It’s the MOST wonderful time of the year!

We started the season off with a trip to Bryson City, NC to ride the Polar Express.  We had so much fun watching the excitement in Becca’s eyes.  This will definitely become a new family tradition!

We also took advantage of all of the great Christmas lights!  We took a trip to the zoo and Saluda Shoals.  Becca loved all of the Christmas lights this year. 

    

  

 

  

  

Christmas Eve was also spent creating wonderful memories with family.  We made cookies for Santa, a gingerbread house (which was a first for everyone), and even opened a few presents.  The night ended with Santa visiting:)

 

   

Christmas day was another magical day.  Oh how it melts my heart to watch Christmas through the eyes of a two year old.  Becca certainly received a lot of presents, and while we all enjoyed all of our ‘stuff’, we most enjoyed the time we were able to spend together with our family.  JP and I are very blessed that our families celebrate Christmas together. 

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Lazy days of summer

This summer was extremely busy.  My days were filled with entertaining a two year old – which isn’t always easy.  We began the summer with a trip to the beach.  We had so much fun with our friends Lauren, Jason, and Hayes.  We also moved my Grandma into an assisted living home here in Columbia – actually, we ended up moving her twice, but that’s a story for another day.  The rest of our time was spent going to music classes, swimming, gymnastics, fishing, parades, the zoo, and being lazy.  As it came to an end, my Dad fell at work and shattered his knee cap.  This required surgery, and while he is still recovering, at least he is able to get around his house on his own.  Finally, we ended it with a quick trip to the beach with my mom.  Here’s a look at some of our summer fun!

Father’s Day 2012

  

    

Fishing at Papa’s & Shirley’s.

  

4th of July parade

This girl L.O.V.E.S. to swim!

A cheerleader in the making?

I don’t even know what to say about these two – they love each other so much!

the zoo

1st time getting her face painted – she was very proud!

Labor Day beach trip with GG!

And now that summer is over, we are looking forward to fall – and the much anticipated cooler weather.  Fall also means football season, and we’ve already enjoyed cheering on our Gamecocks to 2 wins! 

I hope everyone had a great summer.  We’ve already got a lot planned for this fall, so be sure to check back often for updates!

not my will, but Your will be done

I’ve always been a little bit a lot of a planner when it comes to huge, life changing decisions.  I went to college, got a job, then got married.  We lived in our apartment over the garage for a few years, built our house, then had Becca.  And when we did make the life changing decision to have a baby, once again, I planned it down to the month.  I wanted a March or April baby, and by the grace of God, we were blessed with our April 13th miracle. 
As soon as we had Becca, we decided we would wait until she was two, then start trying for baby #2.  We waited until this summer because, once again, I had a plan.  We prayed about it, and at the end of July, our prayers were answered.  We found out we were going to have another baby – with a due date of April 11th.  Oh, the irony.  I told Becca first, and donning her ‘I’m going to be a big sister t-shirt’, she told Daddy about our new little miracle .  The day couldn’t have been more perfect.  All three of us were over the moon.  We immediately experienced the ‘new parent feelings’ of being excited, scared, nervous – everything you feel when you find out you’re going to be bringing another child into this world.  That was Thursday. 
On Saturday, I started spotting.  And as you all know, that’s NOT what you want to happen when you’re pregnant.  I debated going to the ER, but since we had 8 people staying at our house that weekend (we had a youth rally at our church), I decided to just wait and call my doctor on Monday.  I went in first thing so they could check my hcG levels.  After waiting for the longest 24 hours of my life, they came back at 61, which the doctor felt like was low.  I went back in on Wednesday, and found out my levels had gone up to 96.  They still weren’t happy with the numbers, but were optimistic since they had increased.  On Friday, I went back in for yet more blood work.  This time my numbers doubled – fantastic news!  I finally felt like I could breath and be a little excited again.
The next week went well.  The spotting stopped, so they made an appointment for 2 weeks later to check my levels again.  I started back to work, excited about the new school year and our new baby to be.  Then things went downhill again.  I was at school on Thursday evening waiting for Open House to start when I started cramping.  Without getting too detailed, I went to the bathroom and realized I had started bleeding – not spotting, bleeding.  My heart dropped.  This was not good.  I decided to stay at school since it was 15 minutes before Open House started.  I survived, went home, and tried to get some sleep.  The next morning brought even more bleeding, so I called the doctors office first thing.  After leaving a message and talking with the nurse, I went in to have my hcG levels checked again.  They sent them off immediately so I could have my results back by lunch time.  I tried to get some work done because I knew this was the last day I would have to get things done before my students arrived on Monday. 
The nurse called around 1:00, and even though deep down I knew what was going on, it was still devastating to hear the words that came out of her mouth.  My levels had dropped significantly.  I was having a miscarriage.  My.heart.broke.  This baby that we were so excited to have join our family was not going to be.
I left work right away, and JP met me at home.  We just sat together and cried.  Our baby was gone. 
And then there was the job of telling Becca.  We decided to just wait and see if she brought it up, and of course she did – that night.  She told me she wanted to kiss my baby.  I told her that my baby was gone.  She asked where he was, and I told her in heaven with Jesus.  Definitely the hardest conversation I’ve ever had.
I’ll spare you the details of the miscarriage, but it was by far the worst experience of my life.  It made for a very LONG weekend.  Then Monday arrived, and I had to put on a happy face and go welcome 24 smiling fifth graders to their first day of school.  While the thought of it seemed impossible, I think it helped get it off my mind.  I made it through Monday – in fact, I made it through the entire week.  I went back in for blood work on Monday, and my numbers were already down to 17 (less than 5 is not pregnant).  We were able to meet with Dr. Stallard on Tuesday, and that provided us with a lot of relief.  Just talking to someone who assured us that even though this sucked, everything was going to be ok.
I really struggled with whether or not to blog about this, but in the end, I wanted to share my story.  Not because I want people to feel sorry for me – just the opposite in fact.  I want to share what I've learned in the past 7 days.  I’ve always had a strong faith in God, but this has definitely made my faith stronger.  I was up ALL night Friday and most of Saturday, so I had a lot of time to cry – a lot of time to think.  And after I got over feeling sorry for myself, I decided to just sit and pray.  I read my Bible and prayed some more.  It’s amazing what can happen when you let go of everything and hand it over to God.  I experienced a sense of relief.   I realized that this was all part of God’s plan.  He had been in control the whole time – even when I felt like I was spinning out of control.  I finally had a complete understanding of Luke 22:42 – ‘Not my will, but Yours, be done.’
I’ve spent so much time trying to plan out everything in my life that I forgot that I wasn’t the one in control.  He is.  And through His grace and mercy, I know that everything will be ok.
I also need to mention that I've had amazing support from our friends and family.  They have been there to listen to me cry and complain, and then remind me that I would get through this.  One friend in particular who has been through this herself was a life saver.  Thank you sweet friend for your prayers, your support, and your comforting words in a time when not much seemed to make sense.

summer time sneak-peek

one would think that with all of this free time I’ve had this summer, I would be a better blogger.  obviously that hasn’t happened, and I can offer as an excuse is I do much better when I’m on a schedule – you know, when I have to get up and go to work everyday.  well here’s a small look at what we’ve been doing this summer.

playing with our new dog, molly brown.  yes, we are crazy, but more on that later.

water, water, and more water.  this girl LOVES to swim, and fortunately we’ve been able to do a lot of that this summer.  more pictures to come soon…