The Carter Man

Well, I don't blog often (obviously) but when I do, I put a lot up! I am coming out of my maternity leave comma (or trying to atleast!) after seven weeks. That's right, Carter is seven weeks old already! I started back to work on Monday so this week has been pretty overwhelming and a big reality check however I feel that I knew this is how it would be before he was born. I am trying to learn how to maximize nap time and I don't think I stopped moving Monday morning through Wednesday night. There is constantly something to do between him, the house and the studio. The JOY of the Lord is my strength! Here are some pictures from Carter's first month even though now he is in his second month...


Playtime!

Five generations and finally a boy in the mix!

First bath, he loves baths!

Any guesses as to what Carter was his first Halloween? One beautiful word..."Freebirds", a Monster Steak with Sour Cream to be exact. Bobby's burrito of choice.

Every child has to have this picture correct?

My sweet little monkey



Carter's second out of town trip to Dance Revolution in Dallas. The ladies love him.



At Dance Rev with Shelly and Tara. I babysat Shelly's sweet girls and they are so grownup now!

Carter Lee Kirkpatrick

It has been one week since sweet Carter was born. It seems like the craziness was just yesterday yet it seems miles and miles away now that we are experiencing the joy that has come out of the labor God delivered Bobby and I from. The story is long and I don't remember some things but we felt is was important to document the whole thing so to remember God's amazing grace at the end. So, here is how it went down from a very PROUD and RELEAVED father...

Ok, here’s how we had Carter. We did not plan things this way; I think that in the middle of the process we looked back, and everything that happened had been unplanned or contrary to what we had wanted to happen. Shanna’s mom, Karen, had a “road map” for labor that she uses sometimes at the birthing center where she works. During labor I looked at the map and looked all the way to step 1, and realized that NOTHING had gone the way that we had wanted it to so far, from the very beginning! However, looking back at things now I am so happy that we have Carter here and healthy. And perhaps God had a good lesson for us in trusting Him and letting go of our own sense of “control” over life and its creation.

We left home by 9:10 am Friday morning, October 8th. Shanna felt fine; she later commented that had we not had a doctor’s appointment, she probably would have been working out again at the gym (like she had all week!). We got into the doctor’s office a few minutes before our 10 am appointment, and waited. Then we were called to the back, and waited some more. Dr. Boswell, our OB, was in surgery. We ended up seeing Dr. Boswell around 11:45 am, and she looked at the blood pressure reading from that morning and asked to have Shanna’s BP tested again. It came back as something around 138/78, which was a little high. We didn’t think anything of it, because Shanna had periodically had high blood pressures throughout the pregnancy, but Dr. Boswell then said something we weren’t expecting: “I’m going to send you straight over to Labor and Delivery for further monitoring.”

By noon, we were in the triage section of L&D, in a curtained-off area where we sat for 4 hours. Shanna’s blood was taken to the labs for testing, and blood pressure readings were taken every 15 minutes. Apparently, they were worried that she was showing signs of preeclampsia, which is a condition that can eventually lead to organ failure. One of the symptoms is high blood pressure, but the lab work was to check her liver enzyme levels, blood platelet counts, and other symptoms. After four hours, her blood pressures had been fine; she never had a reading near what she read at the doctor’s office. The nurse at 4 pm came over and was explaining to us that the lab work came back fine, and we were going back home!

At that moment, the doctor on-call for our OB offices, Dr. Ortique, came over and stopped the nurse, saying to us that she took a second look at our lab work (and was glad she did) because Shanna’s platelet counts had dropped from her normal of around 160 down to 135, which was below the normal for a healthy person of 150-450. Even though they were below normal, they weren’t too far below what Shanna’s normal counts were; nevertheless, we were told to stay overnight for 24hrs of monitoring.

Seeing the possibility of us potentially going into labor this weekend, I went home and grabbed all the things that we had left behind, and grabbed dinner. Shanna was not allowed to eat (in case of an emergency surgery), and she stayed behind at the hospital for more blood work and 24 hours of urine monitoring (every time she went, they measured the amount). When I came back to the hospital around 7:15, she was still in the room that they had moved us to in the antepartum section of L&D, and had an IV in her and a blood pressure machine taking BP readings every 15 minutes. She also had cotton on the other arm now—she had given more blood for testing.

