Mississippi!

I promised my sister that once I got to Mississippi I would be much better about updating my blog. So far, I have not upheld that promise. Sorry, Katy! I am trying to make up for the last month of not blogging now.

I guess we would begin after Ezra's birth. Lucky for me, I got to go stay at my parents' house while I recovered and Jason "got" to finish packing up the house and then "got" to drive our car for three days to Oxford with no screaming children in the backseat! Liam, Ezra, and I all shared a bedroom for 3 weeks, which was kind of a pain in the behind and we didn't get much sleeping done. However, Liam managed to get Grandma and Grandpa wound very tightly around his little finger very quickly, which meant he got to eat cookies and candy whenever he wanted, rearrange all the cupboards in the kitchen, interrupt all of Grandpa's phone calls, and jump on Grandma's bed. Ezra got to be cuddled whenever he so much as made a peep and I got to relax and recover much more quickly than I would have had I been home on my own. We were so grateful for our fun time at their house and we were sad when it was time to leave, but we missed our Daddy WAY too much!

Liam watching baseball with Grandpa.

Liam liked to water the plants for Grandma while she sat on the porch with him.

Before Jason left, we blessed Ezra at the church with as many of our family as could come and with our beloved bishopric from Mission Hills ward. While the boys and I were still in Vegas, we got visits from my sister Katy AND my sister Maggie who wanted to snuggle Ezra before he moved across the country!

So many cute cousins with Grandma and Grandpa!

Ezra's blessing, with Gma and Gpa Bello and Gma and Gpa Elton.

Before we knew it, it was time to get on a plane to fly to Tennessee! Luckily, "Pa" (Grandma Elton) came with us! Boy did I need the help, with two babies, two carseats, a stroller, a suitcase, and two carry on bags!!! Liam did great on the airplane. Each time the plane took off, he wanted to pat pat on his lap and then raise his arms and "Blast Off!" (Little Einsteins rocket style). We barely had a 45 minute layover in Charlotte. We made it to our tiny airplane on time to board. It was the kind of plane where you had to walk outside to the plane and then go up the stairs. As I was checking the stroller outside, I turned around to see a line of people forming at the bottom of the stairs and my two year old climbing up the steep steps of the plane all by himself! It was a funny moment. Ezra also did great, but he got to be held all day long, so why wouldn't he do great?!

Liam insisted on sitting in the window seat on our second flight.

Liam fast asleep on our first flight.

Jason picked us up in Memphis and we were all so excited to see our Daddy!!! We ate at Corky's BBQ in Memphis and then drove an hour South to Oxford, MS,our new home! My mom stayed with us for the next 4 days and was a huge help to me as we got settled in our house. We unpacked boxes, washed clothes, found places for everything, hung curtains, and cooked food. It was a lot of work! That Saturday, my mom watched Ezra while Liam, Jason, and I went to our first Ole Miss football game. It was a lot of fun and a great introduction into Southern football culture.

It was a long walk to the game. Luckily, someone stopped and gave us a ride.

At his first ever football game!

My mom left me and I was so sad! Some girls in my new ward were getting together that night and invited me over, so I didn't feel so lonely. It was fun to make some friends so quickly! I spent the following days orienting myself to Oxford, discovering parks, the library, and finishing getting the house set up. I am finally feeling settled, and I am very happy to be here. I will try to be better about updating the blog so I can share our adventures with you in more detail. Here are some pictures to tide you over in the mean time.

We're always so happy when Daddy comes home! 

Liam is a good big brother.

Liam's first bike! In his pretty green front yard.

Ezra is getting so big and is learning to play with his big boy toys.

Ezra's Birth

As many of you know, I had an emergency C Section. However, not very many people know why, so I thought I would share Ezra's birth story.

