2011 Year in Review

Well, 2011 is almost over, and let me just say I think it is my best year yet! We had a wonderful year and were so blessed. With a little help from Facebook, I have highlighted some of my favorite memories from the year...

[NOTE: I know I switch back and forth between past and present tense. This took more than one sitting to compose, and at this moment I am too lazy to go back and make them all the same. So, I politely ask you to get over it!! :) ]

JANUARY

*Eli turned 2!

*We got snowed in when we visited Mississippi

*Went to Georgia for a funeral. Sad, but great to see old friends!
*Sam got baptized! And Eddie got to do it...so special!!

*Sam got the flu...and croup
*Noah got RSV

*January Family Shot...

FEBRUARY

Our lot looked like this...

Eddie turned 39!!!

Sam started playing basketball...

*Closed construction loan
February kids shot:

MARCH:

*Lot at the beginning of March....

*And at the end of March....

*Noah got his first tooth...

*Ate his first cereal....

*And had his baby dedication....

*Meri Hobbs had her first dance recital...

*Sam started playing pitching machine baseball (the only pic I have of his first game is of the fence...sorry)
*Got pulled over for suspected drunk driving...HA!
*Went to the beach with the youth group

*March Family Pics...

APRIL:
*Wrote prayers for our family on the studs in our house...

*Easter egg hunt

*House in April...

*Conversation I had with Meri Hobbs in April....

Meri Hobbs: I want a baby sister in your belly.
Me: Maybe one day.
Meri Hobbs: When we give our baby brothers away to someone else?

 

*Another fun MH convo:

MH: I'm hungry.
Me: What do you want?
MH: (stares at me in silence)
Me: What do you want?
MH: (stares at me in silence)
Me: Meri Hobbs, if you want me to fix you something, you have to tell me what you want.
MH: Well, I'm kind of shy sometimes.

Oh my gracious.

 

*April family pic:

MAY:

*We traded in my suburban for a minivan....oh my!

*Went on a field trip to the zoo with Sam's class

*Meri Hobbs turned 4!

*Sam's field day

*Sam graduates from Kindergarten
*Friends from Texas came to visit!
*Meri Hobbs gets her first pedicure

*Sam's analytical thinking skills shine:

Sam's irrefutable logic of the day: I think Eeyore is always grumpy because he has a nail stuck in his booty!

*Meri Hobbs gets her first bike

*Visit Mississippi
*We go to Georgia to visit our old friends

*121... I counted how many times Eli said mama in a 10 minute period.
*Stucco is done!

JUNE:
*All 4 of the kiddos have mono
*Eddie and I went to Phoenix for the SBC
*Eli enjoyed his trip to Maggie Moo's

*Been working on manners with the kids. Here is what Meri Hobbs came up with: "can i may have some of your please water?" Still got some work to do, i see...
*Sam broke his arm

*House is coming together

*June kids pic:

JULY:
*Sam's hard cast

*Meri Hobbs just said "abracadabra I wish for Sam to dis-tappear" then she opened her eyes, looked at him and said "aww man". Hahaha
*House getting finished up

AUGUST:

*Moved in new house August 1!!
*Eli's first night in a big boy bed...combined with his first night sharing a room with Noah.....SUCCESS!!!
:)
*I turned 33
*Sam started 1st grade

SEPTEMBER:
*Went to Ole Miss football game

*Got some projects done for the house

*MH started preK

*Went to the beach with my parents and brother's family

*Meri Hobbs and Eli are watching Diego in the car and Diego says, "stand up and clap with me," to which my defiant little precious daughter replies, "you're not the boss of me,Diego!" haha wow!
*Started my blog!!
*Apparently Eli has overheard the phrase "you're the bomb." and he he has told me no less than 48 times today, "you a bomb, mama!"
*Sam played football

*And MH cheered

*Made my last bottle for my last baby. :((  Noah started drinking from a sippy cup

*September family shot

OCTOBER:
*Potty training fun....Eli just went #2 in the potty for the first time and he keeps saying, "a mud in there." hahaha I love my baby!!
*Meri Hobbs just asked me, "who's the baddest?" I was confused and asked her to explain what she meant. "who's the baddest at first baddest church, mama?" oh, hahaha!! (I won't tell y'all who I told her!! Hahaha)
*Noah turned 1!!

