2008 Wrap-Up

I've been inspired by several other friends who've done a "year in review" posting, so here's my attempt at it!

Let me back up into the last day of December, 2007 by saying that that was the day Jerry and I had confirmation that I was pregnant with Treyson. We woke up that morning, and the test was positive. We were elated, but decided to wait until the first trimester was over to tell anybody....that's one of the hardest things we've EVER done!

So January brought 2 very exciting things. First, we traveled with my parents and Todd, Melissa, Taylor, and Michael to Disneyworld in late January. We hit the Magic Kingdom, MGM/Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom. Anniston was able to ride so many things, and loved every minute of it! We can't wait until Treyson's old enough and we can go back and stay even longer. (PS...we got clearance from my OB/GYN to ride anything I wanted to at Disney....so Treyson had a ball, technically!)

Also, Anniston started gymnastics in January. She's actually very good at it. She loves to jump on the trampoline. She's very close to mastering a seat drop. The hardest part is getting her momentum up to land on her feet after she jumps onto her bottom. She walks the balance beam easily, does somersaults, swings on the bars, etc. We love gymnastics!

We finally told our family, and then friends that we were pregnant on my birthday! They couldn't believe we'd kept it in for so long, so it made my pregnancy go by fast for them. We started to talk to ANniston about being a big sister at this point....definitely over her head. She later decided that she was carrying a baby too. Also, she told people most of the time she was having a baby sister (since we didn't find out the sex)....thank goodness she's not holding anything against her Bubby now! She loves him so much.

March brought about some springtime weather which meant we needed "pretty piggies"! So Anniston had her first pedicure! She loved it. It lasted about 5 minutes, but she sat so still and thought she was hot stuff sitting up in the big chair getting her toes washed, clipped, filed, and painted!

April was Easter. We take Anniston to Bedfords in Fayetteville to get her bunny pictures made each year. She liked the bunny for awhile, but then she was ready for Ms. Tina to put her away. The following 3 times we went to Bedfords, ANniston asked about the bunny. We also started potty training in April. Anniston did so well with it. It really helped that we had a babysitter who worked really hard with Anniston while Mommy worked. She is now to a point where she'll take herself to the potty, wipe (tee tee only!), and flush the potty. We're so proud of our big girl! (she's modeling her big girl panties for the first time in the picture here)

May was Uncle Mark and Aunt Tracey's wedding, our first cardinals game, Mother's Day, and Memorial Day Weekend. Mark and Tracey were married in St. Louis. The wedding was beautiful, and we are so happy for them. Kinley looked beautiful in her Cinderella "flower girl" dress. We partied alot and were exhausted by the end of the weekend. Mother's Day was spent in Fort Smith by visiting my mom for church and lunch, then heading to Julie's for the afternoon and dinner. Memorial Day was FOR SURE at the lake. We hit the lake every weekend we could during May and June, knowing the 4th of July was our last trip down to Lake Ouachita due to my pregnancy. Dadoo also made Anniston a playground in our backyard. There's Railroad ties on the outside, filled with river rock on the inside. It's got her trampoline, Slide, Clubhouse climber, picnic table, and sand/water table inside of it. She loves going out to her playground. Dadoo worked very hard on it, and the sweat was definitely worth it! ( I can say that since I was 6 months pregnant and didn't lift a finger!!)

June was marked by the lake every weekend. We spent alot of money on gas (upper $3 per gallon) but it was totally worth every penny! We also put Anniston into a "big girl bed" for the first time. She did great. She fell out of her bed a handful of times between June and July, but hasn't done that since. She also went fishing with her PaPa for the first time in June. PaPa loves to fish. When he's not fishing, he's golfing. When he's not golfing, he's fishing! So he and MaMa got Anniston and Michael their first fishing poles. Anniston was catching fish left and right. She loved it, and even touched the fish while PaPa held it! Anniston also had her first dental visit in June. Mommy and Dadoo took her and let Mrs. Julia clean her teeth. Anniston sat by herself in the chair and opened up like it was nobody's business. We were so proud of her. She got her teeth counted, polished, and rinsed off and suctioned by Mr. Thirsty! Then Dado Hemi came in and counted her teeth--NO CAVITIES!! YAY!!