I had my first contraction around 4:30 in the morning. I timed my contractions for an hour before waking Jason. J's first question was, "What do you need me to do?" to which I replied that he needed to wake up and get dressed while I called my mom. His second question was, "Can I go for a run?" To which I replied, "No honey, I need you to be here in case my water breaks." Seriously. If you want to have a hilarious conversation with someone, just wake J up from a deep sleep. Anyway, I then called my mom so she could come tend Liam while we headed to the hospital.

My mom arrived around 6:30a and we jumped in her car to drive to the hospital. By this time my contractions were about 3 minutes apart and very painful. When we arrived at the hospital, we had to go in the emergency room entrance and park very far away due to the early morning hours and an absurd amount of construction in the parking lot. I somehow managed to walk with Jason all the way from the car up to the third floor maternity ward. It was 7:00a which meant a shift change for the nurses which meant an unnecessary wait time for me. I overheard one nurse say to the other, "Yeah, that girl thinks she's in labor." She was lucky she wasn't close to me at the time because I would have punched her in the face. They FINALLY checked me at 7:30a and found I was at a six, fully effaced, with contractions only about a minute and a half apart.

This is when I started to lose track of time because my contractions became SO painful. With Liam, my contractions were painful, but not unbearable, and I received an epidural early enough where I really felt nothing. This time, I was FEELING it and I was screaming. I never scream. Ever. I was screaming. And begging for my epidural. Around this time, my sweet Sister-in-law Karalyn arrived. Karalyn is unable to have children of her own and has always wanted to see a live birth, so a few weeks earlier I had invited her to be there. Besides my mom, she was the only one who knew we were even at the hospital. So, she arrives and I am screaming. And they can't find the anesthesiologist. Seriously. He was MIA and I was about to murder everyone until he was found. Lucky for everyone, the anesthesiologist heard my screams from the hallway as he was on his way to a C Section (which would have left him indisposed for 40 minutes). He came in and gave me my epidural, no questions asked, didn't even have my bloodwork back to know if it was safe, wonderful, sweet sweet man. I am prepared to pay him the exuberant amount of money that I'm sure I owe him because my insurance sucks.

Immediately after I received my epidural, Dr. Juarez arrived. Now for a quick aside about how wonderful THIS man is. He has been my doctor for 3 years and we have gone to the same church for about two. I have been able to get to know him and his sweet wife and it has made me love him even more. He has the most wonderful bedside manner of any doctor on this earth. He is calming and reassuring even when he is breaking terrible news to you. I had had my weekly check up with him the Thursday before I went into labor with Ezra, and I asked him if he would be on call that weekend (he was not on call to deliver Liam). He thought for a moment, and said, "I'm not on call, but I don't know what I'm doing this weekend. Let me write you a note to give to the hospital letting them know they can call me." So, I had this wonderful note which astounded the labor and delivery nurses, but it got him there to be with me.

So, Dr. Juarez arrives after the epidural and he checks me. It was no surprise to me that I was fully dilated and effaced. He broke my water and said we could begin pushing. He then took a seat by my bedside and never left me. In my mind, Ezra would arrive within the hour. After two hours of pushing, it was clear this baby was not budging. Basically, with each push he would move down, but once the contraction ended he would go back up. Dr. J was not sure why it was happening (it could be a number of reasons). He then told me that he could try forceps or we could move ahead with a C section. I told him I trusted him with the forceps and we went ahead with that. All this time I have been losing a LOT of blood. More than normal. Also, right towards the end, Ezra's heart rate would start to drop and then go back up, so we needed to get him out quick.

Suddenly there were an extra 7 people in my room. I was introduced to someone who was a respiratory therapist "just in case", a NICU nurse "just in case", and a bunch of other scary "just in case" people. Then they brought out the forceps. Terrifying. If it were not Dr. J, I would never have agreed to them. On my next contraction, Dr. Juarez began working with the forceps, but lo and behold, baby Ezra was NOT coming out. Dr. Juarez put his arm around me and told me we would need to move ahead with a C section. I immediately began to cry. I was tired, I was scared, I didn't want a C section, but I knew it was the only way to get my baby here safe. Jason then asked Dr. Juarez if he would join him in giving me a priesthood blessing. Like I wasn't crying enough?! Without hesitation, Dr. Juarez agreed and he and Jason lay their hands on my head and gave me a blessing of comfort and health. It was truly amazing to me that Dr. Juarez not only stayed by my side throughout this whole process, but that he was willing to use his Priesthood to comfort me when I needed it most. Click here to learn more about the Priesthood.

