My 2012 "Focus Word"

Contentment. That's my focus word for 2012. Something I desperately need to work on. Just being content with where I am in this very moment. With what I have or don't have. With what we are doing or not doing. With where we are going or not going.

I am really bad about looking forward too much. Wondering what's going to happen this year. And sometimes it causes me worry. I think about how blessed we have been so far with our health our three healthy children. And I worry. I guess every parent probably does.

But you know what? Right now, on January 13, 2012, we are all whole and happy and healthy, and I want to make the very most of today. I want to be content with today.

I also tend to constantly think about things that I could do differently around the house. Ways to change our decor, new furniture I want, updates I wish we could afford. I also think about trips I wish we could take, places I wish we could move to, things I wish I could do with my boys. And all of this causes discontent.

It's great to dream and plan and imagine, but it's so much more important to focus on what you do have right now. God has blessed me with three beautiful little boys who call me mommy and a comfortable safe home in which to raise them. I have a hard-working and helpful husband who loves us with everything he has. I have the best family and friends. We are planning a trip to the beach this summer. I have so much to be content with.

And speaking of "contentment" and "summer". . . It's getting harder and harder to be content with this cold weather. I am ready for the warmer months!! I had a newborn last summer, so I feel like I didn't get to get out and enjoy the sunshine as much as usual.

We are looking forward to picniks outside under the shade trees and evenings at the pool and sno cones and sunscreen.

But right now we will be content with watching movies snuggled under warm blankets. Footed jammies and hot chocolate. Thick coats and pink, wind-kissed cheeks.

* * *

Sometimes I get to a point in my day where I feel like I am just running around in circles getting nothing accomplished. I have a to-do list a mile long, that's getting longer instead of shorter. Yesterday was one of those day. Everything was unorganized, laundry was piling up, I couldn't get a spare minute to sit down and do some planning on Brody's birthday party coming up soon. So, I just stopped and sat down for a while and played with my children.

We played Flying Fish with Brody's prize from his dental visit yesterday morning. He is obsessed with this thing. He wanted to take it for his show-n-tell at school today, but they are on letter Z, so he named it Zoe so he could still take it. Love that kid's imagination.

We just sat in the floor and tickled each other and made silly faces for the camera and laughed. It was just what they needed.

It was just what I needed.

Oh, these boys make me so happy.

Today we are going to brave the cold and try to go outside and get some pictures of Brody for his birthday invitation. Can't believe that boy will be 5.

And we've got a party to plan! If we can get Levi and Beckett to nap together this afternoon, I want to sit down with him and get some ideas together.

So, here's to being content in 2012!!

Our Week...iPhone Style

I (like everyone else, I am sure) take most of my pictures these days with my iPhone. If we are doing something really special or important, I use my Canon, but my iPhone is always near my side, so for everyday life, that's usually what I pick up.

The boys got a trampoline from PawPaw and Mimi for Christmas, but it was raining Christmas day and for a several days after, so Brent finally got around to putting it up for them last weekend. Until it warmed up enough for them to join him outside, they kept a watchful eye on the process from the living room window. Finished! And they love it. The could seriously jump for hours.

I just thought he looked so cute in his little cowboy boots :)

Aren't they awesome?!

We celebrated Dustin's birthday at La Villa...

And Brody wanted to have his picture made in the birthday outfit too!

Nearly every time I pick up my phone, I find pictures like this on it. At least 20 of them. He loves to take self-portraits.

Levi is sitting really well now, and it blows my mind when I see him just sitting in the floor playing like this. When did he get so big?! He should still be a teeny little infant in the bassinet! I am really trying this time to not rush him growing up. I know how fast it happens. I have thoroughly enjoyed the newborn stage with him. I wish I could keep him a baby forever!

More trampoline fun!

They really enjoy playing together in the mornings. Being less than two years apart, I really think (and hope!) that they will always be big buddies.

We keep his jumparoo in the kitchen, and most of the time it keeps him pretty entertained while I cook :)

We have finally had a breakthough with Levi eating solids. He just wasn't interested AT ALL in baby food. So, I finally decided to just try dicing up real food...and he loves it! He started with banana, and has now had carrots, avacado, and peas! So glad my boy is eating now!

All dressed to support the Razorbacks the day of the Cotton Bowl.

