Our Little Spark: 2011

Yea, yea its a little late, but who cares about time lines anyway :)

December of course started with our trip to Las Vegas for daddy's birthday. We had a blast and the rest of December certainly didn't disappoint.

Coen is very fortunate to have 4 sets of Great Grandparents to celebrate the holidays with as well as 4 sets of grandparents, plus mommy and daddy :) This however does cause for many scheduling conflict's and at times hurt feelings. We started our Christmas celebration the weekend before with my aunt and uncle from Dayton, OH. We had a great time of course LOTS of delicious food!

The next day following church we celebrated with Broc's grandparents on his mother's side. Do to the twins not being there he was the only baby so he was toted around like a handbag by all of the girls. He LOVED it! When it came time to open gifts Granny insisted that Coen set on top of the dining room table and have everyone stand around and watch him. He felt like a king!

The following weekend we started on Thursday evening with Broc's dad and stepmother. We had yummy chili (which was a very nice change to the typical "holiday" food). Broc's brother had made it in from South Carolina so we were able to all have a great time visiting.

Friday we went to Broc's grandmother's on his father's side. We enjoyed more food and a lot of family that we don't see other than the holidays.

We had to leave early from his grandmother's due to Coen's baptism. We scheduled it to be on Christmas Eve because the service is candlelight and is the perfect time to celebrate new life. We asked Tracee and Nick earlier in the month if they would want to have the twins baptised at the same time, they agreed. It was a beautiful service. Coen did a wonderful job he even let Dale Green carry him around the congregation. One of the most special parts of the baptism was the baptismal itself. My father handcrafted the beautiful stand that held a commissioned glass bowl, my parents dedicated the bowl in honor of my grandfather who passed away in May. Coen was the first baby/person to be baptised from the bowl.

After church Friday night we had Christmas with my grandmother on my mother's side. We spent some more time with my sister and brother-in-law. And finally went to bed to wait for Santa!

Santa certainly didn't disappoint! Coen woke up to a tent filled with balls to crawl around in. He also found a wooden train, books, and a "chuck the truck". Of course many other gifts of clothes and puzzles were under the tree too.

My grandmother from my father's side, aunt, uncle, and cousins all came over for Christmas dinner. We spent time playing games and having a great time!

The following day, Sunday, we went to Broc's mom's house. Coen had a wagon and a tractor waiting on him there. Because we spread the celebrations out over the week/end we were able to spend a good amount of time with each family. Later that evening the twins, Tracee, Nick and Shane (another of Broc's cousins) came over to hang out for a little bit. Poor Broc had to work the next day so he went to bed early. It wasn't exactly planned but all of the babies fell asleep so we started playing games. Around 4 am we realized Broc would be getting up soon for work so we greeted him with a wonderful breakfast and all ran off to bed as he left for work.. It was certainly a great time...I am sure pulling an all nighter every year might not work, but I hope our "game" night becomes a tradition!

Coen had a great first Christmas and Broc and I both enjoyed our first Christmas as a family more than we could have imagined!

I will add photos later!

So I think its quite obvious that I am not the best at updating this blog...

We are coming up on 1 year with little Bug. I think every mom says this but I really can't believe it. We have been looking at pictures trying to get them ready for a slideshow or photobook and it crazy how much he has changed in just one year! Since I last updated we have had some of the biggest changes in our lives, we have been to new places, and of course Coen is experiencing and doing all new things!

To start off...we found out in October that Broc had gotten a new job back in the area that we are from. So we immediately put our house on the market and realized that with me staying at home we were to scared to take on a second mortgage or rent. We are VERY blessed because my parents were gracious enough to allow us to live with them until our house sells. Here is a photo of moving day....

The first two months after we moved back we were extremely busy. Thanksgiving was shortly after the move then of course Christmas SOON followed...in between the holidays we celebrated Broc's 30th birthday! I had intentions of surprising him with a trip to Las Vegas but I am really bad at keeping things from him. I get so excited and can't wait to tell him...although I will say I did keep it from him for nearly 6 months. :)

We are very blessed to have awesome friends and family because they were more than happy to make the journey to Vegas to help us celebrate. Broc's brother Bret and their cousin Tracee and husband Nick joined us along with his long time best friend Corey and wife Sara. Of course I was nervous to leave Coen for the 5 days we would be gone so my parents agreed to come and take him around when we wanted adult time. Tracee had the same thoughts as I did and wanted to bring the twins with them. My parents were more than willing to take on all 3 babies...