Here I am again, more than a year behind on blog posts. But I will not give up! I will press on. These memories are too sweet not to be recorded. <3 2019 was an extra special holiday season because it was our first with Flynn and our last with Papa. His cancer had developed enough by then that we knew it was more than likely our last few months with him. I'm thankful that we had a chance to make the most of the time we had left with him. I know so many loved ones don't get a chance to ask the questions you've always meant to ask, tell them who much they mean to you and say goodbye. So as much as I miss him and wish he was still here I am so grateful for the time that we had. I choose to remember these times with joy because they were joyous times! Now writing this more than a year later the details are a little fuzzy, so bear with me. It will probably be mostly pictures with a few distinct memories I have from that time.
Putting up the Christmas Tree is what signifies the beginning on the holiday season for me. I wait until November and whenever the kids first ask after that I'll say yes. It usually ends up being the first or second weekend of November. It was a little disappointing because once we got all the boxes of decorations down I found out every single strand of the tree lights were out. So we couldn't start decorating yet. The kids were bummed but they perked up quickly when they realized that they got to go the store with me to pick out some replacement lights. Despite the slight hiccup we were still able to get the tree put up that weekend. Xan got to join in the tree decorating for the first time but I think her favorite part was still lying under tree looking at the lights. This was the first year that I let Atlas and Jane do the majority of the decorating and I didn't move too many around after they were done. They did a great job.
We had a small Kearley family Thanksgiving in 2019 with Papa Kearley joining us. But there was still delicious food and sweet family time. Jane and I were matching in our navy blue lace overlay dresses so we had to snag a pic. It's funny looking back at these pictures and realizing Xan's bottle of milk was never far from her. I couldn't even get her to put it down even for a picture. She doesn't even drink milk any more. What a difference a year makes!
After all the important talks were over it's almost like we tried to forget about the cancer diagnosis for the rest of the day. The kids decorated cookies with Mama and we all sat out on my aunt's porch and listed and danced to the playlist we all helped put together of everyone's favorite songs. The kids especially enjoyed hearing their favorite songs, like peppa pig, Frozen and Lego batman songs. Jane even convinced Atlas to dance with her. So sweet. We thoroughly enjoyed our time together. <3
We love going to the Little Heart Christmas party each year! This was our 4th year to attend. It was one of the first Little Heart events I ever attended. Jane was only 2 then! They always have fun activities and cute crafts for the littles and this year was no exception. Jane and Atlas both loved making their tiny gingerbread houses. The ladies had thought it through already and had the structures already made and all the kids did was decorate. They had a cute photo op spot set up and Xan thought the lollipops were real and kept licking them. ;) And of course we had our Book exchange as always. We got a book from this year that is still one of the kids favorites called What If Everybody Did That?
The very last holiday activity I wanted to fit in before Flynn arrived was Santa photos! The event was scheduled two days before Flynn's due date. We loved our experience last year for Free Santa photos done by the Kingwood Photo Club at the community center. We got the perfect picture really! I knew it would be hard to measure up to last year. This year's was great too, but I would say last year's was better. Xan didn't cry but she was confused and wouldn't smile and she didn't know how to sit naturally in his lap. The other two did great. Atlas went right up to him and gave him a big high five, Jane had no shyness and told him exactly what she wanted for Christmas. (A stuffed mermaid, which I had amazingly found at the dollar store as a stocking stuffer a couple days before and I had no knowledge that's what she would ask Santa for.)
Well, wouldn't ya know it. 2 days later, on his due date, our Christmastime blessing arrived! Flynn was born on 12/16/19 and I for one was very glad. 1. Flynn had changed position after the Santa photos and I had become very uncomfortable, and 2. I would have more than a week to recover before Christmas day. I had to snag a pic of my tiny boy in a Santa hat in front of the tree a few days after he was born. He tolerated it very well. So grateful for my holiday baby! <3
Finally Christmas Eve has arrived!! Even with a tiny newborn we were able to fit all our regular Christmas Eve traditions in. We let the kids go through their stockings mid-afternoon and as you can see Xan was quite pleased by the light up barking robot dog I got her. Atlas loved the robot I got him so much that he wore out the batteries in one day. We had Chili con queso and tamales as always and afterwards we took a short and slow Christmas light walk. I'm pretty sure it was my first walk after having Flynn. The kids favorite is always the house with all the Disney inflatables of course. Lastly it was time for Christmas jammies and bedtime. That picture of all of them in their jammies with Jane holding sweet sleeping Flynn is one of my all time favs.
