2018: Year in Review

I had several computer issues this year that made it very difficult to blog and once I got behind I stopped trying. I'm going to go back and add some posts about important things this year. I would like to keep blogging for a record of Luke and future kids as he/they/our family grows - so hopefully I can be more consistent in 2019! So here are some things that happened this year:

JANUARY: Luke turned 9 months, LOVED baths and playing with the table paper at the doctor's office. We had the first big snow since he'd been born and he took his first bath in the tub! I turned 28 and loved spending the day with with my boys.

FEBRUARY: Luke said "Daddy!" for the first time! He turned 10 months and became increasingly difficult to photograph. We went to Hannah and Paul's gender reveal and found out Luke's future girlfriend was on her way. :) I took Luke to the park to swing for the first time on a 70 degree day and then we started going a lot! The youth made Josh a "The Office" birthday sign when he turned 29!

MARCH: Luke turned 11 months old and then got sick for the first time. He had croup for a few days and he was a sad little baby. (He also started free standing around the same time.) We spent lots of days at the park. We took pictures of tulips at Dewberry Farm. At the end of the month we went to visit Grams and Granddaddy (and Matt) for Gram's birthday! 

APRIL: April 1st was Luke's second Easter and Uncle Matt came to visit! Then on April 3rd, Luke turned ONE! Mimi, Poppy, Aunt Rebekah, Uncle Zac, and Aunt Charity came over for pizza and birthday cake and Mimi and Poppy gave Luke a slide! On April 7th we had Luke's party at church with close friends and family! We got him a tricycle which he loved and we spent lots of time swinging at the park.

MAY: My sister, mom, and I threw a baby shower for 2 of our dearest friends. LUKE STARTED WALKING! and we celebrated Lucas' 1st birthday! We visited Lynchburg and got to go up in the new tower for the first time. My second Mother's Day was a great day with both of our families! We spent so many days at the park and the weather kept getting better and better.

JUNE: My best friend had her baby boy, Wyatt James on June 1st! We had a youth pool party and it was Luke's first time in a pool! We celebrated Josh on Father's Day! And then on June 20th, Hannah had sweet baby Evelyn!! Luke played in water and Josh's family came to visit to hear him preach! At the end of June we had VBS at church! Always so much fun!

JULY: Uncle Matt came to visit and we cooked out with my parents for the 4th of July! I bible journaled our VBS themes. Luke and I went to the park after Josh went to camp with the youth and then I went to meet them a few days later! We took some of our youth up to Liberty to tour around! Josh went with youth to Nicaragua at the end of the month.

AUGUST: We went to take pictures at Dewberry Farm with the sunflowers and Uncle on his birthday! Luke and I went swimming with Lauren and baby Zeb. Obviously there were many more days at the park. On August 31st we headed to the beach for Labor Day Weekend with my family and Luke LOVED the ocean!!

SEPTEMBER: We had such a great weekend in Oak Island with my family and came back for Luke and I to start Preschool on Sept. 5th! Luke loved school and became more mischievous by the day. At the end of the month we took youth to Lynchburg to visit their friends they went to Nicaragua with!

   OCTOBER: Luke turned 18 months but was very difficult to photograph. We went to visit family in Roanoke and went to the pumpkin patch! We spent a fun evening at Wake Forest after Josh accidentally left his keys in my car. We went to another pumpkin patch in Kernersville and then went to Liberty for Homecoming the next day and hung out with Matt. The day of the Fall Festival Josh and Luke matched and then that night we dressed up as the PJ Masks with Mack and Adam! On Halloween Josh came to Farm Day at Preschool and Luke had so much fun!

NOVEMBER: Luke loved the fall breeze in his face. We went to Bedford for the Fall Retreat with the youth group. On Thanksgiving we went to Roanoke and had lunch with Josh's mom's side of the family. Luke loved playing in the leaves. On Black Friday we had dinner with my family!

DECEMBER: It snowed over a foot but Luke did not like being out in the cold wind. The fanatics went to see the twins in their Christmas Dance Recital! We had an Ugly Sweater Christmas Party with the Youth and Josh, Luke, and I all dressed up. Matt came to stay with us for a while because he had to work the day after Christmas and on Christmas Eve we went to have dinner with my family. We had a great Christmas at home and with my family. The next day we went to visit Grams and Granddaddy in Roanoke while Matt worked and then the next day we went to Atlanta! 

WHAT A YEAR. God has been so good to us. It's been so fun to watch Luke grow into a walking, running, talking TODDLER. I can't wait to see what happens in 2019. 

XOXO

2017: Year in Review

JANUARY: We stayed in on New Years because I was sick. It snowed and my dad and Josh painted our upstairs. We registered at Babies R Us and Target! WE BOUGHT A CAR! I started the third trimester of the pregnancy! I turned 27 and we celebrated by going to Lamaze classes.