At 8 pm, October 8th, Dr. Ortique came into the room with the nurse and told us that Shanna’s platelet counts had dropped again (down to 108), and her blood pressures had been within the high range of normal except for a few spikes into the 130-140s. Because of these symptoms, even though her liver enzymes had all been normal and her urine output was good, we were told that her plan of action was to induce labor, starting that night. The standard line we were told (by everyone) to assure us is that “the only cure for preeclampsia is delivery”. Basically, we had to get the baby out.

So we were on a course for induced labor, moving to Labor and Delivery room 2 and started at 11 pm with a dose of Cytotec (not sure on the spelling here). It’s a cervix softener, and it gave contractions to Shanna all night long. In addition, Shanna was also put on Magnesium Sulfate, which is a muscle relaxant that helps to control high blood pressure. We were also informed that because of the magnesium (muscle relaxant) and a need to measure urine output, Dr. Ortique required a catheter to be inserted so that Shanna could be on complete bedrest from this point forward (also thinking that we would probably be going into a c-section soon, although we weren’t informed of that at the time).

So for the first night, Shanna battled through induced contractions all night, had 2 different lines fed into her (magnesium sulfate and IV fluids) and a catheter coming out. The catheter was the MOST uncomfortable part; it gave Shanna pain all night. She continues to say that she would much rather have dealt with the pain of the contractions than the pain of the catheter.

At 8 am, our doctor, Dr. Boswell, came in to check on us, as she was on call for the next 24 hours (which was great, as she is our doctor, and we like her!). She said that the lab work from overnight had gone well, and Shanna’s platelet counts for the last 2 readings were holding steady and slightly improving (108 to 111, then 117). Also, after not-much-convincing, she let us take the catheter out and move to a bedside potty, where her urine would also be monitored. Her reasoning was that “I wouldn’t have REQUIRED a catheter in this situation”; it was a difference of opinion, apparently (thanks, Dr. Ortique). This helped Shanna GREATLY. Also something that helped Shanna: we got a new nurse, the aptly-named Hope. She was very helpful (not that the others weren’t), and made a good connection with Shanna.
Dr. Boswell did say, however, that due to the nature of the muscle relaxant (stupid magnesium), her contractions were spacing out and growing inconsistent, and we still needed to deliver Carter. So she put Shanna on Pitocin to help produce contractions. At this point, we lost the catheter (GREAT) but gained Pitocin (meh), and as a result Shanna had 3 lines feeding into her now (magnesium, pitocin, IV fluids).

At this 8 am meeting, Dr. Boswell also checked Shanna’s progress. She had dilated from the 1 cm she had been at for 2 weeks to 2 cm overnight from the Cytotec. Great progress, we were told! We had high hopes now for a day of laboring with Pitocin. However, the baby was still VERY high in the uterus, and she didn’t even give a number, saying that his head was “floating” a little above the cervix.

So Shanna had contractions with the Pitocin for 8 hours, until 4 pm. This is how her contractions were with Pitocin, and this remained true when she went back on it later that night: she would contract, then as she was “coming down” from the contraction, would contract again…and again…and again. Her contractions would pile on top of each other, and last for 5-6 minutes. Then she would get a 5-6 minute reprieve, and start again. They were very irregular, and so would tire her quickly and cause a lot of pain due to their length and relentless timing.

At 4 pm, Dr. Boswell came in and checked Shanna again. Her dilation was the same (2 cm), and the baby’s head was still high. She said he was “maybe” at a minus-3 (or plus-3, we can’t remember). The point is that she had made no progress, and was getting tired. So we took her off the pitocin and let her rest for 8 hours and perform more lab work on her blood, which all came back normal. She was finally able to eat something (which she hadn’t since the night before) and was allowed to take a bath, preparing for “Round 2”.

