As Our Year in Huntsville Comes to an End...

This time last year, I honestly did not know what to expect. Thinking about Stephen being gone for an entire year was just too much to handle; it weighed heavy on my heart and my mind. Besides knowing that we would miss each other like crazy, what upset me most was the fact that he was going to miss an entire year of Eli and Bella's lives. A year. That is a long time. At their young age, how would this impact them and their relationship with Daddy?

Would Bella even know Stephen when she saw him? How was Stephen going to feel not being able to see us and the precious things Eli and Bella do each day? He, after all, wouldn't have any family there. How was I going to manage all that needed to be done for Eli and Bella? Would the house ever get cleaned? How would I bring myself to kill a bug when one appeared in the house? Thinking back, this seems like this was just happening a couple of months ago, but it was actually one year ago! I could not imagine what this year would have been like without Mom and Dad.


They are awesome parents and grandparents, everyone knows that, but they both really stepped up, went above and beyond. If I needed them, they were there. If I didn't ask, they were still there, doing what they could to enrich Eli and Bella's lives and make mine a little easier. I can't tell you how many times Mom did my laundry or my dishes, took the kids to playground, played with them in the floor, took off work to watch one so I could take the other to the doctor, rocked Bella, read to Eli, fed them dinner... .
Dad gave numerous baths, got in workouts throwing Eli in the air, bounced Bella on his shoulder I don't know how many times trying to get her to go to sleep, took Eli to Lowe's to build things, read books, made snacks for Eli, went to all of Eli's t-ball practices/games, ... and the list goes on.

I am so grateful to them for all they have done for us this year! Eli and Bella have grown close to them, and I know they will miss Grandma and Grandpa just as much as Grandma and Grandpa are going to miss them.

Aunt Kathy has also been a great help this year, meeting us during her lunch hour (or two) to eat lunch with us, or just coming over to play with Eli and Bella.


Just having someone here for just a little while so I could get dinner started, check the mail on a cold day, or even pee without an audience was a great help. I remember when Stephen first left, Aunt Kathy told me, "This year will go by fast. It won't feel like it, but when you get to the end, you'll think it has gone by fast." What? That made no sense at all, but now that I am "at the end," I know exactly what she was talking about.

When Uncle James was here, and not traveling the world or in T-town, he would play with Eli and Bella and spend time with them. That was always nice to see. James plays with Eli the way Stephen does. Between Dad and James, I'm so grateful Eli and Bella had such positive male role models in their lives during Stephen's absence. I guess you could say they had a second mom in Mom. Heck, they both call her Mom.


Being here this year also allowed us to spend time, or more time, with those we would not have normally been able to see. We were able to see Momma every Sunday,

visit with Mamaw and Papaw a lot more than ever before,



play with cousins,




attend birthday parties,


reconnect with family we had not seen in a long time (Eli and Bella met Jeni and family for the first time.),


eat at Rosie's :-) ,



hang out with old friends,




and make new ones.


Yes, Stephen and I missed each other like crazy, and he missed Eli and Bella so much, but having the webcam and knowing we would be able to see each other a few times gave us something to look forward to. Eli and Bella loved Stephen as if he had never been away. I took tons of pics and videos, and those helped Stephen get a little taste of home, and it turns out he made some great friends there. Somehow I did manage to do all that needed to be done. At times, a lot of times, the house didn't get cleaned, but that was okay. It turns out that I was able to kill bugs. I wouldn't want to do this over again, but I thank God for getting us through this year.

Here's to the next chapter of our lives and our whole family being together! Watch out TX, here we come. I wonder if this means Stephen will have to be a Cowboys fan now?

Rice, Rice Baby

I do not like sitting in the house all day, can't stand it. But, when you have a sick little boy at home, you just can't go on fun outings. What to do, what to do? I was trying to think of something we could do that would keep both Eli and Bella entertained for a while and also seated because Eli did not need to be running around.

When Bella is sleeping, Eli and I can do things we don't normally do while she's awake, like play board/card games, paint, etc. Bella likes to paint, but she also likes to eat the paint, so it's usually a quick activity when she participates. Card games are, of course, not age appropriate for her right now. What could we do that would be fun, engaging, and not very messy? "Ahh, what about the rice tub? I wonder how Bella would do with that?" I thought. I knew there would be a little rice I would have to pick up, but it was okay since I sold our kitchen table and we could play in the dining area. The wood floor would make for easy clean up.

It started just fine. Eli was excited to play with his rice tub, and Bella liked putting her hands in it. Eli started to scoop some rice out of the tub and transfer it to a different container. One of the scoops didn't make it to the second container and ended up being spread out all over the floor. It wasn't all that bad, though...


...that is until Bella picked up, and dumped, the second rice container just as Eli was about to put a scoop of rice in it (and just as I was taking this picture).


Bella must have thought spooning the rice onto the floor was the thing to do because that's what she started doing. Eli decided he would try to clean up the rice. Bella obviously didn't care that Eli was trying to pick up the rice. She was spooning it onto the floor and grabbing handfuls of it and just dropping it on the floor, watching the grains of rice bounce of the floor.


Guess Eli got tired of trying to get the rice off of the floor. It was kind of like when I try to clean the play area before it's time for them to go to bed- it's totally pointless. Anyway, he deiced to join Bella.


We ended up playing with the rice for about an hour. They both had such a good time, and although I am still finding grains of rice around the house, it was very easy to clean up.

Little Slugger

Tonight, Eli had his first t-ball game. Seeing him out there, being a part of a team, took me back to when he first started hitting a ball off of a tee. Stephen would work with him whenever he could, and Eli would always amaze us at how well he could hit the ball at such a young age. It wasn't that long ago, but he was just such a baby then. He sure has changed so much.

Here he is at almost 15 months old.

16 months old


17 months old

Game day started with a trip to Dick's to find baseball pants that actually fit him. I bought the smallest ones they had, but they were still a little big. He also got batting gloves (I had no idea they came in such small sizes). Papaw and Mamaw came to visit from Troy to watch Eli 's first t-ball game. Papaw bought Eli a new helmet. Needless to say, Eli immediately took a liking to his new gloves and helmet and could not part with either before naptime.



Okay, so let's move onto the game. Here is Eli in his uniform. So, so cute!
Check out the oversize hat. Look how his ears are folded down.

Here is Eli's cheering section (not pictured: Mommy, Eli's biggest fan).

So the game begins. Eli is number 5 in the line up. He's ready to hit for the first time.

**WARNING- Someone is being very loud in this clip. You may want to turn your volume down.**

Great hit, Eli! Now it's time to round all the bases and cross home plate for your very first time. What a great moment!

Ha!! If you just watched that and you didn't laugh, something is definitely not right with you. I'm sure Eli will get some laughs out of that video clip one day, too.

Eli is the first baseman for his team, the Orioles. This picture was taken during the game. Look at all the parents on the field.

I guess it's necessary to keep all the players, uh... let's say focused on the game. During the second, and final inning, Eli's attention span was just about depleted, so he started chasing Finley around the field.

After the game, the coach picked up Eli and told him he was the team slugger. He is a good little ball player. I have to say that Eli's coach is nice, but he hasn't taught Eli one thing about t-ball. Grandpa has been taking him to practice and hitting and throwing with him at home. Thanks for working with him, Dad!

What a great first game! The best part? Eli loved it and cannot wait to play again. That's what it's all about. GOOOOOOoooooooooo Orioles!