2012 at a glance

I realize we're halfway through January and I'm just now doing my 2012 recap, but things have been busy and I just couldn't get to it until now! Anyway, 2012 was full of many highs and lows, here's our year in review:

January & February
We started the year in St. Louis for a funeral. It was nice spending time with extended family, but under very difficult circumstances. We celebrated Will's 4th birthday party, Maggie was sitting pretty well, took her first steps in a walker and Daniel introduced her to Dora the Explorer for the first time, plus we found out I was pregnant with our third child. Surprise! Indeed, the first pregnancy we did not plan.

We had company, played outside in pretty nice weather, celebrated Valentines Day with Will and took Maggie to the neurologist for a 6 month check-up where she was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy.

March
We announced my pregnancy, Will practiced riding his bike, Maggie had her first hair cut, started pulling up in her bed and found the 'W' sit and we watched my sister's kids over spring break. Then my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer.  She had surgery to remove the tumor as quickly as possible and we, fortunately, were able to be in town.

April
Daniel and Will found a lizard in the backyard and decided to keep him- Will named him Jumpy. We celebrated Easter, Daniel went to MMS in Las Vegas for a week, we held a gender reveal party and Zoe was diagnosed with cancer. These first few months of the year were not bringing about good health news.

May
Will finished preschool, we celebrated our 7th anniversary, Mother's Day and Daniel's birthday. We switched Maggie to a forward facing seat, took a trip to St. Louis for my cousin's baptism and I started my craft blog, Cutiepie Creations. This month we also said goodbye to our Zoe. Only 3 weeks after being diagnosed with cancer, she was gone. Oh I miss my Zo Zo, she was such a good dog.

June
Maggie pulled herself to a standing position and began drinking more independently when I found sippy cups with handles and straws. We took a boat ride on the lake (Maggie's first), a trip to the beach and I turned 30, eek! I also had a surprise 30th party.

July
Maggie went to CRS to get AFO's and a gait trainer, we finally put together my craft room, Will rode his bike lots, we went swimming, my belly grew and plenty of therapy, as usual.

August
We continued enjoying summer days with trips to the pool and park, bike rides and a final pre-baby trip to the botanical gardens. Maggie got her AFO's and a loaner gait trainer 'til hers came in on order. We also got to work making room for baby Jacob. Plus Daniel was offered a job with Deloitte in Nashville; we decided to keep it hush 'til we could tell family.

September
Big month! Maggie turned 2, we announced our move to family, started packing to stage the house for sale, Daniel had his last day at the job that brought us to B'ham and started a new one, plus added a member to our family- Jake was born!! Even with all this, the move had not yet sunk in. I loved so much of our life in Birmingham and though Nashville was closer to family, it didn't feel real that we were leaving.

October
Another busy month. We put up our house for sale, Jake was dedicated, Maggie finally started back to therapy- which was bittersweet because I had to announce our move. We sold our house and bought one (on the same day). Daniel went back to work and worked in Nashville during the week and came home on the weekend while I packed, packed and packed in between caring for the three little ones, of course. Will and Maggie got walking pneumonia and then there was Halloween. Even with buying and selling, the move still didn't seem real.

November
This was a tough month. It felt like I was constantly packing, we said so goodbye to our friends, our church family, our therapists, our home and visited places for the last time. We had a delay on closing the house in TN which forced us to move over Thanksgiving weekend, our good family friend, Mike, passed away unexpectedly,  I got the flu and walking pneumonia and we packed up our home and said goodbye.

December
Well, we're officially TN residents again. My, that was a whirlwind! Looking back, even though we're not that far out yet, I just can't believe it all happened so quickly. That we managed to shove that much going and doing and selling and buying and moving into such a short time frame. This month was crazy busy as well- now all the unpacking and placing had to be done, scheduling appointments for Maggie's therapy and finding a pediatrician, plus lots of Christmas events and Will's birthday! Goodbye 2012, here's to a healthy and blessed 2013.

One of the first and last pics of the kids together in 2012:

2011 Year in Review

I've been wanting to do a recap of 2011 like last year, but have not yet had the chance. So better late than never! 2011 brought about many blessings, happiness, challenges and sadness. It was a tough year, but we have been so blessed. Funny thing is, I find that through the trials we can truly focus on and appreciate our blessings. I don't know about you, but it seems to me our blessings are more difficult to see in times of prosperity. Well, without further ado, our year in review...

January
After a big Christmas, we settled into the new year with lots of new toys and a little more sleep (Maggie finally slept through the night consistently with cereal feedings.) The fort building intensified when G gave Will an indoor tent with tunnel and the whole room became a fort! We also enjoyed snow and ice a couple times...Maggie's first, I believe...but still played on the new swing set a couple times. My parents visited and I started teaching Will the letters in his name.

February
was unusually warm, we spent many days playing outside- much more enjoyable swing set time than January. I made my first attempt at decorating sugar cookies, but with store-bought dough and cookie icing, nothing like September (but I'm getting ahead of myself). My sister, along with her kids, visited, we went to TN for a wedding, Maggie was pushing up and Daniel gave his first public devotional.

March
brought Maggie starting sitting up-- though at that time we didn't know how long that road would be-- I got a new camera (lots of practice shots this month) and Maggie went to the Birmingham Zoo and to St. Louis for the first time. My mom and I drove together (with my kids in tow) to celebrate a baby shower for my cousin, Rachel, helped decorate her nursery and visited my cousin, Kevin, who was injured on the job and lost vision in his left eye. We also had visitors of our own- my brother and SIL first then my MIL, SIL and her kids- Will loves his cousins!

