Another year gone and a new beginning...

Leaving behind 2009 means forgetting the bad and carrying the good memories with us.

At the start of 2009 Wilkins was in the hospital for a week with RSV hooked up to an IV giving her fluids.  That was probably one of the scariest times of this year and my life for that matter.  It was very hard to see my 6mth old baby girl like that but I know that everything happens for a reason. 

Their are 13 of us now and we are very close.  Every new trial or triumph only brings us closer and stronger.  We may argue, disagree, ignore one another at times but we also compliment, defend, and cheer one another on.  I don't think things would have turned out so well if it had not been for such a strong woman leading the way...our mother.  I don't know if there is a stronger individual out there.  Yes she has her moments when the tears come because the burdens she bears get heavy but she seems to always pull through.  Her and I agree and disagree on a number of things but I know how lucky I am to have her in mine and Wilkins' life.  Without her I could not raise my daughter the way I know is right.  Wilkins never has to go to a daycare or rarely stay anywhere other than with me or my mom and for that I am very grateful.  She has so many people who love her and treat her as if she were a part of their family. 

On her first birthday that was very evident...she got to go to Disney World.  Then when she got back she went to church with mom where she held the basket and got over $50.  She then had a birthday party where she got even more.  For her 1st birthday she got over $200 and a lot of love from our extended family and friends.  I feel truly blessed to have such wonderful people love my daughter the way they do. 

So I have wrote about a trial and a triumph from the year of 2009.  There were a lot more ups and downs but none of which make or break us. 

And although 2010 started off with a great day with the Middlebrooks Family Christmas it has already started out with a very sad start to...with the death of a close friend, Sis Faye Black.  Her death has come as such a shock to most of us.  We know that God has a plan and soon the pain will be lifted and replaced with comfort of all the memories we hold dear. 

So let this be a reminder to all you never know what tomorrow holds so make sure the people close to you know how much you love and appreciate them. 

My "little DIVA"

So I didn't really realize until the past couple of weeks how much Wilkins likes to dress up!  She has always liked to wear baseball caps but I just thought that was it...

I was wrong...BIG TIME!!

She likes to put on all kinds of beads...necklaces, bracelets, rings, etc.  She walks better in heels than I could ever!!  And of course you can't forget the crown, the purse, the keys, and the sunglasses!!  My mom literally let her wear those long beads to church!!  OMG  I think that I am gonna have my hands full!! 

She is such a mess...

Being Santa Claus is hard work...

This is what Wilkins got from Santa...

Let me tell you I have never seen so many types of screws in my life.  There were literally so many different kinds that it was labeled from A-P!!  It was crazy!  I was up until almost 2am putting this crazy thing together.  Of course it didn't help that I got the bottom 4 pieces together only to realize that I had put two of the pieces on backward.

But it was definitely worth all the hard work...

Wilkins absolutely loved it and seeing her expression when she saw it was absolutely the best!!

I don't know that she was fully awake while she was opening the rest of her gifts.  That chef hat and apron definitely had to be her favorite gift though because she wore it practically all day!!

I think that Addy loved Wilkins' kitchen almost as much.  She kept saying over and over that pink was her favorite!!

Mom's Christmas Tree...

Probably one of my favorite pictures is the one of Wilkins and Bryson...the way she is looking at him is so funny!!

The kids were making funny faces in the picture and Wilkins is the funniest one because all you can see is her eyes!!  We laughed so hard at her and then at Logan.  His expression is so funny!  Wilkins didn't know what to do with all these presents so she just started to climb...

Mom bought Bryson a cell phone for Christmas which he absolutely loved!  And in fact soon began to annoy us with throughout the rest of the day!  Bradley was putting Wilkins in all her dress up stuff and when he went to put on the clip on earrings they were a little bit tighter than he thought.  Needless to say Wilkins turned into the little DIVA that she is!!  LeAnne got Lucas some crazy BUZZ Lightyear glasses that ended up being to small for his head.  Good thing too because he looked like a dork!

Addy was dancing like a flapper and Wilkins

was dressed up like a princess.  Logan has on Lucas' Buzz goggles and looks like a bug!  GOOFBALL! 

Mom got Wilkins a pink Cozy Coupe which she absolutely loved!!

Mom got this crazy monster sleeping bag for Logan but Wilkins and Addy took it over for the remainder of the day.  Logan avoided it because he knew that he would fall asleep!!

As you can tell by looking at mom and Haley we had a very nice, relaxing Christmas Day.  We started the day with a big breakfast and then we opened presents!!  Everyone (I mean everyone) took a nap at some point in the afternoon and then we had a big dinner!!

It was a great day and we all enjoyed being together!!  We had a lot of laughs and of course there were a few arguments which is normal when there are 6 kids!! 

Wilkins had a long day and as you can tell was definitely ready for bed...

So far behind...the story of my life this month!!

Where to start...

The Cardin Christmas...  Here a a couple of pictures:

There were only a few of us there but the ones that were had a blast. 

The Christmas Play was next...

The Christmas Play turned out to be so good...for the first time in years there weren't alot of individual performances.  Every child in the play actually sung...the angels sang together, the wisemen, Mary and Joseph sang together, Lucas and Addy sang Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, and then the little ones sang Happy Birthday Baby Jesus.  It was so cute.  Of course you will notice in one of the pictures that Lucas and Addy are sitting with their backs to one another...they were fighting over who was going to hold the star!!  So for the 2nd year in a row they had a little argument but it was so funny!

Now for the grand finale of this post...

Lucas' Birthday!!

Bro Pat, Sis Tammy, Josh and Ashley, Tyler and Cassi, Sandra, Terina, and Lexie all came over to the house while I was at work for Lucas' 4th bday!!  Little did they know how entertained they were going to be!!  This is the picture I received on my phone while I was at work:

Oh yeah...that's my baby sitting in the toilet!!  Now don't think she got in there all by herself...she does have a cousin, Logan, who is about 4 mths older and was also in the bathroom.  These two are very quiet and very sneaky to where you don't even know they are gone.  Here is the funny part of the story, she wasn't even wet when they got her out.  You want to know why:

That is her blanket in there with toys wrapped up in it and there is also a whole roll of toilet paper under her blanket!!  Needless to say everyone took pictures of her with their phones and there is no telling who all has seen this!!  Whatever did we do without camera phones before now?! 

Ok that gets us caught up to December 20th...Christmas and New Year's will be coming soon with some more of Logan and Wilkins' adventures!!!