goodbye 2013, hello 2014

Hello there. I've taken about a month off and, yes, am pretty behind here on the blog. We had a wonderful Christmas, celebrating the birth of our Savior. We spent a lot of time together as a family, watched Christmas movies, ate off our Christmas china at the "fancy" (decorated) dining room table, played with new presents, visited with family, recovered and recuperated.

The end of 2013 went like this...

{My 33rd birthday}

Celebrated with a couple of Christmas parties. Hannah thought I needed to have a birthday party, so we did: a tea party, just the two of us in the afternoon.

{Four Christmases}

It was just us on Christmas Eve and morning. In the afternoon my mom came to town for a couple days. Joe's parents came on the 26 for the day, and my Dad and his wife, Renee, came the 27-29. So, in a way, we had four Christmases. We just didn't have to go anywhere!

On Christmas morning, Joe and I set an alarm and planned to be up before the kids. Santa had set his gifts in the living room and we wanted to make sure that room was off limits until both kids were up and moving... And because we were excited, too!

Another section of lights went out on the tree. From the time we put the thing up, we had strings going out inexplicably. This is only the tree's fourth Christmas, (and our fourth with an artificial tree) so it was annoying to say the least. In the market for a new one, but haven't done anything about it yet. Anyway, here was Joe on Christmas morning...

Coming as a complete surprise to us, our babies slept in. I mean, like it didn't matter a lick to them that it was Christmas morning and there were presents waiting! Hannah stumbled in the playroom were we were sitting a little after 8 and Joseph finally woke up around 9:30. Not their usual routine, and not what we were expecting! 

Hannah and Joseph loved their bikes. Hannah's was the same one she rode all over Toys R Us in November, and Joseph's was a little blue one, perfectly sized for him. Between that and their stockings filled with small goodies, we didn't need to do anything else. I mean it. We ate breakfast and then opened presents. And that was the next unexpected thing of the morning. I was ready for a tear-into-boxes-wrapping-paper-flying session, but what we got instead was very intentional present-opening and time devoted to each present unwrapped before preceding to the next. 

Hannah was beyond excited to get her first umbrella.

The present opening went on most of the day, especially once Meme arrived with more gifts. We took lots of breaks to play, and Joseph took every opportunity to pick up my camera and take pictures. {I might have deleted a hundred.}

Unfortunately, Hannah had a fall on her bike when she hit the cracked pavement at the end of the front walk. After that, she wasn't really interested in getting back on it. That day, and ever since. It's been very cold so there hasn't been much playtime outside anyway.

{A visit with Granddaddy and Renee}

They came from the Pacific Northwest by way of Raleigh to spend some time with us. We had a great visit...and I think the kids wore them out. 

They had a ball in the backyard being chased in their jeep...

But Hannah did not like when she had to give up the driver's seat to Joseph. Fortunately for her, Joseph prefers to let her drive (while he hangs on for dear life).

{New Year's Eve}

Joe and I went out to a friend's farm for an oyster roast. Meme, Hannah and Joseph had a NYE celebration of their own. The next morning we got to hear all about it.

So here we are, 2014. Thank goodness. Not sure I've ever looked forward to a new year in all my life. 2013 had some significant events I am thankful to move away from. The fight with cancer and death of my uncle was beyond the saddest part of my year, while my husband's injury was the scariest and most life-altering part of my year. 2013 wasn't all bad, though. My little brother got married and we had a fancy soiree for our sweet four-year-old, as well as a few fun trips. Still, we were so ready for a new year, and a fresh start.


January, so far...

{On the road to recovery...again}

Joe is out of the boot, sutures removed and no hardware. He's walking (and running) and doing pretty well, considering. It's been 6 months.

{Twelfth Night}

We put out "hay" (pine straw) for the Wise Men to feed their camels on their way to Baby Jesus. They left gifts in return.

{War Eagle!}

We watched Auburn play FSU in the National Championship. The loss was upsetting, but the season was unforgettable.

{Baby, It's Cold Outside}

We got the fire going for the first time and spent many hours in front of it. "Put fire on!" is one of Joseph's most frequent sayings. It's been cold. Very, very cold. And we've been bundling up.

{Zero to sixty}

The little boy had a miserable time following another clean-out. He was sick. This was the third clean-out we've had to do (per GI doctors orders), but the only time it got seriously bad. In addition to the usual reaction, he would not stop throwing up. We almost headed to the hospital during the night. He was pale, his lips were gray, and he could not hold a teaspoon of fluid down. Thankfully we have friends who are doctors and nurses and, in the end, were saved a trip to the hospital. That was Friday night. By Sunday morning he was a different child - appetite, playful, back to normal.

Meme sent Joseph balloons. He loves the "pucky dog".

{Girls got haircuts}

{Celebrated the birthday boy}

{Gran Gran and Poppy...and an upper GI}

We went to Savannah this past weekend for a much-anticipated upper GI procedure for Joseph. In our search for answers to all of his issues, we wanted to rule out some stuff...make sure that the upper GI problems are because of the lower GI problems and not something else entirely. We checked in early Friday morning. Joseph, of course, wanted to check out all the equipment.

The procedure itself didn't last too long. He was scared and cried, but did just fine. I held him (and Raffie) and he drank the barium (which they mixed with apple juice to make it not too terrible). Joe stood behind the wall and took a video of the x-ray screen. We don't have results yet, but will hopefully know something soon. If all this answer-searching just leads us to "he'll likely grow out of it" then that's fine. We just want to make sure.

The most exciting part of our trip was the garage door at Gran Gran and Poppy's house.

We celebrated our little cousin Jasper's first birthday and hit the road home.

Now I'm caught up (and my neck hurts from this position). One more picture before I close the laptop and enjoy the rest of this low-key holiday at home. Me and my girl yesterday after church: