2014- End of the Year Review

2014 was a fun, fast year.  I feel like I blinked and it was over.  We had a really fun year.  I got a new sister, got to take a fabulous girls trip and made lots of memories with my little family.  

January

To kick off 2014 we rung in the New Year at home in our pjs.  Barrett had his first ear infection.  He was pitiful.   We started having more regular play dates with Jackson and Cruz.  Looking at this post makes me want to cry.  They were so little, I can't believe that was just earlier this year.  We've added a couple more boys to our group and I love it.  Later in the month we helped host a fun His & Hers Shower for John and Hope.  It was a lot of fun.  We ended the month with a crazy snow day.  It was a crazy weather day in Alabama, we were happy to all be together.

February

I feel like February was a blur of wedding preparations.  There were several Weekend Reviews to stay up to date.  It snowed again!!! This time it was the good wet, fluffy kind.  It all fell quickly and melted quickly the next day.  Barrett got his first real pair of shoes.  The last day of the month was spent celebrating John and Hope on the day before their wedding.

March

This month was filled with highs and lows.  We kicked off the month with my baby brother's wedding.  We celebrated our 6th anniversary with a little weekend getaway to Nashville.  We had the best time.  We got some unsettling news at Barrett's 15 month check up.  We were referred to Early Intervention due to his lack of communication.  Now I feel silly for even being worried but at the time we were really scared. 

April

We started the month with our evaluation at Early Intervention.  We were upset by the results but now we feel nothing but blessed by the whole situation.  My sister and I got to spend a lot of time together when they were home for Easter and it was so much fun.  We celebrated Easter with the family.  Patrick checked one thing off his bucket list when he bought a coke machine.  We ended the night with an impromtu slumber party when severe weather tore through our area.  A small tornado touched down not far from us and it was pretty scary.

May

 

We kicked off the month with a date night to see Lady Antebellum.  It was a lot of fun.  We started Early Intervention this month and we were immediately encouraged.  We celebrated Mother's Day and Barrett got his first hair cut.  We enjoyed the weekend at the lake for Memorial day.  It was a lot of fun.  An early intervention update.  I love looking back at these posts to see just how far he has come.  He has learned so much this year.

June

 

Kristen, Brittany, Carla and a few other friends ran the Color Run with me.  It was a lot of fun.  Barrett his speech evaluation at the start of the month.  We love Ms. Amy and Barrett has thrived since receiving her services.  We had a lot of fun family time this month.   Patrick enjoyed Father's day.  We went to the LIVE with the Characters show to benefit Just Keep Smiling.  It was so much fun.  I loved it and can't wait for the next one.  To end the month Barrett turned 18 months old.  June was a fun month.  

July

 

We had a fun play date with Jackson and Cruz, a fun Mother/Son chick-fil-a date and a trip to the splash pad that I shared in this weekend review post.  We had a fun Fourth of July weekend filled with friends, family, fun and fireworks.  Barrett started experiencing separation anxiety and it was hard on me.  I love writing about things I'm going through with Barrett because I'm never alone.  Someone always has advice and words of comfort.  We had a fun day out on the lake at John & Hope's house.  To round out the month I turned 29.  I can't believe I'm this old. 

August

 

This is the first month I started the Monthly Goals.  I'm glad I started this.  It's really helped me stay focused and get some things accomplished.  I wrote this post on friendship.  I feel like i've made and grown a lot of new and rekindled friendships this year and it's been really special.  We had a weekend full of birthday parties and Barrett got sick in this weekend review.  The big excitement this month was Barrett started Mother's Day Out.  It was rough for a few weeks but now he goes and loves it.  I'm thankful for his sweet teachers.  This has been so good for both of us.

September

 

This was a fun month.  My first post was a catch-up post from the things I'd missed.  We had a fun play date at Froggy's.  I finally made it to Tuscaloosa for the Florida game.  We started a new tailgate tradition at my cousin's house and it was a lot of fun.  We ended the month with an over night date in Atlanta to see Garth Brooks. We had the best time!

October

 

I had been looking forward to October for months.  We had several fun things planned and I couldn't wait.  We headed back to our alma mater to take in a high school football game.  I loved it so much.  Patrick tolerated it.  The most exciting event of October was my fun girls getaway.  We had the best time in Mexico celebrating the "year of 30".  We went snorkeling and kite swinging.  Before we knew it, it was time to head home to our babies.  I went to Barrett's first school party and we squeezed in a fun trip to the pumpkin patch.  We continued our Halloween tradition and it was so much fun.

November

 

I started the month recapping my October goals and writing some goals for November. I didn't blog much this month probably because I feel like we were always busy.  We watched a lot of football, both at home, with friends and in person.  I went to Tuscaloosa three times this month.  It was fun and exhausting.  I took Barrett to Homecoming.  It's a tradition I hope I can continue.  We won the Iron Bowl, celebrated Thanksgiving and played a family game of kick ball.

