2012 blessings

WOW! I cannot believe that 2012 is coming to an end! (I started this blog entry yesterday, but was too tired to finish it, sooo yea) Crazy how time flies. I never really understood that phrase before having Raegan Grace. But boy do I understand it now. It feels like it was just last month that I gave birth to my beautiful baby girl, but here 2012 came and she is already a year old and growing and learning so much as a toddler. Here's my year in review!

January

Mommy returned to work after 3 months of maternity leave

Daddy was sweet enought to bring Raegan to see mommy after missing her on my first day back to work after maternity leave

you started childcare with Tracy!

She took such good care of you!

After 4 days of no bottles, you finally took your first bottle for Tracy!

4 months old and your first cereal

February

Sonic trip to Cancun, Mexico

you spent the week with THE Hysners! First time away from Mommy and Daddy!

you spent the week with THE Hysners! First time away from Mommy and Daddy!

First Valentine's Day

first foods: carrots!

first two bottom teeth

March

celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary



celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary


April

Daddy celebrated his 3rd year as Operating Partner of Sonic





your 1st Easter!

Raegan's 1st Easter!

Raegan's 1st Easter!

Raegan's baby dedication at church

in One month, Raegan learned to SIT UP and CRAWL at 6 months old!!!

I celebrated my 26th birthday

May

my niece Rebecca Lynn was born May 3

I started my FIRST daily Facebook prayer on May 21, 2012 (here's part of my draft that I posted)

June

Raegan's first trip to the ZOO :)

I got my braces off after wearing them for two years!

Raegan's first time in a pool and first out of state trip visiting my family in VA

July

Raegan's first time at the beach

Raegan's first 4th of July



Raegan's first cow appreciation outfit



Raegan learned to WALK at 9 months old! She took her first few steps a few days before this pic!

August

First Family Vacation to Litchfield Beach

Raegan started childcare at Mrs. Jordan's!

started my 5th year of teaching by having my sweet husband hand deliver flowers to me!


 
September

Raegan Grace turned ONE year old!

Raegan Grace turned ONE year old!

Raegan Grace turned ONE year old!

October

October Mom's Club! One year before, One year after :)

Raegan's first field trip to the pumpkin patch

Raegan's first trip the STATE FAIR

Raegan's 2nd Halloween!

November

RG first time voting at Mrs. Jordan's and she waited 3.5 hours with mommy and daddy to vote in the election!

Drew celebrated his 27th birthday!

Happy Thanksgiving!

December

Merry Christmas

Raegan's 2nd Christmas

*Hope you enjoyed my 2012 year in review! I know I left a lot out, but it was so hard to pick off Facebook things that happened in our life!!!

Savoring the moment

Dear Raegan Grace,

Tonight as I was rocking you to sleep (which by the way doesn't really happen that I rock you to sleep. It's more of you nursing for 5 minutes while I rock you then you sitting up and me laying you in your crib) but tonight you were soo precious. You sat up but instead of getting antsy you laid your sweet head on my shoulder. So we just rocked. Me soaking in all your sweetness smelling your freshly washed hair and the lotion on you. You were so sweet. Head all nozzled up against my neck. It was a perfect moment. I decided I would take a picture of you sleeping sweetly on me and when I took the picture on my phone I looked at it you were all smiles. It was so very sweet (see pic below) Made me feel like you were savoring the moment too!

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. I can't believe it. Although, it feels like the holiday season with the Christmas tree up, nativity scene, lights up outside, Christmas movies on tv, wonderful time with friends and family. It all adds up to Christmas time, but yet to me it just doesn't feel like tomorrow is Christmas Eve and that Santa will come tomorrow. It's crazy to me.

Tomorrow we will be making our annual breakfast for dinner on Christmas Eve and then headed to Christmas Eve service at church, then coming home to make birthday cupcakes for Jesus while daddy goes back to work. And then Santa will come and we will wake up and it will be Christmas day and you will open your presents and will eat dinner and read the christmas story. The plans are all there. The traditions are there. And honestly I can't wait for all these events to happen.