At 8 pm, Hope was off but promised to come back in the morning for her next 12-hour shift. At midnight, Shanna’s blood work was reviewed again and she prepared for more pitocin, which came at 2 am. She had more of the very irregular, long, painful contractions until 7 am when Dr. Boswell came in to check her. Boswell reviewed the blood work, looked at Shanna, and found that no real progress had been made. The baby’s head was still very high, and she had “maybe” dilated to 3 cm. So Dr Boswell broke Shanna’s water to speed things along. Immediately after, Dr. Boswell left and Dr. Ortique took over again for her on-call rotation.

This was the turning point for Shanna; for the next hour and 45 minutes, Shanna’s contractions were VERY strong and painful. She began to “check out” mentally, especially between contractions; the nurse and her mother said that she looked as if she was experiencing contractions that women normally experience in transitional labor, as they prepare to push. She was “climbing the rails” during contractions, and having a really hard time maintaining composure. But when she was examined later, she hadn’t made any progress and the baby was very high.

So at the end of that time, just under 2 hours, we had a discussion about an epidural with our nurse, Hope. Shanna felt like she could not continue in this manner for another 6-8 hours minimum, which is what we were estimating we would be spending in more labor at this rate. Also, if her blood pressures (which had risen) continued to go in a bad direction, this would prepare her more quickly for the caesarean section. So she got the epidural with the help of Hope and an anesthesiologist, and immediately felt the pain go away. At this time, she also had a catheter reinserted. She was now working with a lot of different lines running in and out of her: IV fluids, Magnesium Sulfate, Petocin, an Epidural, a catheter going out, and a blood pressure machine that was still taking steady readings every 15 minutes. And little did she know, she was about to have some more monitoring equipment attached in preparation for surgery! She really did have a lot of different things plugging in and out of her.

Her contractions continued (induced by the pitocin), and they also became more regular. Unfortunately, we received some bad news about 30 minutes later. Dr. Ortique came into the room, and showed us how Carter’s heart rate had been dropping after Shanna’s contractions. It was happening consistently for the past 15-20 minutes, and the drop-off was significant; this was a sign that Carter was wearing out, and going into distress. The result was that we needed to get the baby out. She checked Shanna to make sure, and said that the baby STILL, after all this laboring, had not dropped down, and her cervix was “maybe” at 4 cm.

At this point, we were forced into an emergency c-section. The pitocin stopped, and Shanna’s contractions stopped. This confirmed several things for us: 1) that Shanna was not having natural contractions on her own, and her body was not ready to go into labor, and 2) Carter was not low enough to put pressure on her cervix and help dilate her, as he was not ready to go into labor, either. All the contracting for the past 30-something hours that Shanna had done had been simply “squeezing” Carter; they had not managed to help him descend or to dilate her cervix. The pitocin and Cytotec had done most of that, artificially. And now, Carter was wearing out.
Shanna was then prepped, and we went into surgery. I was called back later, and Shanna was awake, a curtain in between her and the surgery that was happening on the lower part of her body. She said repeatedly that she could feel “tugging and pulling”, and was grimacing in pain most of the time. Finally, after a few minutes, out came Carter! They showed him to us over the curtain, and then whisked him off to the neonatal team right outside the surgery room to get cleaned up and checked out. I followed.


Carter was born on October 10th, 2010 (10-10-10!), at 12:12 pm, after 37 hours and 37 minutes of labor! Hope informed me of this, as we were measuring and weighing Carter. She was there during the surgery as well, watching over Shanna. Carter weighed in at 7 lbs 3.7 oz (7 lbs 4 oz, officially), and 19 ½ inches long! He was pretty much on the smaller side of normal, so his size wasn’t the issue. I heard them comment several times during the surgery, among their talk, that he was “very high” inside of Shanna. So high, in fact, that they had a little trouble grabbing him and pulling him out by c-section!

(Our nurse Hope, a true gift from God during our two days of labor!)