December

 

This month has been a whirlwind.  I feel like we were on the go non-stop.  We kicked off the month at the Gardendale Christmas Parade, we went to Christmas at the Falls and we took Barrett to see Santa.   We changed things up and had a little playdate for Barrett's birthday.  I shared our Christmas card with you, (which is one of my favorite parts of Christmas).  I posted an update for Barrett's 2nd birthday.  Finally we celebrated Christmas Eve and Christmas Day!

So long 2014, it's been fun!  Bring it 2015 can't wait to see what's in store!

Last week of 2014

We've had a great week this week.  We have been kind of lazy. Barrett and I have worked but we've been slow to get there and left early.  We've eaten left overs and watched football.  It's been nice.

I tried to get a picture of Barrett with his stocking from the hospital.  This is the best I could get.

Friday we went to the park for a little while after running errands.  I'm glad we did because it was the last pretty day we've had.  Barrett has grown and changed so much.  He used to be so shy and just stick right to my side.  Now I can barely get him out of the car before he takes off running.  It really makes me happy.  I can't wait to see how he likes the splash pad this summer.

 

Saturday night we went over to Jeremy and Jessica's house so Jackson and Barrett could play.  I love watching them together.   They pulled each other around in that little wagon all night. 

  We've watched Christmas movies and football a lot.  I'm one of those people that hangs on to Christmas.  I just don't want it to be over!

 

I went to the most fun girls night Monday night.  It was kind of last minute Lindsey was in town so we got the Mexico group back together (plus a few more).  We grabbed dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings and they headed to Jessica's salon 98Degrees for spray tans.  It was so much fun doing it all together.  She's starting to offer these little parties at the salon and I just think its the best idea. 

The peer pressure got to me and I went a little darker than I did last time but after my shower I'm glad I did.  We have had a running group text laughing at ourselves.  It was a few of the girls first time to spray tan but I think they are fans now.  If you're local call Jessica to set up your girls night.  It was seriously so much fun.

This was our after.

I sent this selfie to everyone Tuesday morning to show that I didn't have to wear any makeup, just lipstick and mascara.  I didn't notice Barrett in the background photo bombing me until after I took it.  I thought his little smile was so cute.

Barrett woke up at 4:00am one morning.  He went back to sleep for a bit in our bed (which we never let him do) and by 11:00 he was out.  I'm not sure why he woke up but hopefully he gets back on schedule soon.

That is pretty much all we've been up to this week.  We're excited to kick-off the new year tonight.  2014 was a fun year.  We did a lot of fun, exciting things.  I'm looking forward to 2015. 

Christmas Day

Christmas morning we woke up around 8:00 to see what Santa brought.  Barrett doesn't understand Santa yet but he was very excited to see new toys in the living room.  We are still learning how to handle our Christmas baby's birthday.  I want it to be special but still Christmas.  It isn't to bad now but I know when we have other kids it might become more tricky.

Some one must have been a good boy this year. 

Ally must have been good too. 

I love this picture of Barrett and Patrick playing on his new tablet.  So sweet.

He loved all the cars.

Our 7th picture in front of the tree.  I love this so much.  Barrett's bed head makes the picture. 

After we opened a few gifts we got ready to head to my parents house for brunch. 

Barrett enjoyed his meal by the tree.

Ally really wanted a bite.

My sister and Clay had to get a picture with Barrett and Ally since they matched.  Barrett looks thrilled. Ally looks equally thrilled.  I just love this picture. 

Our little family.

One of my favorite gifts was this cookbook that my parents put together for us.  It has recipes and pictures and they wrote little things about some of them.  It was really special and I love it. I managed to avoid my Christmas day ugly cry this year.  John and Hope got Barrett the movie "The Land Before Time".  We watched it a lot as kids.  It surprises me that John remembers these little things from our childhood.  My eyes immediately filled with tears when I opened it. I had to quickly move on before I started crying.  I can't wait to sit down and watch it with Barrett.

I don't know who took this picture but I think it's funny.

After we opened Christmas presents. We had cupcakes and sang Happy Birthday right around the time Barrett was born.  

As you can see, he was thrilled.

I can't believe he's two.  After cupcakes he opened birthday presents.  Before long we had to start packing up so we could come home and let Barrett nap.  

While Barrett napped I enjoyed a movie and mimosa.  I also took this because I really liked my hair and outfit.  I love the blanket scarfs so much that I got this one to.  Its green and navy and I love it.  I thought it was festive. After naps we headed to the Horton's for dinner.   I only took two pictures. As usual.

We had a beautiful meal and nice evening celebrating with them.  I'm always sad when Christmas is over.  It's so much preparation and anticipation and it's over in a flash.  We'll leave our tree and decorations up a couple more weeks.  This year I had been in the worst mood all month it felt like.  I didn't want to shop, I snapped when people asked me what I wanted.  I threatened to stay home and not celebrate with anyone.  I complained about buying gifts for people.  I was just overall a rotten person.  I hate that I spent so many days grumpy and worried about petty things.  I hope I never lose sight of the reason for the season.  Even at Mass Christmas Eve, Barrett was so bad and that put Patrick and me in a bad mood and I was just thinking "why did we even bother".  I read a church sign today that said "How would you feel if everyone celebrated your birthday without you." I like that.  Even when guests cant behave at your parties, you're still glad they made the effort to come.   I'm happy to say that I snapped out of my funk eventually.  I really enjoyed spending the time with family and friends.  I hope you all had a wonderful day too.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve we went to my Grandmother's house for lunch.  It was delicious.

