2009 review: Nov/Dec

Happy New Year!!!!

Welcome to our final installment of our 2009 review. I think it's obvious that November and December were all about the holidays (and that bad bought of strep throat), right?

Since we haven't blogged about our Christmas trip yet, I guess now is as good a time as any. We left on Wednesday morning, trying to leave by 9:30 but you know what they say about the best laid plans.... We left around 10 but only made it until about 12 and had to stop for Lydia so we stopped for lunch, too which equaled 1 hour. Only made it until about 5 and then stopped for a break. Took only $4 in to the truck stop for the kids to get a snack. Major drama which didn't involve my kids, just the idiotic cash register workers at the truck stop. FINALLY arrived at my aunt's house around 6. We were hoping to have arrived around 4 and gone to the house we were staying at to settle in for a while before going to my aunt's but oh well.... Around 8:30, we left my aunt's house after an AMAZING dinner (it always is with Nannie!) and took the kids to the Bristol Speedway for their light show. Thought we were going to run out of gas while driving back through the drag strip and the surrounding property -- and finally the race track itself -- and Timothy cried most the entire way. [Notes to self -- 1, do NOT plan on going to the speedway lights the same night you travel; the kids will be exhausted (and always check your gas gauge before you get there!!) 2, allow Jonathan to drive through the actual race track. You get freaked out when you feel like you're driving on your side and feel like the van is going to flip over at any moment.] We finally made it to where we were staying around 11. Christmas Eve, we went to the mall and were surprised to find Elizabeth & John wanted to see Santa. We don't do Santa in our house and have explained to our kids that he's just pretend so that's why we were surprised (and don't knock us for not doing Santa unless you plan on contributing to the extra set of gifts next year). Anyway, met up with my parents around 2 and headed to one of my favorite places to eat -- Taco Johns. YUMMY! Then we eventually got the kiddos to bed, wrapped the presents, and stuffed the stockings. Friday morning was lovely! We totally pulled one over on Nathan, getting him a cell phone he's been begging forever to have! We had told him he had to wait a year or two. So far, so good with that! Then my brother and his girls came and we had lunch. Then we went back to my aunt's house for more food and more gifts. Saturday we pulled out around 11. Around 1, somewhere on the highway in West Virginia, some of the stuff flew off our roof rack and scattered all around the interstate. Nearly everything was salvaged save a lego set and a sippy cup although some things did end up with tire tracks on them. That was not fun but we thank God for his protection not only for Jonathan as he dashed across the highway to recover our luggage but also for the other drivers around us.

Today, we're getting ready for breakfast and then taking the kids to see "Alvin and the Chipmunks". We pray a blessed New Year for you and yours!!

Important days in November:
*2 family birthdays on the 30th -- Jonathan's brother-in-law and sister-in-law

Important days in December:
*Caleb turned 7 on the 2nd
*Timothy turned 2 on the 6th

Picture to share from November -- me & Timothy on Thanksgiving DayPictures to share from December will have to wait for me to upload the trip pictures!

2009 review: Sep/Oct

Welcome to day 5 of our 6 day review of 2009!

September was an interesting month although it turned out to be far quieter than we were expecting. Everyone adjusted to our new school schedule surprisingly well! Praise God for that! Really, there isn't much to say of September and October. Life was busy full of school stuff, homework in the evenings, and not much else. We did start a new tradition this year with taking the kids to Chuck E Cheese instead of trick-or-treating. We were also happy to have my Mom here for that. And the kids didn't seem to miss trick-or-treating. Besides, $50 spent on pizza, drinks, and tokens was a lot less than what we would have spent on just the costumes for the kids.

Important days in September:
*We said good-bye to church friends who moved to North Carolina on the 19th :(
*Yet another baby arrived at the church on the 26th!

Important days in October:
*And another church baby was born on the 27th! (Only one more church baby to go -- thus far! -- and it looks like she'll make her debut early in 2010)

Picture to share from September -- I love the expression on Caleb's face! This was taken on one of our zoo trips.
Picture to share from October -- everyone @ Chuck E Cheese

2009 review: July/Aug

Okay, so it's really day 4 of our 2009 review....so consider today a buy-one-get-one-free day! :)

July....more birthdays! My niece's birthday and our "baby", Nathan, hit double digits this year! And speaking of birthdays, we really got rolling at church with the babies! One was actually born the last week in June (sorry I missed that one on the last post) but he was due in July so I tend to forget he's actually a June baby. July 4th was a good day -- my "BFF" (had to squeeze that in here somewhere) welcomed her 3rd child/1st daughter on Independence Day! I'm so glad they didn't decide to name her Firecracker or something bizarre like that. "Lily" suits her fine and, turns out, Lily is on the top 10 list of baby girl names for 2009! (I can sense Candace rolling her eyes now....) But we weren't done yet! Another church baby was born on Nathan's birthday, the 28th! And did I mention how odd it is that all of us at church had the opposite gender of what our last babies had been? There's one exception -- the other March baby was a first baby so he's obviously not an opposite. Weird, I know....

August -- even more birthdays! My father-in-law's and my nephew's! August was a difficult month for me/us as we decided we were going to try public school this year. Looking back now, half way through this school year, I can really see how that was the right decision for our family.

