This year has been full of adventure for the Hulsey fam. Thank the Lord that we had a mild summer compared to 2011, as I was largely pregnant for those blazing hot months. With the lower summer temperatures, it was ensured that no one had to fear the wrath of pregnant Lindsey! Yay!
Our chickens survived another year...kind of. We ended up getting twelve new baby chicks in the middle of the year and found out later that of those twelve chickens we had been blessed with NINE roosters. What are the odds of that?! So we** had our first experience with processing our own chicken and enjoyed many fresh roast chicken dinners!
Derek is still flying as a First Officer for American Eagle Airlines. He enjoys his job and tries to get trips that allow him to be home at least 3 days a week. Having him gone has been especially difficult this year, but we always love it when he is home with us. He is such a great Husband and Father. Every time Brennan sees an airplane in the sky he stops and yells "THAT'S DAD! HI DAD!" It's quite comical, but mostly adorable. I love that my boys have such an amazing Daddy to admire.
I (Lindsey) spent most of the year growing a baby and working at a local bank. I really loved the ladies that I worked with, but I was so very excited to know that this was my last year working a "normal" job for a while. I am really enjoying the "stay-at-home-Mom" routine so far. I always thought people were a little silly to say that it is the hardest work they have ever done, but as of now...I am eating my words. Really! For a job that you can wear your pajamas to, this stuff is hard! Thankfully, I have a husband and children who show me grace daily and I am doing my best to learn the ropes and make it fun for all.
Brennan is just as smart, funny, loving, and handsome as ever. He has really started to enjoy going to his Sunday School class at church and it is so much fun watching him build relationships with his little friends. Hearing him talk about his "best friends" melts my heart. Some of my best memories are from my friends and even though he is only three, it does this Mommy's heart good to know that he loves and is loved. He is ridiculously smart and amazes us daily with the things he comes up with. QUITE the imagination. He loves his baby brother so much and it is sometimes hard for us to keep him off of the baby. All he wants to do is hug and kiss and snuggle. We're just glad he didn't catch the jealously bug!
Luke, our precious new addition...in the previous blog post you can read all about Luke's grand arrival. We spent more than 9 months wondering if he was a He or She and we were so excited when he was born and we learned that we now had TWO sons. Brennan had a brother! Luke has been such a joy and now that we have figured out the eating fiasco (We have google and lactation consultants to thank for my sanity!) he is a very sweet and content little fellow. He loves to be upright so he can see the world around him. He recognizes all of us now and save his biggest smiles for his family. Also, as of about 9 weeks old our sweet little Luke-y Charm has been sleeping for around 8 hours each night. Can you hear the angels sing??? We can't imagine our lives without this precious guy!
So, to sum it up...we have been tremendously blessed this year. We want to thank everyone who held us in prayer through this year and in the first months of Luke's life. We love you more than you know!
Merry Christmas Y'all! (Can I say that? I think I can since I have lived in Texas for three years now...crazy!)
*Only joking. I knew those Mayans had it wrong. But it seems like a nice excuse for failing to have a Christmas Letter prepared, eh?
**When I say "we", I really mean HE...Derek handled the dirty work. I let him know in advance that I had no problem preparing and eating the chicken, but there was no way in hades I was plucking feathers and removing innards. BLEH. Thankfully, a friend of ours from church works for the University in the nearby city and offered to allow Derek to use all of the "equipment" to make processing the chickens an easy task.
