The Shields Family Blog: 2010...Year in Review

2010 was definitely a full year. It really started out on a rough note. On January 1, I was six days past my due date and knew I still had four more days to be pregnant. Kevin was still having a lot of problems with his stomach and had not gotten any answers yet, so he was pretty much in a constant state of pain and not being able to eat. My mom had fallen a few days earlier (while holding Cassie and being at home by herself with Katie and Cassie). She messed her knee up very bad and we knew that she was going to be in surgery at the exact same time I was being induced. Things were pretty bleak for us at that point.

Nonetheless, we made it to January 5th and our beautiful baby boy was here. My mom came through her surgery ok, she just knew she had a long recovery ahead of her.

Things were looking better (Kevin finally had an appointment with a GI Doctor) until less than 24 hours later when Conner had to be admitted to the NICU. After many tests and them not able to figure out what was causing his fever, he was finally diagnosed after several days with pneumonia.

This is the only picture I have of him from the NICU. I wish I had taken more just to have it documented, but just couldn't bring myself to do it at the time. I guess I was focused on more important things. :) You can barely see the IV in his head. :(

After spending 11 days in the NICU, he was finally able to come home. Kevin had had an endoscopy done and was finally on a medication regimen that was helping him. Things were finally starting to look up!

Going home!! (After looking so big in those first pictures, he looks so small to me here.)

In February, Conner was finally ready for his first road trip and we traveled to Georgia so Mimi and Pops and my family could finally meet him. While we were there, we were greeted by a true rarity...snow in South Georgia!

In March, we signed a contract for what is pretty close to our dream house. It is definitely big enough for our family to live in for many years to come and I think I love it more every day.

In April, we celebrated Conner's first Easter and had a fun egg hunt for the girls in our front yard.

In May, Katie had her first ever dance recital .

In June, we closed on our house and began to move in!!

In July we celebrated the 4th in our new house and continued to settle in.

In August, it was back to school time...4-K for Katie and Mother's Day Out for Cassie and Conner.

In September, our baby girl turned 2!!

In October, our big girl turned 5!! (The picture is dated the 14th and not her actual birthday because this was the day of her birthday celebration at 4-K and of course she had to wear the shirt!)

In November, we celebrated our first Thanksgiving in our new house by Kevin fixing his annual feast. We also lost one of our dogs, our basset hound Bailey, during the night one night.

In December, we had a wonderful event free Christmas. We were able to travel beforehand to visit family and enjoy Christmas Day at home. How blessed we are!