What a Decade it’s Been!
As a new decade quickly approaches, I can’t help but reflect on all the excitement this last decade has brought our family.
2010 - I moved in with Chad to the first house we built together. We got engaged and traveled to Walt Disney World to work on planning our Disney Wedding.
2011 - Chad & I got married in February, and honeymooned on one of The Disney Dream’s Inaugural Voyages. Not long after returning we found out we would be moving to Houston, Texas. We sold our house in Chatham within a week, packed up, and moved to our first apartment in Pearland while deciding where we wanted to live. It didn’t take us long to settle on where and we broke ground on our first home in Texas. I had surgery, started volunteering at a hospital in The Med Center, accepted a position within that hospital system, and we moved into our home in Sienna Plantation. We also started adding to our family with a sweet puppy named Cappy.
2012 - I started my job at the hospital, and Chad spent a great deal of time working at a local plant. After a year of unsuccessful attempts at conceiving we officially started seeing a RE in hopes of building our family.
2013 - I continued working full-time at the hospital, while Chad spent more time at the plant. After three (or was it four) unsuccessful IUI cycles, we threw in the towel and went to WDW to get us out of our funk. Eventually we started our first, and only, IVF cycle and out of fear (that it wouldn’t work) we added a one-eyed Siamese named James Bond to our family. Miraculously, that IVF cycle was successful! Pregnancy hormones got the better of me and I managed to convince Chad to add another kitty to our household - a beautiful Russian Blue named Penny. Mid-December we found out we would be having a daughter.
2014 - We learned that I suck at being pregnant, as I had a handful of complications and was considered high risk due to multiple factors. I had to cut back my hours at work in attempts to stay pregnant longer. In early May I went on maternity leave as recommended by my physician, and Charleigh June was born on the 21st. She was everything we had dreamed of...well, minus the severe reflux and food allergies. I officially became a SAHM and we had our first consult with our RE about doing a FET.
2015 - We took Charleigh June to WDW for the first time, and discovered how much we loved The Wilderness Lodge. She was able to meet a few characters, including a certain character near and dear to my heart - Nelson. 💗 Chad & I went to the Houston Rodeo for the first time and saw Zac Brown Band from a private suite. In April, after a month of preparation, I had a frozen embryo transfer and found out I was pregnant again. In May, we found out we were having twins! 😳 Charleigh turned one, and we signed a contract to build another house to fit our ever-growing family. The summer brought two deaths in our family and a new nephew. By the time fall had arrived we had moved out of our home into the Apartment from Hell. In October, we added two nieces to our family and one short month later Campbelle & Coleson were born. A week after their birth, we closed on our new home and moved in just in time to celebrate Thanksgiving and bring our little turkeys home from the hospital.
2016 - What started out as a quiet year quickly turned into a crazy one. We unexpectedly traveled back to Illinois to visit my Grandma who had a stroke, and to put my sweet pup Elijah to sleep. We returned to our regular life until a severely emaciated pup showed up at Chad’s office. Being the bleeding hearts, we rescued him and eventually adopted him. Little did we know that Rocky was completely deaf ... our life hasn’t been the same since! After months of pain, we realized that it was time for me to have a hysterectomy and in doing so found out how Endometriosis has ravaged my body. While it was sad knowing we’d never have another baby, it was the best thing for me. Not long afterwards, my Grandma’s health quickly deteriorated and we lost her in August. In the fall we traveled to WDW to celebrate the twins first birthday, and then held a spectacular shindig at our home for them. As Christmas neared we started realizing some big changes were going to take place the following year.
2017 - Chad was persuaded to return to his former company (for the THIRD time), and he resigned from the company we adored. This job meant a move ... to Atlanta, Georgia. We listed the house for sale, which was a headache in itself, started looking at houses, and decided to build in Senoia, Georgia. We temporarily moved to Illinois and spent a week at Chad’s Uncle’s lake house in Wetumpka, Alabama before moving into our new home on 1.5 acres! We experienced our first Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene a week after Harvey hit Houston, and then two months later had a snowstorm that shut the state down while Chad was in North Carolina.
