our New Year's Eve ... good-bye, 2009!

2009 was quite a life-changing year for us ... we began the year about 12 weeks pregnant with our first baby (to be due in July) and ended the year with sweet Kendall Grace as an 8 month old (born 11 weeks early on May 1, 2009). We are so thankful for Kendall and how God has used her to change our life and be a testimony to His glory! He has done a mighty work in her tiny 2 lb 6 oz body and has brought us all so far in these past 8 months. We still have a long road ahead with the continued growth and development of Kendall, but she is striving and doing so well ... we are so grateful! She is such a joy and we just couldn't be more in love!

This year for New Year's Eve, we got together with 3 of my best friends (& their families) from high school and college! Naomi and Wes Encalade hosted the big event for all 11 kids and 8 adults ... we had a house-full and had a GREAT time! We haven't been all together since July (when they all came over to our house for a swim party),but then it was 4 years before that (as Jeff & Amy live in Paraguay as medical missionaries) ... so we were really excited about having the day together. We took all the kids to a bounce house jumping place, watched some movies, ate some treats, celebrated Ryan's 10th birthday, played some board games ... "Things" and "Battle of the Sexes", and just enjoyed catching up with each other!

sweet Kendall ... LOVES her hands!

Naomi and Wes Encalade ... our gracious hosts!

Us just before midnight ... looking a bit tired here, no doubt!

Jeff and Amy McKissick

Jason and Lauren Rogers

Naomi with Kendall

Celebrating Ryan McKissick's 10th birthday ... happy birthday, Ryan! I didn't get a picture of all 11 kiddos, but here are a few of them ...

Ryan - the birthday boy - turning 10 on New Year's Eve!

Abby Encalade

Emie Rogers

Tyler McKissick

Avery Encalade



Happy Year New 2010!

a little Rogers & Odom family time

Every year, for the past 8 years, we have had a little Rogers & Odom family tradition for a get-together for New Year's Eve ... we meet up with Ashley's parents, his aunt & uncle, and his cousins and their families to ring in the new year with a delicious steak dinner (that Ashley normally grills out for us) and a big game night. But this year, we were planning on breaking the New Year's Eve tradition by meeting up with 3 of my best girl friends from high school & college (and beyond) and their families ... since one of my girl friends & her family have been living in Paraguay for the past 4 years and they are here in Texas right now! (Stay tuned for our New Year's Eve post ... coming soon!)

So, we had a little Rogers & Odom family time before New Year's so we could still all get together ... a pre-New Year's Eve evening at Lane & Barbara, Audrey and Tyler Odom's.

Barbara and Lane Odom

Max and Dee Ann Odom (Ashley's uncle and aunt)

Us at the Odom's ... thank you for hosting a great night!

Fritzie & Aron and Rylie Odom

Kaelynn Odom ... cutie-pie!

Ashleigh and Audrey Odom (cousins)

Brothers (and 2 of Ashley's cousins) ... Lane and Aron Odom

Barbara and Tyler Odom

Sisters ... Dee Ann Odom and Mary Lee

Jay Don, Kendall, Rylie, Fritzie and Kaelynn

sweet girls

her 1st Kitchen ...

Kendall got to open one last gift from her Auntie E and Uncle T (my sister Estee and brother-in-law Taris) ... they left it at our house over Thanksgiving and it was too big to transport to Abilene and back home, as our vehicle was too full, packed to the ceiling for our trip!

So, when we returned home from Abilene, let her open this gigantic box ... and once it was opened, Ashley wanted to get it put together for her!





Parts, parts everywhere ... we had so many parts to this toy ... laying them all over the floor and on the fireplace hearth.



Kendall sitting in her new kitchen ... thank you, Auntie E and Uncle T ... and thank you, Daddy for putting it all together ... it is sooo much fun!

our Christmas with the Rogers ...

We had our Rogers family Christmas on Tuesday, the 29 ... since it was "Christmas morning" again, I decided Kendall should wear her adorable Christmas "Santa baby" sleeper outfit that her Auntie E had gotten for her. (We just didn't get to wear it very much before Christmas had come and gone, so this seemed like a perfect occassion.) Kendall really got into opening these presents ... I think the other presents she had opened on Christmas day at my parents' house was good practice for her, because she really seemed to enjoy it while she was working on sitting up! (She is getting really balanced while sitting and is soooo close to having it mastered ... yeah!)

our Merry Christmas with Huni and GranGran!

Presents under the tree ... and the cutest little gift that we've ever gotten!

Opening up a gift from Huni and GranGran

Huni and GranGran with Kendall and her gifts that she opened from them ... the Fisher Price "Cookie Shape Surprise", some cute pink bibs, and a cute fleece one piece jumper ... thank you Huni and GranGran! (We also got to go shopping for Kendall and picked out a couple of items that she'll be wearing this Spring.)

