9. Final Globe Life Trip - This year, our family did what we have done EVERY summer for years and years...we loaded up and headed out to the Ballpark to watch our Texas Rangers. Only this year, we did it at Globe Life Park for the very last time. While the kids and Brad made a few trips this summer, Carson and I only made one very special trip. Carson's first trip to see the Rangers HAD to take place at Globe Life, so we packed up all the necessities and met our family for a very special 4th of July game, celebrating Pappy's birthday. I wouldn't have changed a single thing about my last game in that stadium. We watched the fireworks from Six Flags on our way to the car, and it was just the perfect ending to Carson's First Fourth!!
8. Baylor/OU Games (and all the other sports we're used to!) - Somehow, Baylor and OU ended up having to play TWO times this year, and I'm sure hoping this is not a normal thing...although if it means Baylor fighting it out for the Big 12 Championship, I'll take it! Brad was able to head to Norman for a game this season as well as watching the Big 12 Championship at Cowboy Stadium, and we all went to Waco for 2 Baylor games...one of them being extremely hot, but also SO much fun!! Baylor/OU was complete with ESPN's Game Day, tailgating with family, and the Bear Walk to see our very favorite Marigold and the rest of the Baylor Bears. It was an incredible day, even though the majority of us didn't care for the outcome. There were also plenty of Cowboys games attended by Brad and LOTS of Nationals watching on TV. This was our first summer to not see them in person for a while, but we're excited to see them this summer when they come to the NEW ballpark in Arlington!! Watching them win the World Series was definitely a highlight for me this year!
7. Holidays - The holidays are definitely a family favorite for all of us, but having Carson here to experience all those firsts again made it even more special. From Halloween with our Peter Pan clan to Thanksgiving in Aubrey with the Hammons Crew to the Christmas season and ALL the fun we got to enjoy together as a family...the 2019 holidays will always be some of my favorite memories!! (Note: Any Christmas that ends with a big Disney reveal is absolutely going to the top of Christmas morning memories!)
6. Will is 3! - Our middle little turned THREE years old this year, and some days it feels a little bit more like he should be 5 or 6! He makes us so proud...and so tired! From the second he wakes up to the second his head hits the pillow (for nap AND bedtime), he is talking, and moving, and asking questions, and NEVER slowing down. It's SO hard to believe that this time last year we were expecting to face a few months of speech therapy to get him talking. He had finished feeding therapy and we just wanted a break...well, during that break, his language TOOK OFF!! And it hasn't slowed down since. He amazes us every single day and we are so excited to watch all the ways he will grow and learn over the next year. This year, he started his second year at ECC, played his first season of BlastBall, and mastered the art of sliding on his belly down the stairs! (It's the fastest way down when someone is at the front door, for the record.)
5. Bryleigh is 5! - Phew. Our biggest little turned FIVE years old this year. That one hit us hard. We are just so proud of her and all the growth we have seen in her. We know that, for whatever reason, God didn't hand her the straightest, easiest road, but she handles it all so well and with such brave grace. She misses out on a lot things, but she never lets on that she is anything but happy! She finds so much love and laughter in everything she does, and she is the sweetest little artist you will ever see! We love to watch her create and dream, and I pray that is something that never goes away. I am excited for the new adventures God has for her as we kick of 2020 and she turns six!
4. Bryleigh goes to kinder! - Not only did our girl turn five this year, but she also started Kindergarten. There were days I would literally cry myself to sleep because I had no idea how God was going to get us here. I had no idea how I'd be able to hand off my sick baby to a school I knew nothing about. I had no idea how I'd be able to trust people that knew nothing about Bryleigh's past. I had no idea WHERE my baby was going to go to school, and as every day ticked by, it just seemed more and more impossible. I just had no idea. But this story will ALWAYS be one that I remember and cling to when I need to be reminded of God's faithfulness. She is THRIVING at her school, making friends, learning to read, experiencing the life the way that she should be, and she has a teacher that makes sure she is included in every activity - even if that means us running a sugar free bar up to the school with 15 minutes to spare!!
3. Hawaii trip - We have been so blessed to take some awesome trips over the last several years, some with our family and some just the two of us, but this years trip was especially special!! Brad and I have always wanted to visit Hawaii together...and now we can't wait to take our family back to visit sometime! We fell in love with Maui. Everyday was an adventure and the food was out of this world. We drove the road to Hana, saw waterfalls, took a sunset cruise out on the ocean, attended a magic show, did a lot of shopping, relaxed by the beach, enjoyed the best massage EVER, and ate...a lot.