2018 - I started writing for Atlanta Area Moms Blog, and Chad started traveling more for work. Despite writing, I became increasingly unhappy here but agreed to give it another year. We added to our family yet again, an orange kitten dumped in our neighborhood. We all believed said kitten to be a girl, despite how rare it is, and named her Ariel. We were in for a surprise when Ariel “dropped” and she was renamed Harry. (Yes, this happened the weekend of Prince Harry’s wedding to Meghan Markle.) I started using Thrive and felt better than I had in years and became a Promoter. We enrolled Charleigh June at a small, private school in Peachtree City for Pre-K and traveled toWDW in October.
2019 - The year started out looking up, I loved our little school and was starting to become happier here. Chad had some scary GI-related issues, and his truck got totaled in an accident. ☹️ Our beloved Willie cat took a turn for the worse, and we lost him in early-April. It was definitely one of the most difficult parts of the year. We took Charleigh June to WDW for her fifth birthday, without the twins, and had a wonderful time just the three of us. Charleigh June graduated Pre-K and we re-enrolled her at our small school for Kindergarten. In June, Chad & I set off on a mission to find a new kitty to love and adopted Geraldine Sausage Meatball, a gorgeous Maine Coon, from the local pound. Summer was long and difficult with Chad moving to Augusta for work, only coming home for about 36 hours a week, but thankfully we have amazing neighbors and babysitters. Charleigh June started Kindergarten in early August, and I found a sweet kitty on Petfinder that I was set on adopting. I was approved to adopt a sweet Maine Coon mix named Huey, who had an enucleation three days before we met him. It was truly love at first sight - Huey Lewis joined the rest of The Mews a week later and kept him a secret for nearly two months! 😂 October brought a lot of stress and sadness, Chad’s only remaining grandparent passed away, and he and Coleson traveled to Illinois for her funeral. Chad separated from his company and his health has improved dramatically. Although it’s been a rough few months, it’s also been a blessing. We’ve learned a lot this year - who our real friends are, who God wants us to be, and how to be happy with less.
It’s been a fun ride, but I’m more than ready to bid adieu to this decade, and most of all 2019. Hopefully this upcoming decade will bring us happiness and health.
2010 - I moved in with Chad to the first house we built together. We got engaged and traveled to Walt Disney World to work on planning our Disney Wedding.
2011 - Chad & I got married in February, and honeymooned on one of The Disney Dream’s Inaugural Voyages. Not long after returning we found out we would be moving to Houston, Texas. We sold our house in Chatham within a week, packed up, and moved to our first apartment in Pearland while deciding where we wanted to live. It didn’t take us long to settle on where and we broke ground on our first home in Texas. I had surgery, started volunteering at a hospital in The Med Center, accepted a position within that hospital system, and we moved into our home in Sienna Plantation. We also started adding to our family with a sweet puppy named Cappy.
2012 - I started my job at the hospital, and Chad spent a great deal of time working at a local plant. After a year of unsuccessful attempts at conceiving we officially started seeing a RE in hopes of building our family.
2013 - I continued working full-time at the hospital, while Chad spent more time at the plant. After three (or was it four) unsuccessful IUI cycles, we threw in the towel and went to WDW to get us out of our funk. Eventually we started our first, and only, IVF cycle and out of fear (that it wouldn’t work) we added a one-eyed Siamese named James Bond to our family. Miraculously, that IVF cycle was successful! Pregnancy hormones got the better of me and I managed to convince Chad to add another kitty to our household - a beautiful Russian Blue named Penny. Mid-December we found out we would be having a daughter.
2014 - We learned that I suck at being pregnant, as I had a handful of complications and was considered high risk due to multiple factors. I had to cut back my hours at work in attempts to stay pregnant longer. In early May I went on maternity leave as recommended by my physician, and Charleigh June was born on the 21st. She was everything we had dreamed of...well, minus the severe reflux and food allergies. I officially became a SAHM and we had our first consult with our RE about doing a FET.
