Our Year: 2013

January 2013
*{G} turned ONE!!

February 2013
*Dedicated {G} to the Lord!

March 2013

April 2013
*{L} was promoted to a Charge Nurse at work
*10 years since Perry♥Lauren met!!
*Visit to Papa & Nana's in Virginia

May 2013
*{L} had surgery and spent a few weeks recovering at home! I was given strict doctor's orders not to pick up Gabriel for at least 1 week... so hard!!

*Held a yard sale before going back to work

June 2013
*Trip to NY for my cousin's wedding
*{G} met his Great Grandma & Great Grandpa and almost all of his extended Czuhanich family!

July 2013
{G}'s first fireworks show (from a distance!)

August 2013
*{P} turned 29

September 2013
*{P} got his second tattoo- our wedding date (11.07.09) on his ring finger! ♥

*Put our house on the market
*Found out we were blessed with another baby!!

October 2013
*Stressful month with endless showings and ups & downs related to selling our home and moving
*Found our "Tubby" troublemaker lab mix, Autumn, a new home

*Moved from our home of 6 1/2 years (for Perry, and 5 years for Lauren) to a rental house

November 2013
*Officially closed on our house
*Celebrated four years of marriage!!
*Traveled to Papa & Nana's for their 1st cattle auction
*{L}'s Golden Birthday turning 28 on the 28th, on Thanksgiving!
*Announced that {L} was pregnant!

December 2013
*Annual family photo shoot
*Christmas fun

A Year To Remember, 2012

THE BEST YEAR YET!

January 2012
*Our sweet baby boy, Gabriel Turner, was born!!! Tied with my wedding day for best. day. of. my. life!

February 2012
*Lots of beloved family and friends visited to meet our precious boy
*{G's} 1st Valentine's Day!
*A dear friend of mine since 2nd grade, Katie "KTB", came to visit and took some great pictures for us!

*{L} returned to work after maternity leave on the last day of the month

March 2012

April 2012
*{G's} 1st Easter!

*Uncle Mike & Aunt Pam visited from NY and met Gabriel!

*{G's} 1st trip to Virginia to visit Papa & Nana's farm!

May 2012
*{L's} 1st ever Mother's Day!!!

June 2012
*{G} met his Great-Papa and some Great Aunts & Uncles and second cousins!!

*Helped throw a surprise party for Mom W's 60th birthday!

*{P's} 1st ever Father's Day!!!
*{P} got a tattoo on Father's Day!

July 2012
*My best friend from college, Becky, and her husband Cam got to meet Gabriel!

*{L} switched from working 7p-7a (night shift) to 11a-11p, a much better schedule with a 6 month old!

August 2012
*{P} turned 28

September 2012

October 2012
*{G's} 1st time at the NC State Fair
*{G's} 1st Halloween. He made such a cute "Greaser" with slicked back hair!

November 2012
*Celebrated three years of marriage!!
*Bought the Mazda Tribute
*Thanksgiving in Fayetteville, NC- the first time a lot of my Dad's side of the family (the Durr's) met Gabe!
*{L} turned 27

December 2012
*Annual family photo shoot
*{P} completed his 1st college degree and graduated!!

*Celebrated Christmas and New Years... {G's} 1st!!!

Annual Whitaker Family Picture, 2012

Every year Perry & I take an "Annual Family Picture" (2011, 2010 bloopers, and 2009's were our wedding photos!). 2012 was the best one yet... because our family grew by two feet! Gabriel's!!!

We aimed for mid-November but something kept coming up and our photo shoot got pushed back to December 2nd. I was worried it would be cold & dreary but it turned out to be a beautiful day! Mom W has been our photographer in years past but my Mom (Mom J) had recently gotten a "fancy" camera so we made an extended-family event out of it! We met at an art museum and used some of the outdoor structures as back-drops. 

Gabriel thinking he's big stuff sitting in the front seat, waiting for everyone else to arrive!

We ended up with some great pictures and I love our Christmas card!! I used walmart.com and got forty 4x8" photo cards for less than $20!

I adore these...

The boys ♥

G & Mommy

The whole gang (Dad & Mom W on left, Paul & Mom J on right)

Photo A Day: 17

Happy St. Patty's Day!!!

3 :: 17 :: 12

green

The scrapbook that Perry made to propose to me!

Photo A Day: 9

3 :: 9 :: 12

red

What I was wearing on the day my love story began, the day I met my husband     (Prom 2003) ♥ I LOVE YOU, PERRY!!! ♥

Annual Whitaker Family Picture, 2011 Edition

Perry & I started the tradition of taking an annual family picture. Each year, around November, we'll have a photo shoot, and oh, how nice it will be to see how our family changes & grows over the years!!! In 2009, we had just gotten married (and had plenty of pictures taken then!) so our first year doing this was 2010. I think we waited a little late- it was December and freezing outside- but the pictures turned out great! I shared several "bloopers" in this post. It really is a family affair- we enlisted my mother-in-law, Debra, as our photographer! She was willing to take pictures of us again for 2011; I'm so glad we didn't scare her away! Here's a little recap:

2009: Our Wedding Day
Lake Wheeler
Photo by Story Photographers (http://www.storyphotographers.com/)

2010: Perry & Lauren
Yates Mill Pond

2011: Perry & Lauren plus 1-on-the-way!!!
White Deer Park

Blurry but still cute

It was tickling him!

I love this picture that I caught of my hot hubby

Perry might have been getting tired at this point...

But he was still his silly self!

And that's a wrap!

Perry found an owl (the "theme" in the nursery!) on a park sign

Watch for "2012: Perry, Lauren & 10-month old Gabriel"!!