2015: Year in Review

What a year it's been!

 

What a most wonderfully perfect year it's been for our little family.

 

As I look back on each picture,

and remember each day,

each minute in which it was captured,

I am overwhelmed with gratefulness.

 

Two thousand, fifteen was a year of JOY!

 

 

Baker and I perfected the bump selfie,

 

 

 

 

And I fell more in love with the two little boys who share our name.

 

 

 

Baker learned the goodness of a bath with bubbles up to your eyeballs,

 

 

 

 

 

and mastered the too cool for school pose.

 

 

 

We celebrated sweet friends,

 

 

 

 

and learned that even superheroes crash every now and again.

 

 

 

My little one made cowboy boots and Peter Pan collars a winning combination,

 

 

 

 

and decided the best way to usher in a weekend is with pancakes on the porch.

 

 

 

We did a little backyard renovation with Baker in the driver's seat,

 

 

 

 

and pulled out all the mouseketools to celebrate our Baker Boy turning THREE!

 

 

 

We began bidding farewell to our family of three,

 

 

 

 

and Baker as our only one.

 

 

 

 

I took my last belly picture and posted my last bumpdate on the blog,

 

 

 

and said hello to our Little Bear.

 

 

 

 

We stared in awe at the miracle of our nine pound baby boy,

 

 

 

 

and praised God for the blessing of TWO and began life as a family of FOUR.

 

 

 

 

We cried an ugly cry when our big met our little,

 

 

 

 

We fell all over again in love with the little one who shares our heart and our home,

 

 

 

 

and helped my bestie welcome his new bestie.

 

 

We soaked up some rays,

 

 

 

 

and splashed down the slide.

 

 

 

We learned the challenges of getting eight eyes looking in the same direction,

 

 

 

 

and that a few scissor snips grow bitty babies into grown boys.

 

 

 

We big farewell to a wonderful year of school,

 

 

 

and learned that alarms must be set really early to make it to church on time.

 

 

 

We reveled in the glory that is a baby smile,

 

 

 

and decided four eyes are much cooler than two.

 

 

 

 

We started a new school year,

 

 

 

 

and had me feeling all the feels.

 

 

 

 

 

We clad another little Bell in crimson and white

 

 

 

 

 

 

and decided that squishy babies are our absolute favorite kind of babies.

 

 

 

We had playdates and parties,

 

 

 

 

and walked with our bestest buddy.

 

 

 

We dedicated our baby,

 

 

 

 

and introduced him to people food.

 

 

 

 We found Barrett on Santa's good list,

 

 

 

 

and celebrated our Savior's birth with a party fit for a King.

 

 

 

We learned that Christmas only gets more magical,

 

 

 

 

and that a baby changes everything.

 

 

 

We bid farewell to 2015 rang in the new year with old friends.

 

 

and praised Him alone for His goodness and grace in our lives.

Date Your Spouse

A few days ago, Brian and I took advantage of a rare opportunity to take a day date.

What a perfect day!

We got to drop the boys off at school.
Together.

Such a little joy with such a big impact.

We drove over to one of our town's newest additions, Fresh Market.

I was in food heaven.

We ordered specialty coffee and planned meals for the next thousand meals.

Before we left, we made fresh peanut butter.

And then went to get bagels upon which to slather.

And then we needed more coffee.

If you give a mouse a cookie, my people; he's bound to ask for more milk!

I've added a peanut butter maker to my Christmas list.

Holy moly.

It's amazeballs.

Yes, Jennifer Bell just said amazeballs.

Go try it.

You will too.

Don't waste your time on dry roasted.

Go honey roasted every single time.

Every single time.

After eating all the things at Fresh Market, we moseyed over to Target.

Because even though you're on a date, sometimes the kids need diapers.

And $25 off $100 is just too good for this crew to miss.

DePalma's was calling our name.

It's a rare day to sit across from my groom at lunch.

What a treat.

The Greek salad and Chicken Pesto Panini were pretty good too.

We decided to end our day with a movie, but had some time to kill.

We drove around town, holding hands across the console.

Without kids to pacify and "Wheels on the Bus" to sing, we talked about everything.

We talked about nothing.

I basked in the goodness of that man I am so fortunate to call mine.

All too often, I give my boys my all.

I do the laundry and the dishes.

I make the bed and pack lunches.

 I prepare supper and piece together puzzles.

I dig in the sandbox.

I dry diapers and tears.

And I love every single minute.

On this day, he had all of my attention. All of my energy.

As it should be.

He was the first boy I loved.

And he'll be the one around after my other boys are grown and gone.

We finished the day with a movie

(Anne Hathaway and Robert DeNiro are positively brilliant in The Intern)

and I fell all over again in love with that man of mine.

Day dates, night dates, coffee dates, movie dates,

Special occasion dates, just because dates,

Regardless of the reason, or the occasion, or the time of day,

date your spouse.

Buddy Walk 2015

I first learned about Buddy Walks the summer Baker was born.

 

How sad, that for twenty-seven years, I didn't know such a wonderful event even existed.

 

I count it all joy to be able to participate and walk alongside my one and only Baker Boy!

 

 

 

Baker and Barrett holding hands.

Oh. My. Heart.

 

Baker entered our world in May, and we entered our first Buddy Walk in October.

 

Little did I know the big love and support surrounding our little family.

With a few little blog posts and some especially special people, we raised over three thousand dollars and took a team of over 70 people to walk with Team Baker.

 

It was seriously one of my best days ever.

 

I felt surrounded.

By family.
By friends.
By faith.
By complete strangers woven together in this beautiful tapestry by a common thread of love, acceptance, and advocacy.

See our Buddy Walk 2012 here.

When my friend Mollie asked if we would join her and Team More Alike than Different for this year's Walk, I couldn't respond quickly enough!

Yes.
Yes.
YES!!

What a privilege to walk with Baker, Kirill, Gracie, Hanna, and Wren at the 2015 Buddy Walk.

 

 

 

 

Buddy walking with his favorite buddy!

 

Barrett is sporting his Team Baker shirt;

the same shirt Baker wore at our first Buddy Walk.

Talk about feeling all the feels.

 

 

Thumbs up for a perfectly perfect day!