I love New Year's. The gratefulness of realizing I've been blessed with another year with my beautiful family, the fresh start feeling of getting out the new Calendar, the fireworks, the family time. This New Year's Eve was the first time Xan and Atlas held sparklers all on their own. Atlas had been afraid of all fireworks until this year. Finally he got brave enough and really enjoyed them! Xan was just happy to be part of the sparkler crew. Jane has pretty much always loved fireworks! She's pretty experienced at holding roman candles now. That picture of the kiddos huddled up against my brother to watch a firework just makes me so happy! <3 Once we had shot off a good amount of fireworks I took the kiddos home for bed. They're still not old enough to stay up until Midnight. I wonder when I'll let them. Hard to say because I want them to get their rest to be able to enjoy New Christmas Day to the fullest and not be cranky from staying up too late. Jane might be getting close though.
Our last event of the holiday season. Merry New Christmas Day with the Daugherty side of the family. We didn't know it but this was our last family event with Papa. I did have a feeling it was our last holiday with him though. Other than gift opening Scott and I spent most of the day asking Papa questions and listening to his stories. He was such a great story teller. He was one of 5 siblings so I wanted to ask him how that was since I have 4 kiddos. He told me they were a little bit farther apart so his big sister was more like a little mother. And with the wider age gaps things were a little more calm than what I seem to be experiencing with my crew! ;) I remember stories of one bed for all 5 kids and you could see the dirt ground straight through the floorboards of their house. They didn't have much but it was a loving family and their mom made wonderful meals like southern fried chicken. Scott and I asked about his career and why he chose the path he did. He was in the Navy and did a variety of jobs like working as a bellhop in a hotel. I think accounting runs in our blood because later on he worked in accounting/bookkeeping. (Scott and I both work in accounting) He didn't become a CPA or anything because he couldn't handle one more day of school. ;) I get that too. It's the reason I didn't go to college. I wish I could remember everything we talked about that day but human memory is so fickle. I'll always remember sitting there taking it all in knowing how special it was. Thankfully a year later the grief is not so gripping, but I still have tears in my eyes writing this. I just wish I could talk to him again. His voice and manner of speaking was just so comforting. I pray that I am able to continue his legacy of doing good and loving well.
My Christmas light crew. We got our yard lights put up pretty quickly over the next few days. I felt like the longer I took to put them up the harder it would be! My belly was growing fast. So I was motivated to get it all finished as soon as possible. Flynn's due date was just a little longer than month away! I wanted to have everything set and ready for Christmas so I could just enjoy the holiday season and wait for Flynn to arrive.
Don't worry! I haven't forgotten about Thanksgiving! Growing up Thanksgiving was my favorite holiday. I feel like since I've had kids Christmas has become my favorite but Thanksgiving is still a close second for me! Our home school group holds a yearly Thanksgiving picnic. We went for the first time last year and I realized my kids wouldn't eat anything there. So this year I was prepared! I put a portion of the side dish I brought aside so Jane and Atlas made sure they got some and packed a couple of other lunch items I knew they would like. That way they had a good meal before we made our way over to the dessert table. As you can see from the picture above there wasn't a shortage of food there that I liked! So full! The kids had a great time playing at the park with their friends both new and old before and after the meal.
We did a thankful turkey last year and we all enjoyed it so much that we decided to do it again. I love see what they all came up with. Definitely a new Thanksgiving tradition! I put their first initial on each feather so I would know who said what. Little did I know that Kitty thankful feather would lead to us having a kitty of our own. So fun to see what stays the same and changes from each year.
We had a small Kearley family Thanksgiving in 2019 with Papa Kearley joining us. But there was still delicious food and sweet family time. Jane and I were matching in our navy blue lace overlay dresses so we had to snag a pic. It's funny looking back at these pictures and realizing Xan's bottle of milk was never far from her. I couldn't even get her to put it down even for a picture. She doesn't even drink milk any more. What a difference a year makes!
