Annual Recap - 2015

This year  I wrote 129 posts for the blog - definitely a new record!  You know what I didn't do this year (which I swore I would do)?  Print the blog so that we don't lose all these special memories.  For us, the blog has become less about keeping our families up-to-date (although I still hope our families and friends enjoy it!), but now the way for our little nuclear family to record the happenings of our every day lives.  I think it's fun to go back and read what we did just 6 months ago, so I can hardly imagine how excited we'll be at 75 (God-willing) reading about our adventures and looking at our pictures from this busy and special time in our lives.

This year - 2015 - was another great one!  Even if 364 days of it had been crappy, that one day in September would have made it one of our best years yet.  (And, fortunately, there really were very few crappy days. We have nothing to complain about at all.)  Here commences our year end review…

January
The first day of the new year started with a positive pregnancy test (although no one would know this for a while.)  What an exciting beginning to 2015!  JB continued to keep us so busy, and loved his days with Nanny Y, playdates with friends, music class, and adventures outside.

New Year's Day 2015

February
Lots of love shared throughout the month of February!  First, a couples' shower for James' brother and his fiancé to celebrate their upcoming wedding.  Second, we had a lot of family time together as we survived the cold weather and spent a lot of times indoors. Lastly, on Valentine's Day, we let the grandparents in on a little secret!

March
Lots of activities took place in March - dinners with friends, trips to the theater (Wicked!), visits from the Kerr family, experiencing the Aquarium, trips to urgent care.  Never a dull moment!  On my birthday we surprised our family (plus made it Facebook official) with the news that Baby #2 was on her way (and was a girl!!)

April
As the weather grew warmer, JB started his first swimming lessons and more and more time was spent outside at the park and at festivals  When more Kerr visitors arrived, we took them up Kennesaw Mountain to enjoy the beautiful Spring weather!

May
The month of May marked a turning point from "normal" busy to "crazy" busy.  Mostly because we made the decision to sell our house, resulting in rapid packing, staging, showing, cleaning, etc.  All this was going on while both James and I traveled for work (he to DC, me to NY and Costa Rica), and traveled away from the house on the weekend for showings and open houses.  But all the craziness aside, the absolute highlight of the month: we gained a sister!!  Chris and Nicole said "I Do" in a beautiful wedding that we were thrilled to be a part of.

The Newest Sassers

June
Emotions ran high in June as we said goodbye to our house, said goodbye to our sweet nanny, moved our family to a rental home up the street, and moved JB into a Montessori school down the street.  He had a fairly rough transition that I would love to just forget (especially since he's so happy now!), and he (then we) got sick nearly every week.  Oh, and I was nearly 7 months pregnant so already a little weepy to begin with.  Fortunately the Kerr family lifted our spirits down in Port Aransas, where we enjoyed a great week with them on the beach!

July
Things seemed to settle down a bit in July as we enjoyed time with our little family, and then time with our extended Sasser family and non-local friends.  Lots of visitors to Atlanta that month!!  Things started to get real with Baby Girl as we saw her in 3D, finally started her nursery in our new house, and "sprinkled" her with lots of pink gifts.

August
I will always remember August as a time of waiting.  I was convinced that our little gal would arrive in August, although I desperately wanted her to wait until September (for no real good reason, it seems silly for me to write that now!)  We focused our energy on little JB, making sure that he got in some good fun before little sister arrived.  Museums, parks, touch-a-truck - non-stop action!!  It tired out this very pregnant Mama, so I was happy to begin my maternity leave in mid-August as I waited.  I also tried to turn my focus inward with some mindfulness training (which was a wonderful experience, although I admit I don't practice it like I should!)

Last Picture as a Family of Three!

September
The Sassers love them some September milestones - there is James' birthday (17th), our wedding anniversary (26th), JB's birthday (29th) and now another very important date!  Our second child, Maryn Elizabeth, made her grand entrance on the 3rd.  Such a beautiful blessing and we thank God for a smooth, lovely transition into a family of 4 over the next couple months.  The grandparents, our families, and our friends were so supportive, too!

October
The addition of a new baby didn't seem to slow us down much, mostly because we had a busy two year old to entertain!  The Fall meant pumpkin patches, apples festivals, and trick-or-treating.  Praise the Lord for a mellow, go-with-the-flow second baby who fit right in to our active life.  The whole clan was having fun and getting into a groove.

November
It felt way too quick, but I returned to work on a part-time basis and turned little Maryn over to our new sweet nanny, Raquel.  It felt like things were back to (a new) normal so quickly this time around.  JB excelled in his little school, he had a long streak of wellness (thanks tubes!), Maryn grew every day, James's company won some major contracts, and the holiday season kicked off with good times with friends and family.