I think the reason it doesn't feel like Christmas to me is that I don't want it to be here because then it will have to end. The next two days will fly by and then it's over. All the excitement, all the traditions, will all be put away until next year. Christmas break will be over etc. and mommy is not ready for all that.

Time just flies now that you are here and I wish it didn't but it does. I am trying my best to soak up every minute with you. Every minute we spend with our friends and our family I cherish it with you. And I thank God that He blessed us with you.

I hope as you get older that you will cherish everything there is to cherish about the Christmas season. I hope that you will carry on some of our traditions, but start some of your own traditions too. I hope that you will cherish every moment with your friends and your family. That you will not get caught up in the hustle and the bustle of the season but remember the true reason for the season. I hope that you will teach your kids the Christmas story like mommy is teaching you and that its not about what you get for Christmas but the true meaning of Christ.

I love you my sweet sweet blessing! Always have and always will! I am so excited to have this 2nd Christmas with you and all the joy it will bring to my heart as we create so many memories and learn about Christ together! I love you all the way to the moon and back forever and always!

Merry Christmas my sweet blessing!

Love,
Mommy

I can remember as a kid

When my brother and I were kids I can remember waking up in the middle of the night throwing up (or waking up to my brother throwing up) and can remember crying and feeling soooo sick. I can remember tip toeing to my parents room and knocking ever so lightly on their door to tell them I (or my brother) was sick. Their response always surprised me "oh you're sick. Go back to bed, sleep it off" and my response but "I'm throwing up and my bed is a mess".... "Take some medicine and change your sheets, you will be okay"

Okay.... Yep okay I was and okay I am today.


But I still can't help but to reflect back on this. I would imagine I was in elementary school. I just can't imagine as a mother or a father telling my child to go take care of themselves when they are vomiting. And the worst part, I can remember being sick vomiting ALOT as a child too... That's the sad part. I am sure I reached a time in my life where I no longer knocked on my parents door to let them know I was sick. I just took care of myself.

I can remember many nights getting up as a child and taking care of myself or taking care of my brother when he was sick. I can remember going to the medicine cabinet getting my own medicine. I can remember stripping down my sheets off my bed then going to sleep on the couch because I had no extra sheets to put on my bed. I can remember standing in the bathroom with my older brother when he would awake sick and bringing him medicine. I can even remember him coming into my room in the middle of the night and sleeping on my floor because we was sick. I can remember him even asking me one night if it was normal to pee blood. The list goes go and on.

As a mother now, I look reflect back on those early years of my life in awe. Tonight Raegan was very sick. She was vomiting over and over and it was completely breaking my heart. I could never imagine telling Raegan "go back to bed, sleep it off" I cannot imagine not getting up with her in the middle of the night or telling her to go take care of herself.

Now I know Raegan is a baby and that's different than a child. And I am sure (well hopeful) that my parents got up with me as a baby, but even when Raegan is older. Heck, she could be an adult but (I had an explicit word here then my fruits of the spirit came back to me) if she's puking her guts out I WILL be there holding her hair out of her face (SN: call me crazy but maybe thats why my hair ALWaYS has to be in a pony tail at night to this day) or rubbing her back (just like I was tonight). I will be there getting her the medicine she needs and changing her sheets. And I will be the one climbing in bed with her or welcoming her in my bed to comfort her. I don't care if I am puked on a million times (which by the way I went through four changes of clothes myself tonight).

Now I know Raegan can't talk yet, but one day she will. And when I hear her sweet sick voice on the other side of my bedroom door telling me she doesn't feel good you can bet I am going to do everything in my power to help her feel better.

Children are precious gifts from God. I hope that everyone treats their children as precious gifts. I know I sure do value and thank God for my sweet blessing!

All this reminded me of this quote:
"Not a way to be a perfect mother but a million ways to be a good one"

Raegan Grace,

I promise you no matter how sick you are I will always take care of you! You will never experience what I did as a child I can promise you that! I will do everything in my power to be a good mother to you! Please know just how much I want your life to be different than mine. Please know my sweet baby girl just how much I would do anything in the world for you. And this stomach bug that is causing you so much discomfort tonight if I could take all the pain away from you I surely would. I love you Raegan Grace! You are my sweet oh so sweet blessing and I am praying that God heals your illness very soon! I love you all the way to the moon and back forever and always!!!