Our Daugherty family Thanksgiving was very special. We were all praying and believing for a miracle but we all knew it could be our last Thanksgiving with Papa. We took pictures we knew we might not get another chance to take and those pictures are so special to me now. Papa knew he might not have another chance to share his heart with all of us. (We were missing a few people but a good amount of the family was there) When we all sat down for dinner Papa said he had something to share with everyone. He spoke to us about how when he first received the news about having cancer he had decided not to have treatment. But he thought of all of us and decided to fight for us. Then he went on to say that he felt as much as it depended on him he had to make sure we knew Jesus. He shared with us the gospel and part of his personal journey with God. It was so touching and special. I cried and could barely eat my food. Afterwards Sam and I exchanged words with Papa. We told him how much he meant to us and how important we thought he was to the whole family. He told us how special he thought we were and how much he loves us. I'm so grateful to have that memory. I got one of his great hugs and Sam received a very hearty and lengthy handshake.
After all the important talks were over it's almost like we tried to forget about the cancer diagnosis for the rest of the day. The kids decorated cookies with Mama and we all sat out on my aunt's porch and listed and danced to the playlist we all helped put together of everyone's favorite songs. The kids especially enjoyed hearing their favorite songs, like peppa pig, Frozen and Lego batman songs. Jane even convinced Atlas to dance with her. So sweet. We thoroughly enjoyed our time together. <3
As I said in a previous blog post, I hosted a Usborne book party for the first time in 3 years right before the 2019 holiday season. My friends blessed me with wonderful orders and it was very successful. I took more than half of the free books that I received from that party and made Book Advent for the month of December! They weren't all Christmas books but each morning they got to take turns opening a book that had the day's corresponding number. I filled all 25 days before Christmas! It worked out great. Except that Alexandria couldn't really understand when it wasn't her turn to open a book so we tried to open one before she woke up when it wasn't her turn. Thankfully it was an easy fix to the problem. ;)
We love going to the Little Heart Christmas party each year! This was our 4th year to attend. It was one of the first Little Heart events I ever attended. Jane was only 2 then! They always have fun activities and cute crafts for the littles and this year was no exception. Jane and Atlas both loved making their tiny gingerbread houses. The ladies had thought it through already and had the structures already made and all the kids did was decorate. They had a cute photo op spot set up and Xan thought the lollipops were real and kept licking them. ;) And of course we had our Book exchange as always. We got a book from this year that is still one of the kids favorites called What If Everybody Did That?
The very last holiday activity I wanted to fit in before Flynn arrived was Santa photos! The event was scheduled two days before Flynn's due date. We loved our experience last year for Free Santa photos done by the Kingwood Photo Club at the community center. We got the perfect picture really! I knew it would be hard to measure up to last year. This year's was great too, but I would say last year's was better. Xan didn't cry but she was confused and wouldn't smile and she didn't know how to sit naturally in his lap. The other two did great. Atlas went right up to him and gave him a big high five, Jane had no shyness and told him exactly what she wanted for Christmas. (A stuffed mermaid, which I had amazingly found at the dollar store as a stocking stuffer a couple days before and I had no knowledge that's what she would ask Santa for.)
Well, wouldn't ya know it. 2 days later, on his due date, our Christmastime blessing arrived! Flynn was born on 12/16/19 and I for one was very glad. 1. Flynn had changed position after the Santa photos and I had become very uncomfortable, and 2. I would have more than a week to recover before Christmas day. I had to snag a pic of my tiny boy in a Santa hat in front of the tree a few days after he was born. He tolerated it very well. So grateful for my holiday baby! <3
This was our 2nd year being part of the neighborhood hayride our sweet friends, the Combs, put together. It's tradition now. ;) This year I was just 4 days postpartum with Flynn. Even though I was feeling pretty good and I was sad to miss out, I knew a cold, bumpy hayride would not be a good idea. So Marmee went with the kids for me while Flynn and I watched. It worked great and the kids loved it once again. Looking forward to next year!
Finally Christmas Eve has arrived!! Even with a tiny newborn we were able to fit all our regular Christmas Eve traditions in. We let the kids go through their stockings mid-afternoon and as you can see Xan was quite pleased by the light up barking robot dog I got her. Atlas loved the robot I got him so much that he wore out the batteries in one day. We had Chili con queso and tamales as always and afterwards we took a short and slow Christmas light walk. I'm pretty sure it was my first walk after having Flynn. The kids favorite is always the house with all the Disney inflatables of course. Lastly it was time for Christmas jammies and bedtime. That picture of all of them in their jammies with Jane holding sweet sleeping Flynn is one of my all time favs.