December
The last month of the year seemed like a non-stop party!  Between dinner parties, neighbor nights, showers, family get-togethers and the holidays - a whole lot of fun!  Our kiddos loved every second!

And now here we are, saying "how is it December 31st and what happened to 2015?"  What a speedy year - full of changes, additions, launches (IDEAROAM, woo hoo!) and, truly, so many blessings.   We started the year seeing two pink lines, and we ended the year signing on the dotted line.  As of just yesterday, we are home owners again.

Our New Family Home

We bought a beautiful house that is perfect for our growing family, and located in a small town in middle Georgia.  So as we close out the year, we look forward to so many NEW adventures in 2016!!

A Texas Christmas (2015)

For Christmas this year, we hauled two children and a lot of luggage across the South to the great State of Texas, like we do every other year.  Normally we drive (and we even drove the 14 hours with baby JB!), but with toddler JB and baby Maryn (who doesn't love her car seat) we opted to make the trek via Southwest Airlines.  Just a speedy Uber to Hartsfield airport, 1 hour through horrendous security, loss of an ID (mine), quick flight to Dallas Love Airport, rental car from Love, pitstop at a Dallas Chick Fila to see some friends, another pitstop at Carls Corner because Maryn was having a fit....and we made it to Waco only 10 hours after leaving our house in Atlanta!

How we roll...

Entertainment at the Gate

But once we were there it was non-stop fun.  The kids were showered with love and attention, JB got to play outside with tractors, there was so much good food, and a whole slew of friends and family to see and meet.  The fact that JB and Maryn spent time with these important people was probably the most special part of Christmas this year (for me at least). 

First, there were all our friends.  The Hagan family met up with us in Dallas before we headed to Waco, and the kiddos got in some good playground time together.  Can't wait to meet their newest addition next year!!

Love the Hagans!

L-O-V-E

The Caswells visited us at my parents' house one afternoon, and the kiddos enjoyed lots of time throwing rocks and venturing partly into the South Bosque river.  (Texas provided us with some 80 degree temps over the holidays - not complaining about that at all!)  I can't wait until JB is a little bigger and can keep up with the big boys!  (This trip he loved hanging with little Abby, who is more his size).

An active crew

Watching out for baby sister

Boys and Tractors

JB insisted on more hugs for the ladies

On Christmas Eve, one of my dear girlfriends, Krystal, (who was part of my high school "trio") hosted a little breakfast for our three families at her parents' house.  Again, JB was thrilled to be around other kids his age/size, and followed the girls around all morning.  This was the first time we had met the newest additions, so it was very special!  And the fact that Krystal's mom captured a photo of all of us WITH our kids AND they were all smiling? CHRISTMAS MIRACLE!!!

One lucky guy

(My SOON TO BE sister-in-law also hosted a sweet Sip-N-See for little Maryn over Christmas, but I will document that event in a separate post - so many pictures and so much to say! Lots of friends came to meet our little girl!)

Along with all our friends, we saw nearly every single member of my family this Christmas.  The entire immediate family (parents, siblings, siblings-in-law, nieces/nephews) celebrated Christmas together, but we also received a visit from nearly all my aunts, uncles, and cousins, too!  I'm sorry that I didn't get more pictures, but my big camera didn't make the luggage cut on the way to Georgia.  Just a few random ones I captured over the week - 

The baby whisperer, Tori Claire

Christmas Eve Services

Christmas Eve Services

Three little redheads

Meeting my new nephew, Chael

Christmas Lunch

My boys, enjoying the warm Christmas weather!

Manual labor after Christmas lunch

Tamales…a Texas Christmas tradition!

Such sweet memories for our family this Christmas.  Love to all who made it so special.

Luke 2:11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

 

JB is 2 years + 3 Months (and Gran Gran is 74!)

Today our little JB concludes yet another month of his third year, while his Gran Gran (my dad) celebrated his 74th birthday on the 27th.  (These pictures are from the little celebration we had in Waco with my family.)

Happy Birthday, Gran Gran!

What to say about JB…although the updates may not change that much from month to month, he sure seems like he is changing daily!  Still so super independent and nothing burns his buns more than you trying to do something for him (especially if you try to zip/unzip his jacket - just back off.)  The good news is that he's capable of more every day, so we delegate lots of little tasks to JB.  After his meals, he dumps his food in the trash and puts his plate in the dishwasher.  He loves to put the clothes in the dryer for you.  JB is very good about putting up one toy before getting out the next one. Such a responsible little guy!