April
We did some work helping repair houses and spreading the Word in Sayre, AL. This was a great way to start the month. I took Maggie to the state's rehabilitation services and learned that she qualified for Early Intervention. We went to the zoo's grand opening for Trails of Africa and traveled to TN twice-- once for our nephew, Samuel's birthday and again for Easter. The Wednesday after Easter we woke up to violent straight-line winds that did some damage to our town and took a few lives. We only lost some yard furniture and had no idea what that evening would bring: hours of F5 tornados racing through the state in one of the deadliest tornados since 1925. This was a big month!

May
brought weeks of helping tornado victims in any way possible, Mother's Day (got my Cricut), our 6th anniversary, swimming, lots of trips to the park, water balloons, still more forts, Maggie's first EI therapy session and Daniel's 30th birthday! Whew, we were bu-say!! Crazy to look back on, I can't believe we fit all that into one month. I'm also seeing a pattern here- I blog alot. Where do I find the time? I believe blogging must be where my late nights began. What can I say, I love to write. And what better to write about that faith, family and fun?!

June
was busy as well with Daniel's LAN party, my birthday, a trip to the beach with my mom, brother and nephew, plus swimming, park visits, therapy and daily life in between. I also took one of my favorite photos of Maggie this month-- on the collage below it's 4th down, 1st from the left. I just think she looks so sweet here, plus I know something most people don't when looking at this photo: she's actually working. She'll have to work many years or possibly her whole life to do even the simplest things we take for granted. Yet, she still looks so precious doing it. My sweet baby girl.

  

July

meant Independence Day and a trip to TN. My cousin, Rachel was on maternity leave and wanted to bring her family down and introduce to her new bundle of joy. She asked if I could make a trip up and I am now particularly grateful we took time to travel and meet that sweet baby boy. The 4th also brings fireworks and barbecues-- fun and yum! We had visitors of our own again and both kids had their first dentist visit. This was also a big month for Maggie in therapy-- started feeding herself (large finger foods, not puffs or using utensils), able to sit and play for short periods, arms getting stronger-- the list was abundant. July was good and will forever be the month our little girl started making strides toward independence. A perfect month for that, I think.

August

Hot as always, but filled with fun, playdates, progress in therapy, Will's first haircut and pre-school orientation. Can you believe how quickly this year is going by? Daniel also went to Houston this month plus my parents and nephew, Kyle, visited for a few days. Maggie finally visited the neurologist who diagnosed her with watershed injury. We would not have been surprised with a CP diagnosis so this helped seal the peace God had been trying to give me over the previous 11 months that I struggled to accept.

September

This was a big month- Maggie turned one and Will started pre-school all in the same week. Talk about emotional overload. I made it through, though. Maggie's party was super fun (here, here & here) and I spent months leading up the event crafting all sorts of things. My SIL (brother's wife) and fellow crafter extraordinaire turned 30 this same week! I wanted to be part of planning a 30th for her but for many reasons, mostly involving bad timing, we weren't able to pull it off. This same thing happened for my SIL (Daniel's sister) for her 30th! I digress. My brother and nephew visited, Daniel flew back to Houston again and I made a trip to TN to visit my neice, Olivia, in the hospital.

October

Ah, the month of beautiful weather. We settled into the little school routine and new therapists and some additional therapy with Maggie. We now generally have 8 therapy sessions a month. We had more visitors, my MIL, SIL + kids over fall break and my mom for Halloween. Will had orientation at pre-school and we met our newest neice, Isla, in TN (Maggie's closest girl cousin in age). We went to Trunk or Treat at church, Boo at the Zoo and went trick-or-treating in our neighborhood. So candy overload. I think I finally threw the remaining away a few weeks ago. Plus we had plenty of fun times in between.

November

started dim, to be honest. We traveled to St. Louis to attend a family member's funeral. One good thing about funerals is seeing family you rarely have the opportunity to see otherwise. In this case, there is the hope of seeing him again, when this world fades away and the perfect one is formed. I was also able to take my family to the STL Zoo on this trip, something I've wanted to do for awhile. Then more therapy, decorating for Christmas and celebrating Thanksgiving. Daniel and I swap years and as much as I love his family and spending the holidays with them, I am grateful this was my family's year. Because it was my last visit with my cousin's little baby boy. Something I'll always remember. The highpoint was that Daniel and I were able to get a couple nights away, as a couple, and was very refreshing.

December

How quickly a year goes by, especially when you're hitting the highlights! Maggie and Will enjoyed the new kitchen my cousin brought down at Thanksgiving, we jumped in some leaves, attended several Christmas events, made many, many, many crafts, celebrated Jesus' birthday, Will's birthday and then ended the year on a tragic note. A few hours after returning home from our last holiday celebration, we received a call that my cousin's baby passed away. We drove to St. Louis on the last day of 2011 to attend the funeral. Here's the good news: we have hope in Jesus Christ and I pray this family who has lost so much, is abundantly blessed in this new year. Well, that's our 2011 wrapped up, thanks for coming on the journey!

I suppose I could've tried to condense all this into one paragraph like I did last year, but I've gotten in the habit of being wordier this last year, so I just went with it. I hope it wasn't too much! Here's to another year; may you all be abundantly blessed through the love of Jesus Christ!! He brings the only true hope to our lives and when we have his love and grace, we are truly blessed, despite our circumstances. I hope to focus on that this year!

One of the first and last pictures of the kids together in 2011