It was then time to rush me into the OR. Again I was surrounded by a gazillion nurses I didn't recognize. They pushed my bed down a hallway into a very cold room, hauled me onto a table, stripped me down, pulled a curtain over my face, started explaining to me what was going to happen, and then... there was my favorite anesthesiologist again! Whose name is Dr. Kim, by the way. Dr. Kim starts explaining to me all the different types of drugs he's about to pump into me and that's when everything sort of gets hazy. I am very aware of where I am, I am shaking uncontrollably from all the meds, I've stopped crying, and all I want to do is go to sleep. Suddenly Jason is by my side talking to me and then even more suddenly, I hear a baby crying! All of the nurses start exclaiming, "He's perfect! So perfect!" ...and he was!

They held him up so I could see him, then cleaned him up, swaddled him, and brought him to me. I remember being so happy to see him, but I also think I started asking him why he had caused me so much trouble to get him here.

They then took him and Jason away and I promptly fell asleep. Yes. I was lying stark naked on an operating table with two men sewing my insides back into me, and I fell asleep. I do remember trying not to fall asleep, thinking how it was a strange place to fall asleep... but soon Dr. Juarez was waking me up and saying goodbye. The nurses then hauled me from the table back onto a bed, which promptly made me throw up. Bad idea. Apparently if you throw up or admit to being nauseous, they will not feed you for another 12 hours. They don't even care that all you've had to eat that day was a granola bar and some ice chips. They then wheeled me back into my room where I was greeted by a smiling/crying Karalyn and my sweet husband oohing and aahing over my baby. The nurse asked me if I wanted to hold him and my illogical, drugged up mind almost told her no because I wanted to go back to sleep. I did manage to tell her yes and I got to hold my sweet Ezra in my arms, feed him, and talk to him.

Most birth stories that are shared seem to be about everything going right. How a woman gracefully has her baby in a tub of warm water while being massaged by a doula or at home in her bed surrounded by everyone she loves. But boy am I glad I was at the hospital that day. I am grateful that Dr. Juarez spent over 4 hours by my side (which was the talk of the day around the nurses' lunch table apparently). I lost a lot of blood. My placenta tore. And, Ezra was facing "sunny side up" which is why he would not move down. It terrifies me to think what would have happened if I had been at home. I know many women who prefer this, so I am not bashing it in any way, just saying it's not for me. I would not recommend a C section, but I am grateful my baby came out so healthy and "perfect". Not everything always goes as we plan it, sometimes we have to adjust our plans to make everything turn out just as it is supposed to.

6 Weeks and Counting!

In six weeks and two days, my Sweet J will set out on the road with our dog, Abraham, and his good friend, Erik. It will take them about 3 days to drive all the way to Oxford where they will meet our moving truck at our new home in Mississippi! Liam, Baby, and I will stay here with my parents until baby is 4 weeks old, and then we will fly out to Memphis, TN where Sweet J will pick us up and take us to our new home in Oxford.

We are getting excited and anxious! We are mostly anxious about not knowing when our sweet new baby, Ezra, will arrive. It is hard to be organized and have a plan when such a big event could come any day!

Last month, for Father's Day, we took Liam to the circus. I made J and Liam matching bowties so they could dress up for the occasion. Liam loved it, but it was a lot for such a little guy to take in! And a long time to sit still!

Liam has also been taking a gymnastics class this summer and it is fun for him to be able to get all his wiggles out! Although he might like the fact that they give him a sticker after class better than the actual class, haha! He is growing and learning so much, it is fun to be around him.

