Dworianyn Love Nest: 2012: The Year in Review

Monday, December 31, 2012

2012: The Year in Review

2012 has been the greatest year of our lives. Not a real big mystery why, of course, it's because our Prince Ethan joined our family. The first half of 2012 was all about preparing for Ethan's arrival and the second half was about cherishing every moment of parenthood. I can't wait to see what 2013 will bring but I don't want to forget all the amazing things that happened in 2012.

January

New Years Eve

We rang in 2012 with friends and family by having a private chef cook us all dinner. It was a great start to the New Year!

Nursery Preparations

We began working on our little Prince Ethan's nursery.

Lily's baptism

I had the honor of being Lily's godmother at her baptism.

February

Babymoon

We went to Naples, Florida with my parents for one last trip before our little man arrived!

We met up with Rich, Tif, Jacob, Makayla, Ray and Sandi to do some shopping in Disney World since they were in Florida at the same time. We bought Ethan lots of fun Disney items!

Nursery Construction Continues

Ethan's nursery started to take shape and we were in the home stretch of creating the perfect room for our little man!

New carpet

We got all new carpet in our house to prepare for Ethan's arrival

Valentine's Day

We celebrated our 6th Valentine's Day together with dinner at Wildfire

March

Warm Weather & New Patio Furniture

We had 80 degree days and celebrated by grilling out and buying some new patio furniture!

Finished Nursery

We finished our prince's nursery and it is my favorite room in the house!

Baby Shower

We had a beautiful baby shower given by our parents and we got everything we needed and then some!

April

Ethan Preparations Continue

We continued to get ready for our little boy by getting everything cleaned and set-up. We just had to wait!

Easter Decorating

Our house was all decked out for Easter and we dyed Easter eggs, with a special one for Ethan of course!

Easter with our families

We enjoyed Easter with our families and had the most gorgeous weekend to celebrate!

Maternity Pictures

I finally got a real bump so that we could take some maternity pictures!

May

Final Ethan Preparations

Just a few final touches to the nursery for Ethan. We didn't have long to wait!

Birthday!

Final belly picture before leaving for the hospital!

My early push presents from Michael - 1 for each month I was pregnant!

After a long 30 hour wait - my first picture with my miracle and greatest accomplishment!

We became a family of 3!

Parenthood

Parenthood was the greatest thing to ever happen to us and I must say Ethan made it such an easy transition!

June

Newborn Pictures

We had newborn pictures taken of Ethan and they are something I will treasure forever. My little man at 4 days old looking completely angelic.

1 Month

Ethan turned 1 month and we kicked off our monthly themed photos!

Jacob's 2nd birthday

We celebrated Jacob's 2nd birthday with an awesome Cars' themed party!

Father's Day

We celebrated Michael's first Father's Day at Arlington Racetrack and Ethan was the cutest jockey ever!

First Smile!

On his 6 week birthday, Ethan gave us the best present, his first smile!

First trip to the zoo

Ethan made his first trip to the zoo with Auntie Arla and Lily!

July

Forth of July

We had a great 4th of July and Ethan enjoyed his 1st celebration!

Family Gallery Wall

I created a family gallery wall with pictures of our whole family.

2 Months

Our little patriot turned 2 months old!

August

Milwaukee Zoo

We headed North to the Milwaukee Zoo with Tif, Jacob, Makayla, Ray and Sandi.

Kitchen & Bathroom re-decorating project

We had our kitchen and bathroom painted and changed out many of the decor items.

Maternity Leave Ends

After 3 amazing months with my little man, I had to make the cruel return to work.

3 Months

Our beach baby turned 3 months old!

First Haircut

Ethan got his first haircut courtesy of Daddy's barbershop!

30th Birthday Surprise

My family surprised me with an amazing 30th birthday party. I was totally shocked!

Family Zoo Trip

We had a great family fun day at the zoo with Arla, Teddy and Lily. We also signed up for a zoo membership.

Fantasy Football Draft

Fantasy Football draft night 2012 - Tif or Ken is this year's champion!

Fish Fry

My parent's had us over for a fish fry to eat my Dad's latest catch from Lake Erie!

September

Big Boy Seat

Ethan got upgraded to a big boy car seat at only 3 and half months because of his height!

Best Buds

It only took 3 months, but Porkchop became completely enamored with Ethan and vice versa.

Makayla is 1!

We celebrated Makayla's 1st birthday with a pretty in pink elephant party!

4 months

Our little apple pie turned 4 months!

First taste of food

Ethan had his first taste of cereal and wasn't too sure about it!

Apple Picking

We made our annual apple picking trip but at a new farm. I can't wait for Ethan to be running through those orchards next year!

Michael turns 30

We celebrated Michael's 30th birthday with delicious pierogi!

Fall Family Photo Shoot

We had a Fall family photo shoot with the same photographer who took Ethan's newborn shots.

October

My little pumpkin

I did a little Fall photo shoot with my little pumpkin at the pumpkin farm!

5 Months

Our little pumpkin turned 5 months!

Pumpkin Picking

We made our annual trip to Goebbert's with Rich, Tif, Jacob, Makayla, Ken, Ray and Sandi

Lily's 1st Birthday Party

We celebrated Lily's first year with a Bubbleguppies party!

Ravioli Fest

We got together with my family for our annual ravioli making party!

Pumpkin Carving

Our first pumpkin carving with 4 pumpkins! Ethan had a Mickey pumpkin of course!

Boo at the Zoo

We took our little lion to Boo at the Zoo and he took his first carousel ride!

Halloween

We took our little lion trick-or-treating for the first time!

November

Movember

Ethan kicked off Movember with some sweet mustaches of his own!

Election

We voted and Ethan got to take part in the booth with me, he can't tell you who I voted for though, LOL!

6 Months

Our little turkey turned 6 months!

Football Sunday Oktoberfest Style

We hosted football Sunday with some of our favorite Oktoberfest treats!

Thanksgiving

We celebrated Ethan's 1st Thanksgiving!

Setting up Gramma and Papa's Tree

Ethan got to take part in decorating Gramma and Papa's tree for the first time, he was completely enthralled with the lights and especially Papa's train!

December

Zoo Lights