Life Reflections

Top 12 Photos of 2012

Thursday, January 3, 2013

I am linking up to 'Top 12 Photos of 2012' of photos taken of your children. My friend Amber has co-hosted this for the last two years and it is always fun to look back at the pictures for the year. Here is the link to my favorite pictures form 2011: 12 of 2011.

The rules are: 1. Pictures taken by me (no professional pics) and 2. Share why the picture was chosen.

Here are this year's pictures in no particular order...

1. This picture was taken at St Pete beach when I was 38 weeks pregnant with Palmer. I love it because Jack had such a fun time and really enjoyed the day. And it is one of the last memories I have of just us and him (before Palmer joined us).

2. This was taken at Babies R Us just a few weeks before giving birth. It was one of the last times we had together one on one and I was trying to cherish it as much as I could. He was being silly and goofy here :)

3. This was one of the first few pictures of just the two of them. Jack was very sweet and excited to meet his baby brother for the first time.

4. I had a hard time getting pictures of Palmer those first few months (usually because I was either nursing or chasing after Jack). This is one of my favorite pictures of Palmer resting on me.

5. I had to put this picture in. This was taken when Palmer was a few months old, and Jack for the first time ever fell asleep on the couch after I forgot to give him lunch that day. Oh how those first few months were rough.

6. Jack went up to Palmer and stared at him for a few minutes. He was just getting to know him, and I love that I captured this in camera.

7. I took this picture early in the morning and love how Palmer's face was backwards on it.

8. I love this picture of the both of them in their crib. Jack still loves to get inside the crib when Palmer wakes up from a nap

9. This is possibly my favorite picture for 2012. I heard some fussing in the back, and as I turned around I found Jack repeatedly trying to hold Palmer's hand and Palmer kept pulling away. I thought it was SO sweet and will treasure this forever.

10. This was during an outing at Hyde Park with both of them. I love how excited Jack was about riding in the stroller.

11. This picture was taken at Sea World while riding the teacups. My sister Mariela was visiting and we met her there. We had a great time and this was Jack's favorite ride!

12. Love how Palmer is so focused on Jack's face here. He often loves to watch Jack. I specially noticed this during our stay at the hospital how much he really looks up to Jack. When Jack came to visit Palmer his eyes would just light up :)

Merry Christmas (A little late) and Happy New Year!

This year we decided to send out a digital Christmas card instead of the traditional paper one. Again with all the crazyness of the last month, am finally just getting to it. But better late than never! :)

2012 was a very blessed year. We were blessed with good health and the addition of another baby boy to our family. But it was also very challenging as it wasn't easy for us to adjust to two.

In the spring we took Jack to his very first trip to Disney. It was very special and the only time we've been to Disney so far!

Here are pictures from Easter, I must've been about 8 months pregnant. I remember not being able to stand for very long, and just dying to be able to sleep on my back again :)

In May 4, 2012 Palmer William Briggs joined us! Although he cried a lot those first three months and we had our moments, he eventually grew out of that stage and is now a very sweet eight month old. He has been a trooper and am so proud to be his mommy. And I love how him and Jack get along (although I'm sure that will probably change soon)

On July 14, we celebrated what would've been Andrew's 4th birthday. We spent the day at Everyday Blessings Foster Home, as we have for the last few years. We had the opportunity to sponsor a party for a boy whose birthday also happened to be July 14th. It was a very special time and we are grateful we got to do this.

On September 14th we celebrated Jack's third birthday. He had a pirate themed birthday party, with a bounce house, and a pool party. For his second birthday we had a very small family party, and so we had a much bigger party this time around (we've decided to alternate every year). We had a wonderful time and are so proud of our little guy!

On September 28 Jack started preschool. I was very nervous about how he would do, but he has done remarkably well. He loves both of his teachers and gets along with his little buddies in class. I can only remember one time when he's come home upset (and I think he was mostly tired). He really enjoys it and loves to share about all the things he gets to do at school :)

And here is a family picture from this Christmas.

We closed 2012 with an emergency trip to the hospital on December 30th for Palmer. He had a bad cold and his airways were too congested for him to breathe properly. He was lethargic and starting to gasp for air, and after a 911 call he ended up in the hospital for 4 nights. We are extremely grateful he is doing well and back at home recovering!

We truly wish you all had a wonderful Christmas and are off to a good start for the new year. I can't wait for all that this year has in store for us!

Christmas Party

I've been meaning to post this since December 15th, and am finally just getting around to it. As if Christmas wasn't busy enough with festivities and family visiting, we spent the last few days at the hospital. I may be a week behind on 2013, but I'm catching up!

For the last thirteen years Steve's dad has hosted a Christmas party at his house. We had a wonderful time this year and wanted to share the pics from the party. The picture below was taken during the Christmas party on Dec 22nd, 1999 (Notice the Christmas tree in the exact same spot in the background). Steve was a freshman in college and we had just met about a month earlier on November 17, 1999. To brag about how awesome Steve is, he drove from Tampa to Jupiter to pick me up that day (I believe I didn't have a car at the time) for a total of 7 hours. And he drove me back to Jupiter the next day which took another 7 hours. So a total of 14 hours in the car with me, and his little sister Jessi (8 yrs old) who came along for the entire ride (perhaps to chaperone us?) and was as cute as could be. What a special memory of my first Briggs Christmas party!!

In the picture are his friends from high school, three of them who were roomates with him throughout college, and two of them who married their girlfriends at the time. And in the center of the picture is Ryan, one of Steve's best friend who unexpectedly died that following spring after being hit in the head during a softball game. What a special picture. Crazy to think how our lives would turn out from there.

So here are the pictures from this year. I am disapointed I wasn't able to get pictures of many families who were there. It was very hard running around and trying to take care of the kids. Next year I hope we can do a picture of all the kids before the hayride starts!