Other than that, we have been packing, packing, packing, getting ready for baby, selling things we don't need to bring with us, and trying to stay cool amidst this horrifying heat! It is hard to explain to Liam why we can't go to the park when it is 117 degrees outside, but we have been watching lots of movies and even took him to see his first movie at the theaters: Monsters University! He was very well behaved and watched the whole thing. He's basically a Disney movie buff.

San Diego!!!

When Jason and I first started dating and then every year after we got married, we liked to go down to San Diego at least once a year. Ever since Liam has arrived, we have planned on going to San Diego at least three different times and EVERY time something has come up a day or two before the trip that has prevented us from going. So, we finally tentatively decided that when we sold our house we would take a little bit of time and money to go down to San Diego with Liam. We picked a date, tentatively booked a room, didn't buy tickets, and hardly told anyone we were going since we were afraid that once again we'd have to cancel our trip! So, the day came, we loaded up the car, loaded up Liam, and Jason went to get his wallet which he found and which we soon realized, was missing his credit card. But, fear not! It was still at the restaurant we ate at two nights previously, so after an hour delay we were finally on the road!

Not sure about all this sand...

Our first stop, after the hotel, was the beach! Liam was not thrilled about getting back in the car and was very skeptical of all that sand! However, once we took him out to the water, he was SO excited. This little boy loves water. Liam went out into the ocean over and over again and was shivering like a little leaf he was SO cold! But, he didn't want to leave! It was pretty cold and windy, so finally we bribed him with a warm bath and some pizza and headed out to dinner. Sleeping in a hotel with Liam proved to be difficult the first night and we got very little sleep. We took Liam to the buffet for breakfast and he picked out his own cereal, you know those cute little boxes of cereal? He was thrilled! However, he got impatient waiting for me, so he got down a bowl for himself, plopped down on the floor of the dining room and tried with no luck to pour the cereal into the bowl all by himself. It was pretty cute.

Liam pointing to the Gorilla, who made sure to show me his "good" side.

Then it was off to our next adventure, The San Diego Zoo! It was mine and Liam's first time at this zoo and Holy Cow that is a lot of walking!! Especially when you are six months pregnant and running on very little sleep. If you've ever met my son, though, you know about his love of ALL animals. Seeing his face light up when he saw a REAL LIVE monkey for the first time made the whole trip worth it! He got pretty sad when we wouldn't let him hold any of the animals. He would coo and talk to them and reach out his two little hands, palm up in a very inviting manner for them to be cuddled, but we decided it probably wouldn't be a good idea. Especially with the giant gorilla.

Liam was just as thrilled about the statues as he was about the actual animals.

After about two hours, we left to take a drive so Liam could catch some zzz's in the car. We got some food and then went to the hotel in hopes he would take a rest there (which he did not). Then we headed back to the zoo to take in the last of the important animals, like the giraffes and the panda bears! When we got to the panda bears, there was a big crowd standing around watching the Mama and baby panda chow down on some bamboo. It was really quiet as everyone seemed to be pretty awestruck when all of a sudden, Liam very loudly exclaims, "AWWWWWWWW!" ...and reaches out his hands to cuddle them. Such a sweet boy! So, we went and bought him a little stuffed Panda at the gift shop which he was able to cuddle and rock in his arms to his hearts content. We then went back to the hotel where we got a good night's sleep. Well, Liam and I got a good night's sleep, but unfortunately my pregnant snoring kept Jason up.

Note, the elephants in the background, but Liam just really wanted to go play with the elephant statue some more!

The next morning I took Liam to the hotel pool even though it was still freezing cold, and then we headed back home. The ride home was a lot harder for Liam because my Nook had run out of batteries and so he could not play any of his cool apps and of course toys and books would not cut it! However, we made it home safe and sound and now we have some wonderful new memories of San Diego.

