High-Speed Summary

So, in the almost three months since I've written, a TON of awesome stuff has been happening.

I completed my quest to make a perfect baby hat!

Not one of these hats could conceivably be described as perfect - in fact, they're all far too large for a newborn. The pink one went to little Miss M, who is presently almost 14 months old, and it fits her just about right.

I got to celebrate Miss M's first birthday. I picked out this outfit for her - and spent the rest of my time at Old Navy wishing they had it in my size!

I also got to go to TWO baby showers, both of which were totally filled with joy. Both of these babies are here now, and they are happy and healthy, which is truly wonderful news! I made this blanket, which I'm sure the little man is enjoying!

I also spent some time writing and mailing Christmas cards. I LOVE receiving Christmas cards, and I know you've got to send 'em in order to receive 'em!

And, speaking of Christmas, I celebrated with my family as I always do. Here's the Christmas tree at the Marvelous house!

Santa brought us lots of wonderful things - including the new laptop I'm using to write these blog posts. Awesome!

I also hosted a small gathering of a few friends on New Year's Eve. While I don't usually host, and I had been invited to a party elsewhere, it seemed to me that I'd have a more relaxed evening at home.

While I thought about making some kind of charming decorations, I decided to spring for this banner when I spotted it at Walgreen's for a buck. It worked out really well!

With a great diversity of guests - including kids, a pregnant lady, other healthy adults, and me - we rang in the New Year with champagne and non-champagne.

Oh, and of course, some raspberry ginger ale, which this group of friends always loves to drink!

After the clock struck midnight, we toasted and ate fortune cookies, thinking about the year to come.

This was my fortune - if it came true, I haven't noticed yet!

There were also lots of exciting moments I didn't get to capture with photos. I attended a bachelorette party and a wedding. I've known the bride from these events for the last 10 years, as she was my classmate in college and in grad school. It was so fun to be included and to take a break from my own stuff to go out and celebrate!

My dad also had knee replacement surgery in January. I forgot how tiring it is to have a loved one in the hospital - some days, it seemed more tiring than it was when I was actually the patient back in December. While there were some days that were long, and some days that were stressful, and unfortunately, some that were both, Dad came home from the hospital 8 days after his operation and is making a great recovery! 

All in all, the last three months have flown by in a whirlwind. I'll leave you for today with an image of how my desk looked recently. Seriously.

It did take me about a week to amass the collection for this pyramid. But, I can happily say that these cans have been trashed as things have been returning to normal. Now, some of my office mates have begun a no-pop pledge for the Lenten season, so there won't be any more conspicuous displays on my part of just how much pop I've been drinking. But, since these cans were on my desk, I guess it's a good thing that I recycled them - now I actually have a place to put my work!