What a crazy year this has been! Thinking back on it I am overwhelmed with everything that happened. From the very beginning 2010 wanted us to know it was gonna be one heck of a year. Makayla, my niece, spent the first few weeks of the year fighting for her life, literally. She had a deep bleed in her brain that nearly killed her. The first five weeks of the 2010 were filled with visits to Children's Hospital, to visit Makayla and to support my sister, Kari, who was spending nearly every hour of every day there. We are so thankful that Makayla not only survived, but that she is continuing to exceed the expectations of all the doctors and staff who were and still are involved in her care.
Also during the first five weeks of the year, Gracie turned 2! What a roller coaster that has been! Her personality has totally come out. Most days are really good, but Grace has her own opinions about how things should be done and she'll make sure to let you know if she thinks you aren't doing it the way she wants it done. My mother in law says she is 2 going on 20. She has Bartlow and Hoskins in her which makes for a very stubborn combo, and good lungs. If she chooses to, Grace can make a noise loud enough to make your ears bleed, or dogs whine in pain. Sometimes I feel like calling her "strong willed" is an understatement. Other times, you would think she was the easiest kid in the world to take care of! She has so much energy! Grace loves to sing, dance, color, paint, and "do stickers" among other things. Her imagination is so vivid, which is both a blessing and a curse. She will play dolls forever, but if she thinks there is a tiger, the Grinch or a dragon in her room, brace yourself. Mild panic ensues and Daddy has to "grr" at them before they will leave. She makes us laugh. Her sense of humor is so sweet. Most of the time what she's saying isn't meant to be funny but the conviction with which she says it makes it hard not to smile and laugh. Even when she is in trouble, the things she says makes just about everyone in the room hide their faces and snicker quietly. She brings such joy to my heart.
In December of last year we moved, then in the beginning of June we moved again. That was an interesting week. Steve and I were going to be heading to Atlanta for Foursquare, our church denomination's, Convention. Steve has worked the convention just about every year since he was 16. This was the first year since we'd been married that we were going just the two of us. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 7am Friday morning. The week before we left we found out we had to move. (A long story, I won't go into it now) We didn't find a place until the Tuesday before we were to leave and it would be ready until after we got back from Atlanta. We had to pack for 3 things. 1. Atlanta, 2. A few days at his parents house before and after Atlanta, and 3. to put everything we wouldn't need in storage. Talk about stress. Then, on Wednesday we found out that the father of one of Steve's close friends had passed away. The memorial was scheduled for Friday morning at 11am. We decided I would fly ahead and check into the hotel and such and Steve would stay for the memorial and fly standby on a flight later that night. In the end Steve made it to Atlanta and we had an amazing week catching up with old friends, making new ones and seeing the city. Their aquarium, A-MAZING!!! Not to mention that I got to go to the Hoskins' motherland! (World of Coke Museum) So much fun! We got home safe the following Friday and moved most of our stuff Saturday.
In July we took our annual "Bartlow Family" vacation to Leavenworth. We were supposed to stay for three days but after we spent the first night waking up every two hours to let Gracie puke, we decided to head home a day early. We did get in a few trips tubing down the river though, which is always my favorite part. In August we found out we were expecting another baby and in November we discovered she was a girl. She is due to join our family a week after my 25th birthday in April. I'm not sure what I'll be doing for my birthday yet, but I'm sure whatever I do I'll be waddling my way around ready to pop at any moment. If the new baby is anything like Gracie or I; or as Steve calls her, Kelsey Jr, he is going to need a lot of help. That is a lot of emotions for one man!
Speaking of Steve. With each year I grow continually more
amazed at the man God has given me in Steve. He is an
amazing provider and protector for our family. Where I lack,
he excels. He is the calm to my storm, the clean to my, not as clean,
the logic to my oversensitivity. He reminds me it is ok to say "No"
if I really don't want to do something and is more than ready to
stand up for me if I need it. He is everything that I hoped for in my husband.
He is smart, and strong. He can fix my computer and my kitchen sink.
Although sometimes I am tempted to,
I couldn't ask for a more amazing man than the one I have. I love him.
Anyway, that was the majority of our year in a nutshell. I'm sure I've forgotten something but that's all I could think of at the moment and I need to go wake up Gracie from her nap so she'll sleep tonight. I hope everyone had a good year and that 2011 is even better!
