A few faves

I haven't been blogging a lot lately for many reasons, one of which is because I've been too busy reading other people's blogs. You guys, other people are so entertaining and it doesn't take any of my brainpower to read how awesome they are. Best of all, at the end of the year many shared their favorites from 2011. Favorite books, movies, TV shows--you know the drill. Made me think about my top picks, which brings you this not-at-all-comprehensive list of my absolute favorites from last year, in no particular order:

If you haven't read Bossypants, READ BOSSYPANTS. Actually, listen to Bossypants because Tina Fey narrates. True story: Her rules of improvisation totally changed my world view.

If my mom or mother-in-law were to ever watch this movie, I would deny its existence. But since I'm pretty sure neither of them will ever see it, Bridesmaids was my favorite movie of the year. Another true story: This movie nearly made me pee my pants.

Webster's word of the year was "pragmatic." Mine was "hangry." It's a combination of hungry and angry that I experience almost daily. Jessica suggested that we print out a bunch of these cards and hand them out to people we've wronged as a result of hanger. I owe Nic an entire stack.

My new celebrity crush came to my attention because of my second favorite movie of the year, 50/50. Oh, Joseph Gordon-Leavitt, you are nerdy and adorable, just like I like 'em.

Nic also has a new favorite celeb worth mentioning: Emma Stone. This is a HUGE improvement from Megan Fox, his previous pick. Am I right?

The most listened-to album in our house was Sigh No More by Mumford and Sons. It's folksy and delightful and is something that both Nic and I can agree on.

Because this is my list of whatever I want, I get to have a favorite medical procedure--and this year I choose the colonoscopy. This unpleasant procedure made it possible for my mom to be around for many more years. And you guys, I need her.

I'll end with my favorite picture from this year. This image captures exactly how I feel about Norah and how I always hope we will see each other. I kind of wish that I could bottle this moment and live in it forever.

Being festive

I put up a tree this year. It didn't have ornaments, but it was completely lit, which is more than I can say for years past. Every time we came downstairs for breakfast or came in the door from work, Norah would smile and say, "Tree!" This alone is motivation to start decorating for holidays.

Norah discovered the art of unwrapping the presents that were under the tree. I totally let her because I'm a sucker and don't want to argue with an 18 month old about why sometimes we can open presents and sometimes we can't.  

We spent Christmas Eve and morning with my family, which was delightful as always. We also witnessed a Christmas miracle as Norah slept the entire night in a crib that was not hers. She went to bed without a fight and woke up being her usual, awesome self. Unprecedented!

At some point the pajamas came off and the nakey reading began.

Norah entertained us Christmas Eve by dancing to Beyonce for at least a half hour. Christmas morning she was still in the dancing mood. She's added quite a few new moves to her routine--like jazz hands.

We spent Christmas evening with the Stewarts. After being so good for more than 24 hours, Norah had had enough. I bribed her and two cousins to be good by watching Tangled, which just so happens to be the only movie that Norah will actually pay attention to. It sort of worked--meaning we didn't have to leave before presents, but we didn't ever get back to the 1,000-piece puzzle we so optimistically started.

I have never experienced Christmas madness like I have at the Stewarts. There are so many kids and so many adults and so much excitement and so much good food. It's exhausting and completely wonderful. 

The best part is gathering in the basement to open presents. It's a mad house and I highly recommend it.

As always, I'm overwhelmed by the love of family and friends who make our lives completely magical. We've been blessed with a lot, and we have a lot of people to thank for that.

Cleaning house

Remember the weekend before Thanksgiving? Norah doesn't. But here is proof that I took her to her second apple party and attempted to get her to enjoy it. My dad made a valiant effort and even got her to help for a bit.

I ruined it by trying to get an adorable picture of her in the apple bin. Colman and Alexi loved this when they were little!

Luckily for me, J.J. was there to make her smile again.

Oh, and also, I turned 30 this month. The best part was that I didn't even have to freak out because Nic did it all for me. He is seriously not okay with the end of our twenties and could possibly being having an existential crisis of some sort. His reaction completely absorbed any anxiety I would have had about my birthday. All I could think was Jeez, Nic. You need to take it down a notch; this is not that big of deal.

Nic sent me beautiful flowers to my office with the most awesome of all awesome love notes that have ever been written. You'll have to ask me what it said later. My mom came to our house that evening to play with Norah so Nic and I could enjoy a restaurant dinner without me and Norah fighting over who is going to hold her glass of water.

Also, Norah is adorable. I finally got her to let me put something on her head without yelling at me. It's the little victories.

We took Norah to see The Muppet Movie, which was the first time I've dared take her to a theater. It helped my anxiety level knowing that she was outnumbered by adults three to one. My favorite part was when she took the entire bucket of popcorn on her lap, leaned back, and actually watched a lot of the show.

The end.

So many pictures, not so many words

We spent Thanksgiving week, plus some, in Virginia and the outer banks of North Carolina with all of the Wilcoxes. The top two reasons why it was amazing include that we got to spend time with Josh, Jess, and Ellie, and that this trip has served as a marker for the end of my mom's cancer treatment as we've gone through the past year.

I have an overabundance of things that I'm thankful for; on top of that list is my family. Thanks guys.

Angry sushi

I'll accept waking up before 7 a.m. while I'm on vacation only because I got to spend mornings with the above three weirdos.

Our recent trip to California over Halloween marked a new stage for us: We have a toddler. A toddler. I tried to write off her extreme moodiness as teething, but as soon as I had strangers staring at me and my flailing child in the middle of a family dining establishment, I realized it was all over. Of course, Nic and I are plotting to drag Norah to various vacation destinations throughout her life and force her to enjoy herself. So maybe I'm just upset because she caught on to us so quickly.

Case in point: the beach. Don't let the forced smiles fool you. She would not be convinced that this was anything but torment.

Once we gave up on trying to get her to have fun, Nic starting pushing her buttons solely for our amusement.

She also did not appreciate her homemade Halloween costume. It could be because I keep dressing her up as types of food. Last year she was a lobster; this year she was sushi with a side of ginger and wasabi. I can't help it if I think she's delicious!

Again, we did our best to compel her to have fun, but mostly she just did this:

Norah's adorable crayon (Alice) and paper (Russell) friends got their trick-or-treat on and were a huge hit at the kindergarten Halloween parade.

Out of nowhere there were about 45 minutes when Norah decided that vacation is awesome. This involved us chasing her down the street. Runaway sushi! We put her to bed immediately afterward.

Thank you again, Alissa and family, for still pretending that my baby, uh toddler, is adorable. You are champion hosts! I purposely didn't take any pictures of your spectacular new amazing house because I didn't want to be tempted to post pictures before you do. But people, the Kings' new house is kind of the best thing ever. And it's in a forest in Southern California.

Want to know what Norah didn't get to scream during? So You Think You Can Dance tour! We left the kiddos at home and got to do some screaming of our own. You guys, this is the third time we've been and it's totally the highlight of my year.

If I had to pick a favorite from this season it would be this:

Nic didn't complain about going with us because she was there: