We have tucked Fuller in and when we wake him up tomorrow we will be facing a new year full of possibilities.

But of course, before we can say hello to 2009, we have to say goodbye:

January- we started off in snow.
February- our family was sick.
March- we were in the Georgia Dome when the tornado hit Atlanta.
April- Fuller and Mommy traveled to Ohio to visit Vieja. Fuller got to see Diego, Live!
May- Fuller finished his first official swim lessons.
June- Fuller did VBS at our church.
July- We announced a new arrival for February 2009. And we were excited to be present at the announcement of the new VW plant coming to Chattanooga.
August- Fuller and Damon took a lesson in how to draw Batman.
September- We decided to auction off the information all expectant parents want to know- is it a boy or a girl? Damon started the task of making Fuller’s birthday/ Halloween costume.
October- Fuller turned 4! And we finally told everyone we are expecting a boy.
November- Our family went together to vote in a historical election. We gave thanks and traveled to Lake Martin for Thanksgiving.
December- we stayed home for the holidays, doing Advent in the evenings and enjoying Christmas with family.

When thinking about saying Hello to 2009 I really can’t think past February, when our new son will be born. I know I am really looking forward to helping Fuller further his reading skills and other educational type endeavors. I’m sure we will work on the house some more (and by “we” I mean Damon and other people he asks for assistance). And of course, we already have travel plans soon after Baby Two arrives.

Thanks for reading our family blog this year. We are looking forward to keeping you up to date in 2009!

Yesterday would have been so sloth like had we not had to go out to buy dog food and play Wii. But after all the fun of this week, we deserved a day of rest.

And then today we looked around and noticed we needed laundry cleaned, trash dumped, and so much more. So of course Fuller and I left the house to hang at the aquarium with my sister and her family. I’ve managed to do a bunch of laundry (clean underwear for everyone!), but next week we dismantle the decorations and try to get back into a routine of sorts. Baby prep will start soon after the new year, and unfortunately we have to prep for the prep.

I’m thankful for the Advent season our family was able to enjoy here at home this year. We were still busy and yes, stress levels got a tad high (pregnancy stuff didn’t help), but we were really able to focus on Jesus and being together as a family. And as a bonus, I have these precious memories of our little family of three right before our family grows by one more.

Our day started a little late for us. Fuller is well trained in not coming out of his room until 7 a.m. Today he decided to sleep in, not showing up in my room until 7:30ish. Parents around the world are probably hating us for getting to “sleep in,” but whatever. It was a little gift to us and I appreciated it.

Fuller enjoyed opening his stocking, and then organizing the contents into the various squares on our rug. It cracked me up.

After opening the presents and assuring Fuller he would get to play our new Wii after his quiet time today, we scurried around getting ready to head up the mountain for lunch at Brynne and Bo’s house. We were bringing the turkey and turkey fryer, so we had to get up there early to get the process started.

We had enjoyable fellowship with family and friends, ate good food, and had some time to relax this evening.

I hope you your Christmas was relaxing and fun as well.

Merry Christmas from The Crumleys!

Merry Christmas Eve!

We went to our church for Christmas Eve service, which was a first for us since Fuller was born. The neat thing was my little sister and her family are visiting her in-laws, who also go to our church, so we got to see them this evening. We will also see them tomorrow for Christmas lunch at her SIL’s house.

As you can see, Sarah-Ginny is also pregnant. I thought we looked pretty cute with our big bellies and kids bouncing around.

Bonus picture: Fuller’s blackwatch blazer and Genevieve’s dress were gifts from my mom, so of course we had to get pictures of them dressed for Christmas Eve.

The service was very nice, with readings and lots of singing. The last song was “Angels from the Realms of Glory” and as we sing, the children proceed to the front for a living nativity kind of thing, dressed in costume of someone or something probably seen at the stable when Jesus was born.

Of course, if Damon hears the word “costume” he goes into overdrive to come up with something awesome. He decided a ram would be at the manger (or at least left in the field when the shepherds took off for the stable) and made Fuller a well received costume for the evening.

It made plenty of people smile and well, I couldn’t get a great picture of him up front because I just couldn’t stop laughing. Damon assures me he was beaming enough for both of us. (Also, I noticed there weren’t many kids dressed up as animals. Apparently being a shepherd, and angel, or a wise man was cooler. Well, next year, I bet they all want to be rams.)

Bed time soon. I am looking forward to tomorrow, just to experience Christmas morning where it is just the three of us.

Merry Christmas!

Yesterday was a bitter cold day. You stepped outside and it was ice all the way to your bones.

Unfortunately, Damon still had quite a bit of work to do on some projects and those had to be done outside. While he was out there he emptied the outside toy bucket and discovered many of Fuller’s toys encased in ice. It was quite the funny sight to behold. Fuller immediately wanted to bundle up and head outside to play, with the ice. When he came back inside twenty minutes later, his mittens were soaked and he was thrilled. I guess toys on ice are just as good as toys by themselves.

Grandpa Albert and Grandma Linda drove up today (braving the bitter cold of Chattanooga) to bring presents and some early Christmas cheer. Fuller had a good first run with opening presents and expressing his own gratitude.

I had a great giggle when Grandpa Albert helped Fuller open his new Transformers. Grandpa Albert got to see just how many twist ties and tape it takes to delay a four year old’s happiness.

After dinner at Big River we said goodbye and Merry Christmas. I think it was a good first run at Christmas morning. And I hope we don’t have too many twist ties in our future.