Changes: Baby #2, PhD's, and Mississippi

Oh, how many times have I told someone that I think I am a country girl trapped in the Southwest? However many times I said this, though, I never truly believed I would actually ever LIVE down South. I thought maybe one day I would be able to walk the streets of Memphis, attend a country music festival, stuff myself at a craw fish boil, and maybe stand on a beach with my toes in the Atlantic ocean. But, LIVING in the South never really crossed my mind as a reality. Until a few weeks ago when Jason got that life changing email inviting him to attend the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) for four years in order to earn his PhD in Business Management. Previous to that email, my mind had been in New Mexico, Washington, and maybe even in Indiana. I was floored and knew my world is about to get rocked.

Liam and the soon to be Dr. Owen

Even before we received confirmation that we would be moving across the country for four years, we were delighted to learn that we would be having a second child! We got this news in December and soon after went in for an ultrasound to see how far along I was. The ultrasound revealed... nothing, and we were sent home with the news that we should expect a miscarriage in the next couple weeks (Christmastime, of course.) After much crying and worrying, no miscarriage ever occurred and I found myself back in the doctor's office looking at a new ultrasound with a small white bean on it. When the heartbeat was found and sounded over the speakers I could not believe it. I have NEVER been so happy to hear a heartbeat! On March 21 we found out we're having another little boy whose name is still to be determined.

Can not wait to have another cute little boy around to brighten my day!

The amazing part of all of this is that it will ALL be happening in August. All of it. Baby is due August 16th. Jason needs to begin his drive across the country August 16th. We're in the process of selling our house to investors who will let us rent the house from them until, you guessed it, August.

How am I feeling about all of this? Depends on the day. Excited, apprehensive, nervous, happy, sad, scared, you name it! Frankly, I just wish it were October already and my baby was here and we were all there and on with our lives. It will be a grand adventure for us, that is for certain!

Easter egg hunting with Mama

January 2013

January was a fun month for us. Everyone finally became healthy again and the weather became warmer again!

Liam enjoying apples dipped in peanut butter and Nutella! Yum!

Jason continues to write essays, fill out applications, and stress about getting into a PhD program. He has also started a Calculus II class to help prepare him better for a PhD program and because he just doesn't have enough to worry about already.

I turned 25 which seems to be a good age to me. I mean, I don't feel much younger or older than 25, so I think I will just stay 25 from now on! My mom babysat for us on my birthday and Jason took me out for dinner to Geisha, my favorite hibachi restaurant. We then went home and watched the Rebels beat San Diego State at San Diego State. Thanks for the awesome birthday surprise, Rebels! The following week my friends, Aubrey and Katie took me out to get a Pizzookie (pizza cookie) from BJ's and it was delicious!

Liam practicing his ball skills for his future stint on the Runnin' Rebels team.

Liam has been associating things this month. For example, when he has a sippy cup of water, he periodically walks over to our water dispenser, pretends to fill up his cup, and then resumes drinking. He also likes to throw TRASH away now which is much better than throwing away our favorite toys. He steals tissues in order to "wipe" his nose. He figured out how to open doors. He brings me his shoes and jacket when he wants to go play outside and he can show me where his nose, eyes, ears, and belly button are! Basically he's the smartest one year old I know.

 

My little adventurer playing in the dirt.

We went as a family to see Disney on Ice because Jason got free tickets and it was at the Thomas and Mack Center which is where we go to watch basketball games. As we were walking up, Liam was getting excited and telling us, "Ball!" But, when we got inside and instead of a basketball court, there was an ice rink and giant castle, he kept asking, "Ball, go?... Ball, go?" He was super confused, but I think it was somewhat entertaining for him as well.

Super confused at Disney on Ice.

The Year 2012 in Review

 

I say this every year, I know, but I really would like to get better at updating this blog. So, I'm going back through 2012 and it was pretty uneventful, other than the fact that Liam grew from a little baby into a walking/talking cutie pants. I will do my best at covering the big events from 2012.

The year started off with a very important event, the birth of Liam's cousin, Hannah Pauline Rich. This is significant because just a few weeks later, Liam and I would begin babysitting her Monday through Friday from 7a-3p while my sister taught school.