July was the 4th of July. Our last trip to the lake....so sad! But it was fun getting to watch the fireworks on the lake. We hit the Aquatic center quite a bit since it was so hot. Also, July was our 2nd birthday! Anniston woke up on her birthday to a new trampoline in her backyard. She LOVES, LOVES, LOVES it! We can't wait for the weather to get nice again so we can jump more! We had her birthday party with all of her friends at Gymboree Play and Music in Bentonville. It was really cute, and Anniston had a ball! We also hit Chuck E. Cheese on her actual birthday with our cousins Michael and Kinley.

August was HOT HOT HOT! And I was HUGE HUGE HUGE, which equaled MISERABLE!! But we all made it! We focused on lots of Anniston time. GOing to the water park, the park, jumping on the trampoline, etc. We also attended the Fan Day and Anniston got to see Big Red (we LOVE big Red around here!). We also started Big Girl School. Anniston loves her school, and we love it to. We know it's where she's meant to be.

September was marked by Labor Day! YAY! Jerome Joseph "Treyson", III was born on the 4th. He was 8 lb, 8 oz, and 20 1/2 inches. He was perfect and we were so excited to have a son. Anniston was also excited to have a brother (despite telling everybody she was having a sister).

We took Treyson to his first Hog football game in October (start em out young, right?). He slept through most of it. Anniston had a blast....she loves Razorback games, and really watches the ballgame and cheers. We also joined Dadoo on a business trip to San Antonio. We shopped, hit Seaworld, the Alamo, and the River Market. That was wild with an 8 week old, but we made it! We also celebrated Halloween. Anniston was Snow White, and Treyson was a pumpkin.

November was another Razorback football game and Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving was strange this year, because Treyson was napping through almost every meal we were supposed to be at. I suppose things will be much different next year! Anniston got her first haircut in November, and we also attended Winnie the Pooh Live in Little Rock.

December was all about getting ready for the holidays: parties, pictures, and presents! We had a wonderful Christmas, and were exhausted when it was all over with!

Home for Christmas!

We started a new tradition this year...just the four of us woke up Christmas morning at our house, and we spent the day putting together and playing with all of our new toys. After having cinnamon rolls and pigs in a blanket (thank you Nanny), we opened up everything Santa brought us, and then everything under the tree. We were all very good boys and girls this year. Every piece of clothing Anniston got she wanted to put on immediately. So she had 5 layers on before we put a stop to the "trying on" thing she was doing. Treyson lasted through a few presents, but was ready to lay down for a nap, so he missed out on some of the opening (like he could really open anyway!).

Here's Anniston opening up some clothes:

Here's Anniston's "layering". Underneath her new raincoat is a Herringbone patterned dress, a new princess jammie dress, and then her Christmas jammies that she slept in!

One of Anniston's favorite gifts was her Fisher Price Dance Cam....so cute! She didn't stop giggling and shaking her stuff for a good hour. And Jerry and I were tagging in and out to dance with her because she was wearing us out! Basically this little unit plugs into the TV and provides music and fun little animals and you dance and are able to watch yourself on TV. One of the pictures shows Anniston and I on TV. If your child likes to dance (ours is somewhat obsessive), they'll love this toy!

As dinner time neared, we baked a ham and had cheesy potatoes, green beans, and rolls. We then decided to head out to look at Christmas lights. We all still had our jammies on and literally had not gotten ready. Like not at all... Seriously, I don't think any of us had even brushed our teeth that day (I know....terrible, shame on me!). Literally, we woke up and then played up until dinner! So off we went in our jammies, santa hats, and scummy teeth to look at lights. We were serenaded by a little bit of Christmas songs by Delilah and alot of whining by Treyson (until he finally gave up and fell asleep!). Anniston "oohed and aaahed" every house that had lights. Then we made it to the very "special lights" (as Anniston called it)....the square in Fayetteville. It was a nice 65 degrees outside, so we unloaded the troops--that's right, with our jammies, santa hats, and scummy teeth--and walked around the square. We also took a carriage ride around the square.

The day ended with us allowing Anniston to have a slumber party with us that night. We NEVER let Anniston in our bed. Just something Jerry and I always said we would stay away from, and we stuck to our guns on it. Anniston sleeps so well by herself in her bed, and doesn't get up until we go in there (even though it's a toddler bed that she could easily get out of). So, Anniston about the only one that slept well that night! (She's a cuddler--sideways, rightways, wrongways, allways!!) But she was so excited when she realized she had slept with us all night. It was special for her....and it won't happen often based on how Jerry and I didn't get very sound sleep. That might be a good once per year tradition!

