2015 Review

I'm trying to get caught up on my blog, so here's another one!  I always like to do a year in review post just to capture the highlights from the year.  It's such a great way to focus and look back on all of the blessings from our Lord.  So, here's our 2015...

1.  Mike and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary on January 12, 2015.  We were able to enjoy a true date night while my family watched the boys!  We went to eat at Marketplace Grill in Little Rock and it was delicious!  

2.  Our feeding routine with Samuel was drastically changed at the end of January when he had to get a feeding tube.  This was his first surgery since leaving the NICU and we had to stay over night in order to learn how to feed him and make sure he was tolerating his new g-tube.  What I thought was going to be a huge burden, turned into a blessing.  It's because of the feeding tube that Samuel has been gaining weight and making his way to being back on the growth curve.

3.  January was a big month for us in 2015.  This was also my first official month as a member of the ACH NICU Family Advisory Board.  The "FAB" is made up of former NICU parents and a few NICU staff.  It has made a huge impact on me being able to make connections with other parents who really get what all we went through (and continue to go through) with Samuel.  Plus, it has given me the ability to reach out to others who are now in the NICU.  Because of our journey with Samuel, the Lord has opened my eyes even more to the struggles that others endure.  My heart longs to reach out to them and help them in any way possible.

4.  Samuel turned 1 year old on April 7, 2015.  It was such a surreal celebration after all that he went through the first 6.5 months of his life.  We had a huge party at a park in NLR and welcomed family and friends to come meet Samuel for the first time!  It was absolutely perfect!  We chose a Superman theme since he is our "Super Sam" and he was Superman the day he came home from the NICU!

5.  The very next week, we attended our first March for Babies through the March of Dimes.  It was held at the Clinton Presidential Library and offered a family-friendly way to honor and celebrate premature babies!  It was fun getting so see a few of our NICU buddies hearing stories of other little fighters!  The #SamuelStrong team definitely made their presence known with our bright orange shirts!  He is one lucky little boy to have such a big group of supporters!

6.  In May we went with Mike's family to Orange Beach, Alabama.  There was a lot of anxiety leading up to this trip because of all of Samuel's needs, but it ended up being fairly relaxing.  The condo had great amenities for the kiddos - private beach access, private pool, lazy river, and a water slide!  It was definitely a successful beach trip - plus, we also got to visit the Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo like we did the year before when I was pregnant with Samuel.

7.  Our other vacation was to Branson with my family.  We stayed in my parents condo and spent our time shopping and at Silver Dollar City!  This was a first for both boys, and it was so fun to see Matthew experience big rides for the first time.  Samuel only made it 1 day at SDC, but I'm sure that will change over the years.  One night, Mike and I were able to take Matthew out for some quality time just the 3 of us.  We took him to the Dixie Stampede and had a blast!  He was mesmerized the whole time - horses, buffalo, and other animals/entertainment made the ticket price all worth it!

At the Dixie Stampede

8.  Something I've been waiting for since having Matthew happened over the summer - I got to watch him play soccer and tee ball for the first time!  It was the cutest and funniest thing to watch!!!  He was on the Fireflies soccer team through the Arkansas Soccer Club - he started learning basic skills with ball handling and listening to the coach.  He loved chasing Mike around the field and kicking the soccer ball into the goal.  For tee ball, we went through Burns Park.  He had 1 practice and 1 game a week.  The dog piles on the ball and them running the bases gave us all a good laugh - each week!  I'm so excited for this coming season!

9.  We spent almost every weekend at my sister's pool over the summer!  This has been the best addition to our family get togethers!  It's so much fun to either play in the water with Matthew or just relax under the umbrella with Samuel.  We've made some great memories by that pool!  We tried Samuel in the water a few times, and he started getting used to it.  I'm hoping this coming summer he'll enjoy it more!  Matthew is a little fish - he loves to jump in the water and have Mike throw him around in the water.  I'm ready for him to really learn how to swim because I'm a ball of nerves when he's near the water without his floaties.  Fingers crossed, he will learn this summer!

10.  Matthew turned 3 years old on August 24, 2015.  He grew up so much the last few months before his birthday.  It's crazy to look back at videos of him - he's lost his baby fat and his vocabulary has grown!  He's even shocked many doctors with his vocabulary!  We had his party at my sister's pool again, but this year it was a pirate party!  He had a blast with his little friends - the best was watching him tear through his gifts.  It was, literally, like a tornado! 

