The best of 2014

January

We had just found out on Christmas Eve that baby number two was a boy. We picked a name and I started feeling those amazing kicks every day. I went to Kenya for the fourth time and got to experience it with my best friend (Paul's first time). We rang in the new year with the most precious, grateful people.

February

We enjoyed a huge snowstorm which meant lots of days off with Daddy. We went sledding and ate way more snow cream than we ever should have.



Celebrating Valentine's Day in the snow

 

 

March
Paul surprised me with a two night babymoon at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville.

 

April

We celebrated Easter by worshipping our Risen Savior, Gray went to his first Dash game and my brother took a few Easter/maternity pictures. Daddy also finished building Gray's big boy bed and he made the transition like a champ. Mama was getting bigger by the minute and we were all so excited to meet baby Walker.

 

 

May

This was quite the month of celebrations-Mother's Day, Daddy's 34th birthday and then we welcomed our second son into our family and watched Gray become a big brother. And also, this was the month my heart nearly exploded.



June

Another crazy month...adjusting to life as a family of four, my 33rd birthday, Gray turned TWO, Father's Day and we celebrated five truly wonderful years of marriage.

July

We went to the beach with my family. This was Walker's first beach trip and although he had been extremely fussy for weeks leading up to our trip, he was pretty content during our vacation. This was the first year Gray seemed old enough to really take in the beach and he had SO much fun!

 

August

After what seemed like waiting forever, we finally bought our first "real" home together. We were so excited to have more space, a big yard and a place that would feel like home and one we knew we would raise our family in.
 

September
This might go down in history as the hardest month of my life. And I am fully aware that the reasons for that mean I am so incredibly blessed. But it was still hard. Walker screamed pretty much every minute he was awake, Gray was acting every bit of a two year old boy and Paul was pretty much never home because of soccer and meanwhile we moved into our new house. Shall we skip to October?

October
Our sweet Walker finally started feeling better after a long first few months of pain, discomfort and alot of screaming. The boys and I snuck in a few soccer games and we "celebrated" Halloween with the cutest Olaf and pumpkin you ever did see.

 

November

Paul's soccer team won the 4-A State Championship!!! We celebrated Thanksgiving with Paul's extended family in Boone and then later that weekend we hosted Thanksgiving at our new house for my family.

 

 

December

We got to experience our first Christmas as a family of four. And though we do a very scaled down version of Santa, it was still so magical and exciting through the eyes of a two and a half year old. After Christmas we spent five nights in Williamsburg with Nanny, Papa, Uncle Jon and Aunt Laura. It was the first time in well over a year that we'd all been together and we had such a sweet time. Sorry but I'm not sorry for the major picture overload here...

I am very humbled by all of the blessings God has so generously poured out on our family. 2014 will be hard to top but we are excited to see what the He has in store for us in 2015!