Goodbye 2012, Hello 2013!

What an amazing year! Like every other year, there were ups and downs. Really, really high "ups" and really, really low "downs".

 

2012 started on JANUARY first with this picture I posted to Facebook with the caption "5 champagnes and 1 apple juice!"  We were so excited and nervous to announce we were expecting another baby!  In FEBRUARY, I had the cerclage procedure to keep baby in safely.  A few complications afterwards and a lot of days of "taking it easy" for the remainder of the pregnancy.

 

In MARCH, we announced on my birthday that we were expecting another little boy!

 

In APRIL, Josey turned 4 years-old!

 

In MAY, our world was turned upside down when Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer.  This picture is from the night she found out.  All five of us girls sat at Mom and Dad's house for hours that night trying to wrap our heads around the news. 

 

 

In JUNE, Mom had her lump removed and prepared to start chemo.  I took it incredibly easy and prayed for Gavin to stay put as long as possible.  We had baby showers, wedding showers, and awesome birthday parties!

Mike and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary on June 29th!!

 

In JULY, Josey finally got his baby brother!  Our family was blessed with a tiny little miracle baby.  Gavin Michael Smith came screaming into the world on July 25 and has blessed our family beyond words.  Thank you Lord for this child.

 

In AUGUST, our family gained another new member when Erin married Tommy Reed!  Such an amazing day and beginning to a wonderful life for two people we love so dearly!

 

In SEPTEMBER, I went back to work and Josey started going to full-time preschool at Salem Lutheran.  Gavin started going to daycare.  I can honestly say I barely remember the month of September at all.  Insanely busy!  Being back in the classroom after 18 weeks off and being a Mommy of two took a while to get the hang of :)

 

In OCTOBER, we walked as a family in support of Mom and all women who have or will ever fight breast cancer.  What an awesome day that was!

 

Of course we also celebrated Halloween with the two most adorable garden gnomes you've ever seen!

 

 

In NOVEMBER, we gathered together to give thanks for all we have been blessed with this year.  Our family is thankful for those blessings both big and small.

 

In DECEMBER, we celebrated Jesus' birthday with the two most adorable boys in the world. 

 

As we look forward to 2013, I am excited for what the future holds.  I can't wait to see what adventures our family will have this year.  I am excited to see Josey turn 5 years old and for he and Tielyr to start kindergarten.  To watch Gavin grow, learn, and develop each day.  To hear new songs from Mike's band and hopefully see them perform!  To watch as my Mom finishes radiation and regains her strength.  To enjoy all the ways are family is certain to be blessed this year.  And to simply live in the moment...enjoying each day to the fullest. 

 

Happy New Year and may God Bless all our family and friends!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas 2012

We had a wonderful Christmas this year! Having a four-year-old and a 5-month old made it so fun. Josey was really into all the activities and traditions this year. It was great to see Christmas time through his eyes.

 

On Christmas Eve we decorated cookies for Santa.

An answer to our prayers.  Josey has a brother to share special memories with.  They love eachother so much!

Santa was good to us this year!

Exhausted after all that opening :)

 

I never would have imagined how into opening gifts Gavin would be at only five months old.  I guess he couldn't let big brother have all the fun!

The loves of my life.  I am beyond blessed to have these amazing guys in my life.

Gavin turned 5 months old on Christmas day!  Unbelievable that he is that old already. 

All of our family came over to our house on Christmas day to celebrate.  We ate, opened gifts, and had a wonderful time together.  As if the day wasn't great enough, it ended with my Mom giving Gavin his bottle.  She hadn't been able to hold him in quite a while for fear that he would make her sick since he has been battling an ear infection with an unkown cause for two months.  She is done with chemo now and felt safe to snuggle him.  What a Christmas miracle this picture shows.  The two people that fought so hard this year to be with us on Christmas day. What Mom didn't see was me in the kitchen behind her crying as I cleaned up.  Our amazing family is blessed beyond words.  

