Thoughts for the New Year

As another new year is quickly approaching, I've been thinking about new year's resolutions. I know, I know....who actually keeps them for the whole year? BUT...I have a list of "GOALS" that I want to shoot for this year. Here goes:

1. Making the bed. Our bed rarely gets made. And when it does, chances are, its in the summer or Christmas break or Spring break or any other time when I'm off of school. But it really makes our room look so much nicer when it's made, so I'm going to try and make it more.

2. Cook/Bake more for others. It seems like life gets busier by the moment, but I'm trying to make the effort to cook/bake in bulk, then freeze to have something ready in a moment's notice for a family in need.

3. Do Something! I John 3:18 is our church motto. "Let's not just say we love people, let's show them with our actions."

4. Creating family experiences. I want to make an intentional effort to create experiences as a family. More play, less business. I'm also looking forward to being inventive with our budget friendly outings. It will be interesting I'm sure.

So what about you? Do you have any goals for the new year? I'm curious to see what other people set for themselves and their families. Happy Goal setting!

Highlights of the Season

This picture was taken a few days before Christmas, but it encompasses what we felt this holiday season. In one word: joy. We have had so much joy this past year, and really in the past few days especially with our families. It would be impossible to post every single picture (though I tried to on facebook) from our Christmas season. Here are some highlights:

1. Christmas Eve Eve: We spent the night at Dad's and were able to hang out with Cody, Heather, Austin, and Gavin. It was so fun to see Sam and Gavin hang out. Gavin is 2 months older than Sam, but they're both finally at the age of playing with each other. They were so cute. You could tell they wanted to play and they would just run up to each other and grin. So fun! It was also fun getting to hang out with just them. No big crowds of people around or busy schedules to have to fulfill. We should do that more often.

2. Christmas Eve morning: Stacey, Chris, and the kids got in after we had all gone to bed so when the kids woke up we were all there. When Jake woke up, Sam crawled right up on top of him and sat on his lap and watched cartoons with him. Jake didn't know what to think of that! Especially since he had just woken up and was still a little groggy.

3. Christmas Eve day: Santa coming to see the kids. Sam hated it. He's not a fan of Santa. At. All. But now I can add a picture of the crying baby with Santa to my repetoire. I'm officially in the parent club now. All in all, we had a blast at Dad's just hanging out and visiting. Very much needed. And again, we need to do that more often.

4. Christmas Eve day Part 2: Going to Jared's mom's house. Sam getting to experience a trampoline for the first time. LOVED IT! He also knew what to do with presents by this point so when Jared's brother brought in a box of gifts, he went straight to them and started unloading them!

5. Christmas Eve night: The Bailey Family Christmas. For those of you who don't know, we last counted 71 members of this elite club. And there's 2 more coming! It's crazy, but fun! Sam loved it for the most part, but had to go to bed....it had been a long day for him! That night as we drove home we stopped by Pine Forest Baptist Church for their dancing light show. So neat to see the twinkle in Sam's eyes as he pointed out "light" and "star". Last year he slept right through the show.

6. Christmas morning: Sam waking up and seeing his basketball goal. He spoke his first sentence: "More balls". This kid loves playing with anything that looks like a ball. I can tell sports is in his future. What was so cool was that he got books too, and wanted to sit and read all of them with me. So he'll be a smart athlete!

7. Christmas day: Mom and Mel came over and we opened up presents from them. They do love to spoil that Sam! We were so grateful for the things that they got him, but so was he! He had a blast coloring on his art easel....after he realized that it was for coloring and not just crawling through! Mel and Sam also had a great time wrestling in the ball pit that Debbie got for Sam! All fun gifts that he will love!

8. Christmas evening: We finished out the day with decorating our gingerbread house...what a mess! It was so funny! As soon as Jared put the first sliver of icing, Sam's immediate reaction was to grab and eat it! He loved that icing! I'm surprised that he actually went to sleep at all last night! It was tough knowing that he was eating things that weren't the best for him, but it's Christmas and I don't want to be one of those over controlling moms who doesn't let their kid have any fun, so I just took a deep breath and told myself "It's Christmas. We'll get back to normal next week." I was super proud of Sam for eating ham. He's such a picky eater these days. But two days in a row now, he's had ham and mashed pototoes and gravy. WooHoo...a normal meal!