The next day we headed down to Fort Smith for the weekend. Uncle Scott and Aunt Courtney were still in town, and this was our last chance to hang out with them before they move to Houston. It was alot of fun, and they both got lots of Anniston and Treyson time.

We are so blessed to have eachother, our two beautiful and healthy children, and such wonderful family and friends. We hope everybody had as "Merry" of a Christmas as we did!

Christmas at MaMa and PaPa's

We took off down the hill on Tuesday the 23rd to celebrate Christmas with MaMa and PaPa at their house. We woke up on Wednesday morning (Christmas Eve), and had Christmas around 9:30 A.M. There were so many presents for everybody. Sweet Baby Treyson slept through the whole thing, so Mommy and Anniston opened his presents. He got so many great developmental toys, including a Leap Frog music table. He will be so excited! Anniston got a dance mat, several toys, and MOST IMPORTANTLY a dress-up trunk. She LOVES to dress up. She goes by the "more the merrier" slogan when it comes to fashion. She's such a mess! She had alot of fun playing "roll the soccer ball" with Michael. And Michael even took Anniston on a ride in his Ford F-150 Power Wheels (anniston tried to drive it....YIKES! she's a horrible driver!!).
Even MeMaMa got to play dress-up with Anniston!

We are so blessed to have such a loving family, and grandparents that love (spoil) us rotten! This was a very special Christmas as well in that Uncle Scott and Aunt Courtney just bought a home in Houston, TX and will be moving very soon. Scott got a very nice promotion which moved him there. Courtney's job (with the same company) allows her to stay doing the same thing...just based out of Houston. I think she spends most of her time in foreign land anyway!! So Scott and Courtney get to close mid-January on a very nice home in Houston. We are so excited for them. Also, they have a nice neighborhood water park; so watch out....the 4 of us will be invading Houston this summer!

Here's a picture of Aunt Melissa (she'll probably be super-excited that I'm posting this). I put this up here mainly because I wanted to show off our "nephew to be" Connor that's in her belly! She's due in April....doesn't she look amazing? You'd never know she was so far along! We can't wait for Connor to come out and play!!

Thank you MaMa and PaPa for a wonderful Christmas. We love you!

Christmas at Nanny and PawPaw's

I'm a little bit late getting to these posts from Christmas, so bear with me. Two weekends ago, we celebrated Christmas at Nanny and PawPaw's with Mark, Tracey, and KiKi. Anniston was so excited to see her cousin and open Christmas presents.

Friday evening, we found Elfie at Nanny's house, and told Elfie that Nanny wanted to have Santa come early to her house, so could he please tell Santa for us. Well guess what? He did! We woke up Saturday morning to these GREAT TALKING AND SINGING vanities and thrones! (Thanks Nanny and PawPaw!)

Treyson's big gift was a Fisher Price Lights and Sounds Stage. It's so cute, and we know he'll enjoy it more as he learns to sit up by himself.

There was so much more that the kids got, including clothes, books, princess high heels, and other toys. Our kids are so lucky to have such loving grandparents!

Saturday afternoon, we went to cousin Lexi's basketball game. She is quite the little athlete. Definitely a competitor, and really good at basketball.

Saturday evening we went to Laura and Randy's (Jerry's aunt and uncle) for Christmas for the entire side of Nanny's family. We went to the Hode??(not sure if that's the way to spell it) house in Van Buren whose house lights are unbelievable and they're coordinated with Christmas songs on a radio station. Basically, the house dances to music--it's crazy! We got back to Laura's and Santa came to visit. He brought gifts to all of the good boys and girls....can you believe that Santa called out Uncle Matt's name? Just kidding Matt, you know we love you! Both of the girls talked to Santa and of course smiled cutely for their presents.

After Santa left, we opened presents, and then the adults had a fun game of Dirty Santa. On Sunday morning, we woke up and went to Mass in our fancy Christmas outfits. After Mass was over we went back to nanny and PawPaw's for lunch and naps, then headed home. It was a very busy weekend, and also so much fun.