Well, I have yet to come across anyone who has done this, but here it is...a year of photos in one blog post. It's amazing...we have about 3300 pictures in iPhoto, and I don't even take nearly the pictures I should.
Most of you know or story. I finished seminary in May of 2007, just after we had lost our first pregnancy. We had been married just under 4 years. No job, no prospects in Texas, so we put everything in storage for the summer and came back to Arkansas. After a summer of no job offers, Jenny found a teaching job in Little Rock and we found a house. Two weeks after we moved in, my job opened up and I was hired extremely fast...all things considered. Here's a look back at where we were just one year ago...
We met up with Sarah Gore (center) and her fiancee (now husband) Brad in Dallas. This was the first time I had seen Sarah in a long time. We both graduated with her. It was also our first chance to meet Rebecca Lee's boyfriend (now husband, too) Scott. We were newly pregnant, on our way to Waco to go to the OB, and to retrieve our home from two massive storage units (one which was half-filled with Jenny's classroom contents).
This is Jenny, thinking that she is starting to show, but she's really just wearing loose clothes because she's teaching all day.
Maybe, possibly, starting to show...
We thought Labor Day would be a great time to put together the crib. Or Jenny thought that, at least. We also thought it would be a great idea to put it together in the living room. Big mistake. Cribs don't move through doorways. It's easier to put it together the second time.
Standing proudly over my work, before we realized it had to come apart.
A few weeks later, and she's actually starting to show a little bit.
We were pretty sure we were going to go with a modern nursery, and we were fairly certain it was a girl. Everyone we knew was having a boy. It was also about this time that we found out my cousin Ashley, closest to me in age out of the whole family, was due about 3 days after we were. She wound up delivering on the same day, in the same city.
We liked these fabrics just in case it was a boy...
Jenny's aunt gave us a maple four poster bed, and I repainted it barn red for the guest bedroom. Yes, that room has five windows.
The baby-to-be's nursery is painted at this point. It's the largest out of the three bedrooms...but shaped so that we really couldn't use it as our master.
This is our house. Mom and Dad were on the way down for the first time, so the grass was freshly-mowed and had just been watered. You can't seem them, but the mums were out. We're big on fall decorating.
Our front porch with a few mums and a lone pumpkin. We had about eight pumpkins by the time fall really arrived.
Our living room before Mom and Dad arrived. The furniture has all been replaced, except for my leather club chair.
Jenny's best friend Katie had a baby shower in mid-fall. Zack was born Thanksgiving week, and he's a precious little man. This was the diaper cake Suzanne and Jenny made for her.
Jenny, really starting to pooch out, at Katie's shower. From the left are Sarah, Suzanne, Jenny, Katie (looking LESS pregnant than Jenny), Laura, and Hillary.
A Saturday in October. Jenny looking cute and pudgy in a maternity top.
Bailey (our Lab) and Annabelle, the Beagle, in thier Razorback attire for Halloween. Annabelle was a cheerleader and Bailey was a fan disgusted with Houston Nutt.
Our neighborhood in fall colors. We live just minutes from the church where I serve, and there is a Starbucks about 200 yards from my office...I'm in heaven.
Another terrific display of Autumn in Arkansas.
This armoire went with my bedroom furniture, and then we had it in the living room. I painted it white and Blue because at this point, amazingly, we're having a BOY! We decided on his name and I painted his initials on the drawer.
We picked up our changer from All Thru the House and put it in place. Annabelle's noticeably excited about all the changes.
There it is...affirmation at the OB after being told at BabyViews that it was indeed a boy!
Jenny's aunt found this ornament for us to celebrate his boy parts.
Starting to really pudge out at this point...
Jenny had been eyeing this pig for a while, and her mom picked it up for her.
Being the kind of nutty guy that I am, and not wanting to put up our old Christmas wreath, I made one from stuff out of our yard.
The most perfectly-shaped Fraser Fir to be found in all of Arkansas...
We kept our yearly tradition going and returned to Dallas for JOY!, the symphony's 2007 Christmas Celebration. We visited Scott and Rebecca, made our pilgrimage out to IKEA, and visited North Park mall for some holiday shopping for the family. We kept tradition alive by staying once again in the Renaissance, our favorite hotel in the city, and we had a pre-symphony dinner at Pappadeaux (same place every year) with Laura and Brad.
Annabelle and Bailey kept the tradition alive of being the cover for our annual Christmas Card which read, "Don't get so tangled-up in the Holidays that you miss the true meaning of the Season."