Game time! Woo Pig Sooie!

Brent and I took Beckett to Shreveport for the day this Saturday, for some one-on-one time with him. Levi stayed with Brent's Mom, and Brody spent the day with my Mom. Mom sent me this picture of Brody with my Papa. They had walked through the woods, down a trail, to my grandparents house. I know Brody was loving it - he is such an outdoor boy!

Meanwhile, we were having a fabulous time with our Beckett!! I really needed that time with just him, to give him all of the attention. He was sooo good...I think he really enjoyed it too.

Eating at Buffalo Wild Wings!

Playing in Bass Pro...

Waiting in line for the carousel...

And riding it!

And we ended the day watching the fountains and throwing in a few coins.

When you have more than one child, I think that individual time is soooo important. I don't really ever like leaving any of my kids, especially when we are doing something fun, but they each deserve my whole undivided attention sometimes, with all of the attention on them. It always ends up being such an enjoyable day...and an easy one at that!

Time Travel {Nashville 2011}

As I was typing my 2011 review post, I realized that I never blogged about our Nashville trip! This was the last weekend in April. Brent had trained for and was planning on running his first full marathon here, but started having health problems a couple weeks before (he ended up having his gallbladder out soon after we got home), so once we got here, he decided he would just run the half to be on the safe side. I was about 7 months pregnant with Levi, so Brent's mom came with us to help with the boys.

Brody and Beckett just playing around outside of our hotel:

The day before the race, we went to the Opryland Hotel just to look around...it was beautiful!

Little sleepyhead waking up the morning of the race :)

Enjoying breakfast outside

Waiting for Daddy to cross the finish line!

Not sure why my pictures ended there...I think maybe I took the rest of them on my phone. I'll have to see if I can find them!

Here's to 2012!

So, here we are at the beginning of another year. Time to reflect on the year we just finished and look forward to what's ahead of us. 2011 was a quite a year for us. Good and bad. We lost my aunt and my cousin at the beginning of the year. Losses like that are never easy, and I miss them both so much. But our family also had many exciting moments. In January, we found out that the sweet baby I was carrying was, indeed, another baby boy! Brent turned 30 in February, and we celebrated Brody's 4th birthday! I remember it being so warm (around 80!) that we ended up having most of his party outside! In April, we traveled to Nashville for Brent to run the Music City Half Marathon. We knew it would be our last trip with just our two boys, and we had so much fun with them! May brought us our precious niece Eden (and Brent's gallbladder surgery...haha). May was also the month I was able to temporarily retire from my job as a dental hygienist and begin my dream job of being a stay at home mom to my boys! And in June (definitely the highlight of the year!) we welcomed our amazing little Levi Hudson into the world (with the fastest, craziest delivery I have ever heard of)! In July, we celebrated my brothers 30th birthday, and in August, my Mom's 50th! August was also the month I cut open my foot, just before my 27th birthday. In September, we had a Thing 1 and Thing 2 party to celebrate our Beckett turning 2 and Brooke turning 8! Such fun! My mom and I took the kids to Natchez for the weekend in October for the hot air balloon races, and the rest of the year just flew by as we celebrated Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas!

What a fun, exciting time in our lives! I am anxious to see what the new year brings. Brent and I are thinking that 2012 might just be a year of settling into this life with our three boys and trying to live every day to the fullest. We haven't had a calm year like that since we've been married! Ha! We were married in 2005, found out we were expecting in 2006, Brody was born in 2007, found out we were expecting again in 2008 (miscarried a few months later), found out I was pregnant again and had Beckett in 2009, positive pregnancy test again in 2010, and Levi born in 2011!! Wow!!! To be perfectly honest, closing that chapter of our lives has been hard for me. The exitement of finding out you are pregnant, the miracle of welcoming your baby into the world...it makes me a little sad to know that those years are most likely behind me. But I have three beautiful, smart, healthy, funny little boys who I love more than I could ever even begin to decribe. And they love their mama, too. The fun is really just beginning, right?! So, maybe this year we will just enjoy the amazing little family we have created. Spend time together. Do fun things. Celebrate a 1st birthday and prepare my big boy to start kindergarten. I don't know what the Lord has planned for us in 2012, but I can't wait to find out!