When did years start flying by so quickly? I know it’s all relative to the amount of years that you’ve been alive. Christmas used to take forever to arrive, but that was when we were 8 years old and one whole year was an eighth of your whole life. I guess this just means that 27 years old isn’t as young as I’d like it to be.

But it has been an incredible year. I have had the heart of a mother for the entire year. That’s really hard to believe. I got pregnant in September of 2008, so that means that just the thought of sweet baby Hudson was with me at the beginning of 2009 and will be with me for the rest of my life!
I’m going to share the highlights of my 2009 with you!

1. Todd and I celebrated one year of marriage in May. We took a long weekend trip to Savannah. I was seriously pregnant and wasn’t able to do as much as I would have liked, but we’ll go back. Now Todd and I are halfway to our second anniversary and are busy planning our 2 year anniversary trip.

2. I received the most beautiful, special gift on June 5 when Hudson was born. It was a long couple of days while I was in labor and delivery, but he’s here. And he’s the most amazing little person I’ve ever met. He turns 7 months old next week. Thank you all for allowing me to brag about him so much for these past seven months. I’m a proud momma, what can I say?

3. I got to spend a lot of time with my parents and brother this year. A lot of that time was a result of my complications from the delivery, but they were there for me and that’s all that matters. Todd, Hudson, and I traveled to Dallas a couple of times and I stayed for two weeks one of those times. This past week in Gatlinburg was a great way to end the year.

4. I fulfilled my first Vice-Chairmanship position in the Junior League of Columbia and have been asked to Chair the same committee next year. A wonderful friendship has come out of my time on this committee over the past few years and I’ve very thankful for that!

5. Todd and I joined our Sunday School class last January and have been unbelievably blessed by the amazing friendships that have developed. We are surrounded by the most loving and supportive couples.

6. In 2009, we traveled to Dallas, Louisiana, Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, and North Carolina. That’s a lot of traveling for a pregnant woman and a baby!

7. I met one of my dearest friends, a fellow blogger, in 2008 and continued to develop that friendship in 2009, along with other friendships. We had an amazing weekend in Charleston and we’re looking forward to doing that again in 2010 with more bloggers. I also got to participate in a so much fun Champagne Thursday in Dallas. I love all of my friends that I’ve met through blogging and Twitter and I look forward to meeting more people in 2010.

8. With the help of the friend mentioned in #7, Blue-Eyed Bride got its own domain and grew even more than it did in 2008. I’m amazed every day by the opportunities that come out of this little blog that didn’t have a comment on it for months. I was paid to blog for SC Johnson company for their new Pledge Multi-Surface product and I learned so much! A camera crew came into our house to film our cleaning trouble spots, I cleaned with Pledge Multi-Surface, and then wrote about it. I’ve been able to do a few product reviews and a fun movie review and DVD giveaway is coming up! Blue-Eyed Bride can be a full-time job for me and I’d love to get full-time job pay from it someday.

9. I became a SAHM in 2009 when I realized that I couldn’t bear to go back to work when I so enjoyed being at home with Hudson every day. It is such a wonderful job and I can’t imagine doing anything else. My dear husband also had a huge career move this year when he and others started their own law firm.

I am so blessed to have such a beautiful family; a loving husband, an adorable son, and two crazy dogs who just happen to worship the ground we walk on. Life is good.

Todd, Hudson, and I are planning on welcoming 2010 at home, in our pajamas, after eating a most delicious celebratory feast! (I could write a book about the reasons that I think that New Year’s Eve is overrated and a disappointment.) We realized that we don’t like having official plans and it’s much more fun to do something low-key– at least that’s the case for us.

I hope you have a safe and happy New Year’s Eve! I’ll be back to wish you an official Happy New Year and let you in on my plans for 2010 and even put my resolutions in writing.

I hope everyone had the merriest of Christmases!

Christmas is so much fun with a baby! I know that each Christmas will only get more fun. The look on Hudson’s face when he walked into the room and saw all of his grandparents, great-grandmother, and uncle looking at him was priceless. Then he saw what Santa Claus brought him and he was so excited!

Santa brought him this Radio Flyer Rocking and Bouncing Horse. It’s wonderful. It’s soft enough for him to chew on. It has a little harness for the little kids. It’s supposed to be a great toy for him until he’s 3 years old. He can’t fall off, it makes “neighing” noises, and it plays “Home on the Range.” He bounces on it and has really mastered the art of bouncing on his little horse. I love that the bouncy horse doesn’t have springs, but instead uses industrial strength rubber bands! I think those old bouncy horse springs are scary!

His KK and Poppie gave him the Charles Dickens Nutcracker and have started a new collection. His RC and PC started a new train set for him. They plan to give him a new car for his train every year. I think it will be so much fun for him to look at his nutcracker collection and train set every Christmas when we decorate!

Santa knew that Hudson’s mommy and daddy would have trouble bringing all of his toys back to South Carolina in their SUV, so he delivered one of his gifts to Columbia. He got  the Melissa and Doug giant giraffe. I’m pretty sure the dogs will be more interested in the giant giraffe than Hudson is.

We had a great first Christmas with our little boy!

And… for those that were wondering, one of Todd’s gifts to me was the violet Hunter Wellies! I finally got them. I think they were my most-wanted item of the year, and this SAHM will appreciate not having to get her pants soaked in puddles anymore. My great gift-giving Todd got me a few other wonderful things that I’m so excited about!

Sorry for the delay in announcing my giveaway winner!

The winner of all of my favorite things is #33, Anne!

Congratulations, Anne! Email me at eeakin11 {at} gmail {dot} com with your address and I’ll get everything mailed to you when we return from the mountains!

1. My last post was my 500th post, so this is my 501st post! Who knew I’d have so much to say?

2. My girl crush, Carrie Underwood, is engaged! And have you seen the ring? Holy rock, Batman!

One of the things I loved about Carrie is that even though the media talks about her, she does everything she can to stay out of the tabloids and the spotlight.

I’m sorry. I’m blinded by her bling again.

She’s going to be a beautiful bride. Y’all know I’ll be stalking her wedding picture.

3. We leave for Gatlinburg tomorrow! You should see the packing we’ve done! Todd and I exchanged our gifts to each other last night so we wouldn’t have to bring everything with us. But we still have all of our stocking stuffers for everyone, Hudson’s toys, Hudson’s suitcase, my suitcase, and Todd’s suitcase. We have to bring the stroller and pack ‘n play, too. We’ve borrowed a car-top carrier from a friend and we’ve officially turned into the Griswolds. But whatever works… we gotta get all of our stuff up there!

4. One of my favorite things to do over Christmas holidays is to go see lots of movies. And it’s especially fun to go with my mom. I’m so excited about this year’s lineup that includes “Up in the Air,” “It’s Complicated,” and “NINE.”

Am I forgetting anything? What movies are you going to see?

5. I’ll be able to blog from our cabin! Yay! So you won’t have to go too long without hearing from me. Lucky you!