Sometime around New Year's, Annabelle entertains my niece, Abby Lynn.
Mom and Dad put up the crib in an extra bedroom...Anticipation...
Benjamin's nursery starting to come together. This was before the chair arrived, and before any showers. The rug had just come in and was the perfect thing for the room. Notice we moved away from Modern and went for classic and calm.
Jenny at her parent's house, just days before her first shower, and really starting to show. Moments later...
She received her surprise gift from my parents...the complete travel system.
A card at one of her baby showers, asking for the guests to give her some encouragement or advice about becoming a mother.
"B" cookies in honor of our double-B...Benjamin Bunch
The wooden peg plaques we ordered finally came in, and Jenny painted the moon and stars canvas.
This must be post-shower, because stuff is piling up where it doesn't belong...
The armoire is starting to get loaded up.
Just days before Benjamin is due, snow arrives! Jenny was already out on Maternity Leave, so she was able to enjoy it.
Really, really, getting big.
One of the last pictures with Jenny and her first babies...a day or two later, Jenny's grandmother passed away. The first in a chain of losses we would endure this year.
He arrived! Benjamin John Bunch was born at 12:55 PM on Wednesday, March 12. He weighed 8 pounds and 4 ounces, and was 20 3/4 inches long.
A few days later, we had our Easter Celebration at work... a HUGE hit. The Easter Bunny even stopped by (unplanned and a bit awkward...apparently some random person dresses up like a bunny every year and wanders through The Heights...)
Benjamin on Easter Sunday...perfectly angelic.
Benjamin John Bunch meeting his namesake, his great-Grandfather John Carl Bunch. PaPa was 91 in this picture. Just a couple of weeks later, Grandmother died. She was 88, and they missed their 70th wedding anniversary by just days.
Abby Lynn meets her cousin Benjamin for the first time. He sort of looks like a plastic doll in this picture...ha.
Post-Baby Momma decided to try her ring on. Half an hour later we were at Roberson's Jewelers not far from home, and they were nice enough to cut her ring off.
The Monday after Grandmother died in April. My worst weight of all time...297 pounds. I'm currently 275 and still trying to lose.
Jenny celebrated her 28th birthday with cookies and cash. The girl loves to buy clothes and shoes, so money is always the gift of choice.
Ben starts to develop a personality, and gets dressed in his baseball outfit twice a week to go watch Daddy play church league softball.
Random, I know, but I grilled Ribs for the first time, and they were great.
Jenny and Ben at the lake on Father's Day Weekend. A week later we were putting the finishing touches on my first VBS.
After battling hodgkin's lymphoma for six months, my sister in law passed away after being on a ventilator for over a month. She was unconscious every time we saw her, so we never got to say good-bye or that we loved her one last time. She fought as hard as she could, but her body couldn't handle the drugs that were being pumped into her. She died on the day before my first VBS began. VBS is the biggest week of my entire year, and it was absolutely amazing to see how people stepped in and filled roles while Jenny and I had to be away.
Losing Jennifer is the most surreal experience I have ever had to endure, and Jenny and I still can't believe that she is gone. We're anxious to see my brother go on with life, but it is heartbreaking that she will never know Benjamin. One of the last things we heard her say to us was about Benjamin. She called him "absolutely perfect." As was the case most of the time, she was right.
The Entrance to the Snack Shack at VBS.
The Worship Center for VBS.
Outside the worship center. The church doesn't usually get to see the set-up ahead of time, but I had it up for Sunday morning. Everyone loved it.
These three guys made me laugh every day.
A few weeks later, Benjamin experienced his first 4th of July Fireworks Show.
The little man was finally big enough to ride in a jogging stroller, which wore him out.
My fourth, fifth, and sixth graders at camp. We had an amazing few days. I've got the greatest job in the world.
Benjamin experiences real food for the first time.
And he sets foot on the beach for the first time...
He absolutely loved the sand.
And Daddy absolutely loves him...
Jenny and I celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary while in Florida.
And this is our first of many family portraits on the beach. We had an amazing time. Just the three of us this year.
We've had a busy year. It's been a good year. We've suffered losses, but we've gained our first son. We've started careers, but we've started even better friendships. We've gained pounds (Jenny...and Todd) then lost them (Jenny...and Todd). We've cried a lot, but we've laughed a lot more.
I can't wait to see what we'll post a year from now.
His football Robeez shoes...
