A year of blessings

At our church, the first Sunday night in December is our "testimony tree" service.

Each person who wants to share can get up, give a testimony about what the year has been for them or what God has done in their life, and then place an ornament on the tree that represented their year.

My ornament this year was a band-aid.

I didn't actually place a band-aid ornament on the tree, but had I been able to find one, I would have.

2010 was a real year of healing for me. With Lola's birth came great healing, and the Lord truly helped me conquer several fears I had throughout and even after pregnancy and her delivery. There were many other difficult circumstances this year for me as well, but each step that seemed to go wrong, God was right there to show me that, no matter how troubling the waters were that I might be wading through, He was going to use my circumstances in a way to show me that He truly is the Ultimate Healer.

2010 was a great year, full of many blessings.

In January, I was 40 weeks pregnant, and looked like this....

....and, just two days later, we welcomed sweet Lola into our family!

A mere week later, I shared my 31st birthday with this special boy--his third!!

In February, being the mom of three small boys and a newborn gave me the opportunity to have a few small panic attacks over things like dirty fingers (or worse, tongues!!) getting into Lola's little mouth.

Lola showed us that she was a really great sleeper....

(and a super CUTE one, at that!!)

In March, we closed a chapter on Ethan's hearing loss and speech issues.  After almost a year of intensive speech therapy, it was GREAT to hear him talk in full sentences and learn to memorize verses like his brothers did at his age!

 Shane finished the boys' bedroom remodel--whew! What a project!

The boys helped, of course, by painting their closet for us!

In their undies, as usual.

In April, Lola turned three months old, and we celebrated our first Easter together as a family of six!

 In May, I celebrated my first Mother's Day as a Mommy of four.

I'm so blessed to have four amazing children and a great mother of my own.
What a wonderful gift from God!

I went to my first Kindergarten Mother's Day Tea with Colin at his school,

 

watched him graduate from K-5,

 and attended my first Mother/Daughter banquet as the mother of a daughter! 

It was a pretty special day.

 

I also started getting into couponing--and by June, I was pretty good at it!!

We let the boys get their much desired mohawks....

And celebrated Father's Day with the most amazing man I know!!

July brought lots and lots of T-ball games! It was a great lesson in beginning the sports/church/activities/family/balance struggle we all face in life, but a great family activity for all of us!

 

August was a very full and exciting month for us.  Our garden was mass producing, and I was in the kitchen most days, baking zucchini bread, preserving peaches,  making spaghetti sauce, and canning up a storm!

Lola was getting big enough to 'play' with the boys....

We enjoyed a much-too-quick visit from my Dad, stepmom, and sister...

...and we had the opportunity to take a trip to Missouri to visit some of Shane's family down there.  

 What a wonderful month!

In September, we celebrated Shane's birthday on Labor Day.  The day was going great, until we ended up in the emergency room with a pretty seriously injured Ethan! Sweet little guy was a trooper....

...but ended up with a broken leg and a hip-to-toe cast. Eeeek!

Lola turned eight months old,

and the big boys started our favorite sport--soccer!!

October was a big month!

We celebrated Cameron's fifth birthday!

 We were told poor Ethan needed another new cast (his third!),

and that it would need to be on for four more weeks.

I got my *amazing* annual tree pictures, including the very first one of miss Lola!

And, we spent lots and lots of time as a family at the soccer fields!

At the tail end of the month, Ethan finally got his cast off and took
a luxurious, much missed, very coveted and very looooong BATH!

 We celebrated Colin's seventh birthday with lots of Bears gear,

we celebrated a Storm soccer championship,

and had a fun time trick or treating for Halloween!

Whew! That month was a crazy one!

November brought Shane and my 10th wedding anniversary,

and Thanksgiving! 

 It was a great time of reflection for the gifts of my four little blessings, my husband,

my family, and so many other things that the Father has blessed me with!

In December, Lola started making this face,

we visited with Mrs. Clause at the library,

and had a wonderful first Christmas together (despite being sick!)

I am so grateful to God for the wonderful year He gave us, the healing He provided me, and I am greatly looking forward to what 2011 will bring our family!

Wordless Wednesday--last belly picture!

{39 weeks, 5 days!!}

Monday Musings

I.....

~am tired. That's not unusual nowadays, is it?

~spent the entire day today putting away my indoor Christmas decorations. I really, truly am so excited that it got done. This task was weighing terribly on me (I have a LOT of Christmas stuff, including three trees) and I had resigned myself to the fact that it probably wasn't going to get done by the time Peanut got here. (And, it probably wouldn't have, had it not been for Shane, once again coming to my rescue....) There is just too much else going on, too much we are trying to do! I figured it would be March, at the earliest *grin* that I would have the energy for such a task again--but it's now all behind me. *yeeeeeee-aaaaaaaaay*

~do not know what I would do without my husband. I mean, seriously....he is in the bathroom right now, scrubbing my shower down, so that I won't have to. The guy is unbelievable. He worked himself silly today, he helps me at every turn, and he is still in there now, serving so that I can rest. I can not say enough about how thankful I am for him. I LOVE YOU, BABE--in all CAPS.

~am really excited to report that the boys' room is coming right along! The walls are all finished now....

.....sanding is done....YIKES!! What a messy job....

....and the ceiling is already primed and painted! We have big, BIG plans for the paint on the walls. I'll give you a hint in the form of the picture below, but you'll have to stay tuned and check out the finished product! Can you take a guess as to what we're going to do?

~am ready for some reading and some relaxing on the couch with my buddy, the heating pad. Oh, and Shane too, of course.

~go to the doctor again tomorrow--38 week checkup. I'll make sure to update if there is any new news on Peanut!

~am just amazed tonight, as I sit thinking about this little girl inside of me. She is moving, kicking, rolling all around....and I want to just soak up as much of it as I can in these next few days. The pains of pregnancy can be so hard, and, especially at the very end like this, so discouraging--but I am working so hard not to focus on that. It is amazing to me how there is a teeny tiny little person inside of me, getting ready in just the perfect time to come and meet us. The miracle of life is truly astounding, is it not? {We're ready for you Peanut....it won't be long now and we're so excited to have you join our family!}

(38 weeks, 3 days!)

Good {Monday} night everyone!!