Happy New Year!

As I look back on 2014, we had such a wonderful year. We found out we were pregnant with baby #2 and that it was a boy! Patrick and I traveled to New York, San Francisco, and Cancun. We got to go to the Masters.  We celebrated Teagan turning 2 years old and have watched her personality continue to grow. And then the highlight of our year was when we welcomed a 9lb 4oz bundle of sweetness into our lives. Reynolds has added so much joy to our family, and we have loved getting to see Teagan in her new role as a big sister. And then I started a new role too when I hung up my teaching hat and traded it in for staying at home with my kids. It was a good, good year and I am thankful.

I am seriously so in love with our family that it hurts sometimes. I look around at our life now and want to hold so, so, so tightly to everything. And sometimes {honestly more than I'd like to admit} I'm struck with fear that this life as it is now will be taken from me in some form. I think the newness of love {i.e. adding Reynolds to our lives} can be so scary, and it has been a struggle to open my grip and give it to God. I remember going through the same thing when Patrick and I got married and then again when Teagan was born.  Even though I know...

1. Whether or not I hold on tightly or not does not add to my control of this life,

2. It is better in His hands anyway, and
3. Letting loose doesn't mean losing. 

I am so incredibly thankful for the blessings that God has poured out on us in the form of our family and our good health. I pray daily that He would help me trust Him more and continue to bless our family. My prayer is that 2015 will be a year that continues to be filled with laughter, sweet memories, and more joy as we grow closer as a family and to Him.

Oh, I could go on and on...but here is a look at how we started our 2015.

Every year we go to my aunt and uncle {Gigi and Papa G}'s house for the traditional {and by traditional, I mean seriously delicious} New Year's lunch. It is always a perfect start to the year.

 

And this boy is tuckered out from all the fun. 

{And looking so big. He's not quite 4 months old yet, but I don't think people believe us.}

Happy New Year! We hope 2014 was good to you and that 2015 will be even better! 

Merry, Merry...third {and final} round!

After our eventful Christmas Eve night, we got a little bit of a later start leaving North Augusta and heading to Columbia to spend time with Patrick's family. Fortunately Teagan seemed much better when she woke up in the morning, so we were still able to open presents and have breakfast together.

 The only thing that Joe asked for was a Delta gift certificate so he could come to Atlanta and see Teags and Reyns again soon. Seriously awesome uncle. 

 We got Pappy {as a joke} some silver polish for his trophies. This man has earned so many trophies over the years {In fact, he was just awarded the National Tennis High School Coach of the Year and will have another one to add to his collection soon}, but Mammy let him know they wouldn't be on display in the new house unless they were cleaned. Get to scrubbin' Pappy. 

Teagan's gift to Pappy: a cow cup that is made for chocolate milk. This was definitely the thing she had the hardest time giving away. She got her Mammy Christmas tree napkins. And she got Joe some "lollypops...just like Teagan," but those somehow fell out of our cart and didn't make it home with us, so we still owe him. :) 

"Thanks Mammy and Pappy for an orange ball so my mom doesn't continue to give me my sister's old pink one."

We had to take a break for naps before we could finish off with the annual scavenger hunt. 

...oh wait, wrong picture. This was actually Pappy falling asleep before Teagan's bedtime. Like father, like son. Patrick does this all the time too. 

Scavenger hunt...

Pappy loves to send us upstairs, downstairs, outside, back upstairs, outside again...you get the drift. And we may or may not have still been in pjs. And it may or may not have been 2:30 or 3:00 in the afternoon by the time we got to the scavenger hunt. The neighbors probably thought we were crazy. 

Check out Teagan trying to fight off doggy kisses. 

Christmas night, Diane had her side of the family over for dinner. Unfortunately, we think Teagan overdid it because her fever struck again right before everyone got there. So in attempt to not get others sick, we hung out upstairs and played games to get her to eat and take her tylenol. Once she was down for the night, we came down to hang out with everyone. 

Teagan always {as in her last 2 Christmases because she was too small for her first} makes cookies with Mammy. This is something that Diane always did with the boys and termed them 'booger cookies' because when kids make them and their hands are a little grimey, you never know exactly what you're eating...but you know you are making memories. 

"ta-da!"

After the cookies were made, we spent a lot of time on the couch watching Teagan's new Disney movies and taking it easy to make sure that the fever didn't come back. And fortunately, it hasn't.

It was a wonderful Christmas season spent with family, and I'm so sad that it is over. It is such a magical time, and I love the opportunity of getting to see it through our kids' eyes. Only 357 more days until next Christmas!