Good-bye 2011!!!

I'm not really sure how to begin recapping this year. It's been an emotional roller coaster. We have experienced some of the best things and also some of the worst things. We have welcomed new babies and said goodbye to  some pretty awesome people.

January 

We started the year off with a pretty low-key get together at our house. We spent some time with our wonderful family and friends.

We also had a "Ice Storm". My parents ended up getting a bunch of snow; we only got some ice pellets! But we got a day off school and the dogs had a blast playing!!

Ben and I also started working with the help of the infertility department at my doctors office to get pregnant.

February 

February brought more heart ache on the baby front. The reality of the situation hit me really hard when I found out I wasn't pregnant.

But we had a baby to celebrate so I didn't have too much time have a pity party. We had Amy's shower at the church for Brody. It was a wonderful shower and she got so many good things!!

March 

March was a busy but great month.

We started off the month with Kate's showers for Kaleb. She had great showers here in Birmingham and in Atlanta.

Brody was born on March 16th. He came into the world with a little bit of drama and had to spend 6 days in the NICU but ended up being healthy quicker than the doctors thought he would be.

We ended the month with another fun shower for Kate.

April

The whole month of April was a whirlwind of emotions.

We got the news early in April that Chris's sister had been killed in a car accident. Kim's death put a lot of things into perspective. I know many people lives were changed as a result from her death. I like to think that she was one of the first people in line to hold Parker when he got to Heaven.

Kaleb was born on April 11th.  

We spent a fun weekend at Talladega.

And a fun weekend in Atlanta for Easter.

 The weekend after Easter, our state was hit by many tornadoes. A little closer to home, my brothers town was hit by an EF-4 tornado, damaging his home and destroying the majority of the town.

In April, Ben and I also decided to take a break from trying for a baby. The best decision we ever made! We were so stressed and could only think about getting pregnant. It was nice to spend some time with each other and not think about trying for a baby.

May

May brought a little less drama.

We spent some time with our families celebrating Kate's birthday, Mother's Day, and Kaleb being dedicated. I also finished up my 4th year teaching!

We also spent some time loving on this new member of the family.

June

June was the best month of my life!!! Ben and I got the best news! We were going to be parents!!

We were able to celebrate the news with our families!!

We went to the beach with my family. Had a great relaxing vacation to start the summer out the right way!!

Ben and I bought our Tahoe and I started keeping Kaleb!

We spent the Saturday before Father's Day sharing the happy news with my grandparents in Atlanta. Morning sickness had kicked in so I was so worried about being sick all weekend, but I ended up feeling okay.

We went to church Father's Day at Kingwood and  celebrated Brody's dedication.

July

We were finally able to share our happy news on the blog!! 

We spent many weekends at the lake in July.

We ended the month celebrating my grandfather's 94th birthday in Atlanta.

August

With August came school. Thankfully, morning sickness had started to subside and I was getting more and more energy. 

We continued to be excited for our baby. We couldn't wait to find out what we were having and to get started planning our baby's nursery!

September

September was another roller coaster month.

We spent the first few weekends watching football games and cheering for the Tide!

We found out on September 8th that we were having a boy!! I will never forget the feeling I felt when I heard the news. I was so happy to be finding out that my baby was healthy, finding out it was a boy just made it that much sweeter. The events of the entire day are something I'll never forget!!

Sept. 12th was the scariest day of my life. I was admitted to the hospital after having some contractions and my water breaking. The next day we found our little boy didn't make it. He was in Heaven with Jesus. I delivered him on Sept. 14th at 5:09 am. I have learned a lot through this entire experience. 

Ben and I were loved and supported so much during the few weeks after we lost Parker (and we continue to be). It has made us so much stronger as a couple. It has made us closer to each other and to God. There is no way we would have made it through this without God carrying us.

We ended the month with a get-away to Gatlinburg with Ben's grandparents and sister and her family.

October

We continued to heal emotionally and physically in October. 

Mom and I went to Atlanta one weekend to help clean up my grandparents yard. We weren't a whole lot of help, but we were great cheerleaders! 

We had our annual Pumpkin Carving Party.

And we had a fun Halloween with our little pup.

November

We spent most weekends cheering on the Tide. Unfortunately the lost in the "game of the century" against LSU but we're getting a rematch in Jan. so we're hoping for better results! But we had everyone over to watch the game on the big screen. We were a disappointed bunch when it ended but the get together was still fun.

 We also celebrated Allison's first birthday at Amanda and Ellery's house. She is growing up so fast. I wish we lived closer so we could spend more time with her (and the rest of the family)

We were able to spend Thanksgiving with both of our families. We went to eat lunch with my family in Douglasville. Before we ate lunch we ran by Minga and Granddad's to see them for a bit.

 Then we headed to Marsha and Dennis' for lunch with the other side of my family.

Thanksgiving night we went to eat dinner at Ben's grandparents house. 

December 

We spent most of December celebrating the Christmas season with our families.

This is how I ended last year's recap:

Ben and I are going into 2011 with hope. We know that God does have a plan for our lives and he doesn't make mistakes. We are on this path right now because He wants us to be here. There is no doubt about it, we will come out on the other side of this struggle, stronger and more in love with Him and each other.

I had no idea what God had in store for Ben and I this year. We have made it through the best times and the worst times of our marriage and our lives. We had celebrated together and cried together. We still have hope that one day we will become parents. Our faith is what gets us through those hard times. We know God sees the bigger picture in all of this. I'm not sad to see 2011 go like I normally am. I ready to move on to bigger and better things. I hope my year in review next year isn't quite as sad as this years is. But I know that Ben and I will survive whatever we are faced with because we have each other, we have amazing families and friends, and we have our love and faith in God.