2. Post Oak Court house - We celebrated Christmas 2018 in the sweetest way, spending the entire day in our home without the slightest idea it would be our last Christmas at our very first house, the one that we built. But a few short days later, we would find (and fall in love with) the Arcadia house, list our house, lose the Arcadia house, and then miraculously find, purchase, and renovate the Post Oak house...all while we lived with my parents at their newly purchased Blue Quail house. Life was CRAZY, but we wouldn't change one single thing because it brought us to the BEST neighborhood with some incredible friends and it placed Bryleigh in the best possible kindergarten class possible. Yet again, another story of God's goodness and faithfulness that I will never tire of telling and I will never, ever get over!! It took a while, but this is home!
1. Carson Merritt! - Our littlest little made his debut on April 29, completing our family of 5 in the sweetest way possible. (Completing for now, Brad...here's to hoping and praying adoption is in our cards down the road a bit!) We weren't surprised by him, but there have been lots of surprises from him, like his littler size (compared to the other two babes we had!!) and his big blue eyes!! His rookie year has been one for the books with so many great experiences...and a whole lot of sleepless nights.
10. Bonus, 10 years married! - This year was super special as we celebrated TEN years married!! Sometimes it's hard to believe we've been married for an entire decade, but then looking back, we've crammed a whole lot of life (and moves!!) into those ten years, both good and bad. God has been so faithful at each and every step, and we are looking forward to all God has in store for the next 10 years!!
And on that note...in celebration of closing out an entire decade AND having been married for a decade, here's our TOP 10 over the last TEN years!!
2010 - Married life and JOBS! In 2010, we settled in to married life, celebrating our first anniversary, and settled into the adult world. A few months before getting married, I was laid off, and a few months after getting married, Brad was laid off. It took us some time, but we both settled in to jobs that we loved, and they eventually allowed us to build and purchase our very first home.
2011 - Brad's Graduation/CG job Brad worked so hard at being the leader and provider for our family, and in 2011 we celebrated both his graduation AND his new job with Carlisle and Gallagher...which became NTT Data, where he still works today! I am so proud of how hard he works, and I'm so thankful for how much he loves his job. It has blessed us in countless ways over the years and pray it will for years to come.
2012 - First house We had the best time building our first home in 2012. We picked out the lot, chose the floor plan, and then walked through designing the house with a team at the builders design center. That home will always be so special to us for SO many reasons. We loved everything about it...we just happened to outgrow it a little bit!! But it sure was nice to settle in and stop moving every.single.year!!!
2013 - Pregnant I remember telling Brad in 2011 I was ready to start trying for our first little one...and I remember him slightly freaking out thinking we'd be parents, like, the following day! He calmed down and then the waiting game began...and then it wasn't so much of a game anymore. But after TWENTY TWO months of trying for a precious babe, we finally saw that positive pregnancy test and our worlds have literally never been the same!
2014 - Bryleigh Renee. We kicked off 2014 in the best way possible...Bryleigh Renee Hammons.
2015 - Glory Baby. Not every bit over the last decade has been joyful. We have faced our fair share of grief and heart ache, and some of the toughest moments of the decade happened in March of 2015 when we found out we were pregnant with our second child, and almost as quickly found out that sweet little babe was already with Jesus. I never met that baby, but their LIFE taught me more than almost any other person I've met.
2016 - William Bradley. By the way this blog makes things look, we went from trying for 2 years to get pregnant, to positive tests back to back to back...but that's not really how things went. We tried for 18 months to get pregnant after deciding we were ready to make Bryleigh a big sister to getting pregnant with Will. Having a miscarriage in between and things taking a while again made our third positive pregnancy test a bittersweet celebration. And the fact that Will's due date was a year after the due date of our Glory Baby was just the sweetest God-wink ever.
2017 - Wild, Brave days 2017 wasn't the year that life got hard, but it was the year we got ACTUAL answers as to what was wrecking our lives. 2017 was the year we met Dr. Heather, the year we began to really understand what was going on in Bryleigh's body, and the year that we began sugar-free-living! The days were wild and brave and SO hard, but SO SO good.
2018 - Travel! (LA and DC) If you would have told me at the beginning of this decade that TRAVEL would be on the list of things we would experienced a lot of, I would have told you that you were crazy, but thanks to Brad's job, we were able to do LOTS of traveling...including New York City a few times, DC a few times, and St Thomas with his family, but in 2018 we took our longest trip (since our honeymoon) to LA, including a stop at Harry Potter world, and we added a work trip with Brad to Baltimore and DC. I am so thankful for all of the places I've gotten to see and experience with Brad and look forward to what the next 10 years will have for us and our family... First up: a road trip to Disney World!! Don't tell Bryleigh, but we're making a pit stop at the beach along the way! It's at the top of her bucket list.
2019 - Carson Merritt. And oh what a way to wrap up the wildest decade of our lives, by adding one more brave, wild little one to the bunch! We thought we were done. God had other plans. I've shared all about that on other blog posts, but here, I'll just say I'm forever grateful that God asked us if we trusted Him, and I'm forever grateful that we said YES!
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