It was such a great time for us to spend with our families. I'm reminded of how blessed we are and how much people love our little man! We truly are blessed to be a blessing...and it was fun to be able to bless other people! So those are some of the highlights...there were many more, but those are some that stuck out. And today, Sam said another sentence! "Mama, more!" And to think, I was worried for nothing. :)

Just Another Day in Paradise

Sam is "reading" the Christmas story with Jared. He says "ba" and points to Baby Jesus!

Did I mention how much Sam loves crawling and climbing all over Jared?!?

Priceless.

And this my friends is a light saber. He got this as a Christmas present from Lee and Shirley, some very dear friends of ours in Marshall. Shirley thought he might be too small for it, but this has been the toy of the day. I don't think Sam even picked up any other toy today. Here he is demonstating his awesome skills with it.

This is just before he went down the hall beating on the walls and doors. I love that kid.

This was Sam's second favorite toy today. I told Sam to put them on his feet and this is what he did. We're still working on learning all that. Today I asked him where his nose was and he stuck out his tongue. He's such a crazy kid....we'll get there. Haha!

I thought I'd share some pictures from our everyday adventures. The best things in life certainly are free.

Trip Down Memory Lane

Sam and I in front of some of the lights at the Courthouse in Marshall.

This was as close as he would go to Santa by himself. We had to give the cookie to Santa to give to Sam. Am I proud of this? No, but you do what you gotta do to get the annual Santa picture sometimes.

Dad and Sam walking around...probably his favorite spot.

Beautiful courthouse...it was so beautiful to see.

I'll be the first to admit that it was a little emotional for me coming back to Marshall. This was the place where Jared and I met, dated, and became engaged and now we brought Sam to see the town. We hadn't been back in so long. After we walked around the courthouse we took a drive through ETBU to see their new student center. That really got me emotional as we drove through all the places that we used to go, the places we used to walk, and sit and talk as we were dating. It was a whirlwind trip with driving to Marshall that day and then staying overnight with our friends in Shreveport that night. We left the next morning after having breakfast with them. It was a fun, quick little family trip. Memories in the making.

We recently had grandkid pictures made for my mother in law as a surprise gift for her for Christmas. She doesn't have internet (crazy I know) so I can post these. Shhhhh...it's a surprise! Sam had not taken a nap that day so these were the few that we got of him where he wasn't screaming and clinging...because that's what my kid does when he hasn't had a nap.

All the grandkids from freshman in high school (sniff sniff) to Sam the 16 month old!

This one is my favorite! Love Sam's innocent little face!

I wanted to post something since I've been taking a blog sabbatical. Sometimes I can get overly interested in blogs and see all these things that other moms are doing and I get really insecure about my role as a mother. Why can't I make time for Bible studies with my kid, and make cute crafts with him, and blah blah blah. So I had to take a step back and do some soul searching with the Lord. I get so worried about Sam...is he talking enough? is he going to be a good reader? (yes I think about this stuff already) and the list goes on and on. As much as I love to stay connected through blogs, facebook, etc. sometimes it's too much. Everyone posts every victory of their child (as do I) and then I start wondering....Sam can't say "ho, ho, ho" what's wrong with him? Then guess what I start teaching Sam...you guessed it! Ho, Ho, Ho! You know what his new words are? Star and Hey. So needless to say, I've had to take a step (or maybe two) back. But I'm good. I'm continually having to give my constant worries and insecurities over to the Lord and He and I together are conquering them.

In other news, tomorrow is our early release for Christmas break. I am SOOOOOOO ready. We're driving to Marshall to look at the lights with Sam and hopefully have some good family holiday fun! I'll post pictures soon. Here's my agenda for Christmas break:

1. Go see Christmas lights.
2. Picture with Santa.
3. Make gingerbread house
4. Visit families/have families over
5. Staff Christmas party (where we WILL use my china!)
6. Bag up stuff for Goodwill
7. Sleep late. :) Yes please!

Hope you enjoy your Christmas! Remember that it's not about Santa, it's about Jesus and what His life did for the world. Merry Christmas!