Oh no, CRASH!!

Pictures first!


My niece Annabelle came to stay with us for a few nights recently. Gavin LOVES her and calls her Bull because he can't say Annabelle, ha!

Gavin's favorite toy of the moment. A vacuum. Auntie Cindy hooked him up with one after his very deliberate cleaning at Ireland's party, ha!

Gavin and Joseph, new formed friendship between the two guys!

Christmas in Piggott. Gavin got a train set from Judy for his birthday, but since it was so nice, we decided to let him open it at Christmas.

A thumbprint bruise from my first doula job! Can you believe I didn't even notice it until the next day?!

My first doula job for an awesome friend. What an amazing, incredible, 31 hours of no sleep experience!

My hippy child at Christmas. LOL

Granma Josie. We love her so much and her cooking!!

Botanical Gardens FM Holiday Market.

My sweet aunt Carol who got up with me at 5:30 am several Saturday's to help me set up in Fayetteville.

Remembering Granma on her birthday. This is one of my favorite pictures of her. The furniture she is sitting on is being passed down to me. It's so elegant, just like she was.

More Christmas shenanigans. I think he broke a few things.

Case in point with the vacuum. Gavin could barely contain himself with cleaning!

Lovely fall day playing in the leaves.

Gavin helping out in the kitchen. He cleans up the leftover granola. Hey, somebody's gotta do it!

One of my dearest friends got married!

A cousin got married!
Helping with the Christmas decorations





Wow, life sure has changed since Gavin's birthday party. His favorite thing to say is, "Oh no, Crash!" It's hilarious. Anytime something falls, or gets thrown, or even remotely makes a crash noise--this is what he says. It's kinda like what has happened the past year, and specifically the past few months: OH NO, CRASH!!!

Gavin is growing up! He amazes us everyday with how fast he is changing and maturing. He has a hilarious sense of humor (he likes to laugh at his own jokes) and can talk up a storm in Mandarin. Well, at least it seems like Mandarin because it's completely unintelligible when he goes off on one of his talking tangents. His vocabulary is huge and his memory is incredible. He has a little of Blake's personality and a little of mine.

And my goodness, this boy can eat! He's always been a big guy, but he is eating us out of house and home. This is what he had today: Breakfast: 2 eggo waffles, a bowl of cereal and a PB&J sandwich. Lunch: Applesauce, popcorn, big bowl of oatmeal. Dinner: bowl of spaghetti with meat sauce, more popcorn, and 2 big glasses of milk!! He weighs 36 pounds and he is super tall at 39"!

He knows some of his colors, can do some counting, and can identify pretty much anything you ask him.

The time of my baby growing up is happening. Although, he still refers to himself as "baby." HA! He will say "baby wants to eat" "baby go night night".

He is such a good kid! He is a good listener and obeys well. He will, of course, act out like any toddler does, but overall he is super easy to raise. "He's pretty amazing" were the words just out of Blake's mouth. I love that!

Speaking of Blake, during the past few months, his position was elimiated at the hospital. They offered him a part-time position in rehab, at a 70% pay cut. Needless to say, this has been quite a blow to us. It seems at this point though, that we have adapted to this new financial situation. In the beginning, it was tough. We had moments of "Oh my gosh, what are we going to DO?!" Panic stricken moments of, how are we going to pay our bills? Are we going to lose our house? And we still have moments like that. Looking back, we can see how God had us already taken care of! I'm thankful that the new car we were planning on purchasing didn't happen. We're thankful for the generosity our family has shown us by helping us out. We're thankful for the support our friends have shown, and how our church family has prayed for and supported us.

Blake has applied for jobs all over the country and we are still holding onto hope that his position will be reinstated eventually.

Our house is now for sale. We have invested a lot of money into this little bungalow, but it's time for us to move on. It has been our first real "home" together. That part is going to be hard for me. We have had amazing memories here, and some truly awful ones. But, that's what life is, right? The substance of our time is made up of moments of joy, sorrow, happyness, discontent, exhilaration, and everything in between. It will be a bittersweet move whenever it sells (and soon!)
http://www.sandersonrealtors.com/listings.asp MLS#648199

The granola business is doing great. I just love it!! I'm thrilled for this year's market season. I truly believe I have found my little niche in the business world that I have been contemplating for the past 10 years!! That is another change in our life, is that I will be selling at the Fayetteville market and will be gone 22 hours a week from home. That doesn't include the 15-20 hours of baking and packaging I will be doing too. It doesn't even feel like work since I love it so much.

The holidays were good. We spent time with the family that uplifts us and brings us joy. It won't ever, ever be the same without the two most important women in our life gone. There are moments when grief hits you like a slap across the face, and during the holidays we felt that more intensely. There are days where I am still in denial about our losses. I actually have to remind myself that it's real. Blake misses his mom so much. There really are no words to describe how your life is forever changed.

So, here we are in 2012. Our family goals for this year are to: Get healthier! Pay off bills and build up our emergency fund. Travel a little. Spend as much time together as possible. Spend less by not buying retail and by shopping more thrift type stores. Quit enabling negativity in our life, and enabling each other to make better choices. Cook new recipes together. Grow closer spiritually. Weed out the junk in our life!!

Until next time I get the chance to blog,
We wish you peace, love and joy!!