This may take awhile...

Wow, I didn't realize how long it's been since I last wrote. I don't know how I ever expected to be able to keep up with a toddler and a blog at the same time. So much has happened since September, I don't know where to start! :)

Let me see if I can try to back it up a few months...

We didn't do much for Halloween. Our downtown Newnan does a great trick-or-treat for the children on Halloween, but this year it rained. Nathan was so cute in his little monkey outfit that Aunt Kiki had bought him. I thought that if we drove through, we might get out and stand in the rain, but after I saw the lines of people wrapped around the buildings, I decided against it. He didn't seem to know the difference so that's good. But, I've arleady started trying to think of cute outfits for him for this year.

We had a very busy Thanskgiving. It's almost overwhelming because we have to see my family, Jason's mom, Jason's dad, our grandparents, etc.... I told him that maybe next year we could go to the beach with just our family and do it there so we didn't have to run around all week. But, then I think I would miss it, you know? And I'm sure that no one will be able to let us take the kids with us! :)

Christmas was about the same. Although, this year was fun because everyone in my immediate family swapped names at Thanksgiving and then we set a $100 limit. I drew Meme's name and Jason drew my mom's. It was so much fun! I really liked doing it this way, so that you only had to focus on one person instead of everybody. And, then we were "surprised" to find out who had our names! It was fun, too, to be able to see what people thought you wanted. Rebecca had drawn my name so she came in on Christmas day with a a huge bag and made it look like it was heavy. Silly girl, she had packed it full of little things that were holding various gift cards. SO cute! I love gift cards, so i was super duper excited! Chris drew Jason's name and he got him a gift card to Dick's and a ton of dvd's of some of Jason's favorite shows. He's realy appreciated those on his trips! And of course, everyone bought for Nathan. He really racked up this year!

It was so cute, because of course he didn't have any idea what was going on. I mean, he did look at us like we were lunatics when we were bringing the tree inside and every strand of lights he saw, he would point at and talk about. Then, on Christmas Eve night, we told him that "Santa Clause was coming tonight..." and even though, he didn't know really what that meant, he still didn't sleep good! Can you believe that? His favorite gift that Santa brought him was his cozy coupe. When I carried him into the living room that morning and he saw that car sitting there, his little heart started beating and he started kicking his legs..... I don't think he's come out of it since! He l-o-v-e-s it. Maybe this spring we will take it outside to play with, but right now it's bringing us lots of entertainment inside. Christmas with him was so much fun! It's only going to get better and better!

This picture is of Nathan with his friends Tuff Hudson, Karson Coley, and Benjamin Edge. He stays with them at Ana Edge's house when he's not at the First Methodist Church preschool. We love her and are so happy with how this is working out. These boys are all so sweet and I'm glad that he has such nice friends!

But, then we had a couple of sad weeks...

We were supposed to get Mason on the day after Christmas and keep him for a week until after New Year's, but that afternoon as Jason was getting ready to go meet Mason's mom, she called him and told him that Mason was pitching a fit and did NOT want to come to Newnan. :( We were so disappointed. We had planned to have a special dinner for him when he got here and to give him all the cool gifts that we had gotten him. It really put a damper on our Christmas. Jason and I struggled with what we should do, but we finally decided that he needed to be with us during the Holidays. I've tried so hard to help him feel apart of this family and we wanted him to know that we really wanted him to be here, so Jason set it up for us to pick him up on New Year's eve and keep him for a long weekend.

That morning, though, as I was getting ready to pick up Mom so we could go get Mason, I learned that my sweet Papa had suffered a major heart attack the night before and was in a medically-induced coma at Piedmont in Atlanta. Mom and I decided that we would go ahead with our plans to get Mason and I'm so thankful that we did. He had so much fun shooting fire crackers and being with everybody. We let him stay up to watch the ball drop and he did! I was surprised that he made it!! We love him so much and are hopeful that this was just a phase and that he will want to come see us in the future.

