Saying 'goodbye' to the old and 'hello' to the new!
As we close out the year of 2017 I can't help but marvel at all The Lord has done in my life and the lives of my boys. He has given us more than we deserve and I am eternally grateful for the amazing year of 2017. For some reason I feel like highlighting the most memorable events that happened in this year. So here I go! :)
Let's start off with our fearless leader and provider, Justin.
The year started off with Justin thinking and praying about a career change. He felt the call to move from being a Carpenter at Wagenbach Builders Inc. where he worked for 7 years! Into IT at Samaritan Ministries Inc. where he has now been for 9 months. When he first brought up the idea I have to admit I wasn't super thrilled. I felt like everyone we knew worked there and I wasn't super excited for him to lose his individuality with being the only carpenter I knew. But as the Lord continued to lay it on Justin's heart I started to see all the amazing benefits we would be blessed with if Justin took this path in his career. Needless to say he has been there since March and neither one of us has regretted the choice! What a blessing SMI has been to us. :) Not to mention the fact that Justin has been kicking butt at his job and I am so proud of all he has learned and accomplished to put forth his best effort to that ministry. Of course Justin isn't perfect. duh. But he tries his best for this family and I'd say he did an amazing job of taking care of all our needs in 2017. Whether it was superficial, like things we wanted or practical, like things we needed to survive, he worked hard to make it all happen for us and I am eternally grateful to him.
Next is my main man, Jaxon.
This kid. Sheesh. What a year it has been with him. First February of 2017 is when Jaxon finally started to sleep through the night! That is my favorite thing he has ever learned to do. ;D Second, finding out he was going to be a big brother then watching him grow up and fill his role perfectly as the protector and helpful oldest child was such a joyous thing to watch. Plus he turned the big 2 YEARS OLD this year! Crazy how fast time has flown with him. This year was the first time Jaxon has ever been to the OBX in NC! Now that was an awesome trip for all of us. The beach, family, and relaxation made for a wonderful vacation. :D I gotta say it has been pretty amazing to see my first born change and grow in ways I didn't even expect this year. He is such a good kid and is constantly melting my heart into puddles. Jaxon's vocabulary has utterly exploded this year! Which totally surprises me because I feel like he was so slow to start talking. He now speaks in 4+ word sentences and surprises us constantly with words and descriptions of his every day life that we had no idea he knew! He is quick to say "I love you, Mama/Daddy" and has excellent manners when it comes to saying please, thank you, and you're welcome. He knows the first two questions of the children's catechism, can count to 3, and is working on the names of colors and shapes. He is still the most introverted child I know and gets pretty overwhelmed in large groups of people. He is super shy, which is something we are working on. But at least you know he likes you if he will say your name and actually smile at you. Haha! ;) I am proud of this kid and all his accomplishments this year. :)
Baby of the family, Zan the man!
Finding out that Zander, or Naner as Jaxon calls him, was coming this year was the biggest change our family has gone through. But boy has it been the BEST one! Zander's pregnancy was fairly easy for me even though he gave us a little scare with being in the wrong position up until 36 weeks. But once he turned I can honestly say besides some hip and lower back pain throughout the 9 months, it was an absolute breeze. He gave me a pretty great gift by only take 3ish hours to be born and from there he has only kept on giving with being one of the sweetest, most chill, and cuddly little guys ever! He is now smiling, cooing, and *almost* laughing for us! He gets excited whenever Jaxon starts to play with him or do goofy things for him to see and that makes my heart melt into puddles. I can't wait to watch these two grow up together! Here I was so worried that I could never love another kid the way I do Jaxon, then along comes Zander. <3 Both my boys have filled my heart with so much love I can't believe it's even possible! Zander's life in 2017 has been short with only being born on November 5th but he has rocked our world's and made us all so so happy by his presence in our family of four. <3
Last but not least, me. :)
Basically I feel like I've put myself and the year I have had into each of the boy's paragraphs above. My year has not been easy but it has been absolutely wonderful and I am thankful for how 2017 turned out. The Lord has been teaching me to lean on Him more and to put Him as the center of my life. Part of me would say my whole world revolves around my 3 guys. But really it revolves around the Lord and that has been something I have needed to be reminded of. To take delight in the things and people He has put in my life but to know that they are gifts from Him and not to put them above Him in my life. The Lord is and will always be my everything. <3
Soooo.... tomorrow is January 1st 2018!! I cannot wait to see what the Lord does in all of our lives this next year! Like I said up there^^ I have no idea why I felt like writing this blog post. But I'm glad I did! I pray that on December 31st of 2018 I have even more amazing and wonderful things about all the Lord has done in our lives to write about on here.
Happy New Year Everyone!!!