 *Mission trip to Colombia

*Halloween/October Kid Pic

NOVEMBER:
*Sam killed his first deer

*We built our first fire in the fireplace

*Thanksgiving....made turkey cookies

*Went to MS for Thanksgiving
*Eddie is bummed that Sam chose to spend the night with Drake instead of go hunting with him in the morning. Sam tried to make him feel better by saying, "I'm sorry, Daddy. I'll go with you next time....unless someone invites me to come over." HAHA

DECEMBER:

*Eddie and I celebrated 12 years of marriage bliss!
*Sam turned 7

*MH was twirling in her socks, and fell on some tile and busted out her front tooth

*Kids saw Santa. Noah loved him!

*Christmas

*Quick trip to MS....wore Eli out!

*Noah gets to face the front now.

*December family pic

It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas!

So there were several Christmas decorating link ups I wanted to participate in, but I just wasn't done decorating in time.

I had a Christmas Open House for our sweet church members, so I was finally able to take some pictures of my house. These are my decorations and pictures from the party.

It was lots of fun and I hope it was a first annual. My husband may not agree to that, though...I got a little singularly focused and a teensy bit stressed! :) BUT, after this year, I won't have to be finishing unpacking my boxes from moving in again the week before the party!! Thank goodness, that is done...well, besides the 2 boxes I hid in my closet for the party! heehee

And now I know...I really don't NEED to cook 387 cookies. That was a bit overkill.

Wreath on Front door

Present topiary I made...thank you, pinterest!

Idea for topiary came from here. I should not have used sheer ribbon. I should have used double sided tape. I should have read the instructions before I made it so I would have cut the boxes before I wrapped them. But I still think it turned out really cute!

My Christmas Story tree - It has 8 ornaments, each with a verse from Luke 2, which together tell the story of the birth of Jesus. My FAVORITE part of our decorations!

A close(r) up of a few of the ornaments

The whole table...this is in the foyer....It has the Bible open to Luke 2, our nativity scene, and the Christmas Story tree.  Plus the garland with ornaments above the mirror.

The Mantle

Coffee Table

Christmas Tree

Island

Appliance garage corner

Snowmen table

Then we just added touches of magnolia and berries in random places

Now to the Open House.....

Thanks to my friend/our student pastor's wife, Lindsay, for helping me decorate cookies!! A great tutorial with recipes and step by step instructions is here on Laura's blog. I followed her instructions, and the cookies turned out great!! I also did presents, but I guess I didn't take a picture of them. Oops!

The other cookies, Red Velvet/White chocolate chip cookies...AKA my hubby's new favorite cookie. (What? You thought I should have taken the plastic wrap off to take the picture?!? I wouldn't know why) The recipe for this delicious cookie is found here.  And also candy cane blossoms. So fun!! That recipe is found here.   

Hot Chocolate Bar

 

Marshmallows dipped in white chocolate and crushed peppermint

**I also found this idea on pinterest, but I cannot for the life of me find where. If you know where, let me know and I'll add a link**

The other "toppings" - candy canes, chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, mini marshmallows, mini peppermint marshmallows, candy cane Hershey's kisses....

chocolate dipped spoons and M&M's

The coffee/water/hot chocolate table...and also more cookies...chocolate chip & sugar

The Spread

There it is! Now you can see what I've been up to and why I haven't blogged in so long!!

The Busiest Time of the Year...

Let me give you a little sampler of my December....

Th Dec 1
Fr Dec 2 - Girls Night at my house
Sa Dec 3 - Christmas parade; Feed Little Lambs (prison ministry); Neighborhood blitz to invite people in
                   town to our Christmas program
Su Dec 4 - church; Associational Christmas music program
Mo Dec 5
Tu Dec 6 - Christmas party
We Dec 7 - church
Th Dec 8 - Garden Club Christmas lunch; Date Night to celebrate anniversary
Fr Dec 9 - Christmas brunch/ornament exchange; Christmas party
Sa Dec 10 - Choir practice for Christmas musical; Christmas party
Su Dec 11 - {Eddie & my 12th anniversary}; church; Christmas party; baby shower (hostess);  Christmas
                        musical
Mo Dec 12 - Christmas party (Karaoke with the senior adults...HA!); Young Ladies Share Group
Tu Dec 13 - Christmas party
We Dec 14 - church
Th Dec 15 - Christmas Dinner Theater (I am hosting a table AND singing in the choir)
Fr Dec 16 - Christmas Dinner Theater Night #2; Rehearsal/rehearsal dinner for a wedding Eddie is           
                     officiating
Sa Dec 17 - wedding; Christmas party
Su Dec 18 - church; PM service - speak about my mission trip
Mo Dec 19
Tu Dec 20 - {Sam's 7th birthday}; Open House we are hosting for church members
We Dec 21 - Youth Christmas progressive dinner
Th Dec 22 - Sam's birthday party
Fr Dec 23
Sa Dec 24 - candelight Christmas Eve service
Su Dec 25 - Christmas!; church
Mo Dec 26
Tu Dec 27
We Dec 28
Th Dec 29
Fr Dec 30
Sa Dec 31