Papa was on a ventilator and had a balloon in his heart for several days. This was a blessing to us, because every one of his children and grand-children had the opportunity to see him in the hospital. Even if he didn't know we were there. It was interesting because as we would talk to him, his heart rate would rise and the nurse said that his sub-concious knew that it recognized the voices. They eventually began taking him off the machines one by one, hopeful that his body would be able to pick up where the machines left off. On Wednesday, they stopped his sedation medication, but Papa never woke up. Sadly, my daddy and his brothers and sisters had to make the hard decision of letting Papa go. He died on Friday morning and we had the funeral on Sunday. We all feel so blessed that we were with him for Thanksgiving and then again at Christmas. He wouldn't have wanted to suffer. He was just ready to be in Heaven with Jesus and Memaw and all of his friends and family.

Just before Thanksgiving, Papa had come in for a haircut and he only had a $20 bill. He always gave me $10 for his haircuts even though I never charged him. I didn't have change for him that day, so he said that I could just give him a free haircut next time. Well, Papa wasn't one to not get every penny's worth of what he spent. I had the opportunity to give Papa that last haircut at the funeral home just after he'd died. It was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do, but I am so thankful that I was able to do it. I asked Susan to come with me since I knew that she has done it before, and I knew I would need someone with me. She was awesome. It really helped us bond, I think, to do this together.

And he looked so handsome! The funeral was exactly what he would have wanted and I could feel his presence so strong that day. My papa wasn't a perfect man, but I am so thankful for the influence he had on my life and for loving me with such a sweet heart as I became an adult. He loved Jason special and I am grateful for the opportunity they had to get to know one another.

Since then, though, we have hit the ground running. I have had the busiest January and February that I've ever seen and have even hired an "assistant." I am so proud to be at a point in my career where I am able to do this. I am considering going up on my prices and am hopeful that this won't affect things negatively for me. I am thankful everyday, especially these days, for my job and for having one that I love.

Now, onto my favorite subject in the whole world.... little baby Nathan. Except, he's not a baby anymore! He is a full-on toddler! I can't believe how big he is and how fast he's grown. We are walking, running, climbing, jumping, and spinning in circles. He talks all.the.time. and is saying probably 100+ words that we can understand. His first sentance was "I get it!" He knows all of his body parts and can tell you the animal sounds of a dog, cat, bird and snake. He loves the moon and airplanes. He's clearly his father's son, because he's into trucks of all kinds. He eats all day long and is very healthy. He loves to be tickled and to give kisses. He waves (and says) bye-bye when we are leaving something (even the bathtub) and blows kisses on command. His Papa built him a swing set in our back yard that we play on all the time, but his favorite thing is playing with stuff in Papa's barn. Even just walking the ramp gives him such joy! We do time-out when we have to, and every once in a while, he gets a pop to help him snap out of it. He is a toddler, after all, and with that comes temper tantrums. Although, for the most part, that's only when he's tired or not feeling well. We are working on Please and Thank you. I am hopeful that he will be a respectful child with good manners. He doesn't like his stroller - he wants to be "down, down." And he came name everyone in our family. Just recently, he said "Big-da" to my Daddy and I could tell how proud that made my dad. It's so sweet to hear him say your name, although sometimes when he says it over and over and over - I have to remind myself that one day I will miss that sweet little voice calling my name, instead of being annoyed by it. He will be 18 months old on the 5th and this just blows my mind.

We are hoping that in the next few months we will be able to start adding onto our house. Things may finally be falling into place for us. We are hoping to add 3 bedrooms and another bath so that we will offically have a 3 bedroom, 2 bath house. We will make our current bedroom a living room. It will be so nice to be able to spread out and to finally have some privacy from each other. I'm hoping that this will be a good time to move Nathan from his crib into a big boy bed. We are planning to have two single beds in his room for he and Mason and then to reserve the 3rd bedroom for our next. :) Maybe we'll work on that this summer as well.

I am so happy with the way my life is turning out. I am madly in love with my husband and am more thankful, every day, for our children. I love my job and our home and I can't wait to see what else my Jesus has in store for me. I can't imagine that it could get much better than this...