Happy New Year!

With the New Year comes an incredible amount of hope for me.  I am so excited for new prospects and new goals and new commitments.  I have so much more hope for this new year than I ever have felt in the past.  Here are a few “new” things that have happened in our family so far…

New teeth

2 to be exact… he lost the second one a few days later.  You can see the new teeth already coming in!  He was so excited!

A new haircut!  It took some convincing… but now he says he never wants long hair again!  Uh oh…  what have I done.




Maj thought he got one too.  He’s showing it off…


Madd had his first lesson in Karate today.  Our neighbor signed him up for a free two week trial period but I think he is going to be attached.  He loved it!  I loved it too.  They taught him the 3 rules… Keep a clean room, always do what mom and dad say, and gosh I can’t remember the next one because those 2 impressed me so much!  ha-ha.  I forgot to take my camera so I don’t have a picture of that YET.


Our next big news….. Introducing the newest member of our family...

HURLEY

I have to laugh so hard at her ears though, they look like Shrek ears right now because we have to tape them so they stay up.  Hopefully we won’t have to do this long… Oh who am I kidding, she is so cute anyways!  This was at Maddock’s urging that we got her… I DID NOT want another dog but this child is so persistent.  He wanted her for Christmas and we put him off.  So he started talking about his birthday and getting the dog for his birthday so Will and I broke down.  You would have too if you had a child that only talked about this one subject for a month!  I have to say, she is the exact opposite of Max. (this is a good thing, a VERY good thing)  She does not bark, she smells good(hahaha), she is incredibly funny, great with the kids, great with Mitch in particular, and oh so sweet.  She is probably the sweetest dog I have ever been around.  When Mitch comes home from school she gives him the once over to make sure he is ok.  I can only think of one similarity between her and Max, and that is that she doesn't shed!  I know she looks like she would be a shedder but NOPE!  Bonus… she is already potty trained!  We are happy in the end that we broke down and caved into Maddock’s request.   Welcome home Hurley!

I know, I know, I know… we must be OUT OF OUR MINDS!!!!!!!!!


This next thing actually happened before Christmas but I will tell you about it anyway.  Have I ever mentioned that I LOVE Shriners??????  Well I do.  They donated a wheelchair for Mitch.  And I am not talking about any old wheelchair, this thing is like the Cadillac of wheelchairs.  It is beautiful!  It is a positioning chair so he can use it all day long at school.  The way it tilts is amazing.  We used to worry about tilting him in his old yellow one because it could tip over but this one SWIVELS!  It is an amazing piece of machinery.  I am so incredibly grateful for Shriners and for the people that donate to Shriners.  They are amazing at what they do and donate their time and resources to children all over the country. 



New Year’s Eve

We had the best time ringing in the New Year with some dear friends.  It’s kind of a funny story.  One of our neighbors is the sister of a couple that we were in the NICU with when Mitch was born.  They had a little girl and we came to absolutely love their family.  I have talked to Julie a few times since but not very much.  It was so exciting to find out that her sister had moved into our neighborhood.  We have become good friends with Melanie and Shane and so it was fun to celebrate the New Year with old AND new friends!  ha-ha!  Does that make sense?!?

Julie and Melanie… I love these girls.  So much fun

We played games and as you can see it was INTENSE!  The men are seriously concentrating… you can almost see the steam.

We had a panty striker… Boston ran around with undies on his head!


Mitch didn’t last long…



Happy New Year!  May yours be filled with love, laughter and happiness!