Merry Christmas 2012

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,

    and the government will be on his shoulders.

And he will be called

    Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

-Isaiah 9:6

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!  May the joy of Christ fill your hearts this season.

Our year began with sad news that our baby had no heart beat.  We were to wait a few days to see if the embryo passed before returning to the OB.  Much to our surprise, when I returned to the OB they detected a heartbeat and said the original ultrasound was too early.  We were very excited and a little nervous.  We were also able to take Bennett to Disney World for the first time.  To say he LOVED it is an under statement.  We had a special visit with my best friend Hannah and her family.  We had not seen them in 2 years, so it was a weekend filled with conversation, fun, laughter, and a few tears.

February came and Bennett was finally healthy for the first time in 2.5 months.  He began sleeping much better at night and occasionally napping without a fight.

In March we celebrated B's 2nd birthday and were excited to have my sister's family here for a week as well as my friend Amanda's family here for a week.  March Madness was in full effect and UK defeated Louisville in the Final Four.

In April we could finally say we were the National Champions again as UK won their 8th title.  We also found out this month that we were having a baby girl and that she appeared healthy on the ultrasound.

May came and the weather was nice, so we began more frequent trips to the beach and were glad to spend some time with the Boney's at their beach house on LongBoat Key.

June brought vacation!!!  We went to Hilton Head for the third year in a row.  This year the Collier's  and Loewen's joined us for the first part of the week.  It was nice to spend time with some of our closest friends from Kentucky.  

In July, Bennett and I took a road trip to Nashville to visit my family.  Sam joined us later in the week and we were able to celebrate Independence Day with them.  Bennett began swim lessons which he loved and successfully taught him survival swimming.

August was the month we welcomed our healthy baby girl into the world.  The cool thing is my sister welcomed a healthy baby boy the day before Zoe was born.

September was a blur as we adjusted to a new baby and a toddler who wasn't so thrilled about it.  Thankfully, my mother-in-law babysat Bennett every Tuesday and many weeks he asked to spend the night.  There were and have been many moments when I thanked God for their care and love for him.

October was much of the same.  Zoe and Sam were doing well, but my physical body and Bennett's behavior had seen better days.  We went trick or treating with the Boney's.  Bennett was Larry Boy from Veggie Tales.

November began with a sinus infection for Bennett....antibiotics to the rescue, and ended with thrush for me.  However, we received miraculous news that my mom's stage IV cancer was no longer visible on scans.  Praise the LORD!  We celebrated Thanksgiving with Sam's family and had a wonderful weekend.  We spent our first night away from home as a family of four and it was a success.

Now, its December and we are praying for a clean bill of health for our family safe travels, enjoyable time spent with family, and most of all that we stay focused on God's gift to the world, the birth of Christ