Catching up...

Well, I guess I haven't been the best blogger over the past few months. I have been a bit overwhelmed with life, but I think that I am ready to jump back in to regular blogging. Not sure what "regular" will be. :) One reason that I haven't blogged is because I haven't known where to start. I totally skipped over December, and now it's May! A lot has happened in these past few months, so this blog is going to be a quick overview.

I turned 29 on December 18, 2011. One more year in my 20s! I had a sweet birthday celebration with a few friends at the Paramount Restaurant in Beacon Hill. From left to right: Sarah, Tanya, Me, Lisa, and Jacqueline. Unfortunately, I read the website wrong and thought that it opened at 7am. Actually, it opened at 8, so we spent an hour at Starbucks, and then we headed over to the Paramount. It allowed for some extra time together. Oops!

We went to Georgia for Christmas. We were supposed to drive, and at the last minute (literally, 2 days before we were leaving), we had car trouble that could not be fixed in time. So, we bought airline tickets for a pretty reasonable price, and flying home allowed for a few extra days. The picture above is Lydia sleeping in a bassinet at Grandma Dot's house. It's the same bassinet that Seth's dad slept in.

Lydia was as excited as the rest of us to see what was in her stocking. There are tons of pictures from Christmas, but since it's April, I'm going to move on. Needless to say, we had a great time with our family in Georgia. Lydia's first Christmas was wonderful!

My parents came to Boston for a long weekend to watch Lydia during our annual World Mandate Conference. It was such a blessing to be able to be fully engaged in the conference without having to worry about Lydia. Thank you, Big Mama and Big Daddy! 

We sent our good friends, Ben and Carolyn Marcus, along with their kids, Aeden, Naomi, and Eli, to serve on our long-term team in Indonesia. It was such a blessing to have them in Boston before they headed to the other side of the world. We are excited that we get to see them this summer when we lead a CFTS short-term trip for two weeks in June.

We had the opportunity to visit Seattle in February. There is an Antioch church plant in Seattle, and they invited Seth out to help setup their new sound board and run sound for a conference they were having. Lydia and I tagged along. We were able to stay with some friends from Boston who moved to Seattle and are a part of the church there now.  Brian and Danielle were great hosts.  Seth and I love exploring new places, and although our trip was short, we were able to get a good taste of Seattle.

Danielle (in Seattle) takes photographs, and this was a really sweet one that she captured of Lydia.

This was Lydia's first Valentine's Day, and she had several Valentine outfits to wear. While in Seattle the previous week, I was feeling a little sick. The sickness was similar to how I remembered feeling when I was at the beginning of my pregnancy with Lydia. So, I told Seth that I was going to take a pregnancy test when we returned to Boston just to make sure. I was pretty confident that it would be negative since Lydia was only 6 months, and surely I wasn't pregnant again. :/ I went to Target on Valentine's Day to get Seth a present.  I bought a test and took it in the Target family bathroom with Lydia in the carseat.  I couldn't wait until we got home. Well, in about 30 seconds, it showed that I was indeed pregnant.  Lydia and I went home, and I gave Seth three presents that night: one from me, one from Lydia, and one from the new baby.  His initial reaction was shock, but within 30 seconds, he said with a big smile on his face, "I'm ready. I'm ready for more kids." Seth's reaction made me feel a lot better. I knew that we would be in this craziness together!

Guess what? There isn't a market for 6 month old "Big Sis" shirts, so I made this one myself.  We told our families over Skype, and everyone was surprised and excited. Here we go again!

Lydia and I took an unexpected trip to GA in March. We were able to spend some good time with family. Lydia got to meet my grandmother (my dad's mom) for the first time. She lives in Savannah, and we do not make it to Savannah every time that we are in GA. It was so sweet to see my 89 year old grandmother with my 7 month old little baby girl.

We were able to see Seth's parents as well, Papa and Jan Ma. We flew out of Charlotte, and they drove us to the airport.  Always blessed to be with grandparents!

Seth's sister, Aunt Amy, picked us up when we got to the airport in Atlanta. We had a nice lunch with her, and she was also able to come to Augusta while we stayed with Seth's parents.  Lydia is looking forward to going on fun trips with her Aunt Amy someday!

Here is a pic from Lydia's first St. Patrick's Day. It's a pretty big holiday in Boston.

We were able to meet my parents in Hollywood, FL, at the beginning of April for a nice vacation in a warm location. Thank you for a relaxing time at the beach, Big Mama and Big Daddy! 

We joined 4 other couples at our church to dedicate Lydia.  She was the only girl being dedicated that day.  It was a special day where we committed to raise Lydia to know our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 

Lydia is sitting in her high chair and eating food by herself.  We have entered a new messy stage.  It looks pretty good in this photo.  We must not have given her too much food to make a mess with. 

My friend from college, Pam, and her son, Reid, came to visit us during their spring vacation for a long weekend.  We had a great time.  Lydia loved playing with Reid!  He entertained her for hours everyday.  We went to the Boston Children's Museum and the North End for pizza one day.  Other than that, Pam and Reid tagged along with the normal happenings of our life (which included Faithgroup, a birthday party, and church).  It was a great time to reconnect.  Thank you for coming, Pam and Reid!  

These last photos are from the Public Garden during my favorite time of year - when the tulips are in bloom.  We had a picnic dinner next to the water, and then we took some photos with the flowers.

I love this photo of Lydia with the George Washington statute behind her!  It is a good Boston picture.  As you can see, she still doesn't have much hair.  Almost everyday someone asks how old "he" is.  I politely say, "She's 9 months."  It doesn't matter what she is wearing either.  I was at the grocery store one day, and she was wearing a long sleeve pink shirt and two people commented on how cute "he" was.  Not sure what to do.  Oh well!

As I said at the beginning, it is my goal to blog more regularly, but I'm not making any promises for what that will look like.  Hope you enjoyed catching up with us from the last few months!