Births

The start of our year has been tumultuous at best. We have had two deaths and a birth, a visit to the doctor for Lilah, several health related issues with my employees, oh AND there's this little event for the preschool I put together every year coming up on Saturday night for about 250 people.  It's no wonder I could barely move my neck yesterday.  Stress much? 

The most stressful event by far though was that birth that I mentioned above.  Our "nephew" Parker was born on Monday, the 5th and I cannot adequately put into words how much of a hot mess I was waiting for his arrival.  I had no idea how severely births affected me until his. I mean I knew that I was always a wreck waiting to hear the results of a new born hearing screener for any baby born...I'm probably the only person who visits a new mom and immediately asks about the results of this screener.  However, I am clearly traumatized by my own experience with a difficult birth, more so than even I knew.

Mari went into labor Sunday night and I was texting back and forth with Bibber all evening.  Around midnight Mari started to push and just 10 minutes later I got a text that they were "taking a break."  PANIC.  I just knew something had to be wrong.  I started frantically texting Bibber and when I found out the baby's heart rate had dropped, I was ready to head to the hospital in my pajamas.  Crazy, right?  But apparently that's how deep the scars are.

As it turned out Parker was born around 2a.m. and is just fine.  He's beautiful.

 2015 will bring many births to our family and circle of friends.  Our best friends are due within the month and our we will find out the gender of our sweet niece or nephew "baby Sparky" next weekend.  He or she will make his or her arrival in June.  Another good friend is due in August.  I'm hoping to work on my birthing issues as this year unfolds.  I'm hoping, but I'm not hopeful!  We all have quirks, this is apparently one of mine ;) 

Christmas 2014

I came down with the flu the week before Christmas forcing Shawn to come home early from a business trip and me to fall into a funk of disappointment over all I was missing and worry over those I may have infected.  I cannot recall being so sick ever in my adult life.  I was wiped out beyond belief.  Some days I still don't feel like I'm all the way back to normal, but I would say by Christmas Eve I was mostly better.

My grumpiness over being sick clouded my memory of Christmas this year.  I didn't realize how beautiful the holiday really was until I looked back at the pictures and saw the sweet smiles on my kids' faces.

The Monday before Christmas I was determined to do something fun with the kids to mark the season.  I really didn't feel great, but I wasn't contagious, so we headed to the Christmas Lego display at the levee.  The kids really enjoyed it, Brian especially of course!  It is SO COOL to see all of those legos displayed in one place.  I could look for hours!

How Lilah spent much of the Lego show.

Christmas Eve brought the Christmas skit at St. Pats which I run (with some wonderful helpers!) each year.  This year I especially had to count on my helpers as I missed the first practice!  Brian wanted to read in the skit, but we had decided that since we had only a few older kiddos, we would have them do the narrating.  I didn't want him to be upset though and since he's come so far with his reading, I felt like he deserved it, so I did have him read an introduction.  He did SUCH a fantastic job and everyone in the church chuckled because he was so adorable.  LOVE!  He also got to play Joseph this year, which he was proud to do.  Miss Lilah was a red bird and was as cute as she could be.  The kids always enjoy being a part of this tradition.  After some pictures, we headed out to dinner with the family.  The kids enjoyed the views and the company at the restaurant and the food was excellent!  We were totally exhausted when we arrived home, but we made sure to put out cookies and milk for Santa, some carrots and apples for his reindeer and of course we sprinkled some reindeer food out front from Lilah's preschool.

Brian as Joseph.

The kids were super excited to see what Santa brought Christmas morning.  My favorite part was seeing Brian READ Santa's letter aloud!  It's ridiculous how excited I still am over his ability to read, I know, but I LOVE IT!  Lilah was incredibly overwhelmed by Christmas this year and asked to spend some time in the tub.  I love my little diva.  After Calgon took her away, we made our way over the Nana and Pappy's for more presents!  And later that evening we got to have Christmas dinner at Jon and Teri's.  This usually isn't the case, but since Mari got the flu, we had to skip our trip to Bibber's this year.  It worked out just fine and we were glad to get the extra time with my side of the family.

The doc is in!

We did manage to hit the Festival of Lights with Shawn's family the following Monday once everyone was feeling better.  The kids had a blast with their sweet cousins.

We rang in the new year with dinner out with my family and then watching Dolphin Tale 2 in the living room while munching on popcorn.  A perfect end to our year!

No New Year's pics, but a bonus pic instead.  Lilah has been learning how to make mom's cinnamon bread this year.  She will do just about anything for extra Nana time anyway, so this was a perfect way for them to be together!