Here we are again!! It's hard to believe we are already wrapping up the year, but this is always one of my favorite blogs to write. I love looking back on the year to see all God has done in and through our family. This year, we celebrated NINE years of marriage, so I thought I'd share our family's TOP 9 moments from the last year!
2. We had a stay-cation with our family (June). We love any time that we get to be with family, and a week of uninterrupted time together every other summer is one of our highlights! Bryleigh getting time with Tate and Olivia is always a fun time, and Will is following in his sister's footsteps there as well. We enjoyed a Rangers game (thanks Joey Gallo!), Six Flags (on a really nice day), a trip to my dad's hometown to visit his parents, Hurricane Harbor (on a not so really nice day), and swim time at our neighborhood pool...not to mention LOTS of good food!
3. We had some special house guests for the summer (July). My parents OFFICIALLY made the big move this summer. This is something they've dreamed about, prayed about, and talked about for years...and it finally came true this summer. God's hand was in every detail and he sold their house not once, but twice (when the original buyers fell through)...so they were officially homeless. They moved in with us in July and it was AMAZING to have them here with us, especially while Brad was traveling almost weekly. We were a little sad when they closed on their new home in Arlington, but we were very thankful for God's provision in providing the perfect home, a short 15 minutes away!!
4. We celebrated NINE in Maryland/DC (Early August). Brad and I celebrated 9 sweet years of marriage this summer, and we were able to do it together! 4 words: CRAB CAKES and NATS GAME. For the first time in 5 years of Brad traveling, I took the trip WITH him and saw him in his world. It was so fun getting to see his home-away-from-home in Baltimore, eating all the good food (i.e. Crab Cakes twice and hotel waffles with whip cream every morning), and the relaxing all day while he was at work wasn't too bad either! He took a half day on Wednesday, which was our anniversary, and we drove in to DC to catch a game at our favorite park - Nats Stadium!!
5. We started Preschool (End August). The kids just wrapped up their first semester at Fielder's ECC, and it was a huge success. I had NO idea what to expect after taking a year off for Bryleigh and knowing what the year before had been like...we ended that year with tears every morning at drop off, not to mention the anxiety over potty training to get us to that point. This time last year, potty training seemed impossible, but once again our brave girl (and God) blew us away. Once it clicked for her, she was all in and did AMAZING despite all she's had to overcome. To say we were proud would be an understatement. Both Bryleigh and Will have absolutely loved their teachers, friends, and all the fun they have at school!
6. We had (basically) zero medical claims (every month except December...). Okay, so I totally should have worded this one differently. After several years of watching both of our kids endure more than we'd ever care to relive...we were determined to do our best to stay away from large medical claims. We cancelled all follow ups with their doctors at Cooks (as those are the doozies, along with the tests that come with them), and dug in with the chiropractor the kids see weekly. We felt THIS was the best place for them and where we were seeing our best results...it wasn't JUST about avoiding claims. So while we didn't have our normal medical claims, they had a doctor's appointment essentially 46 times over the last year. We praise God for the improvement we have seen over the last year, His protection over their bodies, and guiding us to Dr. Heather.
The whole "word this differently" thing comes in to play with our NEW little guy. Thanks to the way my body handles (or doesn't handle...) pregnancy, within a month of putting this list down in writing as I brainstormed about our year...I myself ended up in the ER thanks to some severe dehydration and those dreaded contractions. So far we're at an even $4,000 and counting. We worked SO hard all year to not have those bills come through, and even the day we went in, I did everything I knew to do on my part, but when it came down to it...money didn't matter as much as keeping this little guy safe! I'd also take a trip to the ER for myself over watching them endure all they have for one more second.
7. We celebrated 4 and 2 with Belle and Tacos (January/November). I love celebrating our babes any chance we get in any way we can, so it's no wonder we have fun with birthdays. We kicked off 2018 celebrating Bryleigh's 4th birthday Beauty and the Beast style with a whole lot of Belle! There were Belle pajamas and dresses and red and yellow for DAYS!! We celebrated her on Saturday the 13th with a party including tacos, family, and friends, and then our family celebrated her all day on her actual birthday, Wednesday the 17th. It was such a fun day filled with pizza at Mellow Mushroom and a shopping trip to Toys R Us (Rest In Peace). She is the life of the party, and every day with her is a celebration!
Bryleigh's birthday is 17 days in to the year, and Will's is 38 days out from the new year...so we bookend our year with birthday fun! This year, Will's birthday fell on a Saturday, so we decided to have his birthday party that day - plus family was in town for Thanksgiving, so that sealed the deal! With his love for Tacos, there was no other choice but a Taco TWOsday/Mexican fiesta! He's such an easy little boy to celebrate. Life with him is so fun!
8. We shared our last holiday season as a family of four (November/December). Over the last two years, we have cherished making memories as a family of four and watching as Bryleigh and Will have become the best of friends. Watching them play together is truly the highlight of my days. Since Will was born ON Thanksgiving Day, this was technically our third year to have Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Years as a family of 4, and each year has been equally special. Having a newborn was SO much fun that very first year, and the following year he was 1 and starting to explore and understand his world, but this year was SO much fun because he started to really get it and he participated in all the things we did as a family. We continued traditions, we added new traditions, and we dreamed about what life will look like this time next year with our new sweet babe.
9. We found out about Baby Carson (Late August/Early December). The most exciting...and unexpected...news of 2018 was definitely our sweet baby boy that will join our family in 2019: Carson Merritt. After weeks of telling Brad I absolutely was NOT pregnant, even taking a negative pregnancy test (which I also did with Bryleigh), I got a positive a week later (the day before Bryleigh and Will started school). I was convinced from almost that moment that it was a boy, but I knew we'd have to wait until the halfway point to know for sure. Bryleigh had her heart set on a baby sister, so with my momma-intuition, I began praying for her heart and my guiding from the very beginning. On December 7th, my suspicions were confirmed and we saw our sweet BOY on the big screen at our doctor's office. I even got to tell Brad the news! (Let's just say Carson made it OBVIOUS for me, but Brad just couldn't see it.) And if you're wondering, Bryleigh handled the news like the perfect big sister, and she hasn't stopped talking about Carson since the night she found out. (God is so good. So so good!)
We have had such a fun and exciting year with lots of growth, but we are SO looking forward to all that is in store for 2019...especially welcoming Carson (in what will hopefully be the most uneventful labor/delivery to date).
No comments:
Post a Comment