January - We brought the new year in with our small group from church. There was Wii playing and food. I was working on my preliminary exam which is one of the major milestones on the PhD journey. My Uncle Herman passed away on 1/12/10, which was also my mom's birthday and the day of the earthquake in Haiti. I was devestated by his death and took a trip to Mississippi for his funeral in the midst of trying to complete my exam. Tamyra was not cooperative at the funeral so, I sat with my cousins while my husband walked around the church trying to soothe Tamyra. I managed to pass both the written and oral portions of my preliminary exam that month.
February - For Valentine's Day, we attempted to go to Outback Steakhouse as a family. Despite our best efforts, we managed to arrive at the restaurant at precisely the same time as 400 other people for dinner. We ended up going to Casa Ole' instead. Casa Ole' did nothing for my Outback craving and it took my until October to finally eat at Outback. For my birthday on the 23rd, the husband and I spent the day together. As usual, we started our day at IHOP enjoying National Pancake Day (even though I am high maintenance and couldn't be bothered to get the short stack that was on the special). I'm pretty sure we also went to the gym together later in the day. I do remember having dinner at BJs because I talked to a good friend that night enroute to the restaurant. Two days later Tamyra and I went to a professional conference in Knoxville where I presented a paper. My mom met us there so that she could watch Tamyra when I had to do "conference stuff". I also got to see a good friend from college and meet her husband and baby son for the first time.
March - We got a new roof on the house, which would've been exciting if it hadn't been overshadowed by another trip to the Emergency Room with Tamyra that day. She was diagnosed with pneumonia. Luckily, my parents spent Spring Break here with us so my mom spent a large portion of the week comforting Tamyra back to health. Meanwhile, my dad kept Jayla busy with trips to the park and learning to ride her new bike and I was frantically trying to write a dissertation proposal while having no real clue what I wanted to actually research. At the end of the month, we went down to the Angleton Rec Center for a pool party...the first of several trips this year and also Tamyra's first experience in the water.
April - We went on our first (for all 4 of us) camping trip with some friends from our small group at church. It was awesome. It was very nice to just get out in the middle of nature and just relax a bit. Jayla had a blast riding her bike around the campsite with her friends and learning to fish. Tamyra hung out with me mostly...doing a bunch of nothing all weekend. It was Easter weekend and we did not attend church because of the camping trip. So, a few weeks later, during a photoshoot for Tamyra's first birthday, I got some pictures taken of the girls in the beautiful Easter dresses that my Godmother sent to them. It seemed like a small price to pay for me to erase the guilt that I felt for not having them in church with those dresses on Easter Sunday! Tamyra turned a year old on the 22nd. The four of us had dinner at Panera Bread and ate a tiny birthday cake with her. We had a relatively small birthday party for Tamyra on the 24th, consisting of the families in our small group and a few of our own family members.
Four months down...eight more to go. I'll finish this trip down memory lane a little later. It's time for me to honor my goal of getting to bed before midnight!
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