December 26-January 1

I've made it. With this entry, I have successfully completed my 52-week blog. There were some weeks it was tough and the entry was not published until Thursday or Friday, but all 52 weeks of our year were documented and that was my goal.

This week was that super quiet lull between the holidays. Todd had a short work week and even got to attend the Belk Bowl to watch his beloved Wolfpack win the game. Aubrey and I mostly hung around the house as I've entered the hibernation phase. Our only outing of the week was to pick up a few last minute things for my hospital visit at Target. Luckily, Aubrey entertained herself all week with her new Christmas toys and art work so it made being a hermit a little easier.

Playing with her LeapPad while I worked.

Mason decided to start playing with our heads Friday night and made us think he was ready make an arrival. I started feeling pretty yucky after dinner, including diarrhea and menstrual-like cramps. I felt a lot like this the day I started having contractions with Aubrey so I thought maybe this was the start with Mason. I knew if it was the start of something I would need to get some sleep, so I managed to fall asleep around 11, only to wake up disappointed around 2 or 3 because I felt fine again. I was a little sad to wake up the next morning and realize we weren't going to be holding a baby anytime soon, but also a little thankful we had a little more time to enjoy the quiet in our house.

Saturday was my mom's birthday so the family went out to eat with the rest of the New Year's Eve crowd. Luckily, we managed to get there pretty early so the wait wasn't too bad. Aubrey was thoroughly entertained by my sister so it was almost like Todd and I got to enjoy a mostly peaceful dinner by ourselves.

I was trying to take a picture of Aubrey before dinner and this is the face she gave me. 

Todd and I spent the last few hours of the year quietly at home watching the final Harry Potter movie and then the traditional Dick Clark special on tv. We were amazed when the local tv channel showed the downtown Charlotte celebration and there were several children Aubrey's age running around. I am pretty sure Aubrey would have been a nightmare at that late time so I couldn't imagine taking her out for New Year's Eve. After the ball dropped, a bunch of people in the area had fireworks so Todd and I stood outside watching those before calling it a night at 12:30.

Amazingly, Aubrey let us sleep late New Year's morning. We spent the day hanging around the house and even took Aubrey to the neighborhood park since the temps were in the 60's. We sadly took down the Christmas decorations after Aubrey went to bed and I was finally able to put the last few baby items in their place. 

So, our 2011 ended as quietly as it began 365 days prior. We were blessed with a generally quiet, great year and hope 2012 brings us more of the same.