11.  Samuel's 1st "Un-Birthday" celebration was in October.  Being a preemie gives you the right to 2 parties a year....he's definitely earned it!  This was a celebration of him coming home from the NICU....he's an official NICU Graduate of 2014!  We went simple with just getting family & friends together at a local pumpkin patch.  While Samuel spent much of the party asleep, the other kiddos had fun looking at the animals and playing!

12.  Our home is filled with a lot of stress due to Samuel's medical care, which I wouldn't trade for anything.  However, I need my girl time to help me recharge.  I am beyond grateful for my Bunco girls and our 3rd year of getting together once a month!  We still have a theme each month and use one of our Bunco weekends for a girl trip.  We went to Hot Springs again, but didn't do as much at Oaklawn.  It was the Derby and crazy crowded, so we settled for dinner and shopping followed by relaxing at our cabin.  Bunco time is something I look forward to each month! 

Looking forward to 2016 and the plans God has for our family!

Christmas 2015

I'm late again in posting, but better late than never right?  We had an amazing Christmas season - it's definitely my favorite time of year!  I love the magical feeling in the air and all of the decorations and lights around town!  I also love seeing Matthew get so excited about the same things now that he's old enough to better understand it.  I had hoped to do a lot of the traditional Christmas things with him (Christmas cookies, Santa, etc), but time got away from me.  Also, Mike and Matthew went to Illinois to visit family right before Christmas so there just wasn't time.  We did manage to go see Christmas lights and introduce Matthew to the crazy inflatables at the house on Convington Drive in North Little Rock!  He now wants a lot of inflatables for our yard - ummm...no!

While Mike and Matthew were in Illinois, I had some quality time with Samuel!  We hope to be able to take Samuel to Illinois next Christmas so he can meet our family there, but only time will tell.  It just depends on his health, and the health of others.  Thankfully, we have 11 months for him to grow and for his lungs to get healthier before we have to make a decision.  I loved getting to focus on Samuel and his therapy during our alone time.  I was also able to play with him more than usual - he's so much fun!  I did miss my other two boys though.

He was in little boy heaven with all of the trackers!

Climbing to the top of the silo with daddy!

Christmas day, we went to my parents house.  We had a yummy breakfast before opening presents.  While Matthew tore into his gifts, I opened Samuel's for him.  Matthew got a lot of cars, a car transporter, remote control cars, clothes, and other toys & games.  My parents surprised us with a full blown cowboy outfit for Matthew and it's the cutest thing ever!  He now has a hat, boots, belt, shirt, handcuffs, gun (suction sup), and a star badge.  It's pretty awesome!  He also got a ride-on jeep...this was definitely his fave!  After opening all the gifts and relaxing a while, we had lunch.  It was just like when I was growing up and I love that my boys get to experience the same thing!  

My favorite gift that I gave were signs that I found on Etsy.  My grandparents got a sign that reads "Great Grandkids" in the background and underneath it says "Make Life Grand".  There are several clothes pins attached at the bottom for them to display pictures.  For my parents, I found an Etsy site that custom makes signs also.  My boys call them Emie and Pops and there are never any grandparent things with those names on them.  Their sign says "Pops and Emie Established August 2012".  I wanted them to have something with their unique grandparent names and I thought this was perfect!

 

The day after Christmas, we headed up to Conway for the Fleisher Christmas.  This one cracks me up because it's 5 kids under the age of 4 ripping into presents.  We pass them out one at a time and watch as they each open a gift.  Samuel got more clothes and a multitude of light up toys!  Matthew stocked up on Octonaut characters and their ships, plus Paw Patrol & Jake and the Neverland Pirate toys.  His big gift from them was a big boy bike!  We haven't put it together yet because we are waiting on finding a new house and for the weather to warm up.  I know he will love it!

Overall, Christmas 2015 was a huge success!  Matthew keeps asking about when Santa will come again, so we are trying to teach him about the concept of waiting 11 months - haha!  I want my boys to know to true meaning of Christmas, so it's my goal this coming year to do a better job of incorporating the story of Christmas.  Any ideas are welcome!