We have had a big year, and obviously adding child #4 to our family was the most notable event! It's hard to not view this year as The Year of Leah...I think it's because she was born towards the beginning, in the spring, and we had most of the year to get to know her!
Before she arrived, though, we had Upward Basketball that started in January...
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| We all always cheer him on! |
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| Playing hard! |
My bestie, Kassie, had her 4th baby in February...remember that we have been pregnant all four times together? :)
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| This was a few months later obviously! But this was the day Anna met Leah. |
And Josh took Sarah to a Daddy Daughter dance for Valentine's Day...
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| All dressed up for the dance. |
Sadly, we lost Josh's Grandma in February...we miss her bunches, and I wish she could have met Leah...
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| My favorite picture with her, taken in 2007. |
In March we spent lots of time decluttering kids' rooms and getting the house ready for Leah. We painted and reorganized and did all kinds of things to make our house ready for the new addition. Josh and I also went on a "last date" knowing that time alone would be hard to come by after the baby arrived. We had fun in St. Louis with an overnight getaway.
I remember celebrating Easter as a VERY PREGNANT girl...she arrived just days later...
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| Easter Sunday. |
And it was the day I felt our family was complete...
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| The day we met Leah. |
A few weeks later in May, I had my gallbladder removed (after months and months of massive attacks and horrible pain). I was in the hospital for five. long. days. I missed Sarah's preschool graduation, and that was hard. She looked so pretty. I'm thankful my dad was able to take her.
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| Shaking hands with Ms. Diane (date is not right obviously!) |
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| So proud! |
The summer seemed to be the months that blended together, mostly because of our putting our house on the market, having a contract on it, finding a house, and then IT ALL FALLING THROUGH. I know I will look back and realize how it all worked out the way it was supposed to, but I think I'm still not quite there yet.
Besides the house drama, Caleb learned to ride his bike without training wheels this summer, and that was a big deal around here!
Leah was dedicated at church.
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| Our family on a special day. |
Caleb and Sarah had their birthdays in August.
Caleb started 2nd grade, Sarah started kindergarten, and Gabriel started preschool...
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| Gabriel's first day of pre-k. |
Spending time with the worship team at church was also a big part of my year. Meeting this girl has been a huge blessing.
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| Amy and me at practice. |
In September Sarah had the honor of being the St. James Homecoming MiniQueen. She was the cutest little thing that night.
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| Presenting the crowns :) |
Caleb won a Lego Building contest for this entry...
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| His cool car thingy. |
In October I got to go to a Cardinals playoff game! That was sersiously the most awesome game ever!
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| Leah had fun, too! |
October was also fun with trips to the pumpkin patch, the zoo, and Halloween.
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| Hayride at the pumpkin patch. |
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| I guess I had four kids for this? :) |
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| My four...all dressed up! |
For my birthday weekend in November, I had a girls getaway with one of my besties! We met the former lead singer of NewSong. I didn't stumble over my words when I met him (mostly). :)
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| Me, Michael O'Brien, and Sarah. |
Gabriel turned 4 in November. We had a little, "just family" get-together.
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| A Spiderman party :) |
In December I seemed to get the wild idea to do all kinds of "make my home homey" projects, so I did a family picture wall and a wedding picture wall in our house. We also added new curtains to the kids rooms.
We had a very nice Christmas.
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| Christmas morning. |
The last day of the year was perfect. With snow on the ground and time with my kiddos.
It was a full year, and I am looking forward to 2013!
2 comments:
Awesome post! Love all the pics!
Happy New Year!
What a great group of pictures.
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