Important days in July:
*Niece Kaylie's birthday on the 13th; she turned 6
*Nathan's 10th birthday on the 28th

Important days in August:
*Father-in-law's birthday on the 4th; he turned 64
*Nephew Jeffery's birthday on the 20th; he turned 11 (Jeff and Kaylie are siblings)
*First day of school on the 25th

Picture to share from July -- I love this picture of Timothy taken at my niece's birthday party!
Picture to share from August -- new glasses just in time for school! Caleb has since gone through 3 pairs of glasses. Sheesh!

2009 review: May/June

Oops! Missed yesterday....sorry! Tuesdays are always crazy with Timothy's speech therapy. As long as little Miss cooperates, I'll try to get 2 posts up today.

Welcome to day 3 of our review of life in the Stevens Clan during 2009! Today, we're up to May and June! Since John's birth in 2005, May is always a busy month for the Clan! John's birthday is the 5th and Elizabeth's is the 18th, not to mention my mother-in-law's is the 21st! And then throw in Mother's Day and -- voila! -- one very busy month! But I always like the fact that May means summer really is coming and the kids are getting outside more and more and more! I'm sure May will have new meaning in 2010 as we anticipate the end of our first year of public school. June is a good month, too, although not quite as busy. This year was particularly fun. My brother, our only June birthday, turned 30 this year and we were in Tennessee to celebrate with him. It was so much fun to be with family and friends and to be a part of his special day. And don't forget VBS! [Note to self: Don't go on vacation the weekend before VBS starts! It WILL wear you out!]

Important days in May:
*John turned 4 on the 5th
*Elizabeth turned 5 on the 18th

Important days in June:
*Brother Kevin turned 30 on the 13th
*Jonathan and I celebrated our 11th anniversary on the 20th

Picture to share from May -- birthday party cupcakes! (I have to share 2 pictures to show both sets of cupcakes)Picture to share from June -- our first family picture since Lydia's birth. These were taken as part of my WHOLE family getting together for pictures. We were all in green, my brother and his family were all in yellow, and my parents wore white. THAT was interesting, getting all 9 grandkids together for a picture, especially when the portratit studio was running late and we had a surprise birthday party to get to!

2009 review: Mar/Apr

Welcome to day 2 of our 6 days reviewing what 2009 held for the Stevens Clan! Day 1 -- January and February -- went up last night. We hope you enjoy our walk through this past year as much as I am enjoying putting it together. It's winter break here so I'm home with all 6 kiddos so I can't guarantee that each day's post will be up this early. At the moment, Christmas toys are still new and some of them are still being rediscovered as more and more bags are unpacked and a certain little sweet girl is currently happy in her exersaucer so I have more than 30 seconds to focus on something. So here goes....

March was a great month for the Clan! We welcomed Miss Lydia on the 2nd. She was our biggest baby, weighing in at 8 pounds+. I found out the hard way just how bad those amniocentesis are but it was worth it to know that little miss was ready to be born! We were a little afraid when she failed her hearing test in her left ear and were bummed when we found out I was to be released but that she would have to stay because of jaundice. But, it was good for her to get the light therapy she needed and it gave them a chance to repeat her hearing test which she passed with flying colors the 2nd time around! She's definitely a hearing child -- I can really tell a difference between her and Timothy at this age. She's, of course, 9 months old now (will be 10 months old on Saturday) and just celebrated her first Christmas but that's for a different post!

April was rough. Adjusting to life with a(nother) newborn, trying to jump back into homeschooling (didn't happen), and having surgery made for an interesting month! [Note to self -- if you ever have to have surgery again, even if it is laproscopic, GET HELP AHEAD OF TIME! You're going to need it!] One highlight of April ~ finally getting a van big enough for our new family of 8!

Important days in March:
*Baby Lydia born on the 2nd
*Finding out that a great friend of mine was finally pregnant after 10 years of trying plus getting to take Lydia home on the 6th was a great day!
*Another church baby born on the 7th

Important days in April:
*EASTER! And our church's first Easter Egg Hunt which we're excited to do again this coming year!

Picture from March -- she's (still) so beautiful!!!
Picture from April -- trying to get 6 kids to sit still for a picture is like pulling teeth! Poor Lydia will have to try and forget that her head was cut off in her first Easter picture with her siblings! Oops!

2009 review: Jan/Feb

Welcome to the 6 days of 2009 for the Stevens Clan. We hope you enjoy this walk through this past year as much as we know we will. Blessings to you in 2010!

January and February of '09 were interesting months as I was pregnant with Lydia and began struggling with preterm contractions early in the year. Thanks to "pregnancy fog", I can't remember much else and their aren't many pictures to show off!

Important days in January:
*The 16th marked the birth of what has been the year of babies for our church
*The 29th was Jonathan's 34th birthday

Important days in February:
*My mom turned 54 on the 16th
*Church baby #2 was born on the 17th as was my niece, Hannah
*I turned 32 on the 20th

Picture from January -- big snowfall!
Picture from February -- welcome baby Hannah! You should see her now! She's got the chubbiest cheeks and the most beautiful shade of red hair (my brother's 2nd red-headed baby which is interesting considering he's got brown hair and my sister-in-law is blonde! Me with the red hair has zero red-headed babies!)Coming tomorrow....March and April!