Tired Mommy Tales

**Please excuse the text-heavy, picture-light post…due to a miscommunication, ALL of our pictures were transferred to the external hard drive yesterday. It’s taken me at least a week to write this and I just want to get it posted. No digging for pics – instagrams will have to do! LOL***

As one can see, I’ve had quite an absence from this, my little spot of land on the Interwebs. I wish I could say that it was a planned thing….that I took a sabbatical to re-evaluate my life, the blog or anything remotely along those lines.

Nope….life just got in the way.

Or rather, blogging would have gotten in the way of life.

So what has happened in the 4ish months since I’ve been gone.

Football season came and went…and I still count my blessings that it entails a much more family-friendly schedule for Keith than we’ve experienced in the past. Hopefully we’ll see success with the new coach (Welcome to Knoxville, Butch!!) and maybe a bowl trip next year??

Keith and Brooke celebrated birthdays in September! This year we were fortunate that our families were able to travel down from Michigan to be here for Brooke’s party and we included school friends for the first time! Brooke is already making mental plans for her next party.

I was in town for Alumni Band weekend!! My last season was 10 (!?!?!) years ago and save for the one year I was on Band Staff, this marked the first year since then that I’ve been in East Lansing for the Alumni Band game. I opted not to march and the crappy weather kept some of my closest bando buddies home, but it was so great to be back and relive some great memories. After rehearsal, Brooke ran around on Dem Field and I’m proud to say she has a perfect 8-to-5 step!

After years of growing out her hair in a quest to look like Rapunzel, Brooke (and mommy) bit the bullet and cut her hair. 10 inches came off and was donated to Locks of Love. We have really come to appreciate the extra time in the morning with less brushing, pigtailing and braiding!

Early in December, we headed to Sevierville and Keith ran his first 5k – the Santa Hustle! We headed down a day early and enjoyed a day at Dollywood. We’d been twice over the summer and made a trip to “Smoky Mountain Christmas” a must-do. It was a really nice day and I loved when dusk came around and the Christmas lights sparkled throughout the park. The next day was Keith’s race and he finished with an awesome time! I think he’s already keeping an eye out for the next challenge!

Brooke got to visit with both Santa Claus & Santa Smokey at the annual UT Athletic Department Holiday Party. The buffet was super yummy and Santa Smokey even joined us at our table for a little bit which Brooke thought was pretty cool.

Since we weren’t going to be home Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, Brooke was ecstatic to learn that Santa and his reindeer would be making a special trip just for her the day before we left! We struggled with how to handle the “Santa deal” with our holiday travels and am relieved to say Brooke did not question the early stop and thought it was pretty cool that she got a letter from Santa and that he came just for her before Christmas. And he brought just what she asked for…..an ice cream maker!!

While it was wonderful to be able to celebrate at our various get togethers with extended families, some we hadn’t been able to attend since we moved to Houston 7 years ago, in general it was a bittersweet trip. Shortly before we were scheduled to head up north, I’d learned my Grandma had a small heart attack. At 91 years old and in less-than-optimal uptimal health, recovery wasn’t something we could rely on to be a reality for her. We moved our departure up a day and I’m very thankful we could. I was able to spend quite a few hours in the hospital with her and kiss her good-bye as she headed to Hospice. It was there that she passed away a few days later on December 26th and we laid her to rest on December 29th. So while I wish our trip wouldn’t have been spent primarily in hospitals and funeral homes, I consider myself so blessed to have been there in her last days.

Love and miss you Grandma….

Now, as they say on the news, on a lighter note….I’m excited to announce her on the blog that we are expecting a new little one in 2013!!! We suffered a loss in September but were beyond blessed to get pregnant again quickly and I am due June 24th. June is a very busy month for birthdays and such but the more the merrier when it comes to celebrating, right?

I’m looking forward to sharing about my pregnancy, things I’m doing differently from the first time, resources I’m using and how Brooke (and maybe even Keith?) adjusts to the changes in the family.

I didn’t anticipate this would be such a long update but its been a nice walk down memory lane….what’s new with you? I’d love to hear some highlights (or lowlights if you want to share) of my readers!