couple of times!

The second game is one of Aspen's favorites that she plays at home. The pretend to be "sleeping lions" and then wake up to dance. Considering how fond Aspen is of "The Lion King" right now, I'm not to surprised she enjoys playing a lion. 

This game was definitely my favorite to watch--bring out the ribbons! All the little girls were having a blast running around and working their ribbons. It was so fun being able to watch Aspen in class. I can't wait to see how much she has progressed by the end of the spring.

 

Aspen also LOVES her teachers. She talks about after we leave class and always wants to stay and hang out with them. As a dance teacher myself, it's always nice to get some love from your students!

Ms. Robin and Aspen

Ms. Kelly and Aspen

Hosting Our First Thanksgivng

This year Jason and I hosted our first Thanksgiving. Maybe we are still recovering and that's why it's taken me so long to post about it?? It was great fun to finally be able to have people stay at our house and we loved having everyone here. Thankfully all the cooking wasn't put on our plate! Everyone pitched it with there specialities and even my sister-in-law, Jennifer, who has a little newborn, brought some delicious pecan squares. We have so much to be thankful for this year and family is definitley up there on the list!

The morning of Thanksgiving we got the turkey all ready to go! Neither Jason or myself had every made a turkey before and I have to say, there is NOTHING worse than dry turkey. I was determined to have a delicious, moist bird. We decided to brine the turkey and for something that wasn't that much work I think it made a great difference.

Growing up Jason had the tradition of always having his mom boil the turkey neck for him as a pre-dinner snack. He decided it was time to pass on the tradition. He intended to share the neck with this little monkey, but when he wasn't looking she snatched his portion of his plate and chowed down. Like father, like daughter!

The kids were pretty hungry by the time our late lunch came around. Poor Aspen had been sitting at the table for about 30 minutes waiting for the meal to be served. But once it was, she was in Thanksgiving heaven!

Aspen's favorite part about the dinner was probably when we all held hands to say grace. We never hold hands normally, just on holidays, so she thought this was quite a treat. She insisted on holding Jessica's hand throughout the meal--doesn't look like she minds too much.

Aspen enjoyed helping "cook" whenever she could over the weekend. Here she is watching Papa whip up some eggs on Friday morning. Jason has been cooking with her so much more lately, we might have a little chef on our hands ;)

On Friday afternoon my other sister-in-law, Sarah, came into town with her family. The kids were having an great time with each other and Aspen even got to have her first official sleep over. We stuck all three kids in Aspen room for the night. They definitely had a great time, although they were all definitley a little over tired at the end of the weekend.

On Saturday morning I got up with Cameron and Aspen to make waffles. Cameron was my big helper with the waffles, informing me when they were ready. He enjoyed himself so much he told his mom he wanted a waffle maker for his birthday (his mom then informed me, "We have one.). He cracks me up!

I told them to say, "Waffles!" Cameron really committed.

It was raining all morning on Saturday, which we can't complain about in Central Texas. So we went to the mall to visit Santa Claus and surprisingly Aspen didn't cry. She wasn't insanely excited about him, but at least she sat in the chair without any tears. After Santa we headed to a Tex-Mex place down the street from our house. Cameron and Aspen took over Nanny's lap and the chips and queso.

On Sunday even though it was pretty chilly outside, there was no rain so we took a walk around the neighborhood. The two younger ones enjoyed a ride in the wagon, while Cameron was obessed with walking Bella. His parents better watch out because I think they may be in for years of asking for a puppy--not sure if they will work out for him ;). Although he is welcome to babysit our pup anytime. Bella loved all the walks!

Everyone headed back home on Sunday afternoon. We were so happy to have the chance to host a holiday for Jason's family. Now we are in the Christmas season, my favorite time of the year! The Tuesday after Thanksgiving we went and picked out our tree. I have really been talking up everything Christmas, so Aspen has really gotten into the trees, lights, Santa, and even likes to talk to our baby Jesus in our navity scene. Such a great time of year!

Dzubinski Christmas Tree 2011!