Erin Akin Carroll

1. Despite not having watched Ashley’s season of The Bachelorette and my goal to eliminate reality TV from my life, I watched The Bachelor. This show just gets worse and worse, doesn’t it? It may just be a good show to have on while I catch up on emails.

2. Catching up on emails while watching The Bachelor doesn’t sound very “quiet”, does it? Maybe I won’t watch The Bachelor.

3. I haven’t had a Diet Coke in five days. I have been convicted. I blame Megan, even though she means well and is just trying to save my life when she tells me the bad stuff about Diet Coke! Here’s to no Diet Coke in 2012. (I will likely have to avoid movie theaters and Mexican restaurants to maintain this goal.)

4. If you don’t have the My Fitness Pal app, you need it! I’m hoping that I can get to pre-pregnancy weight by Hayes’s first birthday.

5. Speaking of Hayes’s first birthday… I’m starting to plan his party, for real! Pinterest has made party planning so much easier. I do wish I could make my boards private for a while so my party plans and inspiration aren’t “exposed” before the party.

6. While we’ve been away, TC has accomplished so many little tasks around the house that just needed to get done. These are all just tedious little odd jobs and I’m so excited that they’re complete.

7. I am getting my hair highlighted today. My family is excited!

8. We had a really delicious New Year’s Day feast of pulled pork, cabbage rolls, black eyed peas, creamed corn, corn bread and pineapple pretzel salad. Yum!

9. TC and I saw War Horse in the theater last week and it was really one of the most wonderful movies I’ve ever seen. It was so beautiful and such a great story. I highly recommend it to all animal lovers.

It’s January 2. We have the privilege of seeing another year. It’s a fresh beginning and an opportunity to make this year different.

Hudson, Hayes and I are at my parents’ house. We drove up here with my mom and dad after Christmas and will be here for a few more days. The boys and I had a pretty rough week a couple of weeks ago. We were all sick. Hudson wasn’t on his best behavior. He was actually pretty bored because he didn’t have school. He was asking every day when he was going to get to go to school. We were all stuck inside the house because we were sick and none of us were happy about it.

You know things aren’t good when you’re wearing your pajamas for the second day in a row. You can see yesterday’s eye makeup under your eyes. Your hair is disgusting and you can see every single wrinkle on your forehead. And your husband comes home and just has no idea what’s been going on all day, but he can tell it wasn’t anything good.

That’s how we were. It was just a bad few days.

So much whining. So much fussing. So many tantrums and tears. Over silly stuff.

My boys needed a vacation. They needed a change of scenery. I needed a change of scenery.

So we came to KK and Poppie’s house. And I’m so glad we did. We have been having the best, most relaxing time.

My mom has spoiled us with delicious meals. Hudson and Hayes are both getting constant attention and are constantly laughing. They love their grandparents and the new/different toys at their house.

We’ve watched movies and I’ve started reading again. My mom and I drooled over Ryan Gosling in Crazy Stupid Love while Hudson played with his Cozy Coupe in the garage with Poppie.

My mom has a room set up for the boys at their house. It has two twin beds and the crib is in there. I didn’t think Hudson and Hayes should share a room because they’d wake each other up. So, because TC is at home, Hudson and I are sharing a room.

I’ve tucked him in every day for his nap and fallen asleep with him in the big bed. And every night when I tuck him in, he asks to cuddle. He just smiles at me and says, “sleep tight, Mommy.”

I’ve loved every single second of this uninterrupted time with him. He is the sweetest little guy I know and I’m so proud that he’s mine. This little vacation has been so good for him. He has had a few 2.5 year old moments, of course, but he has also been so polite and kind. He’s so content to sit and play and enjoy our company.

I tucked him in tonight and waited for him to fall asleep before pulling out my computer to write. He’s breathing deeply next to me right now and I could just scoop him up just to take in that sweet Dreft smell and those precious toddler hugs.

We miss TC so much, but I’m glad we got away for a little while. I’m happy we all get to go home with a renewed spirit ready to start 2012 as a family. A week or so away from the every day routine is good for the soul. And a little grandparent spoiling never hurt anybody!

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!