Customary Christmas Picture Post. :)

Branson's Sliver Dollar City Christmas with my Mom and Sis!

Quick Christmases with my families back home!

Our first Christmas morning as a family of three. :)

Christmas day with Russell's family!

What a wonderful time we had with family.

I hope you had a lovely holiday, friends.

(We're up to our armpits in cake over here in preparations for Russell's cousin's wedding this weekend! Can't wait to show you what she wanted me to make for her big day...it is a gorgeous design...!

Until then, HAPPY NEW YEAR to you!!)

Christmas is Hard Work.

All the attention. All the adoration. All the snuggling.

All the loving. All the gifts. All the kisses.

It's a rough life for a baby.

;)

(Merry Christmas to you all.

May Christ's abundant joy and peace

overwhelm you this day and always.)

BRB.

Traveling. Christmasing. Family-ing.

And lots of picture snapping.

Happy (almost) Christmas!

Be right back...

And the winner is...

Head over to Caked to see the winner of the Real Simple giveaway!

Check back soon for more goodies, and thanks for your support and kind words! :)

Bows and Clips and Dinner, OH MY!

A few nights ago, I invited a group of girlfriends over for an evening of bow and clip making along with a little dinner and dessert thrown in for good measure. A few of the gals had been wanting to learn to make those felt clips I'd posted about previously, so I thought I'd make a night of it! They were given the night off from cooking and were provided with all of the supplies and embellishments to create cute felt clips for their daughters, daughters-to-be (we had a few buns in the oven that night!), or nieces, daughters of friend's, etc.

The table centerpiece--both informative and sparkly, as all good centerpieces should be. ;)

Instructions and examples.

Felt, clips, silver beads, pearl beads, and puff-paint.

We had white chicken chili (no picture...but the leftovers are in my fridge as proof...) and sweet cornbread for dinner.

And chocolate chip cupcakes with salted caramel butter cream for dessert! (That's espresso powder on top...not pepper. Just so we're clear.) ;)

While the girls were hard at work, they had hot chocolate in the cutest to-go cups from Target. I'd been looking for a reason to buy these--perfect!

The loveliest, craftiest gals I know!

Katie took a break to answer a few camera questions for me. (And this is the only picture that I made it into. Oh well!)

Some of the girls' cute creations:

'Twas a fabulous night with friends, and I was so happy to have them over. I consider myself a poor hostess, in that I hardly ever think of hosting anything--I aim to remedy that slowly but surely.

:)

Bows and clips and dinner, OH MY!

Fun times.

Ho, Ho, Ho...or..No, No, No?

I was with a group of moms recently when the subject of whether or not to play along with the tradition of Santa Claus came up. Being new to the MOM circuit, I was amazed at how strong some of the opinions were regarding jolly ol' Saint Nick. Some of the moms were very much anti-Santa, stating that they did not want to teach their children to believe in something fake, and then have to pull the rug out from under them a few years down the road, inevitably damaging their kids' trust in them. Other moms were pretty set on the opinion that the Santa tradition was harmless fun, saying that they didn't want to stifle the fun and anticipation of Christmas for their kids (or have their kids running around bursting the Santa bubble for their friends--ha!). Both sets agreed that the true meaning behind Christmas should be a focus on Christ, but they differed on whether or not Chris Cringle (Kris Kringle?) should be invited to the party. ;)

Hm. I hadn't really thought about it that much, I guess!

Growing up, my mom played along with the Santa thing even after I realized he wasn't "real" somewhere around 2nd grade (I think). I don't remember being shattered or crushed or forever suspicious of my mom, but I wasn't pumped about this realization, either. My mom still carried on with the boot-prints in the fireplace, half of the cookies "eaten" up, stockings full on Christmas morning things...and it was fun! She still does it, and we always get a good laugh.

On the other hand, she also ALWAYS had us sit together as a family on Christmas morning and take turns reading parts of Matthew and Luke to recount the birth of Christ. We prayed together, encouraged each other, discussed the true purpose and focus of the holiday, etc. She encouraged us to volunteer and donate during the season, and we attended special church services each year focused completely on the birth of Jesus and His life. I never felt torn between the make-believe Santa tradition and Jesus Christ's birth. Rather, as I got older, I cared less about the former and more about the latter.

