Starting off the new year with a bang

New Year's Day fell on a Sunday this year.

And it also happened to be the first Sunday

when Porter became a Sunbeam and Ty went to nursery.

They were pretty excited about it!

And so were we :)

They both did great.

And we've only had some minor trepidation in the weeks following.

That week Baxter started feeling bad.

He thought it was just the usual sinus infection

and the doctor confirmed it.

But steroids didn't seem to make it better 

and by Thursday he had immense pain in his head.

So he went to the ER and they gave him pain meds and sent him home.

The pain meds didn't make it better and the pain got worse.

I took him back to the ER and they said it was a sinus infection 

and they couldn't do anything else for him 

but that he should see the ENT in the morning.

So we waited until our 10 a.m. appointment with Baxter in incredible pain.

By the time we got there he was writhing in tears and pounding his fists.

I felt so helpless.

The doc took one look at his CT scans and said he had an abscess on a sinus cavity.

And that he would need immediate surgery!

The doc explained he would try to go through the cavity with a tube to drain it,

but if he couldn't reach it he would have to drill a hole through his eye cavity.

It was very scary!

Baxter doesn't even like needles, much less emergency surgery.

I felt so bad for him but couldn't wait for him to feel relief.

The surgery went great and they didn't have to drill a hole.

The next few weeks looked a lot like this...

And this...

Thomas and Jazzy helped a lot while Baxter was recovering

and I was trying to play both roles and working full-time.

Like all things in life:

everything happens for a reason and

God is watching over all and helps you through it.

Baxter started his second semester back in school.

He's doing great making all As and not dare missing a class.

Before we know it he will be done with another degree.

And I can't wait!

We went to lot's of cousin birthday parties.

Zelleigh Bell turns 1!

Lolah Jean turns two!

 This little ham is really coming into his personality.

He is wild, busy, sweet as pie, demanding and cuddly.

He loves to cuddle! He doesn't sit still long but he loves snuggles.

He also loves his big brother.

Ty thinks Porter hung the moon!

He does everything Porter does...even if it's falling down.

He makes us laugh.

 But he also makes us want to pull our hair out sometimes.

He is attached to both of us. He needs to be on top of us all the time.

He literally pushes me away from the sink and the stove.

He screams the whole time we are trying to make dinner.

Sometimes I will take the kids on a long walk 

while Baxter makes dinner just so he can have some peace.

And he's not even content if we pick him up

because when we do he's screaming to get down.

This child is trying so hard to communicate.

I wish I could read his mind!

 Our house looks like this right now...

 We're still loving our "new house," as Porter likes to call it.

And making it more our own every day.

Life is good.