Who needs the actual items that were wrapped up ... the paper is good enough with her!

Checking out her new tea set ... thank you girls for picking this out for her ... we've already had a few tea parties and can't wait to have a tea party with you when you come to visit us!

Kendall with her presents from Uncle B and Auntie Mary, Hannah, Sadie and Kylie ... the Fisher Price "Say Please Tea Set", a soft plush book, and a cute strawberry shirt ... thank you, thank you!

Opening up the V Tech "Sort and Spin Blender" from Uncle Rhett & Aunt YaYa, Brandon and Tyler ... she also got a Dr. Sesus book and 2 cute long sleeve cotton dresses. Thank you ... the blender is so cute with the fun fruit & shapes!

Reading the Dr. Sesus book from Uncle Rhett & Aunt YaYa

Kendall with her new book and pea pod snugglie from Auntie Amber & Uncle Tobias, Gabe and Jude. Thank you very much ... she loves books and being read to!

Reading the book from Auntie Amber & Uncle Tobias

We had another great Christmas ... spending time with family and enjoying each other! We miss not getting to be with Kendall's aunts and uncles and 7 cousins this Christmas ... but hopefully we'll get to come visit you in Canada this spring/summer!

Kendall's first Christmas has been something we will never forget!

hellooooo Huni and Gran Gran!

It has been soooo long since we've seen Ashley's parents ... also known as Huni and Gran Gran to their 8 grandchildren! They were here over the summer ... in May to meet Kendall after she was born & in the NICU, and then, they came back in July for a short visit. So, we are happy to have them here again for a visit and to see all the growin' that our sweet Kendall has done since July! When they last saw her she was nearly 3 months old (with a corrected age of newborn/2 weeks old) and now she is nearly 8 months old (with a corrected age of 5 months) ... and she has certainly changed over these months!

We're happy you've come to see us ... we got to pick them up at the airport on Monday and they are staying with us for about a week so we are cramming a lot of fun in while they are here!

Huni and Kendall

GranGran and Kendall

sweet little hands ... Huni LOVES Kendall's tiny hands!

My sweet baby girl

Daddy and Kendall

Merry Christmas to ALL!

This year we spent Christmas at my parents' home in Abilene!

This was Kendall's first Christmas so it was an extra special one for us (and even so much more fun)... and then, to top it off, it was a WHITE Christmas ... extra special, indeed! Christmas is definitely my favorite holiday ... for many reasons that I won't go into right now, and having Kendall here just makes the holiday all that more!


CHRISTMAS EVE DAY
We drove in to Abilene late Wednesday night ... and boy, were we glad that we did ... on Thursday morning, Christmas Eve Day, we awoke to find it had snowed over night and was STILL snowing! We were glad not to have to brave all the traffic and roads on I-20! Here is my parents' house ... a winter wonderland ... well, for Abilene, that is!

Looking out the window at all the snow ... this is the first snow that Kendall had ever seen! (And there is Kendall's poor bald spot ... she is growing hair, just very slowly!)

Happy girl! We like all the snow!

We spent Christmas Eve Day at my sister, Rachel's home ... Kendall and I hung out with Aunt Rach and Mason, while Ashley, my Dad and Michael (my brother-in-law) worked ALL day long putting up Mason's Christmas present from Santa Claus ... a swing set! This had been planned for a couple of weeks now, but they were not planning on the snow and 40mph winds! Michael had started putting the pieces together a couple of days before and they were able to work on it in the garage for a while before being in the backyard the rest of the day ...

Working on the swing set ...

Still working ...

The finished product ... 3 handy men & 6 hours

Mommy and Kendall at Aunt Rach & Uncle Mike's house ... burrrrrr, it was cold out there ... and Ashley & I left for Abilene without any coats, gloves, hats or scarves for ourselves (well, it was 73 when we left Dallas on Wed. ... we never expected it to get this cold, and then to snow, too!) ... luckily, my mom had a few old winter items from our childhood hanging around the house, so I picked this lovely hat (from 1989) and a pink scarf, with my blue hoodie ... lovely! Needless to say, we weren't outside very long ... just long enough to let Kendall see the white stuff (on Christmas Eve Day!) and snap 2 pictures and we were under cover the whole time ... but as you can see, her little red nose says it all!

Daddy and Kendall in the snow ... Daddy borrowed winter gear from my Dad, so he could help build the swing set in the snow and roaring winds!

CHRISTMAS EVE NIGHT
It's our Byers tradition to spend Christmas Eve night at my parents' house ... having all the family over and opening most of the presents, but this year we changed it up a bit. We had dinner at my parents', but then went over to my Great Aunt Shanny's house for dessert and games and met up with more family. We decided to delay the present-opening for the night, as Rae, Michael and Mason were spending Christmas Eve with his parents this year.

