Newest Nephew

UGH- I can’t believe I haven’t written this post…

Anyways- On Christmas night Jen and Jarrett welcomed their second sweet little baby boy, Landon Lee, into the world. Sadly, I still haven’t gotten a chance to meet him.  But hopefully soon.

Here are some pictures:

Look at that sweet little peanut!!!

Ashton being the good big brother.  LOVE THOSE BOYS!

I love this picture! They are some handsome boys!

Proud Papa

And I think this mama is in her glory here!

Love you guys!  Can’t wait until we get to meet little Landon!

Arizona Trip

We got the opportunity to go to Arizona to celebrate (& Brad officiated) some friends of ours wedding.

I love this picture of the two of them. I know that before we know it- they will be at the alter for her wedding. UGH!

Our attempt to get a picture together- but obviously the cactus was more fascinating then smiling for the camera.

Thought this was a cute photo with the bride and groom in the back.

When she hears music she just can’t control herself.  She LOVES to dance.  So out she went on the dance floor all alone. She was a hit!

On New Year’s Eve we went to the Fiesta Bowl parade.  We went to the start so that we could watch the bands warming up.  We all loved it, but I think it was a close call between Brad reminiscing about his time playing for TN and Calliah Grace loving the music that she could dance to.

Stanford’s band is CRAZY WILD!  They were so much fun to watch.  Their energy and love for music and just being silly was contagious.  I don’t think I stopped smiling the whole time we watched them.

There was even a group that came over to us and played for Calliah Grace- it was too sweet.

Calliah Grace loves football- takes after her daddy.  There were some Marines handing out footballs and this guy came and even talked to us for a couple minutes.

We had a great time away as a family!  As all vacations- it was good to get home when we did.

 

 

December Recap…

Yes- once again, I’m that far behind. So, here is the recap of December.

We had the West Club Christmas Party at the house.  It was a great time hanging out and enjoying laughing together.  Unfortunately no pictures of our time together.

On Dec. 22nd my parents, Nana & Pop-Pop came to have Christmas with us.  It was a quick trip but again a great time just hanging out.  We even got to celebrate Pop-Pop’s birthday with a candy cane cake.

Calliah Grace playing peek-a-boo with Nana

We decided that a tradition that we want to have in our family is to get pjs on Christmas eve so that Christmas morning there are new Christmas pjs to wear.  Brad had to work on Christmas Eve night past Calliah Grace’s bedtime, so we gave her the gift before her nap.  She was so excited about any present she got to open.  Precious! And we also had an Open House on Christmas Eve for some friends and neighbors- hence the apron I’m wearing.

Trying to get a picture in her Christmas dress before church.

Christmas Eve before bed…

Opening Calliah Grace’s stocking in Mommy and Daddy’s bed before going downstairs.  After pulling one gift out she would quickly go back to the stocking to see what else was in there.

Bee-Baw got Calliah Grace a kitchen set for Christmas.  Brad put it together Christmas Eve and when she came downstairs that’s all she played with for at least 45 minutes.  She loved it… and still does!

She was so excited about the littlest of gift: dollar tree necklaces, little purse and a bouncy ball that lights up. (from Aunt Margie)

Playing with her Little People Noah’s Ark from Pa-Paw and Nannie Joyce.

This was my Christmas gift.  It’s the initials of each one of our babies that we lost this year.  And Brad had a good friend of ours use watercolor to paint the meaning of each child’s name. I LOVE THEM!

Getting her easel from Mommy and Daddy.  I love that face!

It was a wonderful Christmas just us hanging out together as our little family of 3.

We left for Phoenix, AZ on Dec. 28th and stayed through the New Year.  Next post will come soon!

A Year of Sorrow and Joy

Wow- what a year!!!  How much I wish I could say how wonderful our year was. How I could tell you with a happy heart that it was one of the best years in my life, in our marriage.  And even though there may be a little truth in that, we will always look back at 2011 and remember the loss of 3 of our babies.  Yes, 3.

If you have followed our blog or have been in our lives you know that we lost Corey Alexander O’Brien in March at 7 weeks gestation, and then we lost Taryn Christopher O’Brien in August at 11 weeks gestation.  But in November, we suffered another loss of another one of our babies.  We were very early in the pregnancy and because it wasn’t public that we were pregnant we didn’t share publicly that we had lost another baby.  We are grateful for family and close friends that walked through this with us.  We lost Adonia Lovrin O’Brien in November.  This year will always be remembered as our year of loss and sorrow.

