our christmas...part two

we woke up to a white christmas.




does it get any better?

it was the perfect snow, just enough to make it beautiful without making the roads too bad, so we could all still gather over at my parent's house.

but first, we woke up early and let little man open all of his gifts at home.

correction, i opened little man's gifts and then waved them in front of his face to get his attention. which sometimes worked, and sometimes didn't. this kid is not easily distracted.




husband recorded and took pictures.

baby girl slept.


i guess she was up all night waiting for Santa and was just worn out.

we told her what he brought her when she woke up. she was thrilled.

then we headed over to my folks' house where my mom's cinnamon rolls were waiting for us. she makes these every year.

she knows if she didn't we would stop coming.

i kid.

sort of.

so we ate, and then we opened more presents, and then we ate some more.

and then, per tradition, we played one of our standard games - girls vs. boys. we have our usual go-to games, and we always plays boys against girls, even though the headcount is usually off a little. the girls used to claim this didn't matter, we would beat them even if we were outnumbered, but i have to admit that the boys are improving, and even win occasionally these days.

if you go through the games boxes, you will find old score sheets where my little brother would write things like "stinky girls" and "cool guys". it makes me smile.

anyways, this time we played bible outburst, which can actually be pretty hard. there are some really random topics with even more random answers. the boys won this time, but their final topic was "the ten commandments", so they were basically handed the win.

i'm just saying.

ok, so some of my favorite pics from the day.




the santa hats made the rounds.....







my daddy.....


and my mom, who looks like she's mid-lecture while opening her present, which cracks me up, because more than likely one of us needed one.....


my big-little brother with little man.....


why is it that still, whenever i see any of my guys with my kids, it absolutely melts my heart?

my handsome husband, who is giving me his classic crooked smile because i am in his face once again with the camera.....


my sleeping beauties.....


and my sleeping uncle (whom i suppose is a beauty as well).....


me and my girl.....


who is drying her nails.....


have i ever mentioned that i love christmas?

because i really do.

our christmas...part one

husband and i are fortunate enough to live near both our immediate families. still, we found that if we tried to see everyone on christmas day, there was never enough time to actually visit and be with everyone as much as we wanted. especially once we all started adding kids to the mix and made it that much more busy and hectic.

so we've started a new tradition of having husband's side of the family over a few nights before christmas day to celebrate. this way, we get to enjoy extra time with them without anyone having to rush off, and we get to enjoy another big christmas dinner.

it's a win-win situation.

this year was extra special since it was our first big dinner back in our house post-flood. enjoying our home with people we love is what it's all about.

since i was in the kitchen most of the time, i didn't get to take too many pictures. but here are some of my favorites.....

Caleb dancing.....




and being silly.....



and little Cortland who wasn't feeling well.....


and this little guy who i swear loves posing for me and just melts my heart.....



in case you were wondering, yes, adults were there. i don't know why i only took pictures of the kids. i guess they're just cuter!

and yes, makayla was there too. mostly sleeping. please don't tell her that i didn't take a picture of her either. i've taken 176,398 others so far to make it up to her.

before christmas

well, we had a fantabulous christmas, but can't quite believe that it's already come and gone. every year, it sneaks up on me, and then passes too quickly.

and now it's 2011.

seriously?

but first i wanted to recap christmas. then i realized i needed to recap the week before christmas as well, so here it is.....

we took the kids to see Santa. Caleb has no idea who Santa is, or who he is supposed to be or do or any of that. but this momma wanted a picture anyways, so we braved the traffic and crowds and lines to see him.

now, i was perfectly prepared to stand next to Santa while holding a reluctant Caleb in my arms in hopes of getting at least one decent picture. but just when i think i know what my little man is going to do, he surprises me. not only did he sit in Santa's lap, but he seemed happy and was smiling. you could have knocked me over with a feather i was so surprised.

and for old time's sake, here he is his first christmas, looking cute and chubby as ever.....



same Caleb, different Santa.

go figure.

back to the present...afterwards, he rode on daddy's shoulders, which always makes him happy, and i got to walk through the mall for a little while, which always makes me happy.




next we headed out to Opryland Hotel to see the lights and walk through the gardens.

eight years ago, on christmas night, when husband wasn't husband yet but was still boyfriend, he took me to one of the gardens for what i thought was a simple romantic walk. well, the walk ended with him asking me to marry him, to which i obviously said yes. so needless to say, Opryland at christmas is now very special to us.

the hotel flooded back in May, but it is open again and is just as beautiful as ever.



little man fell asleep in the car on the way there.

little man NEVER falls asleep in the car. we had to wake him up, and this is how he felt about it.....


baby girl, however, was content as could be.....


so we walked around for awhile, and then we found a mini train ride that daddy squeezed into to take him on.



that daddy sure is a trooper.

ok, be back soon with our two christmases.

these are a few of my favorite things

i. love. Christmas.

i love pretty much everything about it.

so, i thought i'd do a little post on some of the many things i love about it.

because i know everyone is just dying of curiosity.