Outside, I watched as they cleaned and examined Carter, and as I spoke he distinctly looked my direction, which was noticeable (all the nurses made a big deal out of this!). I blame it on the low voice, as opposed to all the chirping that the nurses were doing about how cute he was. Then they bundled him up, gave him to me and we went back into the surgery room and put him near mom’s head. Shanna was barely coherent at this point, and still complaining about pain. I saw the nurse who was monitoring her anesthetic look at me, then half-smile and dial something else into the epidural. In about 10 seconds, Shanna was out.

It took about 30 minutes for them to finish the surgery, and then they carted Shanna out to a different L&D room for recovery, L&D room 8. Because of the blood pressure, they wanted her to be on 24-hour watch again down in L&D rather than migrating upstairs to floor 25 for postpartum, and they wanted her to continue on the IV, Petocin (to help her uterus shrink back), and on Magnesium Sulfate for her blood pressure (which is really just a fancy word for epsom salt, by the way!). In the L&D recovery room, I laid Carter next to Shanna, then in a few minutes when she was more coherent laid him on top of her for the first time, which was highly emotional. Then, after a few minutes together, we allowed our family members to come back and look at them, two at a time. First, Kelly and Karen Hartman, then Bob & Karen Kirkpatrick, then Kenton & Lindsay Kirkpatrick, then Halie and Katherine Hartman begin_of_the_skype_highlighting     end_of_the_skype_highlighting, and last Allen Kirkpatrick and Kirsten Hartman. All were excited to see Carter, and everything went well.







In our L&D room, we practiced trying to feed and monitored Shanna’s blood pressures, which were high but slowly overnight came down (consistently in the 150s, dropping down to 130s by morning). By afternoon, the blood pressures were down into the 110s and it was time to get off the magnesium and head upstairs!

We spent the next 2 nights in postpartum, upstairs in room 2511. Here, we had lots of visitors, attempts at feeding, circumcision, doctors checking out Carter and Shanna (including our pediatrician, Dr. Matt Wilber, and our OB, Dr. Hilary Boswell), and good bonding time together as a family. Wednesday morning, they informed us that as soon as the circumcision was done and we waited 2 hours to monitor it, we were free to go! Shanna finally got her heparin lock out of her hand, and we packed things up, waiting in anticipation. We came home, and were home around 4:30 on Wednesday, October 13th.

This was a long process with a lot to it, so we wanted to write it down to make sure we remembered everything. We thank God for Carter, for good health, and for teaching us a valuable lesson in humility and control—we trust God more for finding His way to bring Carter to us, and to use good doctors to help navigate the tricky waters that Shanna’s health became at the end of her pregnancy! Praise God for healthy baby and mom! Amen!


Gran


Grandma Kirkpatrick


Bruce (and Bobby)


Melissa


Erin, my prayer warrior!


My little monkey on his one week birthday!


Grammy (we think that's her name) who stayed with us three days and was such a blessing during "Baby Boot Camp"


Grandma Vaughn (4 generations!)


Papa and the cradle he made for Carter and the great grandchildren to come!

Life as We Know It

I have learned that I am so not good at this blogging thing. However, I love reading others blogs and also think blogging helps me process what is going on in our lives so I am committed to preserver!

We have 6 days now till Carter is due to arrive and the guessing game is getting a bit annoying. I am such a scheduled person that this "any moment" thing is daunting. As of today I have everything done that I wanted to do before he got here including blogging but excluding that one last closet I don't want to clean out. :) I am done with things at the studio, I am done cleaning my house, doing laundry, but then again is that ever really "done"?, and done with his room...for now. Now we just wait for the Lord's perfect timing!

I am savoring these last moments of our current life yet trying hard not to hold on to them too tightly. I am horrible at change and as excited as I am for something different and a new priority in my life I have also loved what is. Our 5 years of marriage without children have been sweet and I am holding fast to the promise that it will only get sweeter! I am looking forward to getting into a new routine, spending time as the 3 of us, having visitors, and watching A LOT of Netflix while on maternity leave. Not checking my studio email and being a part of the studio is going to be a challenge for me for 6 weeks for sure! I actually think that will be harder than the sleep deprivation.