It has been hard.  We have been sad, mad, frustrated, confused, helpless, fearful, anxious, angry… but we have never felt or been hopeless.  If I could have things my way- this year would have been different.  However, even though it has been a tough year, it will be an unforgettable year in so many ways.  We will always look forward to the day that we can meet our babies in heaven, but as for the here and now: our marriage has been strengthened, we realize more and more what a miracle and blessing Calliah Grace is, our relationship and knowledge of Jesus has grown in ways we could never imagine, and we have learned and experienced the importance of community.

I can honestly say because of this year I see things a little clearer.  I can see beauty around me that I may not have noticed before, but I also see sin and brokenness more.  I am more aware of this fallen world we live in.  I cry, a lot.  Okay, I’ve always been a cry-er, but this year has made me more sensitive, not only to sad things, but beautiful things. So, if I start weeping at a time that seems random, just pass me a tissue.

It truly has been a year of sorrow, but through all the sadness we have hope.  We have a joy that I don’t think I can fully explain.  But I can tell you that our hope is not in this world.  This broken and sinful world.  Our hope is from a God that has overcome this world.  He came into this world perfect, holy and blameless.  Died on a cross for all of my sins and unrighteousness and bridged the gap between sinful people and a holy God.  A God that loves me, a God that cares for me, a God that promises to never give me more than I can handle, a God that promises to work for the good for those that love Him, a God that is for me, a God that promises a peace that transcends all understanding, a God that tells me not to fear and to cast all my anxieties and burdens on Him.  These are only small examples of my God.

So, with the crappy year we have had and year that is truly defined as a year of sorrow… we have joy and hope.  We are looking forward to 2012 and to see what it brings. Happy New Year!  Thanks for keeping up with us through the blog.

Here’s a BRIEF month by month overview of our year:

January- Celebrate 3 years of marriage in Charleston, SC

February- Find out that we are pregnant with baby #2

March- Lose Corey Alexander O’Brien at 7 weeks gestation, turn 30

April- Vacation to visit family in Pennsylvania and Baltimore, MD

May- Maw-Maw Millie passes away.  Trip to be with Brad’s family

June- Find out that we are pregnant with #3, Calliah Grace turns 1

July- Super sick with morning sickness. Get to see our little ones heart beat. The Dill’s and Cash’s come to visit

August- Our nephew Benjamin Kyle Coleman is born, we lose Taryn Christopher O’Brien at 11 weeks gestation

September- Family vacation to Bald Head Island

October- Our nephew Mason Howell Baxter is born

November- We find out that we are pregnant with baby #3.  We lose Adonia Lovrin O’Brien at 5 weeks gestation

December- An advent season that has meant more to us than ever before.  Our nephew Landon Lee Rice is born.

I know that I skipped most of December with pictures.  I will post Christmas in the next week. Check back!

 

Getting our Christmas Tree

We have made a tradition (at least for the last 2 years) to get our Christmas tree the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  I LOVE having a real tree, but it is a pain to put on the lights, so I have decided that I want the tree up as long as possible.

Already shares my love for fresh pine!

Loved the snowman and decided to just sit with him.

This snowman looked kinda creepy- however, the mouth moved and was hooked up to a microphone.  There was a girl who was talking to Calliah Grace pretending that it was the snowman.  It was really too cute!

Thanksgiving

Every year, for the past 16 years we have gone to the beach for Thanksgiving.  It is one of my favorite times of the year.  We just hang out… no agendas and no expectations.

June and Calliah Grace were almost inseparable.  They loved being with each other.  So sweet!

Baby Mason being a trooper with all the commotion.

Brad enjoying his time at the beach.

This is a typical night- just hanging out!

Calliah Grace was up WAY early every morning, saying “downstairs, Nana, Pop-Pop, downstairs.” I talking 4:30-5:00 early!  But she usually went back to sleep for just a little bit and then would have some time with Nana and Pop-Pop so Brad and I could sleep!

Benji… serious cuteness!

Playing cups with daddy.

This book was a hit (always a hit at our house) with the girls.  Reading with Aunt Melissa.

