Year in Review

Wow I can't believe it's been so long since my last post! There are a few things you need to have to keep up a blog: desire to write about something, time to write, and access to internet. Over the past few months the last two of that list have been extremely limited (hence the blogging hiatus). But here I am, so let's see what's new...

2011: Year in Review (a little late)

2011 was a big year for us. Lots of big changes. To start with, we put our house on the market. That can be a stressful process for anyone, but throw in a toddler and you can forget about keeping your sanity. The stress of having to keep your house clean (as in, spotless, 24/7), never knowing when someone might want to come by to take a look is not something I care to revisit. Thankfully, we were able to get an offerfairly fast and eventually sold it. We are now free of the monthly burden of a mortgage payment!

Once we sold our house we moved out to my parents' farm where we live in a small garage apartment. Going from a 2000 sq ft home to a 1 bedroom apartment has been an adjustment to say the least. But overall we are happy. We have tons of family close by (which we LOVE), and plenty of space for everyone to run around outside. Nolan and Boomer are especially enjoying the perks of being on the farm! In the end we've learned that we don't need a big house or a lot of fancy material possessions. That's not where our joy comes from. Our joy comes from the Lord, and He is a God who provides for our every need. We are so very blessed!

2011 was also a big year for us as we welcomed a new addition to our family - Abigail! Her name means "Joy of the Father", and boy is she a JOY. She has a smile that will light up a room. She likes to talk (about nothing in particular) and can instantly turn any bad day into a great one with just one adorning look. She eats a lot, but she sleeps great. I try to remember that I am very blessed to have a baby that slept through the night a such a young age. I'm not sure how I could be a working mother of 2 if I didn't get some sleep at night! Adding Abby to our family has certainly kept us all on our toes, but we are loving every minute of it. I can't imagine our life any other way now!

Nolan has adjusted to being a big brother. In fact, he is doing an awesome job! He is very good at trying to be helpful. He can get diapers, throw diapers away, and loves to give Abby stuff - mostly stuff she doesn't need - blankets, toys, pacifiers, etc. it absolutely melts my heart to see him love her. He often will find her and give her a kiss for no apparent reason, or go over to her crib in the morning and say "Mornin' Princess!". And when he finds something interesting he always makes a point to show Abby - "Look, Abideh*! a red tractor!" *Abideh is what it sounds like when he says Abigail.

Anyway, I could ramble on all day, and most of this is stuff you probably already know if you talk to us regularly. The point I wanted to make was just that I'm sorry it's been so long since I've updated the blog. Life has been busy. But Life is Good.

Now for your viewing pleasure, here's a short video of Nolan and Abby playing together:

love them!