Out with the old, in with the new… better late than never.

Our first holiday season with Baby Wolfe came and went in all its Incarnate Word glory.  Although I didn’t get to bake like a crazy woman (sigh), it was still a treasured time. To be honest I found myself looking forward to the New Year more than normal.  I think coming out of the baby fog, clearing that “4th trimester,” just set the tone for a revamped life – priorities, goals, ideas…  So thank you, Baby Wolfe – your timing was impeccable.  (Here she is in her hand-knit Christmas outfit, courtesy of  Tia M and Mama.)

A physical manifestation of all that motivation is the house.  I got all hopped up on caffeine (mind you it was one cup of half-caff, which is high-octane for me after a year of strictly decaf) and started throwing our furniture around the house.  Luckily it all landed in a much-needed space-maximizing arrangement.  Baby Wolfe was unaffected by both the upheaval of her nest and the bit o’ caffeinated joe.  We think she quite prefers the new set-up actually.  Alas, I will post no photos of the revamped casita…  Although I admit unashamedly that the house looks like “we have children now,” I don’t need to put the nail in the coffin and post a picture of the mess.

Another positively precious reason to be excited about the end of 2008 is, of course, our 3rd anniversary!  Doesn’t that sound official – like we’re not “newlyweds” anymore?  Apparently we don’t party like newlyweds anymore though… thank you, Baby Wolfe.

A loving thank you goes out to Mr. and Mrs. Mae for making our anniversary special… again.  Last year we spent it with them as well and we must say that this Mae-Wolfepack New Year’s Eve/anniversary tradition is one that we hope sticks for a good long while.

Though our anniversary falls on a festive holiday usually spent with lots of peeps, we still find time each year for our own little celebration.  We had our anniversary brunch – smoked salmon and mimosas – inspired by our favorite honeymoon breakfast at the Alpine House in Jackson Hole, WY.  See that latticed gazebo in the corner… that’s the hot tub, buried in several feet of snow.  Champagne, snow, a sexy, new husband and hot bubbly water – doesn’t get much better than that.  Which has got me thinking that once we get the pictures off our old desktop, I’ll have to post about that snowy rendezvous tres  romantique…

Speaking of snow, we had none in Virginia over Christmas, but nonetheless it was a beautiful time at “Nana and Popi”’s.  Of course, it was Baby Wolfe’s first Christmas! Here’s a  smattering of the festivities – gingerbread houses, ice-skating, roaring fireplaces, matching red pajamas, Christmas-morning toy assembly, and all…  (Please forgive the duplicates toward the end – I don’t understand why I can’t pick and choose when uploading a gallery of photos on WordPress.  Anyone?  I have issues with this.)

All in all 2008 ended very well for us.  We closed the year out having grown closer through the birth experience and the foggy newborn phase, got the Mae family moved into their new (gorgeous) house, found some time to give to the dogs, and to celebrate by ourselves a bit too.  Though it’s already February, I don’t think it’s too late to say that 2009 is shaping up to be a pretty fantastic year.