2011

I'll admit - I'm a little sad to see 2011 end. 2011 was a year of wonderful blessings, new beginnings and it was just an all around fantastic year for our family. Like all years, there were moments of sadness, anxiety, frustration and worry, but the Lord did immeasurably more for us than we ever could have imagined.

On January 10th, we were told we were having a little girl (boy, was that doctor wrong!). The next day, January 11th at 1:11pm, we welcomed our precious niece Madison Claire into this world. Immediately after her birth, we almost lost my sister due to complications. She spent 4 or so hours in surgery while the doctors worked furiously to save her life and her uterus, while we spent those 4 hours on our knees in prayer, begging God for her life. She made it out of surgery and spent the next few days in ICU, but recovered so quickly! On Friday the 14th, Jon was laid off from his job and being 12 weeks pregnant, I spent the next few days sobbing, wondering how we would make it through! It's so true that when something like that happens, something MUCH better always comes along.

In February, we were told we were really having a boy, and after a couple of days in shock, we hit the road running, prepping our home and our lives for the arrival of Luke.

Fast forward to April, and Jon began a new job as a Sr. Manager for a consulting firm here in Dallas. He went from traveling weekly to never having to travel at all. Such a great blessing right before the birth of our son! I also found out I had gestational diabetes, which is never fun, but after a couple of days of crying somewhat non-stop, it became an easy thing to manage and live with. And it had an upside - I was able to get an induction before my due date!

May and June brought 4 baby showers! It was so fun to be able to celebrate with friends and family and we got lots of great things for Luke.

On July 19th, Luke Holland was born via c-section. He immediately changed our lives and we are so incredibly thankful to be his parents. The first 2 weeks were extremely tough on me, with the recovery and baby blues, but we all survived and got into a routine that works for our family (again, the biggest thank you goes to Moms on Call!). Sleepless nights very quickly turned to full nights of sleep for both us and Luke, and he has been the most easy-going baby.

September was full of weddings of dear friends and lots of Longhorn football. While 2011 may not have been the best year for our Horns, we are ever thankful to be part of the Texas family. Our blood is burnt orange!

In November, we celebrated Thanksgiving in Austin, and truly, we have too many blessings this year to count. We have our health, a happy son who loves life, good jobs with great bosses, a beautiful home in a neighborhood we love, precious friends and a large loving family, a wonderful church home, our salvation - the list goes on and on. Luke and I like to sing the song - Count Your Blessings, Name Them One By One - Count Your MANY Blessings and See What God Has Done!

We spent December traveling our great state celebrating Christmas with both sides of the the family, our friends and Jon's coworkers.

As the year winds down, we've spent the day outdoors with Luke, letting him swing in his new swing and just enjoying the sunshine before the winter gets bad here. We're reflecting on how far we've come this year and looking forward to where we'll go next year. 2011 was a fantastic year for us, and we look forward to all the new year has to bring. Happy New Year!