First up on our year was Christian starting his new job as a Nurse Practitioner. This was huge for our family and I still don't believe we have seen all the fruit of this career change just yet...it will continue to become a blessing for us as Christian gets better hours, becomes more confident in his abilities as well as financial gains for us long term. Having him off of weekends was such a breath of fresh air. Completing Nurse Practitioner school was one of the hardest things we did as a family and we are finally able to enjoy him again and not be stressed with homework or clinicals. What a huge undertaking Christian took on for us and we are so grateful for his hard work...not to mention extra thankful that it is OVER!!!
Another big thing for us this past year was the selling of our home. We have lived in that one home since Aubrey was 6 months old, so it held many special memories for us. We finally got to the point that we realized we needed more space and the neighborhood just wasn't working for us anymore. We are not huge risk takers so this was a big step for us. Selling our home and moving into a rental was not the funnest thing we've ever done but so worth it. We looked at homes for months but couldn't find anything that fit our needs. We were hesitant to build just because it is a lot of work but ultimately after MUCH prayer and back and forth we knew it was the right thing for our family. However, never in a million years did I think we would be moving into my parents neighborhood and getting to be just a few houses down! It is an absolute miracle that everything fell into place and we were able to purchase and build in such a fabulous neighborhood. My dad and brother are building our home so it makes it even more special. Hopefully we will be moving in this spring...we are just so excited! I cannot wait to build many new memories in our new home.
My Aubrey started 1st grade and is thriving in school. She is reading like a champ and I am amazed at her math abilities...I am terrible at math so she doesn't get it from her mama! Aubrey is just Miss Extravert...ready and always willing to mingle and be social. She was home with me these last few weeks of December and I was absolutely exhausted by her stamina! That girl gets up roaring to go at 6 am and doesn't stop until I make her go to sleep! She is a lot like my mama...full of energy and ready for activities.
Weston Hayes started school at Zoar this year and is loving being in PreK4. He has also taken off academically and I am thrilled to say he now knows his letters. (I was worried there for a while) He loves his teacher although he still would much prefer to stay home with me. He is so much like me...loves to be home working on something independently. He is 100% a mama's boy and snuggles like nobody else. Weston did soccer last year as well as swimming and really found his thing with karate. He is the cutest thing ever in his uniform and belt. I am dreading him starting kindergarten this year...that will be a tough one for this mama.
And I have to save the best for last! My angel boy took his first independent steps in 2018! We never thought he would be walking at two years of age by himself...that was something we had been told he wouldn't do til 4 or 5...well apparently Baylor didn't get that memo because he has been walking like a champ. He is absolutely the hardest worker you will ever meet and he is always working with a smile. His therapist all tell me he is the easiest, hardest working little boy they have ever met. We gave that walker back to his PT and Baylor hasn't ever looked back. He rocks those orthotics and if he has long pants on you probably won't even know he has cerebral palsy. We are so incredibly thankful for his progress and know it is nothing short of a miracle.
Please keep us in your prayers as we have lots of big decisions to make for Baylor this upcoming year and we want to continue to provide him with the best options for reaching his full potential in life. I'll post more on his upcoming surgery options once we get back from St. Louis in the next few weeks.
Overall it was a fabulous year...don't get me wrong...we had our tough times sprinkled throughout but overall it was a year of growth and prosperity for us as a whole. We are so thankful for a great year and look forward to the great memories coming in 2019.