Thanksgving 2012

So much to be thankful for this year.  Our family has been on a crazy roller coaster for nearly three years now it seems.  Two Thanksgivings ago, I had to excuse myself from the table during Laura's famous prayer because I was crying so hard I couldn't breathe.  I could barely handle celebrating any holiday just three months after my three angel boys went to Heaven, let alone one in which I was suppose to be thankful for anything.  My grief was still so fresh and painful at that point it was unreal.  We were also mourning the loss of Mike's job (career) and our nearly four months of both being off work that year.  Last year, things for us were better, but my older sister had been fired from her job and her husband had some scary legal issues (he was later cleared of any wrongdoing!) so the prayer again was a tearjerker.  What I didn't know last year at Thanksgiving was that God had already been working on a miracle in our lives.  Gavin was nothing more than a tiny notion in my body that day, but we found out three short weeks later that he in fact was with us for that dinner! 

This year as Laura stood to read the prayer (the tiny packages of Kleenex had already been passed out) once again there wasn't a dry eye in the house.  This year we have become closer as a family.  When Mom was diagosed with breast cancer in May 2012 we were all shaken to our core.  As we sat at Mom and Dad's house that Thursday evening, we decided that we would all come together and this cancer stood no chance.  We never dreamed how God's power would carry Mom through this.  With prayer, the support of friends and family, and a big leap of faith, she will complete her last Chemo treatment on Monday.  Radiation will follow and she is sure to soar through it as well.  We gave thanks to God for being with her on this journey.  The prayer continued with thanks to God for watching over Gavin and I as he grew stronger everyday and came screaming into this world on July 25th.  A blessing that two years ago I wouldn't have even thought possible.  Next, came a prayer of safety for Mike's brother Randy.  He was sentenced to many years in jail a few months ago, something that has been very difficult to handle for Mike, his Mom, and the rest of our family.  It is unimaginable to know that someone you love did break a law (no one was hurt) and was sentenced so much more harshly than we expected.  Our hearts ached to know that one of us was not sitting at that table this year. 

Our family has been through a lot.  We are choosing to give thanks to God for our blessings and allow him to heal our hurt. 

In no particular order really, here are just a few of my things to be thankful for:
-My husband, who is my rock.
-My son, Josey, who is the most amazing, caring, funny, four-year-old.
-My son, Johnny, who I remember as my tiniest miracle.
-My son, Jaxsen, who I remember to have looked so very much like his oldest brother Josey.
-My son, Asher, who had a look of calmness and serenity about him that I will never forget.
-My son, Gavin, who reminded me of a joy that a mother only experiences when she holds her child for the first time.  A joy I did not know I would ever feel again.  The weight of him in my arms, the way he looks at me as he cries, they way he rubs my face to calm himself down as I hold him close, and the way my heart aches when I am not with him are all blessings I am thankful for. 
-My Mom, who is fighting each day to be with us.  So proud to be her daughter.
-My Daddy, has shown a strength greater than any husband should have to.  He has also shown his daughters the way a man should love his wife.  I sleep ok at night because I know he is the only one that could care for Mom they way she needs to be cared for.  Proud to be his daughter.
-My Mother-in-law, who is the most selfless woman.  She helps me in ways I don't even know to ask for.  Proud to be her daughter. 
-My sisters, who are my confidants, my life-long best friends, and the ones who know me best.
-My nieces, and brother in-laws.  I am blessed beyond measure to have them in my life.
-My career.  I get to teach young children about not only education, but life, love, and friendship as well.  I learn just as much from them as I teach them.
-God, who gave this all to me.

Highlights from this year's Thanksgiving!

Pie Day!  Don't give Nana your germs! :)

Our littlest turkey!

What?  There's a turkey on my booty?!

Thank you Lord for these sweet brothers!

Gansta noodle making?  Thanks for the laugh Tinley :)

Gavin loves Pawpaw.

Erin and Tommy's Wedding

Erin and Tommy were married on August 18, 2012.  So excited to finally have the wedding portraits to share!  It was a wonderful day watching my baby sister agree to spend the rest of her life with the perfect man for her.  We were surrounded by our wonderful family and friends to celebrate this special time.  Sweet baby Gavin was only three weeks old, so it was a crazy time as well.  Definitely a weekend full of amazing memories.  So glad this time was documented with great photographs, so we will always remember.  Ok, well maybe I won't want to remember the pictures of me, but I keep reminding myself I had a baby three weeks before :) I shall use them as motivation!  I will let the pictures tell most of the story for this awesome day.  So proud and happy for you Mr. and Mrs. Reed! 