Next Post....Kirkpatrick's: Party of 3 :)

Summer is over, Baby is coming!

I have not posted anything in a long time. So long that I have forgotten what we have been doing for the past month even though I know it has been a lot. The past two weeks I have been getting the studio ready to start classes on Monday. I have been training my teachers and new office manager and doing maintenance around the studio. Fun Fun! I am so thankful that I will only be teaching two mornings a week this year plus my normal work from home. I have 12 teachers on staff, an office manager and an office assistant. I am really looking forward to seeing how the studio grows this year, our 5th dance season!

I have cleaned out a couple of closets in preparation for baby and my first baby shower (which is today) and all the baby crap (I mean this in the best sense of the word) that is fixing to enter our home. My goal is for everything to have a place and my house to not look like a daycare center. I can dream can't I?

We started our birth class a couple of weeks ago and it has hit me that this baby could really be born at any time now that I am 32 weeks on Monday. I don't get overwhelmed easy but thinking that I only have 8 weeks left at most to get everything ready around the house and to prepare for maternity leave (hallelujah!) does overwhelm me.

The nausea has mostly subsided even though I did throw up during a massage last week. I need to make a list of all the places BESIDES a toilet I have barfed. Poor masseuse. My biggest frustration lately is the hands and feet swelling, all my rings have come off, and how insanely hot I can get in our 70 degree house sitting underneath a fan on full blast. :)

I will post some pictures after the shower today!

The (cute) little source of my nausia...

I had my 24 week appointment this week and if you aren't good at looking at sonograms he is staring strait at you and that little nub is his hand looking like he is about to punch something, usually me. He is a very active guy!

I am really enjoying summer right now. Not having a ton to do, although I should be doing more, watching lots of HGTV and getting things done around the house that have been neglected all school year. Up next, cleaning out closets.

We went to Babies R Us a couple of weeks ago to register. Fun right? NO! It was horrid. Both of us loved registering for our wedding but this was totally overwhelming. How are you suppose to pick something if you have no idea what it is and have not really used one before? They have totally different stuff than when my sisters were little. I mean, you know what to look for in a toaster but what do you look for in bottles and pack n plays??? Bobby and I found ourselves just staring at things for a while and then saying, "um, we will look at these online" and moving on to the next thing. We called it quits a couple hours in and since then I just look at items and reviews online in the comfort of my own home. Much better! Up next, bedding at Pottery Barn. MUCH easier...or so I think.

I am preparing right now to speak at our children's camp for a session on serving others. Public speaking is a bit of my worst nightmare but I love the topic. We will see how it goes on Tuesday!

Baby, Graduation & Recitals, Oh My!

May was been a whirl wind and even now that is the beginning of June I thought things would slow down but they haven't! This past week as been jam packed with, Doctor's appointments (It's a boy!), dress rehearsals, recitals, Graduation, Graduation Party, etc.

Our recital went extremely well which I am so thankful for. We have grown out of our venue however so I am on the hunt for one that seats more people. I have gotten so many compliments and am really thankful for them after getting verbally abused quite a bit the past month. BTW....a password protected blog all about studio life coming August 2010. Get excited, promises lots of laughs!




In between my two recitals (literally) our CURRENT baby, Kirsten, graduated from High School! So proud! Monday was her and her two best's friends joint graduation party which was a lot of fun. Good Mexican food and a great theme. One of her friends is going to t.u. for theater and Kirsten and her other friend are going to A&M so they had a "House Divided" party. I had a lot of fun decorating for it and getting the cake. Half of the cake was carrot and the other half red velvet. Creative hu? ;)






Baby is kicking quite a bit and Bobby got to feel him for the first time last week which I think really made it real for him. I have enjoyed getting a couple of little baby cloth items and some great hand-me-downs which is making it more real for me (along with having to rethink my wardrobe). My friend Steph loaned me some great maternity clothes which is a blessing because the "maternity section" at Old Navy consisted of a rack of grandma clothes. Bobby is at camp right now, I am joining him tomorrow, and I am ready for him to get home so we can go test that fun registry gun out. ;)

I Love My Job, I Love My Job, I Love My Job.....

