A Glimpse at 2012

For the most part...we had a very relaxed year.  For the first time since we got married in 2008, I was not pregnant for the entire year.  Not sure we will be able to claim that in 2013 but it added to us having a very clam year.  This year, as a whole, was one that has taught me to be content...to live in the moment.  When you are pregnant, you are always looking to the next appointment or to the 3rd trimester or counting down to your due date!  Not having countdowns this year, allowed me to really live in the moment.

January began with the National Championship where Bama brought home their 14th Title!  Roll Tide Roll....is #15 right around the corner?  We will see!  It continued on with a big loss for a family dear to my heart.  Death is really hard when it is unexpected!  My parents also bought A Daisy A Day in January!  We also decided to do more hands on activities at home with Zoe, attend more StoryTimes at the library and lots of playdates with friends.

February, we had so much fun celebrating!  We celebrated Anna Riley's Birthday in Alabama, Evan's 1/2 Birthday, Valentine's Day at home with a fun party with all our friends and we celebrated Daddy's 27th birthday with a night out with friends and a couple's night at Mission District!  The Lenten season also began in February and I gave up sweets for 40 days leading to Easter and I also did a daily devotional.  Evan mastered rolling over this month, too!

March continued keeping Zoe active by joining Buford School of Ballet's Noah's Angels class.  We ran/walked a 5k for Prince of Peace's Respect Life Ministry in Flowery Branch with The Stafford's.  I also ran the Publix 1/2 Marathon in Atlanta with Alyshia, Danielle and Michelle and decided very soon after that I would never be doing that again.  At the end of the month, Zoe, Evan and I headed to Berry for Ian and Tucker's birthday celebration and Easter celebration with Zach's family.  The same weekend, Zach headed to Covecrest for the Life Teen Men's Retreat.  I also hosted a night of fellowship at my house where my sister, Kaitlin, spoke to us all!  We also changed parishes from SJN to Prince of Peace...such a blessed move!

April brought some big changes to our work lives.  I joined Tupperware and started partying and Zach started his own lawn and landscaping business.  We celebrated Easter with a beautiful Mass at IHM with my family and a yummy brunch to follow.  We also had lots of fun Easter Egg hunts in the beginning of the month.  We had a fun day at the Zoo with KK and ZZ.  My mom and I worked really hard repainting A Daisy A Day's little home in Snellville.  At the end of the month, I attended Life Teen's Women's Retreat which was an amazing weekend with some of my closest friends!  As the weather started to warm up, the kids and I had lots of fun playing outside, splashing at Suwanee Fountains, and playing at all our local parks!

May was my first time getting to really work at A Daisy A Day for Mother's Day...so much fun!  We also got to celebrate Mother's Day with Kimberly and Cory and Rickey and Zelda...we all went to lunch in Cumming!  Evan turned 9 months aand Zoe turned 2 1/2.  At our checkup, the doctor heard a murmur in Zoe's heart so we visited a cardiologist and everything was great.  Evan also was referred to Babies Can't Wait to get him moving and hitting some very important milestones.

June started with Zoe's end of the year recital at BSB.  All of June, my sister and her girls were in town so we had lots of fun with family at the pool or park or having craft days.  We also started building our deck for some much loved outdoor space!  June was the official month Potty Training began for Miss Zoe...she did amazing and we never looked back.  We also had Evan's 1st Therapy Session and it was unbelievably helpful.  Oh and we celebrate my 27th birthday with a fun family gathering!

July was so hot and Zach was so busy with both his jobs.  Evan started to pull up in his crib and sit up from laying down on his own!  Zoe had a really fun spend the night party at Grammy's with her cousins!  I got a much need weekend away with my girlfriends to Fairhope.  Zoe got her first BIG haircut!  We also got to have Kayley at our house for part of a week!

August brought Evan's 1st Birthday celebration with a Nautical Themed party at the Pool!  We were so blessed to get to spend this with all our families and friends.  We attended our 1st Baseball game of 2012 at the Gwinnett Braves to see our friend Lauren sing the National Anthem.  At Evan's 12 month checkup, we were referred to an orthopedist for his feet.  The doctor was not concerned with Evan at all.  He did really start crawling around this month!  I attended my first Jubilee with Tupperware in Orlando.  And at the end of the moth, we attended Zoe's preschool orientation at Prince of Peace.

September is always a big month of celebration for our family too.  We got to celebrate our 4th Wedding Anniversary at Top Sail, NC.  We attended my dear friend, Cristina's wedding, and then stayed the rest of the weekend for some relaxation!  We celebrated Oliver's 2nd Birthday in Heaven!  Evan saw a ENT doctor for some crazy wax buildup.  Zoe started school, but missed her 2nd day because she was sick.  September was when Evan really started to Cruise around.  We finished out the month with a Princess Party to celebrate Kendall's 4th birthday!

October we got to go on a long weekend getaway with Zach's family to Pigeon Forge.  We went to a Drive Thru Zoo and to Dollywood!  At school, Zoe had a really fun Halloween Carnival and Grandma got to come, too!  We had fun Trick or Treating in Grammy and Papa's neighborhood this year!

November we celebrated Zoe's 3rd Toy Story birthday at Chick fil a!  We also had her Thanksgiving Feast at school.  Evan started to walk but didn't really walk full time until the end of the month.  I started to attended a Women's Bible Study with women from varying Parishes and ages...such a blessing!  We celebrated Thanksgiving with Zach's family the weekend before the actual holiday.  Unfortunately, this year our family was pretty sick during Thanksgiving so we didn't really have a feast!  But we always have fun watching the Iron Bowl and watching Bama kicked Auburn's bootay!

December started with the Advent Season!  And we watched Bama roll over the Georgia Bulldawgs in the SEC Championship!  I got a night out with the ladies to see The Story Tour at the Gwinnett Arena.  We had lots of family nights and had our first fire!  We celebrated St. Nick and put our Christmas Tree up and decorated.  Zoe had her Christmas Program at school!  We had fun days with our cousins...a Ginch and Polar Express Day.  Zach and I got to go to a great Christmas party with our closest friends.  We celebrated Christmas with Zach's family first and then spent Christmas day at our home and then at Grammy and Papa's!  We saw the Nights of Lights at Lake Lanier again and closed out the year with a nice family dinner and off to bed early before the ball even dropped!