Love Mommy!!!

Slow down button

Dear Raegan grace,

In less than 24 hours you will be 13 months old!

Where oh where does the time go??? I really wish there was a slow down button so that I could just keep you little forever!

But I know if I keep you little forever I won't get to see you do so many wonderful things (just like in the book Aunt Katie gave you for your birthday)! I know you will do wonderful things. It's really just bittersweet. I am so proud of all that you are doing but I still miss how little you use to be!

Time just flies by us. It really does... I thought I just woke up and now it's past my bedtime!!! Crazy I tell you crazy how when we are little time is not on our side, then just when we think it is, we have a child and bam time hates us again and we wish for it to just slow down.

Raegan Grace, mommy loves you. I am trying to so hard to slow down! I don't want to blink and miss a single thing with you. God, is it easy to do! But I am trying to relish in you as much a so can!

You were so sweet today. We went and saw Aunt Katie and Uncle Brendon and watched the football game with them. You were such a sweet girl and smitten with Uncle brendon! :)

When we left to go home you were so tired and refused to go to sleep in the car. You finally fell asleep 5 mins before we got home and when I took you out your carseat to put you down for your nap you refused so out of your crib you came and you played hard!

Your such an independent child. You took your high chair seat and spent 5 mins figuring out a way to get it off the couch. Then the tray fell off and you spent another 20+ mins trying to figure out how to put it back on! So persistent you were! It was so cute watching you sit in your chair, get up, and keep trying over and over to get that tray back on. You had daddy and I laughing and admiring!

You also kept sitting on your pony and it played "I'm a little pony" song over and over while you nodded your head up and down with the sweetest most prideful look across your face! I really love that look! You were so proud of yourself! Ohhh how I adore you!

Your such an amazing baby! You fill my life with so much pleasure and love! My oh so happy sweet baby! I love you Raegan Grace Smallwood all the way to the moon and back forever and always!

Love Mommy!

Perfect night!

Dear Raegan Grace,

It's sooo good to have my sweet baby girl back to your normal happy self after battling an ear infection for the last two weeks!

You still have a good bit of a cough, and a really runny nose, but your spirits are much happier which means mommy is much happier!

I hated to see you so miserable these last few weeks!

Tonight, when we got home you just roamed the house! Digging in boxes, pulling out toys. You were running around in the kitchen just circling the table and laughing. It was so cute. While, I was cooking dinner I just listened to you play with a huge smile on my face. You were babbling about this and that. Every time you do that it makes my mind wonder about what you really are saying! Lol!

I then sat myself in the middle of the kitchen floor so I could watch you play on your level and you continued babbling and circling me. You would take little breaks and come sit on my lap and lay your sweet head against me (only a few seconds, but enough to let me know you loved me and missed me). Basically, melting my heart and warming it with sooo much sweetness!

At one point when you took a break sitting in my lap, Jackson came over and started licking your face as you tilted your head back and your hair flopped back and forth as I held you in my arms. You just laughed and laughed as Jackson gave you doggy smooches!

As I watched You play in the kitchen my heart overfilled with joy. I took in every second of watching you take joy in the simple things in life.

We also opened a present from granny, two adorable hats: one cute sock monkey hat and one owl hat! The first picture you let me take was beyond precious as you smiled with all your cheeks! You walked around the house for a good 5-10 mins until I put the owl hat on you then you just sat there taking the hat on and off! Lol!

While skyping with Granny you would blow rasberries every time Granny did it and it was sooo funny! You even climbed up on the car Pops got you and pushed your little feet against the floor to make it go. You literally did not stop smiling the whole time you sat on your car. You even sat on your pony too and bobbed your head up and down to the tune of my little pony! You really were sooo cute! God is sooo good to me to bless me with such a beautiful sweet blessing! I am still in awe at just how blessed I am!

Tonight, was a perfect night for you Raegan. A night that was so simple yet such a beautiful memory in my mind and heart! You are absolutely perfect and I love you with all my heart!

Thank you my sweet blessing for filling my heart with so much love!

I love you to the moon and back forever and always!

Love, mommy!