JB still loves, loves, loves music - especially if a song has hand motions.  And the boy can dance.  All of the little musical figurines this Christmas have been a big hit with JB, and he kept them playing all day so he could dance along.  He also knows his ABC song, so we sing that one a lot.

So helpful

A big change this month - SO MANY NEW WORDS!!!  This is huge!!!! I feel like JB picks up a new word a day, and has started to structure them into recognizable sentences and phrases.  He loves the word "too" (as in "JB go outside.  Mama go outside, too"), and he's starting to repeat things he hears (including things we utter to ourselves.  JB was with my mom and yelled "oh SHOOT" the other day.  Thankfully he was mimicking his Grammy and not his Mama or Daddy or that may have been another word…)  He requests "bapple juice" all the time, even though he rarely gets it, and also asks for "cheese" or a "bar" (cereal bar) every single meal (we also restrict those.)  The other night he surprised us by counting to ten.  COUNTING TO TEN!  When did he learn that!? 

Trying on Gran Gran's shirt 

Such a silly guy!

My family at Christmas all recognized the change and maturity in JB from his last few visits.  He happily played and loved on them all week, got into everything, and behaved quite well for his age.  He made this Mama so proud!  He and Gran Gran were also go-go-go the ENTIRE time, playing outside, riding the tractor, working in the shop, etc.  Pretty sure JB got a lot of his energy from his Gran Gran - may we all be so active and healthy in our mid-70s!!

Two stone-faced boys - JB comes by it honestly from the Kerr side!

Love you, little JB.  (And we love you so much, Gran Gran!) 

Merry (first) Christmas to our Maryn!

Although I have a lot of pictures and stories from a wonderful Christmas over in Texas with the Kerr family, those will wait because I first want to highlight that this is our baby girl's FIRST Christmas.  And that is something very special.

Mama was able to get her stocking finished just in time for Santa to visit us last weekend.  I loved seeing it hanging up on the mantle with the others!

Maryn's Stocking

Love this new addition (to the mantle and the family!)

An absolute delight on the trip, Christmas Eve church services, and Christmas Day festivities, I would say she loved every second of her first Christmas. 

Daddy's mini-me

We love you so much, sweetie!! You are the absolute best gift we received this year!

Santa Came to Georgia!

Since we leave for Texas tomorrow, JB made a small request to Santa that he visit us a little early this year.  Fortunately Santa complied, even after JB's tears and screams (and near sharp kick to the crotch area) when the kids visited him this month. 

We were thrilled to wake up and see what Santa brought us on Sunday morning, although JB was a little hesitant to go into the living room, as I think he believed Santa was actually in the living room…

Once he realized there was no jolly man in a suit, he was thrilled to see a Rody horse, light-up sword, Little Blue Truck, a new cowboy plate, and a set of tools.  

Santa filled his stocking with some cute things, but also stuck Puffs in there - so that just pretty much made JB's entire Christmas. 

Santa didn't forget little Maryn on her first Christmas!  She received a super cool, bouncing activity center (that was equally fun for big brother). Although I thought we'd be putting it up for a few more months, I suspect we'll use it a little sooner than we think (stop growing so fast baby girl!!!)

Gia spent the night and the kids were super happy to spend all day with her as they played with their new toys.  I'm pretty sure she had a great time, too.  Even if JB rode his Rody horse a little too wild for her liking.  :)

We spent the evening with the rest of James' family, celebrating Christmas with them and exchanging gifts.  And eating - lots of great food!!  (Note to self: if you even have to ask yourself "did I make enough Mac and Cheese" you probably didn't.  When will I learn to double the recipe?!)  

  

Along with my (small batch of ) Mac and Cheese, James smoked a pork loin, I made some sweet-n-savory sweet potatoes, Lori Anne brought green beans, and Lisa brought broccoli salad.  Aunt Wyllene provided rolls and both pumpkin AND pecan pie - everyone was stuffed!  

The kiddos loved all the company and snuggles with their family.  Everyone was on their best behavior  and very charming, although meal time with the littles (per usual) proved difficult.  (JB only ate a dinner roll and ice cream, and Maryn refused her bottle and totally fell apart until I gave her milk from the tap.)  

Oh, and the little rascals refused to cooperate for family pictures.  However, I can totally forgive them for that because they did sit sweetly and patiently as I attempted some sibling shots in front of the tree.  

After dessert, coffee, and presents, we ended the night with our traditional white elephant game. Everyone forgot the rules and made up rules and lots of silliness ensued until everyone wound up with their final gifts.  

James received a sack of nice dog toys and treats (which Enda appreciated), and I a Target gift (yeaaaa!)  

The evening kicked off the Christmas festivities for our little family, and we look forward to another week of even more family and the making of sweet Christmas memories!