If there was ever a time that called for brevity, it would be now. I'm about to recap an entire year in a very short amount of time. Hold onto your pants because heeeeeeere we gooooooooooooo........
We began the new year by making our big move to Woodward. Riley moved into our rent house in Woodward at the end of December but Hallie and I stuck around and finished packing the house until mid January.
Bye bye Mustang house
January 18th was a very pivotal day looking back. It was the last morning that Hallie and I spent at our home in Mustang. We were packed and ready to go but had a couple more things to do. We had her six month pictures taken that morning and then went to bid farewell to Grammy since we would be leaving the area and wouldn't be able to visit everyday like normal. She was admitted to the hospital that same week with a condition that puzzled her doctors. Hallie was able to sneak in to the ICU to see her before we left town...
We made it to Woodward, I started my new job three weeks later and Grammy had been released from the hospital. We had found out that she needed another heart transplant. She was able to make it to my grandpa's 80th birthday party. This was a very special day filled with lots of family. When I look at this picture below it's like I'm looking at a different person. I look and feel about ten years older now that we've trudged through this year....
Hallie started a new daycare at the Christian Church that only lasted about two weeks. It just didn't fit us well at all. Hallie developed her first ear infection in February. It decided to stick around so she made a trip to a new doctor....
She seemed to perk up a bit after taking some medicine and that week we went to visit Grammy who was back in the hospital.....
Grammy was still sick and was in and out of the hospital for three weeks. After a couple of miserable days at home she admitted to the hospital in OKC again on February 8th, the same day that my grandma was put in the hospital with a very bad case of pneumonia. To make matters worse, my sweet baby girl was also admitted to the hospital that day. with RSV. Someone tell me how I survived that day?? God is the only plausible explanation. Riley was my rock and kept me strong and chugging along. One of the scariest days of my life....
Being the resiliant little stinker that she is, she was mostly healthy and home two days later with breathing treatments and lots of medicine to kick her cough. Her little baby hospital gown was the only thing I liked about the situation....
Hallie was back to her crazy self again and got back to making new friends in town. The nursery at church seemed to be the best place to do this. The same thing went for Riley and I. We got settled into church, started meeting new people and joining a Sunday school class with some of our good friends.
She started a new home daycare which fit us a little bit better but still wasn't the perfect place for her. I soon found out that I was either way too picky or there weren't many quality places to send your children. Nobody I called wanted to take an infant. But she was far from an infant. She was on the move. ;)
Hallie Grace started crawling toward the end of February a little before she hit the seven month mark....
On February 24th we said goodbye to my momma. We laid her to rest in Enid on March 1st. So there you have it.....we've only made it through February and I'm getting nauseous just replaying it all in my head. We lived about five year's worth in two months.
Spring was coming up fast and we were more than ready for a change. Riley and I were still getting settled into our jobs and had yet to settle into our rent house. That place earned the nickname "the cave" because we were beginning to get claustrophobic. The outdoors was calling our names and we answered with a new jogging stroller. I started a crusade to lose the baby weight I'd been carrying around....
We celebrated my mom's 1st heavenly birthday on a gorgeous Spring day in April....
My family joined our family of three for Hallie's very first zoo trip.
I jumped into more things to keep me busy and began a string of party planning in May. First up, Kylie and I hosted a baby shower for Katie along with friends Megan and Lacy. It turned out so cute!
Bailey was graduating from her dental assistant program so I hosted a dinner party for her to celebrate with the help of my family....
Hallie had her first big sleepover while Riley and I went on a vacation to Nashville. She stayed two nights at Nanny's house and the other two with Aunt Katie and Uncle Luke. The trip was just what we needed to recharge and relax.....
And I celebrated with my lil sweetie of course....
June 4th was the day I met my long lost cousin from New Jersey. She came to stay in Oklahoma for a week and met most of our large family during her time here. Yet another reason to get a cake!!!
We showed her how us Okies live and she's wanted to come back and live her ever since her trip....
Next up was Father's Day. We spoiled Dad with goodies and a day of fun in the sun at David and Lisa's house....
Hallie and I surprised her favorite man in her life with a picnic at the park....
The summer had snuck up on us and it was a scorcher for sure!! Record temperatures lasted for a good part of the season and left all Oklahomans begging for winter. Hallie didn't seem to mind. She spent most of her time swimming her life away....
We did some housesitting for Nanny and Papa while they went on their trip around the world with Kylie. We didn't mind one bit...after all, it gave us a reason to get out of our little cave. We finally had space again....
During our two and a half week stay Hallie learned how to walk. And how to do this....
