Top Ten from Twenty-Ten

2010 has been quite the year for the Doggetts. I'm going to count down our top ten moments from the year.

10. Shingles and the Chicken Pox

Baylen enjoying an oatmeal bath in the kitchen sink

Grammy brought Cash a bubble gun to take his mind off itching

The week after Labor Day, Heath came down with a pretty bad case of the shingles. After a lot of Vitamin C, Zinc and a few (ha!) pain pills, he was good as new. Dr. Paul told him not to worry about the boys getting chicken pox. As long as they don't come in contact with the oozing blisters, they won't get them. Yeah, right! At the end of the month, both the boys broke out! Cash had them the worst. They absolutely covered his body - from his gums, tongue and ears to his face, between his fingers and belly. He was covered! Baylen only had about a dozen, mostly on his head. My mom and Granny, known as Grammy and Nanny to the boys, came and spent Tuesday and Wednesday with us. Nanny stayed to help on Thursday, and then we went to Glasgow on Friday. Keep in mind this was when Heath was working from 6am until 6 or 7 at night. They were a huge help! I don't think we would have survived without them! All in all, I'm glad it's over. We did a virus cleanse afterwards, so hopefully they won't have to worry about shingles when they are older. Cash does have a scar on his forehead, but he's a boy. Don't all boys have scars?

9. Lil' man got a big boy bed

Cash with his new big boy bed

We had thought that our house would sell before the summer, and the need for a bigger bed for Baylen wouldn't be a problem. He could just sleep in his bassinet until we moved. Well, because summer came and the house hadn't sold, we decided to move Cash's crib into our bedroom and buy a toddler bed for Cash. It was such a milestone for our lil' man, and he was thrilled about it. He fell asleep in his new bed just fine, has only fallen out once since the first night, and loves the spring action when he jumps on it. :)

As for the crib, Baylen, of course, adjusted fine. He had more room to spread out (good thing since we just now sold the house). He's still not sleeping all through the night (that's a whole different story), but has made Cash's crib, his own.

8. Lil' man turned two! (and basically potty trained himself!)

Cash on his second birthday

On June 25th, Cash turned two with Elmo style. We had his second birthday party at my parents' house (our's is just two small to host family). Elmo plates, Elmo cake and of course, Elmo toys. We had a great time with family celebrating the sweetest two year-old blessing!

Over the long July 4th weekend, we had a "bare bottom" weekend, and by the end of July, we were out of diapers and into big boy underwear (preferably Thomas or Elmo printed) for good. We are so proud of our lil' man!

7. Cash's birthday party in Georgia (a.k.a. Doggett family reunion)

Cash and PawPaw enjoying cake

We had decided to have a small birthday party with family down in Georgia so Marlo (Heath's dad, known as PawPaw to the boys) wouldn't have to make the trip again to Kentucky. With the help of Marlo's cousin, Linda, a fun party was planned and all the family was invited. And when I say, all, I mean ALL THE FAMILY! We had such a great time hanging out with cousins, aunts, great-aunts, and more! We were most excited about Heath's great-aunt, Christine, getting to meet both our boys. She's such a beautiful person both inside and out. We love her, and were glad she got to meet our two little ones.

Christine and Baylen

6. Staying-at-home

My oldest student

For the past six years, August meant going-back-to-school time for me. The last few weeks of July would be filled with trips to school to clean, organize, and prepare for the upcoming school year. But not this year! After much prayer and discussing and more prayer, Heath and I decided that it would be best for me to be at home with our boys, raising them and loving on them - pouring myself into them and not other kiddos for a few years. And so it was. When August came around, I started a new chapter in my life as stay-at-home mom. I still think of myself as a teacher. Only now I have two (of the cutest) students, we can watch Sesame Street in our pajamas, and go to the park on warm days. I'm still working on perfecting the grilled cheese though!

5. St. Louis

At the new Cardinals' stadium

Starting in 1999, my dad and I would take a trip to a different baseball park on Labor Day weekend. Our plan was to see them all, and over the past 10 years, we have seen a lot of parks! This year would be no different. We had not seen the new St. Louis Cardinals stadium, so we decided that would be our destination ... in a fifteen passenger van ... with the ENTIRE family. Boy, did we make a vacation out of it. The Magic House, a baseball game, a long walk around the city (ha!), and a short trip to the Gateway Arch and then the St. Louis Zoo ... we did a lot! It was exhausting, but fun!

4. Karalee is done with her treatments!

Karalee with Cash on Thanksgiving

My sister, Karalee, (known as Bubba to the boys) was diagnosed with breast cancer in September of last year. After surgery, she started chemo and then had 30+ days of radiation. In the spring, (mid-April) she and Derek celebrated being done with her treatments by taking a relaxing trip to Costa Rica. What a praise! She was done with treatments. Later this year, in the fall, she had her port taken out, too! Her hair is growing back (curly!) and she's regaining her strength. I've always been amazed at my sister. Her fight over the past year is just another way that she has inspired me.

3. PawPaw moved to Kentucky!!

That's right! Marlo now lives about 20 minutes from where we will be living. After Thanksgiving, he decided he wanted to be closer to his kids and grandkids, so Alison (Heath's sister) found him a place in Allen Co., the ball started rolling, and he moved in the weekend of December 18th. We are so excited to have him closer. I know the boys will love being able to see PawPaw more often!

2. Sold!

Finally, sold!

When we put our house on the market in April, Baylen was just two weeks old. I remember a certain friend (no name dropping allowed) said it would be sold in "less than thirty days." Oh, me. Even though we had a few other offers, the offer that "stuck" came the week before Thanksgiving, and we set the closing date for December 29th. (Baylen's 9 months old now.) Although it was frustrating at times, we began to see that it was completely God's timing. Yes, it would have been nice to sell the house early, but it wasn't a part of His plan for us.

And the number one moment from 2010 ...

1. Baylen Neal Doggett, born March 23rd at 9:46am

7 lbs. 10 3/4 oz. 21 inches long

A few hours after he was born

Mommy of two!

The best blessing of 2010!