In February, I came to my breaking point with Liam not sleeping through the night. He was still waking up every 2-3 hours and I couldn't handle not sleeping anymore. I went to the doctor basically in tears and she recommend the book, Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Dr. Weissbluth. This book completely changed my mind about letting my baby "cry it out" and even gave tips on how to ease into it. After about a week to ten days, Liam was only waking up ONCE a night and I felt like a new woman! Two months after that, when I weaned him, he began to sleep the whole night. 12 HOURS. One of the things the book teaches is that if you put a baby to bed earlier, they will sleep later. I used to put Liam to bed around 8, but once I started putting him to bed closer to 6 he slept 12 hours through the night. I could seriously go ON about how incredible this book is, but you should probably just go read it.

We started babysitting Hannah in March which kept me nice and busy with two babies on my hands. Liam was SUPER jealous of Hannah right away, but after awhile the three of us settled into a good routine.

In April, Jason got put on a permanent contract with UNLV for his job, which meant we could breathe a sigh of relief about his job security for the next few years. Woohoo! Liam also started standing up, but wasn't interested in crawling, walking, or being mobile in any other way. He was pretty content with an array of toys around him and a Baby Einstein video on the TV.


When the summer began, I had the opportunity to go to Girls Camp with my church again as the Camp Director. We stayed at a cabin in Duck Creek, sang songs, learned about God, played games, made crafts, acted silly, and had a great time. I missed my baby boy something fierce, though, and was glad he was in good hands being taken care of by his Daddy and my sister (Hannah's mom). 



Liam began to scoot in the summer. I call it his "monkey scoot" because he literally looked like a little monkey using his arms and legs to scoot along on his butt. He spent most of the summer absolutely filthy because of this. He also loved to go swimming in the neighborhood pool and in his baby pool in the backyard. 

In July, we finally got our backyard landscaped with grass, trees, honeysuckle, and flowers. What a difference it made! Liam loves playing in the backyard, now, and Jason and I spent a few summer evenings out there sipping lemonade and talking about our day.

Also in July we went to the Elton Family Reunion at Zion Ponderosa Resort near Zion National Park in Utah. We camped, swam, hiked, cooked, ate, talked, laughed, played, read, and had an awesome time with our family. It also rained a lot while we were there, so we were a bit damp a lot of the time. Luckily our tent stayed warm and dry. Liam was not used to sleeping in a portable crib or having Mama and Daddy in the same space as him while he slept. So, around 2 in the morning each morning he would wake up, see us lying there and insist on curling up in our sleeping bags with us. He would then lay there in between us, talk and talk and talk and talk and then LAUGH and talk and talk and talk some more. It was possibly the cutest thing I have ever experienced, albeit very tiring. He would eventually fall asleep and somehow simultaneously kick me out of my sleeping bag in the process. Needless to say, we have not been camping or on any other kind of trip since. 

After the reunion, ANOTHER cousin was born, Charlie McGregor Elton and we were so excited! It was also time to celebrate Liam's first birthday! On his actual birthday, Jason took the day off work and we took a day trip to the nearby Spring Mountain Ranch. It was about 20 degrees cooler and we picknicked, played in the grass, and took the tour of the Ranch House. About ten minutes away is Bonnie Springs, so we took Liam to the petting zoo there. While he seemed to enjoy it, it was unbearably hot and we didn't last long. We then took our birthday boy home to open his presents. It was a fun family day.

That Saturday I threw a birthday party for Liam so that all the family and friends that wanted to celebrate with us, could. We rented out our neighborhood clubhouse so that our house would not be destroyed. I made some super cute monkey cupcakes, decorated with monkey decorations, and provided a banana split "bar" for the kids. I blew up balloons which Liam and the other kids loved playing with and then he opened all of the presents that were so generously given to him. It was a fun party for a sweet little boy. 