I have been seriously feeling drained the past two weeks emotionally. Particularly with the studio. I feel that everywhere I turn I am getting parents who have complaints and frustrations. Most of them are completely wacko...I have heard it ALLLL, seriously, you would laugh. But then there are some that make me feel that I am just doing a HORRIBLE job. Sometimes I feel that my employees don't care about their job and that I work for them more than they work for me. I feel like I bend over backwards and still it is not good enough. Caviat: One mom did call me today thanking me for breaking my back for her daughter but 1 out of 15 incidents, who cares right!?

I love the concept of what I do and my greatest desire is for Chara to be the best organized, most encouraging, positive place for students and parents to be and for Christ's name to be glorified by the way we do business and teach dance. I have learned quite a few lessons that I am going to implement next year to make sure things work better and PEOPLE work better. Right now I just feel defeated and at the worst possible time...recital. Summer can not come quick enough!

1st Mommy Moment

A few weeks ago I was doing my Bible study when I had my first "I'm going to be a mommy moment" I call it. It was a story from a book and the topic was on generational sin and bondage. I had done this study before as a freshman in college and it has been interesting to do it again in this totally different season of my life. Here was the story:

"When I was little, my nurse Dibby's cousin had a dog, just a mutt, and the dog was pregnant. I don't know how long dogs are pregnant but she was due to have her puppies in about a week. She was out in the yard one day and got in the way of the lawn mower and her two hind legs got cut off. They rushed her to the vet and he said, "I can sew her up, or you can have her put to sleep if you want, but the puppies are okay. She'll be able to deliver the puppies." Dibby's cousin said, "Keep her alive." So the vet sewed up her backside and over the next week the dog learned to walk. She didn't spend any time worrying, she just learned to walk by taking two steps in the front and flipping up her backside and then taking two steps and flipping up her backside again. She gave birth to six little puppies, all in perfect health. She nursed them and then weaned them. And when they learned to walk, they all walked like her."

Lord, teach me how to walk more like you! Give Bobby and I grace as we raise this baby, protect it from our fleshly mistakes and human habits. Teach it to fear you and love you with all of its heart, mind and soul!

New York New York!

The past three months I seriously think have been the busiest of my life! Talitha, Mexico Mission Trip, Woman's Retreat, Contest Season, and the most fun, discovering we are having a baby. I feel that God has allowed me to do so many great things this year and even though I am tired and feel a bit burnt out I am so thankful for the beautiful experiences I have had this whirlwind of a winter!

I am really thankful that I got to go to New York with my mom and Kirsten's Drill Team a couple of weeks ago! It was so special to experience that with them and do some things I have always dreamed of doing. I think I may have had more fun than the girls! We got to see two shows, my favorite being Chicago, went to the Empire State Building, Time Square, Macy's, Statue of Liberty, World Trade Center, etc. The big highlight for me was taking a hip hop class at Broadway Dance Center and contemporary at Alvin Ailey. Being at Ailey was a pretty big experience for me. I was in awe. Oh to have a body and move like an Ailey dancer! :)

It was so fun to be with my mom and sister and see her interact with her team. Kirsten is such a great leader and so much fun to be with.

I also discovered that I have the natural talent it takes to be a Paparazzi. I spotted Edie Falco (Sopranos), Russel Simmons (I know, no one else knows who that is but me apparently), and Jake Gylenhaal while we were there! I discovered that I watch way to much TV.

Coming back home and having the first free weekend since Christmas was pretty shocking but enjoyable. Don't worry, I have plenty to do though with work coming up! Ballet Exams, Offerings Concert, Recital Pictures and oh yes, the dreaded recital weekend! I don't think I will be relaxing for long till summer.

