time flies when....

Yoo hoo....I'm back in the blogging world. A little recap of the past year - oh how time flies!

Time flies when you're...

ON VACATION!

June trip to beach in Galveston, TX with the Copelands

the Copeland crew

Will's wonderful grandparents

DAD IS IN REMISSION!

In July Mom and Dad came to visit and he was pretty sick. It was hard to see him like that. But in August we got the good news that he is cancer free and doing well! Praise God for healing!

As sick as Dad was in July, I was so glad he and mom made the trip. How I miss them!

PREGNANT!

August brought the big news of Copeland baby #3. I had great intentions of taking pictures every week but that didn't last long. This was the first and only, taken at 6 weeks.

In November we bought a surprise cookie cake for the kids and told them that blue icing meant boy and pink meant girl.

Liam had been saying all along that he wanted a girl. He got his wish!

And the preparation began for Harper Claire.

My friends from my Side By Side Bible study gave me a baby shower for Harper. Laura Shotts had this awesome cake made!

Matching outfits for Hayden and Harper. Hayden is SO excited to be a big sister.

I took this picture today. Harper at 39 weeks! Me plus 45 lbs. Yikes. Thinking about the exercise required to get back to my August body already makes me feel out of breath.

SURVIVING WINTER!

We got 60 inches of snow from December through February - half of that in December alone!

And we got our first snowblower right before a giant blizzard that brought nearly 20 inches in a day!

Needless to say we had a white Christmas. This was our 2nd annual Christmas Eve picnic under the tree.

Will's family came to our snowy house for the holidays.

KIDS ARE GROWING UP!

In February we took our second annual winter trip to Little Rock and celebrated Hayden's 2nd birthday with a big princess party.

Hayden is so precious and thus far has been EASY to raise!! She's happy, easy-going, and so loveable. And oh how she loves Liam. Every night when she prays, the first things she is thankful for is Bubba.

(this picture was taken today. we had snow less than two weeks ago, but it looks like spring is finally here!!)

The 20 month gap between them seems less and less as they get older. They play together so much more now than a year ago - with loving and fighting mixed in. They are so different from each other but Hayden tries to be just like Liam.

Buzz Light year and the Bumblebee Transformer

NEVER a dull moment with Liam. I wish I had kept up with blogging this year because the stories to tell about this boy are priceless and too many to remember. One of the latest...I let him go to the bathroom by himself at the public library. Trying to give him a little freedom. Next thing I know he's calling me to wipe him. And what do I find in the boy's bathroom? Liam had pooped in the urinal. Liam and freedom - a dangerous combination.

Hayden had her adenoids removed this past Wednesday. She was a big snorer and mouth breather with a constant drippy nose, giant tonsils and huge adenoids. We're waiting on the tonsils and want to see how she does with just her adenoids removed. The surgery went great and she was back to doing her thing the very next day.

The night before Hayden's surgery, Liam headed to his first sleepover at his friend Luke Fermin's house. He was super pumped and did great - after calling his momma at about 9:45 that night - and then he gave into sleep for the night. Bless Luke's mother.

SURVIVING 2ND YEAR OF NEUROSURGERY TRAINING!

These pictures were taken in January after we had made it through two quarters of Will being on the chief jr. service. It's hard to explain what it's been like, but the term "single parent" that was thrown at me before training began became much more of a reality. I think I can say that it's been the toughest year of my life. Blogging went by the way side and I've been in survival mode. There's alot to say about that... but now it's nearly 1 am, I am having some serious Braxton Hix contractions, Liam is crying downstairs about a rash that's bothering him and Will's working nights this week. AND A COPELAND STORY CONTINUES!!!