2011! 2011 was a huge year! i’ll give you one guess! we had ourselves a baby! that’s not all, though. it’ll make 2011 particularly memorable though. what else? last january, massachusetts found itself covered in snow. the kids had like 18 straight snow days or something crazy like that, so you’d sometimes found me huddling in a snow bank hoping the plow would accidentally scoop me up as it drove by.
i got brave and did a FAQs post and it was fun. and then i got nostalgic and wrote about my grandparents. and, you didn’t know it then, but i was all emo because i was pregnant so the carrie underwood song plus the writing-bout-the-grandparents had me all teary. soon thereafter, i started doing a once-a-week bachelor recap. it was fun. i think i might do it again? finally, almost half-way through my pregnancy, i announced it on my blog! little baby hunt #5 would be making his debut the following july. i got hives (not really) when i announced it, but was glad at the same time to have it out!
about a week later, we found out the babe was a boy and i announced that too. try as i may (to avoid it), the blog became a bit baby-happy as i geared up for the little man by writing in a journal, staring at the ultrasound, reading books, and buying clothes.
my sweet nephew quinn got baptized and i had the lucky role of godmother. and while on that trip, my sister and mom got to feel some early parker-kicks! and then i began the weekly bump series: writing a note to parker and taking some pics of his growth week-by-week. i’m so glad i did this every week. i still look back and think, “that was parker in my belly!”
at the end of march, lindsey turned 9 and i made the rainbow cake! time-consuming, but do-able, it was a sweet surprise. and then i dreamed of warm vacations since it’d been a loooong winter. then, william turned 11 (remember–the spring is hunt-birthday-overload) and soon after nathaniel turned 18! we had an easter brunch with a bunch of delicious food and celebrated the arrival of spring, hurrah!
i started talking more about random healthy tips along the way, including these ones with one of my faves: half your fruit juice with seltzer! it’s delish! i got bigger (surprise suprise!) and watched videos that made me cry.
then, mother’s day came and the kids treated me to breakfast in bed and we planted seeds in pots! not realizing that we should’ve done that waaay earlier if we were starting from seeds. oops! after getting emails about health-related questions… some actually addressed to my mom… dr. marianne was born!
then, i had my first baby shower in philadelphia and it was so special. i felt really loved and so did the babe inside me. i got the sweetest email from william and talked honestly about my fears about bringing a fifth (and biological) baby into the family. in june, the summer had finally arrived and i got some great pregnancy photos in a very familiar arch taken by the sweet nina.
nathaniel graduated! i had another shower. and i made pulled pork to feed the entire city of boston. since, like i said, summer was here… we got out the slip-and-slide and william and lindsey had a ball cooling off on it. father’s day weekend, we went camping (at like 30-something weeks pregnant. i don’t entirely recommend it.) and i did a little happy dance on the boardwalk to celebrate the mack-n-mancos pizza i would be eating.
we reminisced about lake winnipesaukee because we were missing it last summer, and continued prepping for baby. july came (month of baby!) and we celebrated the fourth at tanglewood and then i got all my amazing guest posters lined up for when he’d make his arrival.
i took my last baby bump pictures at 39 weeks cause the little dude made his arrival 2 days shy of week 40! and i was all, “parker, stay in and cook! i love ya in there!” it’s true, i did, but i like him out here too.
and then, finally, he came! i made the announcement that on july 23 at 8:05 pm, parker jöran hunt was here. my guest posters took the blog reigns for awhile but i popped in and out for one last bump picture (with parker) and a pic that is one of my favorites ever of steve and parker.
parker smiled at like hour 4 (ok. day 4. but you guys don’t probably even believe me then either) but i finally caught it on camera. and us hunts continued falling hard for the newest member. then, at only a wee one month old, parker and family had to get all hurricane-prepped. so we did. irene… remember?
now, into september… back to school! but first, the sweetest pictures of lindsey meeting her little bro. and i finally wrote THE BIRTH STORY, only 5 weeks post-partum!
sometime thereafter, i promised a vlog which i’ve not yet made nice on, but it really really is on my to-do list. parker and i (and my sweet friend amanda) had our first beach trip on an unseasonably warm day. then, we went to the beach again, and i was falling in love with the state that i sometimes get pissed at.
i finally showed off parker’s nursery and we took a mid-october trip to concord. the next weekend i met REAL LIVE BLOGGER FRIENDS and thought they, and this whole bloggin’ thing, were pretty awesome. i started taking self-portraits of me and parker, and sometimes steve and the kids too, and i like tucking them away for a one-day photo album of silly shots.
we had halloween (parker was a chili pepper!). and then my birthday came, 27!, and the kids treated me to a really special birthday weekend with lots of breakfast foods (my favorite kinds). i wrote a dear parker letter that had me bawling my eyes out as i typed. we celebrated thanksgiving and it was lovely. and sister kate and family stayed for a couple days thereafter.
phew, i’m feeling the need to wrap it up. do i even still have your attention? december! december, we went on a christmas tree hunt, parker started stealing my blog-posts, i talked about some hopes for 2012, and steve and i celebrated our fifth anniversary with some real talk on marriage.
then we celebrated christmas (pictures to come… still on my camera as i am away from my house right now!) with all FIVE hunt kids. it was a quiet one with a fire and sticky buns and fruit salad and pajamas all day and it was just right. 2012 is upon us and i’m welcoming it with open arms. happy new year to all!
you've had a very exciting year!
what a perfect little year. and i hope 2012 is even better for your sweet family 🙂
I found your blog in September and really enjoyed catching up on your posts because my Anna arrived on July 18, about 10 days early. It's fun to see Parker hitting all his little "milestones" and see similar ways Anna is also growing at the same time. Pregnancy, and babies, are so fun.
This sounds like such a great year for you and your family!
Wishing you a very Happy New Year!
Lauren
http://www.laurensweetnothings.blogspot.com/
BEAUTIFUL baby!!
What a great year! Parker totally stole all the attention (as he should!) Happy New Year!
Very full and exciting year! Happy new year!
I hadn't yet started reading your blog when you were pregnant, and that picture of you at 39 weeks is so bizarre to me because, who's face is that skinny when their belly was that big?! My face has always been the first to get huge when I gain a bit of weight… pregnancy was no exception. You looked great, and still do, and your baby is gorge!
love your year in review.
a good year 🙂
This recap is so great! What a wonderful year for you and your family (and did I mention: yay for baby Parker?).
I hope you have a wonderful new year's eve and new year's day too!
P.S. I really really love your blog. I'm looking forward to more of your posts in the new year! Cheers!
what a year! what a life! you go Glen Coco-Bridget:-) xoxo
I'm a new reader to your blog and am so glad that I've found it. You have a refreshingly honest glimpse into married life, and I really appreciate your candor. May your whole family continue to thrive in this new year. Happy 2012!
Your little boy is the cutest! Happy New Year!
Such a great year for you!
And such wonderful pictures, the littele one is just precious!
Happy New Year!!!
Just when you thought
What a wonderful, thrilling, crazy, emotional, exceptional year! Thanks for sharing your world with us Bridget!
Congratulations on Parker! Such a huge welcoming family!
Loved this. So glad I was here for all of it. So glad I was actually a part of some of it! I need to get one of these done before February rolls around.
I just recently started following your blog so I never saw those pregnancy pictures before. So adorable!
these are my favorite posts. i love the new year catch me up ones. i am certainly going to make time to catch up on all hunt happenings. you're just amazing. 🙂