It was soon time to start planning her birthday party. She got to work on her party invitations....
All the hard work was complete and it was soon time to party. On July 23rd the celebrated the first year of Hallie's little life with a cupcake themed party....
Hallie Grace had a lot going on that weekend. I'd call it the most important day of her life thus far. She was christened that morning before her birthday party. We had a huge group of supportive family looking on from the pews.
This was the same day I joined the church....
As if we hadn't jam packed enough events into her birthday weekend, she also attended her first rodeo. The girl LOVED every second of it. She hung over the side and watched as the horses flew by....
The sweltering summer was relentless and we needed some form of relief. So we took to the aquatic center in town and Hallie loved it!
My sister got engaged to Spencer in July!!!
At the end of July Riley and I had a weekend anniversary getaway to celebrate our fifth! I surprised him with a room at The Skirvin and a new tattoo. He was in heaven!
On August 6th our neice Carmen was born....
We went to meet her in Enid the next day. She weighed in at 6lb 12oz....
In true end of summer fashion, we had a pool party/cookout to celebrate my dad's birthday and gave cousin Garrett a farewell as the summer had come to an end and he was returning to Florida for college. Gman loved his Harley cake and we had plenty of great friends and family to share the evening with....
I took a girl's trip to Dallas with my two best friends in August. It was the perfect little weekend getaway and it gave Riley and Hallie plenty of bonding time.
Hallie partook in a September must-have......STATE FAIR FOOD! Aunt B joined us at the great state fair!
Riley and I ran in a 5K put on by the hospital. It was our first in quite some time and we were proud of our results. He finished 3rd overall male and I finished 2nd overall female...
We had the opportunity to move out of the cave to a larger rent house about a mile away. Another move, another transition. More unpacking. Ugh. But on the bright side we finally had our prayers answered and sold our house in Mustang after it had been on the market for nine months. Hallie came with us on closing day and stayed with her former babysitter Miss Mindy while we closed on the house....
Hallie started a new daycare and it was a Godsend for our family. Miss Paula was and is amazing with our baby girl and Hallie made lots of friends.
On a beautiful October day, Nanny, Kylie and I took Hallie on her second trip to the zoo. The weather was gorgeous and Hallie had a blast...
Football season was upon us and Nanny made sure that Hal was dressed appropriately for her first Boomer game....
In September we emptied out our garage and purged ourselves of all things junk. We had a very successful garage sale and basically sold everything we owned in order to get ready for moving to a new place eventually. We didn't realize it would be sooner rather than later.
Hallie was a big help with the sale...
In October we were incredibly blessed when we least expected it. On a spur of the moment Sunday drive we found what would eventually be our new home. We waiting patiently (kind of) to close on the house and kept occupied with the upcoming holidays. Hallie went trick-or-treating for the first time....
Riley and I threw our very first costume party and had so much fun we plan on continuing the new tradition...
A few days later I celebrated my 28th birthday with a surprise dinner. Nanny, Papa and Aunt Katie had pizza, cake and presents waiting for me....
Riley got his buck for the season and was a proud dad showing it off to his lil tomboy....
Thanksgiving marked the beginning of the holiday season and we spent it with my family this year in Enid at Aunt Lisa and Uncle David's house.
We closed on our home at the end of November and began the renovation process. Three straight weeks of non-stop painting paid off and we were ready to move in the week before Christmas. We painted every piece of trim, every door and every single wall in the house.
My grandma came home from a month long stint in the hospital and rehab recovering from a very scary episode of pneumonia and a GI bleed. Scary stuff. I started seeing her for home health therapy again a week before Christmas. My family spent Christmas Eve at our house and my dad was our first ovenight house guest. We celebrated Christmas Day in Woodward at Nanny and Papa's house and made a quick trip to Shattuck to see the rest of my family. Our first holiday in our new home was just grand (minus Hallie catching a nasty cold which she would soon pass on to what seemed like the entire family).
There it is. I told you I'd be brief, didn't I? January to December, from one home to another home with a couple temporary homes in between. Too many hospital visits to count and enough stress to push a person off the deep end. What I've learned is that life happens and it certainly doesn't take your plans into consideration. Riley has called this year a "character building year." Then why do I feel like all I did was whine and complain my way through it? Not much character earned on my end. Ya know the saying "life goes on"....well it does. And it will. My goal for 2012 is to fret a little less and laugh a little more. I sincerely hope for fabulous years for all of our friends and family. May your 2012 be something you look back on and smile about.
HAPPY NEW YEAR.
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