This was an AMAZING carrot cake brought by Jeff, Julia’s boyfriend.  You probably can’t see but we had to scratch out the fat and calorie number.  Each slice was over 2,000 calories.  Good thing that we cut them in half and only ate 1,000+ calories. :-)  As you can imagine… it was DELICIOUS!

Here’s the book again… this time with Pop-Pop

Watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

YOGURT!  Funny thing is June had been wearing Calliah Grace’s bib around all afternoon, so it just made sense to switch for the meal.  Silly Junie!

Can’t have Thanksgiving at the beach without some football.

The girls would pretend to go “night-night” then giggle when they “woke-up”

It was such a wonderful week.  Even with Calliah Grace getting up early (and not napping) she had a blast with everyone.

Richmond Visit

The beginning of November, we went to Richmond to visit family.  Jarrett, Jen and Ashton were in town from NY.  They aren’t able to travel for the holidays because Jen is due with their little boy, Landon, in a couple weeks. And Brad hadn’t met Mason yet, so we went for a quick trip.

Ashton LOVED giving Calliah Grace hugs.

Ashton kept saying “hug, hug” unfortunately Calliah Grace wasn’t really into hugs at that moment.

Oh… I LOVE THAT FACE!

Ashton dumps water on his head over and over.  And now Calliah Grace does it when she is in the bath.

At this point Calliah Grace wasn’t too sure what she thought of the water on her head, but loved that we laughed and clapped.

Watching Elmo clips on YouTube with Pop-Pop

I love the wonder and excitement in their eyes.

 

Halloween

Yes- this is how far behind I am… HALLOWEEN! Seriously, this is ridiculous.

Anyways- the day before Halloween Brad surprised me with a one-night getaway.  Things have been really busy for us and decided that we needed to be together and reconnect.  It was great to get away, even just briefly. We went to a hotel for a night, had a nice dinner out, and in the morning we spent the morning at the hotel SPA.

I woke up Sunday morning to post-its on my bathroom mirror telling me were going away and what to pack.

Our pull down service after dinner… bathrobes laid out and chocolates on our pillows.

The next day was Halloween.  It was cold and rainy and Calliah Grace had a fever.  So, we put on her cow costume and she just hung out until she went to bed- EARLY!

Bee-Baw was here to spend the weekend with us. (And allowed us to get away)

Poor little girl… she really wasn’t feeling well.

But, eating dinner does help makes things a little better.

Our friends, the Burke’s, stopped by with their little girl who is Calliah Grace’s age.  The girls were so cute checking each other out.

 

Backtracking- NC State Fair

I know it was awhile ago ( 2 months)- however, I wanted to post some of our pictures from when we went to the state fair.

We had a great family day- and Calliah Grace was such a trooper.

Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream! YUM!

Calliah Grace loved all the different animals- thankfully we didn’t get sick, supposedly an E.Coli breakout happened at the fair because of some of the animals. GROSS!

Even Calliah Grace got in on the fair food action- roasted corn.

Loves giving kisses… even to monkeys.

Watching the big boat ride that swings back and forth.

And you can’t go to the state fair without getting a Krispy Kreme Bacon Cheeseburger. GROSS!!!!  (And just for those that care- he did not eat the whole thing!- he would’ve been sick for days)

It was a great family day!

 

More pictures to come… still have all of November to cover!

Wheels on the Bus at 2am

Last night (well, technically early this morning) Calliah Grace woke up crying. This happens sometimes, but not too often, and I can go in lay her back down and she’ll fall back to sleep.

Well from 2:00-3:30 this morning she wouldn’t go back to sleep. Every time I left she would be quiet for about 5 minutes, or right before I was asleep, then she’d start crying again.

At this point I was a little frustrated because I was so tired and all I wanted was for both of us to go back to sleep.

When I went in again at 2:45 I noticed that her diaper was really full and she felt a little warm. So, I changed her and have her some medicine. (She’s been sick with a cold since Thanksgiving.)

As we normally do for bed time I rocked her and sang her a song. But she still wouldn’t go down. At this point my frustration had left and I just felt sorry for my sweet girl not feeling well.

Then we spent the next 30 minutes cuddling and singing Wheels on the Bus- over and over and over. She didn’t want to hear anything else. And I loved every minute of that time.

Thank you Jesus for my sweet, precious little girl that I get to rock and sing to- even if it’s 3 am. I am so blessed!