Goodbye 2012, Hello 2013

2012 was full of ups and downs like most years.

Lets recap, shall we.

January

 

Brady had his first trip to the dentist.

 

My baby bump started to grow.

 

We finally celebrated Brady's 3rd birthday, only a month later.

 

 

February

 

We found out "baby" was a girl.

 

We played with friends and started stocking up on all things pink and girlie.

 

March

 

Brady had his first t-ball practice among other fun things.

 

We had a busy weekend without daddy.

 

Caleb and I had a midnight date to see Hunger Games

 

We celebrated Noah's birthday!

 

 

April

 

We celebrated Easter

 

We had a pipe burst. :(

 

Brady had his first ball game.

 

May

 

 

We had a fun outdoor playdate.

 

Celebrated Mother's Day.

 

Had an awesome baby shower with friends.

 

Enjoyed last few weeks of being a family of three.

 

June

The stingers placed 3rd in the tournament.

 

Survived Vacation Bible School.

 

Attempted to stay cool at 38 weeks pregnant.

 

July

 

Welcomed Presley into the world and our family!

 

Brady went on a KY vacation without us.

 

 

August

 

We adjusted to being a family of four.

 

We had an accidental haircut.

 

 

September

 

 We went to a couple birthday parties.

 

We found out we would be having another boy cousin/nephew.

 

October

 

We celebrated my 10 year reunion.

 

Caleb and Brady went fishing and camping.

 

We did the pumpkin patch.

 

 

We enjoyed trunk or treat with Spiderman and a ladybug.

 

November

 

We celebrated Thanksgiving.

 

The kids met Santa.

 

Brady began celebrating his birthday.

 

December

 

Presley turned 5 months and really started to change and develop.

 

 

We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas holiday as a family.

 

It was a good year! Doing this post made me realize why I blog. I love having each of these memories documented in one place. Even if no one reads this, I thoroughly enjoyed reviewing our year. I know 2013 will have its ups and downs just like any other year, but I am always hoping for more ups than downs!  I am looking forward to celebrating Caleb's 30th birthday, welcoming a new baby cousin/nephew into our family, 7 years of marriage, Presley's 1st birthday, a family vacation, my brother getting married in the fall,  and so much more, but I also want to remember to take each day as it comes and enjoy the small things as well.

 

I saw this quote the other day and thought it sums up our daily and big picture life so well.

 

Isn't it funny how day by day nothing changes but when you look back everything is different..

CS Lewis 

 

Happy New Year!!!

 



New Year's Eve and New Years Day Recap!

We had a few friends over to bring in the new year.

Brady stayed with my parents since he is too little to stay up and it would have just made everyone miserable. I think he had a great time with my parents though! I am soooo thankful for two sets of grandparents that are willing and able to watch him for us some.

We had about 12 people plus two little ones. I decided to just do finger foods since it would be a long night and we could eat all night. We all ate, visited, and played the Wii. We had other games, but we all got new dancing games for Christmas and never stopped that long enough to play anything else. My sister brought the Michael Jackson dancing game and we ended up with both versions of Just Dance.



This was before the dance-off and the couch got moved.



This was mid dance off. Notice the couch is missing. I was sitting on it.



The little ones and their parents left around 10:30-11:00 pm and the rest of us ended up having a very intense boys vs. girls dance-off. We danced for nearly 4 hours non-stop. We took one 2 minute break to watch the ball drop and yell Happy New Year! It was so fun! I am not sure when the last time I laughed so hard was. None of us could believe we did it for so long.



The girls watching the ball drop. Ignore the disheveled hair of mine and t-shirt. We had all pulled our hair up(we took it down for the pic. Ha!) and changed to t-shirts at this point.



The boys. They were mad because they hadn't beaten us yet. I just noticed the clock says 12.

 In case you are wondering, the boys only beat us one time the whole night!!!

 The next day we had a birthday party to go to. So we picked up Brady and headed to the party. Little Grady's birthday is exactly one week and one day after Brady's! (Another reason we wanted him to stay with the grandparents)

His mom made this cute Tractor cake.

They got this bouncy thing for Christmas and all the kids LOVED it. It is not huge but big enough for the kids to play in and small enough to keep in their garage. Brady had a blast!!

 I guess the party was a success because Brady ate 2 hot dogs, a piece of cake, and crashed as soon as we got in the car. Crazy Boy!

I am off today, so Brady and I have just played and stayed in our pj's all day. Tomorrow starts back to regular life. I have enjoyed this holiday season so much. I am sad to see it go, but I know we will all benefit from getting back to normal.

Welcome 2011

Happy New Year!

I am not one much for new year's resolutions and such, but I always want each year to be better than the last.

Of course, I want the usual things like to get healthier, save more money, pray more, worry less, etc etc. I really do want those "cliche" things for our daily lives and each year ahead.

But, I also have some big plans for 2011. I feel like some of the events of 2010 have been preparing us for a better 2011. We have been blessed so much this year in so many unexpected ways. Our lives are different today, than they were a year ago. Our goals and plans as a family have changed. Our relationship as a family has grown and developed. Our relationship as a family with God has grown and developed.

My prayer is for 2011 to be a year we see some of our plans and goals through. And through the year, our family will grow and improve in all aspects.  

The one thing I know for sure, whatever comes our way in 2011 good, bad, or ugly, we will serve and praise God through it all.

Hope everyone had a wonderful New Year's Eve and has even better 2011!!!