Soooo, as you see, I have 4 days available between December 1 and Christmas! Crazy much?! It's SO much fun to get to go to all the church Christmas parties, and we wouldn't miss them for anything. But boy, am I ready for December 26th!! And this isn't even all the Christmas parties. Eddie's secretary usually emails us the dates as they come. So I'm sure I'll be adding more to the list!

Being a ministry wife can be like this sometimes. I feel sorry for the ones that are naturally introverted. I bet December is a struggle for them.

Not to mention what this schedule does for my kids. We are so blessed that the church nursery is open for the majority of these events, but that usually means my kids aren't getting in bed until after 9 most nights. And 2 of them are still having to get up for school every morning. And one of them is having to rush to finish his homework between after school and when we have to load up to go. But thankfully, they roll with it for the most part.

Oh, and guess how many Christmas presents I have bought so far?? NONE!! EEEEKKKKK!!!! Looks like I have the 19th or the 23rd available for that!! But the 19th will be spent cleaning and cooking to get ready for the Open House! HA! Online shopping may be the ticket this year.

I am trying not to get caught up in the busy-ness of it all that I neglect to reflect and focus on the true meaning of the season.

Luke 2:8-17

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

 ⁸ In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹ And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; ¹¹ for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” ¹³ And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
 ¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”
 ¹⁵ When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, “Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.” ¹⁶ So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger. ¹⁷ When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child

Birth Story - Sam, Part 2

*Read Part 1 here*

So, we get to the hospital and the super duper friendly lady at admissions got us checked in. We got in a "room" and were told to wait. I asked the nurse if I could at least wait while sitting on the potty. This was getting kinda gross! So I did.

They finally came and hooked me up to monitors, etc. I was still thinking ahead to my mortification if they told me I had just peed my pants...and to go back home and quit wasting their time. It didn't help any when Eddie asked her, "Has anyone ever come in here and been mistaken like that?" Her response: "Every day." Yikes!

They tested me to see if my water had broken by placing some sort of strip thing against the water. If it turned a certain color, it was confirmed. If not, it was urine. But I passed...my water had broken. I was relieved I wasn't being sent back home, but I was so scared, too! We were about to have a baby! A week and half early!!!

We were then moved to a Labor & Delivery room and made all the calls letting everyone know.

I progressed very slowly and they finally decided to give me pitocin to speed up the process. I had heard horror stories about that evil drug, so I wasn't pumped, but at least we were getting the show on the road. I also got my epidural, so all was well.

All in all, my labor was pretty boring. It totaled about 12 hours, with a couple of that being used for pushing.  I ended up having Sam at 6:50 am. I tried to rest during the night, but my brother, who had driven over from Arkansas for the event, dubbed himself the official cameraman. He came in hourly to film us. He would also film the waiting room. And the clock. And offer commentary. Thanks, Uncle Hendu.

My doctor was not the one that was on call, but had told the nurses to call him when I was ready to deliver. They called him around 5:30, then proceeded to ask me not to push until he got there. Umm, what?! I passed on that plan, had a different doctor deliver for me, and my sweet doctor walked in just as they were cutting the umbilical cord! Oops!

Sam arrived weighing 8 lbs, 6 oz. He was a bundle of perfection. He is our precious gift from God after wondering if we would ever have a baby. (Read that here).  Our verse for this child was so fitting, as it was the same prayer of thanksgiving that Hannah said after receiving her Samuel in the midst of a struggle with barrenness. 

"I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of Him." (II Samuel 1:27)

Our desire is to, like Hannah, dedicate this child to the Lord that he may be used of Him all the days of his life.