FEBRUARY: I spent extra time with April because at the end of February her family moved to Tennessee (10 hours away). Josh and I tried to make chili for the church chili cook-off. (It ended with his hands and face being on fire from chilies, coating his hands in yogurt, and going to Walmart at 10 pm to buy beans to reduce the heat.) Our church threw us a sweet baby shower and we received so many gifts! We also used gift cards from the shower to redo our hall bathroom, which will be the "kid bathroom" someday.

MARCH: We took some of the youth to tour Liberty (and see Steph Curry) at the beginning of the month! We bought a dresser for the nursery at Ikea. I got super big. Two of my closest and oldest friends threw me a wonderful baby shower. On March 30, I was called to go to my OB-GYN where I found out I had cholestasis of pregnancy and that I needed to have the baby as soon as possible. AH! We scheduled the induction for April 1st and went home to get ready! 

APRIL: We checked into the hospital at 2 am on April 2nd. The next few days were a blur, but Luke was born on April 3rd at 11:12pm. We took him home on April 6th, after his first doctor visit we had a billi blanket delivered. Josh's friend from work came over and took some newborn pictures. April 16th was Luke's first Easter and we had lunch at my parents' house, which was Luke's first outing. Josh had the whole month of April off of work so we had lots of time together. At the end of the month, my parents came over and watched Luke while we went out on our first date alone!

MAY: Luke turned 1 month old! I adjusted to stay at home mom life. We took Luke to church for the first time (after 6 weeks)! That was Mother's Day and Josh's family came to town. Luke got to meet his Uncle Matt that weekend too. Luke and I went to have lunch with Josh for the first time. And we enjoyed lots of time at home.

JUNE: We celebrated our 5th Wedding Anniversary on June 2nd and took a day to go shopping and go out to eat and to the park. Luke turned 2 months old. We had VBS at church and hung out with some of our youth. We went to Roanoke the weekend of Father's Day and spent the day with both of our families.

JULY: Luke turned 3 months old! We celebrated the 4th of July at Mimi and Poppy's house and watched the fireworks from the side of the road that night.  Mom, Rebekah, and I took Luke to see my grandma. Josh took the youth group to summer camp at Ridgecrest (where we met), and my mom, Luke, and I went to visit them! We hung out with friends and had lots of fun outside.

AUGUST: Luke was a show off at his 4 month check-up at the doctor and everyone loved him. He started eating rice and oatmeal cereal and he sat up in his bumbo more and more. We found a jumperoo at church that he LOVED, so we got one at home. We also went up to see Grams and Grandaddy again! On the last day of August we drove to Oak Island for Luke's first trip to the beach!

SEPTEMBER: Luke was not too crazy about being out at the beach, but we had a great Labor Day weekend with family and friends! Luke looked super cute in his Luke Kuechly Jersey and we went to see Aunt Kinny and Aunt Anna dominate in volleyball! We also went to Emily's wedding at the end of the month! and Luke sat up in the tub for the first time!

OCTOBER: We had Luke dedicated at church at the beginning of the month and Josh's family came up to be there. Luke turned 6 MONTHS OLD! He got his first tooth and we started sitting him up in carts at Target and grocery stores. :) I won a pumpkin patch photo shoot on Facebook so we got some awesome 6 month photos! Then we went up to Liberty for Luke's first Homecoming! At the end of the month Grammy came to stay and we went up to Roanoke for Granddaddy's birthday! Luke liked playing with his (2nd) cousin Lucas. Then to finish out October we went to the Fall Festival at church dressed as robbers with our sack of money! And Luke had his first Halloween, which we celebrated by dressing him up as a pumpkin and going to eat Mexican food with Mimi and Poppy.

NOVEMBER: Luke grew so much in November. He started trying to stand and pull himself up more and more. We, of course, decorated for Christmas super early and our friends came over to take pictures for our Christmas card. Josh was sick on Thanksgiving but we made the last minute trip up to Amherst, VA for dinner with his dad's side of the family. On Black Friday we had our family dinner with my family and then Luke shocked us by pulling himself all the way up in his Pack n Play.

DECEMBER: At the very beginning of December we decided to bite the bullet and put Luke in his crib to cry it out. He slept for 12 hours through the night, which he has done every night since then! We had a sad time when Josh's Memaw passed away, (but we will always cherish the memories of Luke's first Thanksgiving when he met his Memaw.) Luke saw his first snow and we had a good month getting ready for his first Christmas. Josh had the whole week before Christmas off and his family came to stay with us for a few days to have Christmas with Luke. Then we had Christmas morning at our house and went over to celebrate with my family at Mimi and Poppy's. Luke loved his Owlette car from Grammy and Grandy and his wagon from Mimi and Poppy so much. We went to see some of our church family on Christmas night and then went up to Roanoke to see Grams and Granddaddy the day after Christmas. It was a very busy, very special month.

How in the world is 2017 over?? The year we had our baby... who isn't a little baby anymore. This year was so special, happy, sad, hard, and wonderful. The best year of my life loving our little boy. He will be 9 months on January 3rd and I can't handle how close he is to being one. But I also can't wait to see him learn and grow in 2018. It just keeps getting better. <3 p="">


XOXO