Well if you haven't heard the news yet...you must not talk to our families very often! We are having a baby! We were a little stunned at first but are really excited God has "pushed" us over our cliff (or my cliff should I say) and into the deep sea of parenthood. The due date is October 11th and I can't wait till summer so we can find out if it is a girl or a boy and I can start decorating and getting clothes! We are really thankful that even though we thought this was a few months off, it was obviously easy to get pregnant and so far everything is looking good!

A Blessing

One of the biggest blessing of my life recently has been dancing with Talitha. If I haven't told you about Talitha yet, it is a part of a wonderful exciting conference for college age girls called Masterpiece. It is being held for the first time in College Station the last weekend in February. Driving to College Station each weekend for rehearsals has been a chore but my time in the car and the blessing of moving through the incredible choreography makes the gas guzzling worth it.

Way back in 2002 when God gave me the vision to start Chara, the performing arts being incorporated more in worship was one of my desires. I dreamed of the day where Chara would break down barriers in the College Station area dancing at places we never dreamed we would be allowed to go. Being a part of worship at churches and events and showing God's beauty through dance was something I was so passionate about and had faith that one day, after I was gone, those doors would be open. Masterpiece and Talitha is a part of that dream I had and I am so blessed to be able to be a part of it.

I feel that I have come full circle from 2002. Ironically, Masterpiece was created by Donna (Barker) Stewart who was my youth groups worship leader for a few years. I am also getting to dance with one of my dearest friends Steph, that I taught with but have never danced with, many current Chara members who have become dear friends, as well as former students who are now finishing school and getting married! It is a combination of some of the most special people from my days in College Station. I am so thankful for this experience and have faith that God is going to do amazing things in the heart of the young women He draws to this conference.

Can't wait to write about it after the event and post pictures!

I know it's late but...Christmas

I have been hoping to blog about our December for a few weeks now but have just been really busy...just like our Christmas was!

It started out by us hosting three "adult" parties at our house besides the usual youth group party. We enjoyed the company of my amazing staff, followed by Bobby's co-workers, and then a Pastor's Open House where our church was invited to stop by for wassail and goodies. This was all in one weekend intentionally so I only had to clean my house once with a few "maintenance" clean ups in between.

The studio had really successful Christmas performances this year that really worked for us. Our preschool students were divided up in groups and performed at to local retirement homes. They are always so sweet to watch and the residence just love it. That evening the rest of our students performed at Friendswood's Christmas in the Park following the Lighted Christmas Parade. This was a great venue for us as the park was able to hold all the families that came to watch and the community got to see what we are all about. I was really proud of my teachers for such a great job on their choreographer and preparing their girls. I hope we can do this event for years to come.





The next VERY big event in my families life was the much anticipated, much celebrated, much deserved graduation of my beautiful sister Halie from Texas Tech. My family road tripped it all the way to the LBK for the weekend for a whirlwind trip and to move her out. I am so proud of her dedication, strength and independence. She is such a great example of a strong, Godly young women. Young girls take note!

This was a fun bonding trip for my family as it has been a while since we have had this big of an adventure.






Going back to the beginning of the month we had Kirsten's show Holiday Follies which included the Kingwood Park dance, theater and choir department. It was really special as KP and I choreographed our fourth solo for her to perform, Silent Night. She turned into a ballerina in a 4 hour rehearsal, I was so proud of her! It was a fun performance. She also had the Kid's Krazy Christmas Show (which I like to call Kid's Krazy Kirsten Show). She has been in JUMP for all four years and this was her last year for the show. It always gets me in the Christmas spirit. I think I will have to go next year even if she isn't in it. :)





After all this, we finally had three days of Christmas with our families. Christmas Eve service was pretty special with Bobby's family singing Reliant K's "I Celebrate the Day". Bobby on bass, his dad on drums, his mom on the piano, and Allen singing and playing the guitar. Christmas Day us, my mom and sisters (since my dad had to work)went to the Kirkpatrick's and the next day we celebrated in Kingwood with our family included my cousin's which was a special treat.


As usual, our December is topped off with Friends Student Conference which was in Wichita this year. We took 40 students and chaperones and had a great time. I really enjoyed having my sister there to help us too. The kids were great and we really enjoyed the snow.