I have been updating my tumblr blog on a more regular basis than this one(obviously). You probably already know that though, since I post all of those updates to facebook and twitter.

I’m not going to completely delete this blog though, because we have one more year of “Life, Law School, and Design” to go before it becomes just a regular life, sans law school.

After our family brunch on Sunday, we headed over to Target to pick up a few things and walk off all of the fried pancake dough we managed to consume at the new Denny’s. Lily loves Target as much as her mommy. As we walked through the toddler clothes, I would hold up shirts or dresses for her to approve or deny. Each article of clothing was met with a firm No. Then she would point and say SHOES!
This kid knows what she wants, for sure!

Let’s see, since January we have not had one “normal” week. But what is normal anyway?

Mike finished out his winter break, started his last semester at OCU Law (halleluiah!), continues clerking at the oil and gas firm, found out he made it into the top 10% of his class and will be graduating with an excellent GPA, and he got the highest grade in his Criminal Procedure class (holla!!). He is incredibly smart and I am so proud of him. May 15^th is the BIG day, only 60 days to go!

Lily is looking more like a big girl and less like a baby every day. She is amazing and fun and a handful all the time. Her wants and needs are clear to her, if not to us. These days her hobbies include extremely dramatic maneuvers to either get her pacifier or throw it across the room, to go to bed or stay up later, to get a cup of milk or tell you that is the exact opposite of what she wants, clearly. She spends most of her time laughing, playing, or screaming and rolling on the floor. It is, well, exactly what I imagined a 19-month old girl would be like. She talks all the time about Mommy and Daddy and douche (either George, shoes, the incredibly annoying people we meet, or juice depending on the context). She loves to read and can almost sit through an entire book. She also loves to sing. Her current faves are Rock-a-bye-baby and bringing home a baby bumble bee. You have to be pretty in tune with the subtle differences in hand gestures to tell which one she is singing but the show is always incredible.

In February I traveled to Dallas for a conference and loved it there. A lot. Sigh.

Mike’s Mom came to help out with Lily while I was in Dallas and stayed for the following week. We had a great time going to the zoo, eating out, and exploring Mt. Scott and the Witchita Mountain Wildlife Refuge. It was nice to see her and have the help while I was away.

The week she was here was also a very sad one for us. We had to put our little Henry to sleep due to complications with his seizure disorder. He was only 4 years old and I still miss him every single day.

Our house just wasn’t the same with only one dog so we started looking for a second dog to complete our family again. Enter, Abraham the Great Dane.

Mike and I decided we wanted a big dog and I have always wanted a Great Dane so after a bit of research we decided to start looking for a Blue Great Dane puppy. I went online that day to see what was in the paper and the only ad for Great Danes was for AKC Blue Danes. It was a sign, right? Well, about 4 hours (and a few u-turns) later we found ourselves on a small horse farm (insert your great dane joke here) just outside of Tulsa, picking up our new puppy. He is gorgeous and spunky and lazy as all get out (thank goodness). So, we are going through all the basic puppy stuff right now like chewing and housebreaking which is a ton of fun given our added bonus of living on the 12^th floor. Abraham does great in the apartment for now (and he’s not the only Great Dane in the building), but we are planning to find a place with a yard after graduation.

There is a lot more I want to talk about but I am afraid to jinx any of our hopeful plans so until they come to fruition you will have to wait. But, I promise you won’t have to wait as long next time.

How did you ring in the New Year? We hung out at home, watched a season of Jersey Shore, ate some of Rach’s Green Chili, made black-eyed pea dip (slightly altered version based on ingredients at hand), toasted with a glass of Champagne (err, proseco?) at midnight and passed out. Mike spent most of the evening grumbling about the noise from the band playing in the street a block away (ah, the joys of downtown living) and resolved to purchase Madden 2011 for the Wii first thing in the morning. At least one of us has stuck to our resolutions. I, on the other hand, am wearing my hair in a ponytail (6) and I arrived at work promptly at 8:25 this morning (16).

I did take a ton of photos of Lily this weekend in a cute outfit and in her pj’s but of course they are on the card in the camera. I really need to find my card reader so I can keep it in my desk at work.

Yesterday, Lily decided to accessorize her own outfit with a few choice items. So stinkin’ cute!

Here’s the breakdown:

Jeans-Kohls

Pink tee: hand-me-down

White sweater: gift from Nana

Crocs and socks: gifts

Watermelon Beanie: Gift from Grammy Rere

Bear Jacket: Hand-me-down

Mardi-gras beads: Jazmoz, Bourbon Street Café in Bricktown

It cracks me up that she is so in love with the gold beads, and that when she wears them, her shirt or jacket must be unzipped down to her bellybutton. It must be the Italian in her. We just can’t help it.

