After 3 1/2 years of hard work (understatement of the century) Xavier's daddy became a doctor :) I literally could not be more proud of him. No one knows better than I do the struggles and sacrifices it took to get to this point. I will never forget what he has done for our family...he is wonderful :)
Tuesday, December 10, we woke up, packed our last minute items, took Midsy to the vet and headed to the airport. We were flying to Chicago-- Beanie and Dust's first trip to the Windy City :) Once we got there, we got through ticketing and security quickly. I'll take this opportunity to warn any and all readers NEVER to fly Spirit Airlines. They are crooks.While we waited to board the plane, we let Beanie play on the indoor playground. He had so much fun and it was awesome not having to worry about keeping him quiet.
Once we boarded the plane, we knew we were in trouble. He was immediately a mess. He has flown close to 10 times in his short life and has always slept and been very well behaved. That was not the case on this trip. He had several meltdowns and acted rotten the first half of the flight. Luckily, he fell asleep midway to Chicago. He woke up just in time to look out the window and see snow on the ground and the Chicago skyline.
Chicago!
Snow :)
We've Arrived!
Dustin's face sums up our flight...
O'Hare is HUUUUUUGE so it took us quite a while to get off the plane, navigate through the airport, locate our baggage, and bundle up! Oh my word, I had forgotten how BITTERLY cold Chicago is in the winter! It was miserable! We walked outside and took the shuttle for a short ride to the rental car lot. By the time we got to our rental car, we had been in Chicago for about an hour. We decided to head to our hotel to check in. By the time we were settled and ready to go, we had just enough time to get some shopping in and some yummy dinner. While it didn't snow our first day in Illinois, there was definitely snow everywhere you looked!
STRAIGHT HAIR!! haha
Bean's 2nd time in the snow!
LOLOLOLOL
The next morning, we woke up and lounged in our jammies for most of the morning. I was awesome :)
At one point, Beanie opened the curtains and saw that it was snowing. He freaked out :)
Unfortunately, it was SUPER cold so there was no "playing" in the snow.
That afternoon, Dust had to go to an exit interview and then graduation rehearsal. Luckily, just as he left, my parents arrived so we went shopping some more :) When Dust finished with his obligations, we met he and his grandparents for dinner at a Mexican Restaurant called Uncle Julio's. It was a great atmosphere for a baby who is tired and not all that into being quiet ;)
Once we got home from dinner, Dustin's grandparents came over to our hotel room to visit for a while before we called it a night :) It was nice to spend time with them!
The next morning, Thursday December 12, 2013, was GRADUATION DAY!! We woke up and took our time getting ready.
Breakfast
Scrunchy Face :)
Swimmin'!
Explorin'!
Ready to go!!!
Once we arrived, we took pictures, visited with family, and prepared to watch Dust become Dr. Bledsoe :)
Boys!
That hair..
love this little man :)
Blurry but Cute!
X and Papa!
Dust
The Grad!
Beanie with his grandpas
:)
Mimi and Nene!
Paul and Lucy!
Once the ceremony started, Xavier decided that he didn't want to sit still so my dad and I took turns holding him in the back of the gym. I got to see the majority of the program, however, and got the important stuff on film (except, of course, the president saying "Dr. Dustin Bledsoe" :/)!
Dustin being robed :)
Handsome <3
distinguished quest speaker
They spent a lot of time back there...
After the ceremony, we took some more pics and then headed back to the hotel before dinner.
Giant drawing at National
Florida Class
<3
Family!
Dr. Dustin Bledsoe
Dustin and his Grandpa Paul and Grandma Lucy
Later, we went to Cheesecake Factory for dinner. I know, I know, Cheesecake Factory in Chicago? We have a crazy baby, remember? No fancy restaurants for us. After dinner, everyone stopped by our hotel room to say goodbye. It was a lovely day full of family and celebration. We are ALL so proud of you Dustin!
My Life
Beanie's gift to his Daddy :)
X loved his big bed!
The next morning, we packed up early and headed to O'Hare. It was busy but we made it through to the gate in plenty of time. We even ran into some doctors there!
Dr. Bledsoe, Dr. Spiegel, and Dr. Perenich
We boarded the plane and Beanie fell right to sleep and slept like an angel the majority of the flight. Once we landed, we were so happy to be home and back in the 80 degree weather :)
My life is but a weaving, between my God and me;
I do not chose the colors, He worketh steadily.
Oft times He weaveth sorrow, and I in foolish pride
Forget He sees the upper, and I the under side.
Not til the loom is silent, and shuttles cease to fly
Will God unroll the canvas and explain the reason why
The dark threads are as needful in the skillful Weaver’s hand
As threads of gold and silver in the pattern He has planned.
When we lost Penelope, a friend and coworker drove the hour commute one evening to deliver a gift from my school for our loss. It was a desert rose that they had put in a pot that had been decorated by my students. They also made a card of memorial in her honor and named the plant "Penelope's Desert Rose." It was precious and something that we could keep for a long time.
Dustin is notorious for killing plants but I must admit that he is working adamantly at tending to Nelly's rose :)
After about two weeks, it bloomed for the first time and it was beautiful. It made us smile.
It is so wonderful to have little pieces of her here and there.
Before my Grandma Austin passed away last year, she made every new baby in the family an afghan. I wrote about Xavier's afghan in this post more than a year ago.
After my grandma passed, my grandpa gave my sisters and I the left over yarn and knitting needles that she had in her basket. I had forgotten about it until I went home for Thanksgiving.
One evening, I was at my parents house and my sisters came over. Kimberly had something with her that she wanted to give me. She handed me this:
I didn't need an explanation. I immediately knew that they had used my grandma's left over yarn and had a little afghan made for Dot :) I broke down. It was so thoughtful. Words could not express my gratitude to my sisters. I am such a sentimental person and this afghan meant more to me than anything in the world.
I will keep it in Penelope's box forever.
This year we started preparing for Christmas a little earlier than we usually do. Before we headed home for Thanksgiving, I decided we needed a little holiday cheer pronto! We put up our tree and all the trimmings so that when we returned, we would come home to a Christmas-y home :)
It started like every other year does-- the ornaments. Every year, we go as a family and pick out a special ornament. Dustin and I started this tradition in 2009, the first year we were married and living together. This year Xavier was TOTALLY into it! He was SURE that he had to have the Mickey Mouse with the glasses! He pointed to it and threw a fit until we got it down for him from the shelf. He still points to it every evening at home and loves admiring it. I chose a Minnie Mouse decorative bulb to resemble our first trip to Disney as a family this year (and I just love Minnie :) Dustin, in true Dustin form, chose a Captain America bulb.
While we were there, I searched for something that reminded me of Penelope. I wanted to make sure she had an ornament this year. I almost settled for a cloth pink and white elephant that said "baby" on it but when we got to the check out, I put it back. We went to every hallmark and specialty store in the mall looking for an ornament that felt right. At the last store, I found this little angel baby for our little angel baby :)
Perfect.
Once we got home, we put up the tree and Beanie got to put the star on top :)
:)
My Life
2013
On the Tree!
We did very minimal ornaments on the tree this year simply because he can reach them and wants to play with them! As we hung them, we realized how quickly these "special" ornaments have accumulated! We put down our holiday rugs and hung Beanie's stocking.
After returning from Indiana, we also hung the advent calendar that Deneen bought for Xavier. Lastly, Dustin put all of my holiday mugs up on our shelves. It is an ongoing joke that I've only been teaching for four years and have already received like 10 mugs as Christmas gifts from students!
We are done shopping for Beanie and can't wait for him to open his presents from Daddy, Mommy, and Santa!
