A year in review and a preview of 2010!!

This last year has been a great one!

• In January Philip and I left Ethan for seven days to go skiing for the first time. All in all, Philip and I enjoyed the trip (even with our outing to the hospital).
• February was a memorable month for us because we got to shout, "We're debt free!!" You can read about our journey here and here. You can listen to my call in to the Dave Ramsey show here.
• For Spring Break in March Ethan and I traveled down to Louisiana and later Ethan went on his first camping trip.
• April was challenging as we began the long road of potty training. We also celebrated Easter with my Nanny and our first Easter Egg hunts.
• May contained more potty training adventures, but mostly I remember the beginning of summer marked a beginning of the end to my responsibilities outside the home.
• Potty training continued through out June, and although I declared him potty trained, I have to say he wasn't independently trained until sometime in September.
• In July, Ethan turned two and Philip and I went on our second mission trip to Slidell and the 9th ward of New Orleans. We were both impressed by what God had to teach us there.
• Ripping up the deck to install a french drain really took over our August plans.
  
• But, in September we had a GREAT time touring London and Paris with my family. I hope to write actual blog-like posts on the shutterfly site soon.
• We experienced déjà vu in October when we found out we were pregnant with our second baby. Also, Ethan went trick-or-treating with his friend Blaise.
  
• In November the deck began to be rebuilt (Phase I and II were completed) and we celebrated Thanksgiving with family and friends.
  
• Our first high-risk appointment for this pregnancy was in December and because of my blog post about it, I have found a woman in Knoxville who went through the same exact experience that I will go through! I can't wait to meet her and pick her brain!! We also celebrated Christmas with my family and Ethan went on his first official hike. Whew, we had a busy month

Preview of 2010:

This year I have challenged myself to read the bible from cover to cover. In the past I've tried the "skip-around" plans where you read OT, Psalms, and NT all in the same day. These don't work for me because I can't follow what is going on in the OT vs. the NT. This past year Philip read the bible with a plan that just starts you in the beginning and goes straight through. He has liked it very much, so that is the plan I'm going to try this year. If you'd like to see the plan please check here and I will keep it ahead of our schedule by a month or so. I have the days listed so that anyone can start at any time. Let me know if you want to join our challenge (Philip is actually starting to read through again this year to give moral support.)

Here are some other highlights to look forward to:

• In May Philip and I will celebrate our 10th anniversary!
  
• Hopefully sometime in June we will welcome the second little Boudreaux to our family
• Ethan will turn 3 on July 2nd!!!

I'm looking forward to this year and I hope you are too!