Christmas morning is always special! We take it slow. The kids don't wake up super early because they know they have to wait until Dad wakes up to do presents which is usually between 10-11am. Once they're awake, usually around 8am, we watch something Christmas themed and have pancakes for breakfast. They loved their presents! Well, except Xan. Being one I only got her a couple of toys because I already have so many 1 year old toys and it's still hard to figure out what they like at that age. She liked her toys but the other gifts I had for her were books. Since we did a book a day all the way to Christmas, she was sooo over it. If she started opening a present and figured out it was a book, she stopped opening it and moved on. Haha! Oops. Sorry Xan. Flynn slept on my lap most of the gift opening. Jane was excited to open and show Flynn the couple of gifts I got him. Atlas was the most excited about his new Paw Patrol game for the switch. Jane was so in love with her new Elsa dress, I love that smile so much! It was another wonderful Christmas morning.
After playing with their new toys and watching one of their new movies we headed off to Marmee and Pappaw's for Christmas dinner. My mom let them open one present ahead of our traditional New Year's Christmas. A set of three walkie talkies, one for each of them. I think it was a hit! We ran out the batteries in like one day. Oops. Should have bought the ones with rechargeable batteries. After dinner Pappaw took us on a Christmas light ride in the bed of his truck. The kids absolutely loved it. They especially loved it when he went a little too fast for my comfort. ;) Don't worry it wasn't that fast, just momma heart slightly worried fast. Haha! Seriously it was great. I feel like it's gonna be a new tradition. Such a lovely Christmas day. So blessed.
I love New Year's. The gratefulness of realizing I've been blessed with another year with my beautiful family, the fresh start feeling of getting out the new Calendar, the fireworks, the family time. This New Year's Eve was the first time Xan and Atlas held sparklers all on their own. Atlas had been afraid of all fireworks until this year. Finally he got brave enough and really enjoyed them! Xan was just happy to be part of the sparkler crew. Jane has pretty much always loved fireworks! She's pretty experienced at holding roman candles now. That picture of the kiddos huddled up against my brother to watch a firework just makes me so happy! <3 Once we had shot off a good amount of fireworks I took the kiddos home for bed. They're still not old enough to stay up until Midnight. I wonder when I'll let them. Hard to say because I want them to get their rest to be able to enjoy New Christmas Day to the fullest and not be cranky from staying up too late. Jane might be getting close though.
Big kids playing Uno, Xan playing with Pappaw and Scott and I listening to Papa's stories.
Our last event of the holiday season. Merry New Christmas Day with the Daugherty side of the family. We didn't know it but this was our last family event with Papa. I did have a feeling it was our last holiday with him though. Other than gift opening Scott and I spent most of the day asking Papa questions and listening to his stories. He was such a great story teller. He was one of 5 siblings so I wanted to ask him how that was since I have 4 kiddos. He told me they were a little bit farther apart so his big sister was more like a little mother. And with the wider age gaps things were a little more calm than what I seem to be experiencing with my crew! ;) I remember stories of one bed for all 5 kids and you could see the dirt ground straight through the floorboards of their house. They didn't have much but it was a loving family and their mom made wonderful meals like southern fried chicken. Scott and I asked about his career and why he chose the path he did. He was in the Navy and did a variety of jobs like working as a bellhop in a hotel. I think accounting runs in our blood because later on he worked in accounting/bookkeeping. (Scott and I both work in accounting) He didn't become a CPA or anything because he couldn't handle one more day of school. ;) I get that too. It's the reason I didn't go to college. I wish I could remember everything we talked about that day but human memory is so fickle. I'll always remember sitting there taking it all in knowing how special it was. Thankfully a year later the grief is not so gripping, but I still have tears in my eyes writing this. I just wish I could talk to him again. His voice and manner of speaking was just so comforting. I pray that I am able to continue his legacy of doing good and loving well.
The rest of our holiday was wonderful. We opened presents all together and my cousin Amanda and her family joined us afterwards for Christmas lunch and we just enjoyed being together. Atlas was very excited about his new bike, Xan loved her Elsa castle, Jane was surprised by wedding barbie and Flynn, well he cried through diaper changes and slept through just about everything else. What's a 2 week old baby to do? ;) Pretty sure I'll always remember this holiday season as extra special. I'll also remember that it was right before life as we knew it was about to change. I'm so happy we had this time together before all of that happened. I'm so grateful for everything God has given us.
1 Thessalonians 4:9-18
But concerning brotherly love you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another; and indeed you do so toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, that you increase more and more; that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and that you may lack nothing.
But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.
For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.
