By the Numbers

One of my favorite parts of the post-Christmas holiday season is all the silly countdown shows on tv - "Top Ten Commercials," "2010 Biggest Scandals," "Best Movies of the Past Year," "Worst Music Videos," etc., etc., etc.  I love those shows with stats and numbers and such.  And so, I have concocted my own year end review by the numbers.*

651 out of the last 699 - Days that I have either been pregnant or nursing.  (Ok, so this one goes back into 2009...so sue me!)

80 - Number of fingers and toes for which I will be responsible for the care and maintenance of after Jellybean is born.

4 - New tools Billy HAD to buy this year. 

2800-3000 - My daily average caloric intake while nursing Beau.  (That kid had always been a good eater.) 

1 - Brian grandchildren this Christmas.

3 - Brian grandchildren next Christmas.  (Yep, we've been busy.) 

0 - Food allergies we have discovered. (Whoohoo!  So grateful for this one.) 

11 - Number of teeth Beau has cut since May. 

0 - Times Beau has actually eaten green beans. 

2 - Nights I have been away from Beau.  (Overnight, that is...) 

3,000+ - Pictures that I have taken of Beau this year alone.  (You don't even want to know how many his Paw Paw has taken.)

2 - Pictures I have printed and framed.  (So I'm a slacker in some respects.) 

0 - Pairs of designer jeans Billy and I own.

2 - Pairs of designer jeans Beau owns. (Thanks, Aunt Lizzy.) 

It's always fun to look back at the past year.  But considering how much lays before us now, we are definitely looking forward to what 2011 has to offer!  Happy New Year! 

*  In the spirit of full disclosure I must admit that I stole the idea for this post from my dear friend, Rebecca.  Thanks! 

One Crazy Christmas

Without question, the hardest family photo we've ever had to work for!

This year Billy and I hosted our first official Christmas celebration for our families.  Yep, you read that right...BOTH our families were in town for the festivities.  This resulted in over thirty guests at our house on Christmas Day alone.  Pregnancy hormones aside, I think I did a pretty good job playing hostess.  There were some mishaps (Nanny, I'm looking at you and the bourbon sauce I am STILL cleaning from the crevices of my kitchen stove...) but that is to be expected, right?  Unfornuately, as hostess I had little time to take many photos to document the festivities.  Sure I ended up with about 200 pictures, but that is well short of the 500 or so I probably would have taken.  Oh well.  We sure did have fun anyway. 



We did manage to get his shoes on for mass...well, at least the first thirty minutes or so...



My two handsome men.

The festivities started with Christmas Eve mass.  Beau did fairly well considering we had to arrive an hour early and it ran through his dinner time.  But once at home we were joined by Deb, Tom, Aunt Lizzy, Melinda, and eventually my parents as well.  Lots of gumbo and pistachio cake rounded out the evening. 



Beau loved Chase.  Chase, well she tolerated him.

Christmas day was a blessed chaotic event.  Beau wanted nothing to do with opening presents.  He was just as happy having someone else unwrap the gift and place it in his tiny outreached hand.  And to my delight he was gifted as many outfits as toys. Thank you, thank you, thank you.  The toy cabinet has reached its maximum capacity. Really though, our families were so generous to our little boy. 

Maw Maw and Paw Paw know just what he likes.

The tent was THE present of this year's Christmas. 

Can you tell he was in heaven?

Even daddy got in on the action!

Aside from some minor mishaps (see the bourbon sauce incident above) Christmas dinner was a delight.  Full of good food and good family and friends, we were reminded of how fortunate we truly are. 

Yes, that's real Burberry...thanks, Aunt Lizzy!

Three generations and one little pot belly. 

However, despite the success of our first Christmas, I am very much looking forward to next year in Texas.  And yes, while it will be nice not to play hostess (I mean, worrying about where to seat 30+ people can take a toll on you) it will be even nicer to celebrate it with our newest family members, Jellybean and Nameless Baby Boy Brian (Yep, Robyn and Marcus....doesn't that sound pitiful?  "Nameless Baby Boy Brian."  Maybe you should pick a name...MARCUS!)  Next year at this time we'll have three grandchildren to make the season merrier - a two year old, an eight month old, and a seven month old.  Gracious...that should make things interesting!   

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and holiday season.  And from the Billy Brian Family, here's wishing your family the very best the new year can offer! 

Halfway There...

This pregnancy has flown by.  I honestly didn't realize that I had reached the halfway mark until I read our own blog and saw the little ticker on the right side.  Twenty weeks?!  Twenty weeks?!  Then I realized that I had not taken a single "belly bump" picture for this baby. Poor thing.  I was so good about it with Beau.  Guess I had a little more time back then though...

Well, Billy's Christmas party was this weekend so I had an excuse to get all gussied up and take a rather pretty "belly bump" photo. 

Of course, a blog post would not be complete without at least one shot of Beau.  He has been walking around like a mad man lately and actually trying his hand at running.  *GASP*  More video on that to follow...