2015 - We took Charleigh June to WDW for the first time, and discovered how much we loved The Wilderness Lodge. She was able to meet a few characters, including a certain character near and dear to my heart - Nelson. 💗 Chad & I went to the Houston Rodeo for the first time and saw Zac Brown Band from a private suite. In April, after a month of preparation, I had a frozen embryo transfer and found out I was pregnant again. In May, we found out we were having twins! 😳 Charleigh turned one, and we signed a contract to build another house to fit our ever-growing family. The summer brought two deaths in our family and a new nephew. By the time fall had arrived we had moved out of our home into the Apartment from Hell. In October, we added two nieces to our family and one short month later Campbelle & Coleson were born. A week after their birth, we closed on our new home and moved in just in time to celebrate Thanksgiving and bring our little turkeys home from the hospital.
2016 - What started out as a quiet year quickly turned into a crazy one. We unexpectedly traveled back to Illinois to visit my Grandma who had a stroke, and to put my sweet pup Elijah to sleep. We returned to our regular life until a severely emaciated pup showed up at Chad’s office. Being the bleeding hearts, we rescued him and eventually adopted him. Little did we know that Rocky was completely deaf ... our life hasn’t been the same since! After months of pain, we realized that it was time for me to have a hysterectomy and in doing so found out how Endometriosis has ravaged my body. While it was sad knowing we’d never have another baby, it was the best thing for me. Not long afterwards, my Grandma’s health quickly deteriorated and we lost her in August. In the fall we traveled to WDW to celebrate the twins first birthday, and then held a spectacular shindig at our home for them. As Christmas neared we started realizing some big changes were going to take place the following year.
2017 - Chad was persuaded to return to his former company (for the THIRD time), and he resigned from the company we adored. This job meant a move ... to Atlanta, Georgia. We listed the house for sale, which was a headache in itself, started looking at houses, and decided to build in Senoia, Georgia. We temporarily moved to Illinois and spent a week at Chad’s Uncle’s lake house in Wetumpka, Alabama before moving into our new home on 1.5 acres! We experienced our first Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene a week after Harvey hit Houston, and then two months later had a snowstorm that shut the state down while Chad was in North Carolina.
2018 - I started writing for Atlanta Area Moms Blog, and Chad started traveling more for work. Despite writing, I became increasingly unhappy here but agreed to give it another year. We added to our family yet again, an orange kitten dumped in our neighborhood. We all believed said kitten to be a girl, despite how rare it is, and named her Ariel. We were in for a surprise when Ariel “dropped” and she was renamed Harry. (Yes, this happened the weekend of Prince Harry’s wedding to Meghan Markle.) I started using Thrive and felt better than I had in years and became a Promoter. We enrolled Charleigh June at a small, private school in Peachtree City for Pre-K and traveled toWDW in October.
2019 - The year started out looking up, I loved our little school and was starting to become happier here. Chad had some scary GI-related issues, and his truck got totaled in an accident. ☹️ Our beloved Willie cat took a turn for the worse, and we lost him in early-April. It was definitely one of the most difficult parts of the year. We took Charleigh June to WDW for her fifth birthday, without the twins, and had a wonderful time just the three of us. Charleigh June graduated Pre-K and we re-enrolled her at our small school for Kindergarten. In June, Chad & I set off on a mission to find a new kitty to love and adopted Geraldine Sausage Meatball, a gorgeous Maine Coon, from the local pound. Summer was long and difficult with Chad moving to Augusta for work, only coming home for about 36 hours a week, but thankfully we have amazing neighbors and babysitters. Charleigh June started Kindergarten in early August, and I found a sweet kitty on Petfinder that I was set on adopting. I was approved to adopt a sweet Maine Coon mix named Huey, who had an enucleation three days before we met him. It was truly love at first sight - Huey Lewis joined the rest of The Mews a week later and kept him a secret for nearly two months! 😂 October brought a lot of stress and sadness, Chad’s only remaining grandparent passed away, and he and Coleson traveled to Illinois for her funeral. Chad separated from his company and his health has improved dramatically. Although it’s been a rough few months, it’s also been a blessing. We’ve learned a lot this year - who our real friends are, who God wants us to be, and how to be happy with less.
It’s been a fun ride, but I’m more than ready to bid adieu to this decade, and most of all 2019. Hopefully this upcoming decade will bring us happiness and health.
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