2011 was a good year. It was a busy year. We brought a new member into our family and didn’t slow down a bit. In fact, we seemed to take on more.

In 2010, the themes of the year were contentment and security (or insecurity).

The theme for 2011 was “fighting bears” and becoming stronger and more capable than I imagined I could be.

I still struggle with all three of these topics. I’m human.

2011 was a noisy year, too. I got worked up about a lot of stuff. Despite valiant efforts to get organized and stay organized and to “unplug” often, I feel like my mind was constantly going 100 miles an hour.

I didn’t read enough. I didn’t listen enough. It was a great year, but I also know that some things need to change.

I want the theme for 2012 to be quiet. Peace and quiet.

Two precious, hilarious little boys live at my house, so it’s going to be loud in the literal sense. I’m going to have commitments that I love. I’m going to make time for friends.

I’m not talking about that kind of quiet. I’m talking about removing the extra noise from my life. I need to pay less attention to the Twitter and Facebook topics that cause my blood to boil.

I want to remove the noisy reality TV from my life. I want to make an effort to unplug more often and stop having the voices of 300 people every night coming into my head as I catch up on tweets.

I want to say yes to the things that are important to me and I want to do those things well. Really well!

I want to continue to volunteer and use my talents.

I want to read books for fun.

I want to read the Bible in one year.

I want to exercise.

I want to make time for me and make time to relax.

I am not listing these things for myself as items on a “to do” list, but rather items that I know I love that make me feel better. These items are not intended to stress me out. They’re intended to relieve stress and quiet my heart and my mind.

There will not be a pregnancy in 2012. (At least not a planned pregnancy.) I will be focused on my husband and my boys. I want to get back to a quiet place.

Our New Year’s Eve plans every year are always pretty boring by the world’s standards. But we like a simple evening. We like falling asleep on the couch. This year won’t be any different. I’ll ring in the New Year after I tuck my babies in for the night.

We’ll say goodbye to 2011 and will likely be asleep when 2012 rolls in. And it will be the beginning of another day.

My prayer for my family is that TC and I can be the leaders and examples of Christ to our children that we need to be. I will pray daily for my patience, kind heartedness and opportunities to give to others as I raise my sweet boys.

Happy New Year, friends! Whatever you do and where ever you go in 2012, I hope you’re all happy and healthy!

Wow, y’all. I took a long break. And I think it was a needed break. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed (I’m still enjoying) spending quiet, uninterrupted time with my family. It was quiet and sweet and I’m so glad we had all this time together.

I’d like to just close the books on the blog for 2011, but before it becomes a distant memory, I wanted to blog about our Christmas so I can have the memories here on my blog.

My parents arrived in town on December 23. It was such a relief to have them there. With two sick boys (and TC and I both being sick, too), I needed them! My house was all clean and ready. I had decorated as much as I could decorate and I was ready for my boys to have their grandparents. We had a good, relaxing day. My mom and I took care of all the grocery shopping because I was hosting Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

In the morning on Christmas Eve, we went to TC’s parents’ house to open presents. They were going to be at our house for dinner on Christmas Eve after church, but we like each set of grandparents to get some private time with the kids. Because his parents live in town, it works out really nicely.

So we went to there house to exchange gifts with them and TC’s grandmother. Both boys got some really great stuff. They have such generous grandparents. They both got a train car for their train sets, some books, puzzles and Hudson got this really great Power Wheels Jeep!

He got to go outside and learn to drive it around. I think RC and Daddy got the biggest workout as they chased Hudson (at 2 mph) and taught him how to steer the Jeep. We told him to put his shoe on the pedal to make it go. So he’d say, “1-2-3- SHOE!”

Hayes was content to sit and watch. The Jeep is a two-seater, so the boys will share it as soon as Hayes is old enough to ride along!

When we left their house, we got dressed to go to the Christmas Eve service at church. We had communion and sang beautiful songs. We all got to be there as a family. My parents, TC’s parents, TC’s grandmother and our little family. We were just missing my brother. Holidays just aren’t the same without him, but we know he is having the time of his life in Vail.

After church, we all came to our house and ate gumbo! We had the table all set and the gumbo was so good!

We put some greenery in our little mint julep cups and voila… centerpiece!

Sweet little Hayes loved having his grandparents around.

Everyone went home and went to bed and TC and I got to play Santa! We built things and earned honorary engineering degrees in the process. It was so much fun!

We have started a new tradition where TC and I exchange our presents to each other at midnight after Santa has left the house. This way we can exchange our gifts to each other privately and we can enjoy it more. This is what Santa brought to TC. It’s the neatest piece of original art made out of metal. It is the South Carolina state house and the lights to Williams Brice Stadium. Those are both probably TC’s favorite places in the world. He has already displayed this at his office.

When the boys woke up on Christmas morning, we popped the casserole in the oven and got to watch them see what Santa brought.

Hudson got an art easel, a fire station (from KK and Poppie), books, puzzles, Lincoln Logs, a Melissa and Doug magnetic habit set and a new Presidents of the United States place mat. Hayes got a fun little toy called the Dino Poppity Pop, a hilarious laughing monkey toy and some alphabet blocks.