1. Christmas music.

my brother says this makes me a nerd. i don't care. i start playing Christmas music on November 1st. in my mind, this is the earliest day that is somewhat reasonable to play it and not be perceived as entirely crazy.

amy grant's cds are my favorite ever. my brother says this really makes me a nerd. i still don't care. her first Christmas cd is my favorite, but "breath of heaven", which is on her 2nd one, is my favorite song ever. it is so beautiful and powerful.


2. decorations.


i love decorating our house anyways, but especially at Christmas time. it is all just so beautiful to me. i am slowly building up our supply of Christmas decorations each year, but it is hard to find things that are beautiful and not cheesy, and reasonably priced. but i am determined. the first time that husband ever saw my parent's house at Christmas time, he said that it looked like a museum. that is the reaction i'm going for!


3. hot chocolate.

with whipped cream.


no explanation necessary.


4. the clothes.


not Christmas clothes. just winter clothes in general. i love turtlenecks, and coats, and scarves, and gloves, and boots.

as far as actual Christmas clothes go, my opinion is that no one over the age of 12 or under the age of 65 should wear them. unless maybe you're a kindergarten teacher. maybe. otherwise, it's just not cute. in my opinion. but i do think it's especially adorable on little ones, and i have been having lots of fun dressing up my two. and then cuddling them up cause they look so stinkin' cute.


5. the cards.


i love getting all the cards in the mail. especially ones with pictures and letters.

however, sending them out has gotten a little tricky. it's next to impossible to get a good family photo, especially when one of you is 2. then i went to order them this year, and it was so hard to find one that said "merry christmas". i don't want to say "happy holidays" or "seasons greetings". i am sending out cards in honor of Christmas which celebrates Christ's birth. and the fact that this is becoming so difficult is just plain sad.

what was my point?

oh yeah, i like Christmas cards.


6. baking.

i love baking anything, and Christmas is the perfect excuse to go to town. i love making cookies and using all the cookie cutters and sprinkles and all. i love watching other people enjoy all the goodies.


i loved baking goodies with my mom when i was little, and i hope that my kids will enjoy baking with me when they're older.


7. eating.


so much food is around all month long. i choose to eat it all. or at least a lot of it. and i choose to not feel guilty about it.

try it.

it's fun.


8. wrapping presents.


there is something so calming and relaxing to me about wrapping presents. i love to take my time and think about the person that the gift is for. i love pretty papers and bags and ribbons and bows and tags and putting them together to make something beautiful.

and then i love to see them under the tree.


9. traditions.

love them. i love them all the time, but there are so many at Christmas especially. we are trying to be very intentional about the traditions that we have in our family, because i think you can have too many and lose the meaning of them all.

i have a lot more to say about this, but i will save it for another post all it's own.


10. family.

i love any occasion that brings family together, so this is a given for me. i am fortunate enough that i not only love all of my relatives, but i actually like all of them too. not only that, but i married into a family that i love as well.


well, i was going to stop at 10, but i need one more.


11. Jesus.


this is one of the sweetest books ever. my mom gave it to little man for his first Christmas.

but it's not this book that i love, but what it says. it reminds us of where Christmas came from and why we are really celebrating. because all of the decorations and food and presents are all good and fun, but that's not what it's all about.

God gave us Christmas.

and that's my favorite thing of all.

there are four

i didn't grow up dreaming of being a teacher or a doctor. i didn't grow up with big plans to travel the world or go on some wild adventures. those things are all wonderful, they just weren't my dreams.

i grew up dreaming of being a mommy. i grew up dreaming about a husband and kids. about a family.

when husband and i decided we were ready to add a baby to the mix, i was beyond excited.

and then we waited. and waited. and nothing happened. and i was scared.

not just scared that my reality might turn out differently than my dreams. scared of letting go, giving up the "control" that i wanted to have, and letting God work.

He taught me so much during that time. things i didn't know i needed to learn.

He made our marriage stronger during that time.

now i can look back and i'm so grateful for that time. so grateful that God has a plan for us that is so much better that any plans we try to make.

because the story continues, and God did bless me with my sweet little ones. at the exact moment He chose.

God knew each of our babies and He knew when they would enter this world.

when i look at our mantle, i don't see four stockings waiting for Santa to come fill them up.

when i look at our mantle, i see our family. and i'm so grateful.

snow days

it snowed a lot here yesterday, which is such a treat for us! we don't normally get this much snow before christmas, but it certainly will get you in the spirit.

not that i needed any help in that department.

snow days around here mean relaxing in our jammies.....



with footies.....



and naps.....



and baking.....



while we listen to christmas music.....



and fill up the cookie jar.....



wonder why i love snow?