2010: in with a bang, out with a bigger bang

Last year, well last to last year since I mean 2009, we ended the year in India at a grand party at a resort. This year, we ended the year in our house, with our sweet little baby boy. Sleep deprived and not so bushy tailed, we thank the powers that be for sending this little angel faced munchkin to us.

We also celebrated 5 years of marriage. Which, you folks, apparently when you have a newborn, you don't remember the morning of the day you complete five years of marriage. December 30, 2010, Jeff and I woke up with his alarm at 6; I fed Oliver as he got ready to go to work. He left, I went into the living room to sit with my sister. My mom walked out of the guest bedroom and wished me a happy anniversary, I sat there with a dumbfounded look on my face and said, "oh we forgot it was our anniversary." Well, our family didn't. My sister even looked up what the traditional gift for a 5th anniversary was and being that it was wood, my parents and sis got us this ultra cute kid's rocking chair form ye olde Cracker Barrel. A little big for Oli right now but I see numerous hours of rockin' enjoyment in his future. We managed to make it out to dinner at a Japanese steakhouse for our anniversary. I am not linking to the place because it was just blah but the company was great and Oli didn't start fussing till it was time to pay. Which has been par for the course as far as dining out goes.

He also went to his very first movie, Little Fockers, which was just ok. What was memorable was the fact that after drinking milk right at the beginning of the movie, Oli slept right through to the rolling credits. We went to a 9:15 a.m. showing on the 31st, hoping that there wouldn't be too many people there in case he was too fussy. But, he was amazing. I am pretty sure our luck with going out is going to run out some day but for now, he is being so wonderfully cooperative.

In another rather strange turn of events, for the first time in the 7 years we have known each other, Jeff and I stayed up to bring in the new year. We were fading around 10:30 p.m. so we put in Back to the Future, the very first one and it kept us awake long enough to see the clock turn 12. Then we stayed up another 20 minutes to finish the movie and passed out pretty soon thereafter.

So, what was new for us this past year?

• I got pregnant
• my sister started her residency and moved to Wilmington, NC with our parents in May
• I visited Niagara Falls for the very first time with Jeff in August and was sufficiently impressed
• Jeff's sister had a baby boy in September
• we had our baby boy in November
• Jeff's parents visited in December; they really need to come out in the spring/summer, the winters here are a shock to Californians
• we've successfully stayed married for 5 years without killing each other
• we stayed up till midnight on New Year's Eve, possibly for the last time ever, considering how we felt the next day

What are we planning for in the next year?

• watching Oli grow and seeing his personality emerge
• working on getting Jeff a job closer to home; the 2 hr commute each way is a bummer to say the least
• making a visit out to the West Coast
• maybe getting a cruise in, specially since they all now leave out of Baltimore

Really, I am sure there's more that both Jeff and I would like to do but my brain has decided this is as long as it's going to work this morning.

I'll end with wishing all of you a wonderful New Year and hoping all your dreams get realized in 2011.