I’m linking up today with “The Blog Dare” over at Bloggy Moms.  I have to say, doing a “look back” post really wasn’t on my list of plans, but then I saw the prompt for today and was actually kind of glad!  It’s nice to look back over the last 12 months and see how life has changed 🙂

January – I was safely into my 2nd trimester with Joe and had just started to feel some movement.  So exciting!  I love looking back at pregnancy-related posts.  I also posted my first pregnancy photo, put the crib together, aaaaaand… found out that we were having a BOY!

February – Did a blog profile on my friend Molly, an American expat who lives in Dunedin.  I remember this being a VERY hot month – I spent most of it in capri-leggings and a tank top with a bag of popsicles nearby and the fan blowing full blast.  Pregnancy in summer without air-conditioning…  We also went on a major shopping expedition for baby supplies.  That was so fun – Chris acted as my personal chauffeur and I got carsick (not so fun – side-effect of not having a vehicle at your disposal), but it was still really fun.

Unfortunately, this was also the same month as a major earthquake in Christchurch, and it hasn’t been the last.  In the past 24 hours, Ch’ch has had over 40 quakes + aftershocks.  We think about the residents of that city often and haven’t forgotten what they’re going through.  I can’t imagine.

March – More pregnancy-related stuff!  I was 90 days away from my due date and had tons of stuff yet to accomplish.  I’m really beginning to see how much of my blog was dominated by stuff about having a baby!

April – Bought some prints for the nursery and made The Pioneer Woman’s cinnamon rolls for the first time.  They were so yummy!  Chris also abandoned me went to the States for his sister’s wedding and was gone for about a week and a half.  When he came back, he brought a bunch of baby supplies and gifts from the Skype shower that my mother-in-law threw for me.

May – Was very near the end of my pregnancy and couldn’t wait to meet our little guy.  I was thoroughly in nesting mode and cleaning up a storm.  The nursery was decorated and all was ready!

June – My due date came… and went 🙁  I was pretty bummed but quickly cheered up when my mom arrived in New Zealand.  And it wasn’t long before Joe was born on the 14th – such a wonderful day!  The rest of the month was pretty much consumed with adjusting to life with Joe and taking care of him.  My mom was here for a full 2 weeks and we enjoyed every last minute of it.

July – I’m amazed at how much Joe grew and changed in 4 short weeks.  We had another great visit, this time from my mother-in-law.  She was here to help out while Chris was wrapped up in running some conferences.  We were definitely in the thick of winter by that point and I was feeling a bit house-bound.  I loved having Janice here to help break things up and share some of the responsibility of watching Joe.

August – Joe got his passport!  We also visited Wellington for the first time.  Chris has some work-related things to do there and we decided to tag along.  Such a beautiful city.  I tried out some new recipes (homemade granola bars, breaded zucchini, applesauce… so yummy!).  And we did lots of walking 🙂

September – We took a vacation to Paihia and I got to see more of New Zealand.  We made it allllll the way up to the tippy-top of the North Island and saw Cape Reinga.  It was the closest that I’d been to the States in about a year and a half.  I also tried out some more yummy recipes (cereal/granola cookies and “portable salad” tomatoes) and we visited the newly opened Art Gallery near us.

October – Went on a LOT of walks with Joe, including the Auckland Sling Walk.  And there was a little thing called the Rugby World Cup finals… in which New Zealand WON!  I have to admit that I was a total “band wagoner” and jumped on the ABs band-wagon right at the very end.  It was hard not to get wrapped up in the hype and excitement that spread throughout the country 🙂  I did a 5K with Joe, borrowed my friend Danae’s camera, and spoke with “The Nappy Lady”, who’s basically a celebrity in my book!

November – Wrote a post about prices here in New Zealand.  I can now say that after having recently visited the States, the prices here don’t shock me as much.  I don’t know if that’s just because I’m used to it or if it’s because prices in the USA have gone up since we moved.  Another big thing – we visited the States!  I was so ready for a trip back to see family and introduce everyone to Joe.  It was a wonderful time.

December – Our trip to the States continued and we enjoyed every last bit of it!  We had a wonderful Christmas in Georgia and loved reconnecting with family and friends.  The trip ended really well.  We had only 1 minor delay and thanks to Chris’ awesome finagling, we were able to get an earlier flight to LA and didn’t miss the plane to New Zealand.  We flew back to Auckland on Air New Zealand and ended up with an entire bassinet row to ourselves.  Because of crossing the dateline, we actually missed New Year’s Day and got back in New Zealand on the 2nd of January.

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Wow – 2011 was very busy but very fun.  There were a lot of wonderful changes and hopefully 2012 will be just as great 🙂