Erin's side of the family!

I do.  Me too!

Bridesmaids and Groomsmaid

Stunning Bride!!

Possibly my favorite picture of the day.  Wedding magazine?!

Posing like the Bridesmaid movie cover lol.

Let's just say someone in this picutre may or may not have coughed up a bug!

Josey made the catch!

So special.  Nana helping Josey with his flower.  He was thrilled :)

Praying for a blessed marriage.

Love this picture with Erin.  Her nephews love her so much!

Our family of four in the photo booth.  We were exhausted and a mess at this point!

 

 

Thank you to Erin and Tommy for letting us be a part of their special day.  Everything was just perfect.  I know they will share a lifetime of happiness and love together. 

May God bless their marriage!

Halloween 2012

We had a wonderful first Halloween with our two boys!  We watched the movie Gnomeo and Juliette the night we brought Gavin home from the hospital and Josey decided right then that he would be the "bad" red gnome and Gavin needed to be the blue Gnomeo.  I figured he forgot about it and he decided to be a doctor with a scary pumpkin face mask, funny choice I know.  We went to get things for Gavin to be Gnomeo and Josey insisted that he had to be a gnome too if Gavin was going to be, so with a few days to spare I began making two gnome costumes.  I think they turned out alright, although putting the beard on Gavin only lasted a few minutes.  Fuzzy stuff everywhere on him!  We did the Goblin parade downtown like always and it was fun!  Then we stopped off at Grandma's church trunk-or-treat.  Then off to trick-or-treat with cousins.  It was a nice evening and of course we got WAY more candy than anyone could ever eat!  Can't wait until next year when Gavin will be old enough to walk around too :)

Tybalt, the red garden gnome, getting into character.

Learning that it isn't always easy to get two boys to smile for a picture. 

 Gavin cracked me up in this one!

 

Josey and Daddy loved scaring people with the chainsaw :)  Not sure that cousin Taryn loved it!

Definitely a successful Halloween!

Gavin is two months old?!

Gavin had his two month checkup and weighed in at 10 pounds 4 ounces, which is in the 29th percentile.  His height was 20 1/2 inches putting him in the 10th percentile.  I am pretty sure my baby must have been switched or something :)  Josey has always been in the 80th or above for his height.  With my Dad being 6 feet 7 inches tall and Mike and I both being tall, it is kind of funny that one of our kids would ever see the 10th percentile.  I know he will catch up, he is just taking his time :)  He is still fitting into newborn clothes but finally a few 0-3 months.  He is starting to smile and make some cute little noises.  The doctor was actually concerned about his hearing because he is so calm that loud noises don't disturb him.  Everything seems to be ok though, he is just a super laid back boy!  Just like his big brother. 

After getting home from his check-up and shots...but still a happy, smiley boy! 

The boys started daycare/preschool when I went back to work on September 24th.  The first week was hard...on me!  They are adjusting just fine.  Josey is having some wonderful experiences and doesn't seem to mind that he is away from family ALL day for the first time ever.  He is full of stories everyday!  Gavin seems to be well taken care of, so I am getting used to him being a daycare baby.  Nana is hard at work beating breast cancer, so she may be able to watch Gavin after a few months if she feels up to it.  We all miss going to Nana and Pawpaw's everyday.  So thankful for the four years they watched Josey! 

Branson vacation

The weekend of September 15th we decided to take the boys to Branson for a couple of days before I went back to work.  It was cold and rainy all weekend, but we had a great, restful time.  I will let the pictures tell the story :)

We ate at an "ok" restaurant just because it had a huge chicken in front of it.  Josey was super excited!

We had Krispy Kreme for breakfast.  Our first time to take Daddy there with us! 

After dodging the rain at the Branson Landing we had lunch at Joe's Crab Shack.  Josey and Daddy loved the crab legs :)

Josey won lots of tickets playing all sorts of games. 

Absolutely wonderful weekend away with my precious boys.  This picture just makes my heart swell with happiness and love.  What a wonderful little family we have been blessed with.