Here is Michael and Matthew at the beginning of the year:
(Not even walking!!)
And here they are now:
They have both grown so much and are so much fun!
About the year....It started pretty rough. It's hard to believe we spent just about every other week from February to April in the doctor's office either for colds, ear infections, or mysterious eye infections. In fact, the doctor even commented how frequently we were there and commented, "It's not like your kids are in day care, right?" It was that bad, folks. I guess in doctor's minds, there are several levels for sick-kid frequency:
1. Bubble-Boy Level (never sick)
2. Kids Go Nowhere Outside the House Level (the rare sickness)
3. Kids Have Normal Outings to Parks and Stores (the occasional sickness)
4. Kids Play in McDonald's Playhouses Frequently (Sick regularly)
5. Day Care Kids (always sick).
So, despite the sacrifices made to stay at home and keep the kids fairly unexposed, we still managed to reach that enviable Day Care Kid status. (I say this tongue and cheek, no judgment on Day Care...I'm just amused that my doc compared them to kids in Day Care!)
After several rounds of antibiotics, several (expensive) trips to the emergency room due to fever and swollen eyelid and much anxiety, Michael's eye was cured with a....drumroll....Warm washcloth!! Glad it was a simple solution. Bugged we didn't find it sooner.
The brunt of this took place during Lent and we tried to remind ourselves about the importance of suffering and whatnot. Of course, Holy Week just wouldn't be Holy Week without Lent with a little extra. This Holy Week, we got a lot extra. We lost our little Gabriel, as you all well know. That was a suffering that lasted through Holy Week and quite well beyond. While the burial brought us a good deal of closure, I can with all honesty say that not a day goes by that we don't think of our little one that we have yet to meet. We pray for him daily and await our reunion in Heaven.
Around Pentecost, our year started to turn around and we received many blessings of good news: the upcoming news of a new baby for Michael's sister, the continued health of my sister's pregnancy, and the good news of a new baby of our own. Though Gabriel's life was very, very short, he would make way for a baby that so far, has been given a longer span of time, and God willing, will outlive us all. It's a bittersweet mystery: that had Gabriel not died, this baby would never be, but still wishing that we wouldn't have lost Gabriel. Oh would we could have had both! But also, of course knowing that the blessing didn't cause the loss, but was a gift of consolation in the midst of it.
The next few months found the familiar tune of first trimester sickness which somewhat slowed our pace, but didn't stop us from enjoying Michael and Matthew and their ever-increasing boisterous antics. During this year, those boys have become fast friends. They play, they laugh, they plot together and have brought us so much joy.
Michael grew in boundless amounts in maturity and emotional stability and Matthew grew in laughter and smiles.
The last part of the year has been great. Between the birth of our fourth nephew and the continued health of Baby Barber's growth and the continued health of our soon-to-born nephew on Michael's side of the family, it's been a very calm and blessed second half of 2011. Health all around, happiness, and a lot of anticipation for what 2012 will bring.
Happy New Year!
