Looking Back at 09 and Ahead to 10

Wow is it really 2010 already! Boy how the time flies. This has been a year of lots of firsts for us. We have been blessed with a beautiful little boy that fills our hearts with joy everyday.

Here are a few of our firsts....
....haircut
....big boy car seat
....crawling
....eating real food
....pulling up
....walking
....lots of talking
....holidays - Valentine's, Easter, 4th of July
....1st Birthday!

Take a look at our year in pictures. It was hard, but I only picked one for each month...

January

February

March
April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Looking ahead to the new year, there are many things that I want to strive for. I don't want to call them resolutions, because they are on-going goals that will always need work.

My goals.....

....read Cale a Bible story every night before bed

....read myself a Bible story every night before bed

....show my husband I love him everyday

....pray like I have never prayed before

....enjoy Cale more

....slow down and play with Cale before he doesn't want me to play with him anymore

....live and learn from my mistakes

....take time to relax and read more books....that I enjoy - not school books!

....sell my house

I am looking forward to what the Lord has in store for us this year. I know that He has a great plan and I can't wait to see what it is.

Cruisin'

Right before Christmas Bryan and I went on a cruise with our friends from TN. We left on Thursday from Jacksonville. The weather really didn't want to cooperate with us! Thursday night and all day Friday it was rainy. The weather was so bad Friday that we could not make our port. So we traveled on to our next destination, Nassau, Bahamas.

Saturday we were free to get off the boat and check out the city. The sun was out and the skies were clear, but it was so windy that it would almost knock you over! We checked out the sights for a little while and then headed back to the boat. The weather may not have been great, but that allowed us time to just be lazy and sleep. I think we took at least 1 nap everyday! Sunday was our day at sea....but it was freezing! So again we were lazy all day :)

The best part about the trip was our company and all the food! We ate all day long! It was wonderful!

Even though the seas were rough and the weather was bad, we still had fun and can't wait to do it again....just not in December!

Merry Christmas

Christmas this year was a lot more fun! Cale was able to get excited and open his presents by himself...for the most part!

Santa was good to Cale this year :)

He got this brand new toy box that even had his name on it!

But the best part is that he put toys inside of it!

He also got this really cool race car step stool....that will be very useful in the future.

Cale wasn't so sure at first, but once we showed him the toys inside the toy box, he wanted to do nothing else.

Then we tried the stocking. He took his race car out, but wouldn't go for anything else in it :)

So we decided to let him play while Bryan and I did our gifts. Bryan got some clothes, a x-box game and a new cell phone. I got my red kitchen-aide mixer, some Mary Kay, and a book :)

Then we were able to get Cale to open his gifts. I tried to consolidate so that he only had a few to open. I knew that there would be a lot more to open that day so I didn't want to wear him out.

After we did everything at our house, we headed to the Libby's for breakfast and more presents. Let's just say that it did not take Cale long to spot his first present and he had to get on it! He loved his 4-wheeler from Aunt Valerie and Uncle Wayne! And it didn't take him long to figure out how to make it go :)

At the end he got to open his big present from Nanny and Papa.....

Then we had to take them both outside to let him ride.

Uncle Brett's present was a big hit too....he just didn't know that he was going to have to pick Cale up a million times to let him shoot it!

After lots of playing and a good lunch, it was time to go to Jason and Jenny's for Christmas with my family. I am very ashamed to say that I took no pictures over there! So as soon as Mom or Jenny send me some pictures, I will add them.

Jenny hosted Christmas this year, now that she has 2 kids, it was here turn :) Plus it helped out mom because she had to work that night. Everyone helped out by bringing a dish and we had a great meal!

Then it was present time. Our family is rapidly growing so opening presents takes a while! We decided to let the boys open all theirs first so that they could play with their new toys while we did our presents. The plan worked well.

After all the festivities, we had one tired little boy. So we headed home and Cale was in bed by 8. What a great day. I love spending time with our families so Christmas is such a fun time. I know that next year will be even better as Cale starts to truly understand the meaning of Christmas!