MawMaw and Kendall ... my what adorable little shoes you have there, Little Miss ... thanks to Auntie E and her favorite little boutique in Florida!

Grams and Kendall ... at Aunt Shanny's house for dessert.

We had a fun time at Aunt Shanny's and it was nice to see our 2nd cousin, Jason & his wife, Brittany and her parents, as well. Unfortunately, MawMaw got the stomach bug a little earlier that night, so she had to leave us early.

Pretty Christmas tree ... checking everything out!

Christmas Eve night ... sitting by the tree and ready for bed!
Twas the night before Christmas ...

CHRISTMAS MORNING ... SANTA CLAUS HAS COME TO TOWN!
Since Kendall is so young & didn't wake up at the crack of dawn to start opening presents, we had a leisurely morning with Mom and Dad ... MawMaw was still sick, so we moved Christmas dinner over to my parents'. (Luckily, it ended up being a 24 hour bug ... and only MawMaw got it ... poor MawMaw, sick on Christmas!) We waited for Kendall to get up and feed ... and then we showed her what Santa had brought her ...

Thank you, Santa Claus! Kendall got the Leap Frog Learn and Groove musical table and a Carter's teddy bear lovey and a pink elephant teether animal in her stocking.

Opening up Kendall's stocking ... well, I actually forgot to bring Kendall's stocking with us to my parents' but my mom had one that Santa was able to find and stuff for her!

Kendall checking out her new musical table ...

She was in such a good mood, we decided to let her open a few more presents, before she took her first morning nap (she STILL sleeps after EVERY feed ... it may be only 30-45 minutes on some of the naps, or 1 1/2-2 hours for another nap, but she cannot make it 3 whole hours without napping in btween!)

Kendall with her very first present to open on her first Christmas ... it was a PraiseBaby DVD "Joy to the World" from Grams and Pops. We just LOVE PraiseBaby!

Kendall with her gifts from Grams and Pops ... a PraiseBaby DVD, a Hermie & Friends (by Max Lucado) DVD, a Fisher Price talking book, and the Fisher Price "My Pretty Learning Purse".

Daddy helping Kendall put on her lipstick ... from her new pink purse, complete with keys, a compact mirror, a bracelet, lipstick, and a piece of play money ... it's so cute ... her 1st purse and she was checking everything out!

We went from putting on the lipstick to eating it ... we are teeeeeeething here, people!

CHRISTMAS DAY
We ended up having a much smaller group over for Christmas dinner, due to sickness and weather, but we enjoyed our time with Grams and Pops AND Kendall!

All clean ... such a cute little flower!

Mommy and Kendall

Christmas dinner at my parents'

Grams and Kendall

Pops and Kendall

Sooooo precious!

We made a big snowman at my parents' and still had snow left over ... there was so much snow!

Merry Christmas!

We had a yummy Christmas dinner with turkey, mashed potatos, dressing, roasted veggies, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, rolls, chocolate pie & apple crisp cobbler. It was nice getting to spend the day all together ... playing with Kendall and visiting with each other. We also got to talk & webcam via Skype with my sister, Estee, who lives in Florida (and was here over Thanksgiving) ... she was in NC with Taris' family for Christmas this year. We also got to Skype with Huni & GranGran (Ashley's parents), and his brother, Rhett & his family, who were having Christmas in Vancouver, WA. Mom and I drove around our favorite neighboorhoods in Abilene checking out all the Christmas lights & decorations ... a Byers tradition! It was especially nice with all the snow in the yards, but the streets were clear. When we got back, Kendall was up and we were ready to open up some presents!

More presents to open! Kendall did a great job opening ... she was so focused on tearing the paper and took her time on each package.

clothes, clothes everywhere ... from Auntie E and Uncle T ... 3 sleepers and a pink striped fleece vest & pants from Carters ... thank you Auntie E for keeping me stocked in cute clothes! We had to leave the other present from Auntie E back at our house (to open later on), as it was too large to transport back and forth, with all the other stuff we needed to cram into our vehicle for the trip.

Ashley with his new Blu-Rays

Kendall's teddy bear from FAO Schwartz ... Aunt Rach and Uncle Mike bought it for her while they were in New York City, NY ... she also got some "touch and feel" books and a pair of a.dor.able mary jane socks with a flower embellishment on them ... soooo cute! ... thank you, thank you!

My Mom and Dad with their new photo book of our family photo shoot we had done over Thanksgiving. Our photographer, Tammy Mareclain, did a fantastic job putting it all together!

Our little family

Merry Christmas to all and to all a Good Night!