We enjoyed hanging out with everyone before it was time to open presents.  My Aunt made Porter the best blanket.  It was made from pieces of my Granddaddy's clothes.  My brother was so close to my granddaddy and Porter never got to meet him.  Granddaddy would have been thrilled to death with all of our kids but I think he and Porter would have been best buds.  Terri wrote a really sweet letter about Granddaddy for Porter to have too.  I tried to read it but couldn't get past the first paragraph.  It was such a sweet and thoughtful gift.  I know it will be cherished.

I didn't get very many pictures.  I was busy keeping Barrett from touching everything.

After we left Grandmother's we headed home to get ready for church.  We planned to go look at Christmas lights after Mass but instead went to my parents house.  The Kreiders came over for a night cap.  I love this little tradition.  It had been a few years since they'd come by so we enjoyed that time with them. 

My brother's kids in front of the tree. I had the wrong lens on the camera so it looks weird. 

Love my little family.

Barrett enjoying a night cap as well.  (It was empty)

Someone said they were going to take it away.

We left there and headed home to get ready for Santa.  I love that Santa comes to our house now.  I can't decide if he'll leave Barrett a birthday gift wrapped in birthday paper every year or not. 

We decided to exchange our gifts Christmas Eve night this year.  I loved doing it that way.  I think that will be our tradition from now on.  Patrick did so good this year.  I got a kindle and a clairasonic.  I love them both,  I also got some new running shoes that I plan to put to good use. 

I got him a new fleece jacket and some router bit? that he's been wanting.  He's so hard to buy for but I think he was happy.  Christmas Eve is my favorite day.  I love the anticipation and that you're not let down when it's over.  When you go to bed Christmas Eve you still have Christmas Day to look forward to.

My boy is 2!

Well, I have a two year old.
It seems like yesterday I was sitting in the hospital bawling my eyes out because I was so overwhelmed by the love I had for him.  I still get emotional when I talk about those first few days with him.
We've been to visit a few new babies this month and all those feelings and emotion just come flooding back to me when I see people I love experience the joy of a new blessing.  But back to Barrett.  He is definitely showing his age these days... He's been pushing and not sharing.  We're also experiencing a sleep regression that might send me to the looney bin.  I am loving this age though.  I love asking him a question and hearing a reply.  Even if it is just one word.  We have seen so much progress in his speech it is amazing.  I feel like he learns a new word everyday.

• You are ________tall. (We haven't had your check up yet.)
• You weigh right at 30lbs.
• You wear mostly 2t clothes.  We've thrown in some 18m and 3t as well.
• Size 6 shoe and size 5 diaper.

• You eat three meals a day with a few snacks thrown in.  You love chicken, bananas, oranges, grapes, yogurt, cookies, goldfish, candy.  You definitely have the toddler diet down.
• Until last week we were sleeping 12 hours at night and taking one 2-3 hour nap each day.  This week has been a different story.  You're still sleeping ok at night once you fall asleep but nap time has been a nightmare.  Hopefully this is a stage that will be over soon.
• You have dropped the paci.  You chewed the ends off of all of them and we haven't given you any more.  You still like to have it when you're going to sleep but you don't take it out of the crib. (now that I think about it, I guess this could be while you aren't sleeping well.)  You still love your little bear and want it for comfort.  

• You love cars,  You've always loved anything that rolled but you've discovered cars and you have at least one with you at all times.
• You've gotten a lot more independent.  You'll play by yourself at the park and at home.
• You love Ally and have to tell her bye every morning when we leave.
• I left you for four nights this Fall and you did great with your Daddy.  

• You have probably 20 words you use daily.  I love hearing your little voice.
• You're doing great in Early Intervention.  
• You're also doing great at school.  I'm so glad we decided to send you.  
• You don't love being confined at work but you still do well though.  In fact Grampy Steven says he'll be sad when you have to go to school everyday. I will be too)
• You are terrified of elevators.

I can't believe you are two years old.  You have been such a joy to us.  Even though the last couple of weeks have been trying, it's only because I don't want to screw up.  I want to do everything right.  I've afraid if I discipline you to much or not enough you're going to not feel loved or like you can get away with anything.  I just don't want to mess up.  I have know idea what I'm doing and I'm afraid you're going to suffer because of it.   I know that this too shall pass and we'll be back to our selves soon enough.  You have the sweetest spirit and I don't ever want to crush it.  I love you so much Barrett.  I hope you always know that.
Happy Birthday!  I love you more than words can say.