Dear Angie,

In 2011 you should,

1. Write more blog posts. You enjoy it when you start typing. So, start typing. It will mean a lot to you and to Lily to have a record of this time in your lives.
2. Keep up the hard work on getting healthy. You and Mike are on the right track. Stay there.
3. Take more pictures of Lily. Stop deleting the blurry ones, she moves constantly, capture it.
4. Drink more water. You don’t drink enough.
5. Stop biting your nails and cuticles. Really. Stop it.
6. Try to “do” your hair more often. A ponytail isn’t a hairstyle.
7. Walk Henry and George more. They love it, you love it.
8. Be a better friend. Communicate, send cards, e-mails, and try harder to make the calls even though you (really, truly) hate the phone.
9. Read more. Maybe join a book club.
10. Let Mike know how much you appreciate him. You are good at the nagging, get better at the praising.
11. Be more positive. You started this in 2010; it has worked for you, just get better at it. Maybe a no-complaining-at-all-day once a month?
12. Make yourself a priority. Get out and make friends, develop hobbies, do things that are just for you. If you have an afternoon off, don’t do laundry, go on a hike instead.
13. Travel more. Stop coming up with excuses as to why you can’t take a day trip on the weekend. As it turns out Oklahoma is kind of cool. See more of it; you might not be living here much longer.
14. Stop being indecisive about things. Make some decisions already. You know what I’m talking about.
15. Work with Mike on your debt, start paying it off for good. There will be plenty more starting in May when he graduates, get a grip on things now.
16. Work on becoming a morning person. Lofty goal? Yes. You can do it.

That is all for now.

Love, Angie.

Ok Readers,

What do you think of these goals? Do you have any goals for 2011? I want to hear them; maybe I can add some to my list.

SO, how about a recap of good ‘ol 2010?

Lily attended 2 different schools, got 347238 (or one never-ending) ear infections, got tubes and only 1 more ear infection.

Mike worked for two law firms and the public defender’s office, AND got straight A’s.

We moved on up to a deluxe apartment in the skyyy-aiyyy.

I managed to keep my job through a round of lay-offs (a first for me), became more involved with my professional organization, and passed the test to get certified to have the most boring job ever.

We bought a second car, a huge (like, really huge) TV, and a proper dining table (Thanks, Mom and Dad!).

We travelled to North Carolina in March and my parents came to visit in July. Lily turned 1, started walking and talking, giving hugs and kisses without being prompted, developing her own sense of humor (who knew throwing away eggshells could be so freaking hilarious) and truly turned our world upside down.

Indecision was a major player in 2010. We changed our minds a million times about where we want to live and what we plan to do when Mike passes the bar. We decided that we may or may not have another baby. Some day, but not any time soon.

We celebrated our first Christmas without our extended family.

We lost 36 pounds, collectively. And we have no intention of finding the lost pounds.

We longed to travel to faraway places, but Dallas was as far as we got.

We explored a bit more of the Great State of Oklahoma and I decided that even though it isn’t the most popular choice, I dig OKC the most out of all the places I have visited in OK.

Side Note: If we end up staying here (see above for indecision issues) I would love to continue to live in the downtown area of OKC and I would love to get more involved in the revitalization efforts here. Or, what do call it when you are vitalizing something that probably wasn’t vitalized before? Anyways, I kind of like it for what it is, and would be ok staying here (holy cowzers! Did I just say that?!) if that is in our cards (see above for indecision issues).

What else did 2010 bring? Lots of doggy seizures (poor Henry), but fewer tears than 2009; that could have something to do with my general lack of being pregnant, then suddenly not, then having to deal with no sleep, for all of 2009. Hormones.

2010 also brought a sense that even though we can’t yet figure out what our future will bring, we will be okay. We are a happy little family.

I think all in all 2010 was a great year for us and I look forward to the big and small changes and challenges facing us in this New Year.

Happy New Year, Everyone!

Sweater-Target

Jeans-Kohl’s-similar

Hat- Old Navy-similar

Crocs-Gift from Cousin Kade—Thank You!

Doggy and Purple socks-Gifts from Mike’s Nana—Thank You!

Don’t let the tears get to you, there was just a little confusion about the pacifier and the fact that it doesn’t go to school. Clearly in the second picture she decided to be a big girl about it, as long as her doggy could ride to school with us. She is such the little negotiator.

AND, A HUGE HAPPY BIRTHDAY HUG to my Dad. We love you and miss you. I wish we could be there to help you celebrate!

Red Cape Sweater-Gymboree (gift from Grammy B)

Leggings-Gymboree (gift from Grammy B)

Black T-shirt-Target

Boots-Zodiac from Famous Footwear

Thanks for the super cool outfit, Grammy B! Lily is rockin’ it!

{One of my new year’s resolutions is to take more pictures of Lily; hopefully, you will be seeing a lot more WLWT posts}

*we did enjoy our holiday together but we sorely missed spending time with our family and friends. hopefully, the future will bring the ability to do both.