We took our time opening presents, eating breakfast and taking naps that morning. Hudson was a little bit grump that morning. He loved all of his gifts, but was also a bit overwhelmed. Then TC and I got dressed to go to church at 10:30. It’s such a rare thing for Christmas to fall on a Sunday, but it was so wonderful to go to God’s house on Christmas Day to celebrate the gift that He gave us so long ago.

After church, naps and a quiet, relaxing day, everyone got back together for Christmas dinner. We had a big meal and it was absolutely delicious. My mom is such a great cook and I’m so thankful she was there to help make it a great Christmas.

After dinner, we cleared the table and got ready for Jesus’s birthday. All day on Christmas day, Hudson was walking around saying, “Merry Christmas! It’s a birthday party!”

And he was right. I’m so thankful that he already knows a little bit about why we celebrate and that he knew it was the day we celebrate Jesus’s birth.

When it was time to cut the cake, he sang happy birthday to Jesus and blew out the candle. It was very sweet. And that cake was delicious!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas filled with love, family and good cheer!

Thank you for bearing with me as I rang through the full Christmas weekend with you all!

When Hudson was a baby, he absolutely loved all of the Baby Einstein toys we had and especially the DVDs. We started with Baby Mozart and Baby Beethoven at 3 months. He would honestly start bouncing up and down and screaming when the cute little caterpillar crawled across the screen. It was one of his favorite things and then it was one of our favorite things because he loved it so much.

We advanced to World Animals and Baby MacDonald. Baby MacDonald was his absolute favorite. He learned to sing “e-i-e-i-o” in Old MacDonald Had a Farm and then he learned all of his animals and the animal noises. I know that we helped him learn all of that great stuff, but I think the Baby Einstein videos are just genius. They always held his attention and I knew he was learning something!

When he was 12 months old, we started watching Numbers Nursery and Baby Wordsworth. Baby Wordsworth helped him learn a few signs and he would do the sign and say the word. It was the cutest thing in the world!

Now that Hayes is old enough, I’ve been thinking that I need to introduce him to Baby Einstein soon! We have an extensive collection and I know he would absolutely love it. He has a very long attention span, like Hudson, and the videos are so educational and fun.

The CDs are perfect for the car because they get to hear their favorite songs from the videos in the car. And the Discovery Cards? Wow! Hudson has the animal Discovery Cards and they were truly his favorite toy for the longest time. He was constantly showing people how he knew his animals!

A couple weeks ago, the awesome folks at Baby Einstein contacted me about doing a giveaway. Because this is a product that Hudson loved so much and I can’t wait to introduce Hayes to it, I was so excited to give it away on my blog to a lucky reader.

Baby Einstein is giving away one Baby Einstein 9-Piece Discovery Kit to one reader.

From Baby Einstein:

Baby Einstein Discovery Kits (kits that are uniquely packaged to include a DVD, a music CD and either a book or Discovery Cards in a single package) are designed to help provide parents with new ways to introduce their little ones to the world around them in playful and engaging ways. The kits not only promote discovery and inspire baby’s natural curiosities but they also encourage parents to look to their everyday experiences as a way to extend content beyond just the kit.

Discovery Kits align with a baby’s path from infant to toddler by offering three broad levels of discovery — Experience (Level 1), Explore (Level 2) and Expression (Level 3) and the suggested Retail Price: $19.99 U.S.

Video: http://youtu.be/J7lC-6uv_qw

But this discovery is a complete 9-piece collection!

Look at all that  comes in this collection!

To enter, just leave a comment on this post. The giveaway will end on Christmas Eve, so hurry up and leave your comment!

This could be a great belated Christmas gift for a little one in your life!

Disclosure:

I received these products from Baby Einstein. However, all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own and no other monetary compensation took place. I am a very loyal Baby Einstein fan and, as always, only promote products that I believe in and use in my home.

Visit Baby Einstein on the web for more information:

Official Baby Einstein website: http://www.babyeinstein.com

Official Baby Einstein blog: http://www.baby-einstein.net

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/BabyEinstein

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/BabyEinstein

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/BabyEinstein

I believe in Christ Jesus.

I believe that He is the reason for everything.

I believe that a Christmas tree does not look complete until wrapped presents are nestled underneath.

But I believe that family, not presents, make Christmas special.

I believe in family and tradition, which is why it’s not Christmas until my family arrives.

I believe that the anticipation of waiting for your family to arrive in town for Christmas must feel an awful lot like the ways kids feel when they’re waiting for Santa to arrive.

My children have the opportunity to believe in Santa Claus.

We believe that ear infections are a terrible Christmas tradition.

I believe that an old dog’s sweet eyes can cure a bad day, even if they can’t cure an ear infection.

I believe that it is terribly challenging to drive past a Chick-fil-A without stopping.

I believe this is made more difficult because of the cow-obsessed toddler in the backseat yelling, “Chick-a-lay!!”

I believe that Christmas leaves us too quickly every year. I’m tempted to bust out some Faith Hill’s “Where Are You, Christmas” on December 26.

I believe in turning Christmas into a magical day for my kids, even after they stop believing. (Is it appropriate to sing “Don’t Stop Believing” to a child who is questioning the believability of Santa Claus?)

I am sad that believing in something (or someone) you cannot see labels you anything other than “faithful.”

What do you believe in today? What keeps you moving amidst the chaos of this week?