In August, Jason started getting some really bad headaches that didn't seem to go away, so we decided to forego our yearly trip to San Diego and instead get an MRI done. It was then revealed that Jason had a "brain tumor" Jason went to the doctor alone and came back with this diagnosis. (I should have gone with him.) After some swift googling, the "tumor" which appeared on his Pituitary gland, didn't seem to be somethng we should worry about. While I was googling, Jason was telling his entire family and some close friends that he had a brain tumor. I had not told anyone as we had a follow up appointment with Jason's ENT in a week, and I wanted to wait until we had further answers. So, unfortunately, the information spread like wildfire, and soon we had too many people concerned about this "tumor" and I was frustrated that Jason had told so many people and Jason regretted saying anything. Long story short, we go to the follow up appointment (together this time) and it turns out it is a cyst, not cancerous, and is probably not an issue. By this time Jason's headaches were long gone and we had to go back and do damage control. Jason will now have bloodwork done to be certain there is no concern, but we are pretty sure there is nothing to be concerned about.

In September, we started babysitting Hannah again and they had to get used to each other all over again. Hannah was crawling by this time and insisted on following her big boy cousin EVERYWHERE which Liam found exasperating. However, they have since gotten used to each other and sometimes even play together! 

In October, we did all the normal Halloween activities. We carved a pumpkin, which Liam was too grumpy to care much about. Liam had a super cute Batman costume, which were actually jammies from Walmart and a homemade cape by Yours Truly. He looked uber cute in it! We took him to our church's Trunk or Treat where he ate copious amounts of candy corn and stayed up way too late. On Halloween, we took him Trick or Treating to about 5 houses, which he was fascinated by. He wanted to hold all of the candy in his hands and not put it in the bag! He got to eat a piece of candy before bed and then Jason and I stayed up to watch Clue.

Liam (on left) and his friend, Will

In November, Jason's sister Karalyn was able to adopt her first child! Italia has been with our family since birth, but she officially became Liam's cousin and it was a very joyous day for everyone! Italia and Liam are close in age, so it is fun for them to now be able to grow up together.

This year we bought four season tickets to the UNLV Rebel basketball games. Two for us, one for my dad, and one for Jason's brother. It has been a blast going to the games and Liam loves going to watch "Ball!" It is also fun to be able to see my dad so much.

My sister, Maggie, and her family came to stay with us for Thanksgiving weekend. The whole family was here (aside from my brother, Pete's family, who camps for Thanksgiving each year). We were all spread out at three different houses so we split up the cousins based on age/friendship rather than who they belonged to. The cousins loved it and we were able to get our cooking done without whining about wanting to be with "such and such" cousin. We then convened at a church for the whole dinner. I think the head count was around 30. We held dinner in the gym where Liam found a basketball and would not THINK of doing anything but play ball (and not eat one thing). After dinner, several games of basketball were played and the cousins put on a play for us. We ended the night by going to Jason's mom's house for some (more) dessert and more family time. 

December was, unfortunately, a month of sickness for our family. It began with me getting the Stomach Flu which was TORTURE for me to be away from my sweet little boy for a day, but I didn't want to get him sick. Jason began studying for the GMAT which we decided he should take this year instead of next year. We managed to keep him somewhat healthy until after the test, which was a great blessing, except he did have a cold. After the test, Jason then got the stomach flu. On Christmas Eve, poor little Liam got the stomach flu! On Christmas day, we had Jason's mom and stepdad and his brother, Jared over for breakfast and we all opened presents together. This turned out to be pretty overwhelming for Liam, who was pretty over it after just a couple gifts. Later we went over to Jason's mom's for dinner and then spent the rest of the evening at home. 

Liam and Hannah both started walking towards the end of the year and it is so cute to watch them waddle around my house together. Jason has been applying for PHd programs for this coming Fall and I have simply been trying to keep my sanity (ha!). We are grateful for all the new friendships we have forged this year and for all the friends who have been there for us through it all! We hope you all have a wonderful new year!