Dear Santa...

I am linking up with Aly and Becky for their "Show Me Christmas" link-up!

Local peeps, please feel free to print this list out and give to Eddie! :)

1.  Coach purse
 (Eddie...if you're searching for it, it is the Madison metallic leather Abigail shoulder bag. You're welcome for the assistance)

2.  Cricut
 For my love of all things crafty!

3. Digital Camera

4. Wireless printer

5. New pots and pans
(Eddie...this is the Rachel Ray set. In lime green. Yes, please)

6. Trunk for a coffee table

7. An awesome back patio

Now......GO.....

If you want to join  the fun, check out the link-up schedule....

What do YOU want for Christmas?

Monogrammed Swap

I have so much more stuff than this that I found at first look....I will add more as I run across it! If you want some closer pictures, email me.  cardigansandcrayons@gmail.com

OK, boy stuff: (Not sure where all my Eli and Noah things are, but I'll keep looking!)

"Sam" 12 month corduroy long all w/ crayon buttons

"sWl"  size 24 month/2T longall

"Sam" bib

***SOLD****"S" Size 2 tshirt and shorts***SOLD****

"Eli" Size 12 month smocked longall

"W" Size NB longall

"sWl" size 9 month longall

"Sam" receiving blanket

"slw" fleece blanket

"Sam" fleece blanket

"Sam" size 2 longall with dump truck buttons

"Sam" size 2 shortall

Girl stuff: (I know, no chance for same name for this one, but just thought I'd try!! I give away all her clothes and they take out the monogram and have them re-monogrammed, or there would be tons of cute girl stuff! I like to put her name on everything!!)

"Meri Hobbs" diaper bag and burp cloth

"mWh" burp cloth

"Meri Hobbs" diaper bag

Birth Stories - Sam

Before my memory is completely gone, I am going to share the birth stories of my children so they will have them.

We'll start with Sam. As I shared here, we had tried to have a baby with no luck so far. After the miscarriage, we took some time off from actively trying to have a baby to let ourselves grieve. Then, we tried another few rounds of Clomid with no luck. We tried combining Clomid with Glucophage, again with no luck. We tried adding progesterone suppositories (oh, what fun!). Nada. It had been about a year since the miscarriage and our doctor referred us to Nashville Fertility Clinic. That was so overwhelming. I don't remember a whole lot of details. Just a bunch of shots, sonograms, tests, and loads of information! Long story short, we did IUI and were pregnant on the first try! Score! Of course, we were terrified about another miscarriage, and I went in for WAY too many sonograms just to make sure everything was ok. Which, praise God, it was!!

I loved being pregnant! I loved feeling every kick and wiggle. I complained my fair share about my back hurting and not getting enough sleep and having to pee too often. But I was loving every second of this miracle inside me!

At that point, I was teaching school. I only had an assistant part-time, so that was fun trying to NOT have to use the restroom when she wasn't with me. But my students and my team teacher were very understanding. (They really had no choice, huh?!) Sam was due on December 30, 2004. I had put in my resignation to my principal and was only going to work up until the kids got out for Christmas break, which was Friday, December 17. The last day of school came and went.  I had worked extra hard to get everything ready for the new teacher that would take my place the next semester. I had 6 weeks worth of lesson plans for her and tried to get everything organized. I was tired! But, I would have almost two weeks to rest and get everything ready for the baby.

That Sunday, after church, I was going to take a nap. I wasn't resting real well in the bed, so I was sleeping in the recliner. Eddie had a church council meeting at the church, so he wasn't home.  About 4:00, I woke up from my nap with a strong urge to use the restroom. Like, an oops, I'm too late. I called the church just hoping someone would hear the phone and answer.  The other minister at the church left the meeting to answer the phone, which annoyed Eddie at the time! ha! But I'm so glad he did!

He got Eddie on the phone, and I told him, "Either I just peed my pants or my water just broke." Of course, neither of us knew which it was, so he put me on the phone with an experienced mom! She couldn't officially diagnose me either, so she told me to go to the hospital. YIKES! I had been to the hospital once before with Braxton Hicks contractions and was so embarrassed when they sent me home. So I was not feeling being turned away again. But I didn't know what else to do.

Eddie came home to pick me up and while he was on his way, I packed my bag. (I planned on having two weeks to get this done!) I was so nervous as I sat there and waited on him.

To be continued....