Anywho, just curious, I guess. What are your thoughts? Will you/do you include the Santa tradition in your family Christmas celebration? Why or why not?

Either way, baking cookies "for Santa" is an excellent way to sneak a few (eight...ten) over my way....!

;)

(PS-Be sure to stop by Caked for your chances to win a year of Real Simple!)

'Simple' Giveaway on Caked!

It's Real Simple to win this year-long giveaway at Caked...!

Check it out!

:)

A Day in the LIfe: Yeah. That's Not the Owl Clip.

So.

Went in to change E's diaper.

Daddy had changed it earlier in the day.

Reached out to grab her brown owl clip that was sticking out from under the diaper caddy.

Squish.

Nope. Not the owl clip.

'Twas something else equally round and brown...

Moral of the story:

Unless you inspect it closely, don't full-fist grab what you think is an innocent baby accessory.

Anti-bacterial, anyone?!?

;)

I Want My Money Back.

For her red Christmas dress, E needed a new red clip to be fully accessorized and styled (you know, because she cares so much about these things). ;) Instead of going the usual route of perusing www.etsy.com for adorable felt clips and bows (since I've promised not to buy her PRE-MADE accessories/clothing until after Christmas....hehe), I decided I'd like to try making one myself. After venturing to the craft store (and successfully avoiding Older-Lady-Cashier!!!), I picked up some felt, glue sticks and alligator clips. And....taa daa!

Why have I been paying other people for these? I want my money back! This cost me less than a dollar and took about 10 minutes of my time. Totally should have tried this sooner before shoveling my spending money to etsy.com!

Since we were headed to the Fourth Annual Toewkernskins Christmas Party, the other baby girls needed bows, too!

(The three cutest models ever.)

Anywho, this first bow-making adventure was a success, and we'll see where this leads. E will be even more accessorized than she already is...because really. Can a girl have too many cute clips?

I say no.

;)

9 Months: A Letter.

Dear Birdie Girl,

You are nine months old today! You have now been out of Mommy's tummy as long as you were in it...kind of sad and amazing at the same time. Our lives are SO much richer with you here, and I couldn't ask for a better nine months, my love.

Growth:

-You weigh about 21 pounds and are about 29.5 inches long. (We go to the doctor in a couple of days, so we'll get more accurate measurements then.)

-Your little strawberry is starting to get really white in the center which is a sign of involution, and you still don't seem to be bothered by it at all.

Eating:

-You eat three meals a day, and you nurse every 3-5 hours during the day for a total of 3-4 times a day. Your favorite foods these days are yogurt melts, applesauce with cinnamon, bananas, and, strangely, peas. Meat was new on the menu this month, and you are okay with it as long as it's mixed with veggies. You are showing a lot of interest in feeding yourself, and you're starting to take to your sippy cup filled with watered down juice.

-If you're sick of eating, you will stare me down quite seriously for a minute. Then, you'll swiftly raise one hand and then the other up next to your face, never taking your eyes off of mine. If I try to zoom a spoonful of food to your mouth at this time, you will CLAP your hands together trying to catch the food! It is HILARIOUS to see you do this! Love it. Well, except when food goes flying, but I've learned my lesson now. ;)

Sleeping:

-Biggest accomplishment in this area: your afternoon naps have lengthened out from 30-45 minutes to over an hour! Except for a few bumps in the road, you are consistently napping for one hour in the morning at 9am, one to two hours in the afternoon starting around 1pm, and then you'll maybe take a cat nap before dinner for 20 minutes or so.

-You are still loving an early bedtime of 6:30 or 7pm, and you sleep solid until around 7am the next morning.

-For awhile now, you have been sleeping with your 'lovie'...a yarn bunny given to you at a baby shower. You will rub the bunny all over your face very slowly as you are getting sleepy.

Play:

-You've learned how to pull up onto your knees, and, for awhile, you didn't know how to get back down! It was a pretty pathetic little sight, but you figured it out.

-Recently, you've started saying "Mama/Baba" mixed together...I'll take it. ;)

-We are daily learning what "Don't touch" means--you'll look over at me before you touch certain things that you've been told not to touch before; if you do touch them, after you are corrected, you usually turn away and go off to something else.

-You can blow raspberries with your lips, and sometimes you'll just quietly blow air through pursed lips. You must like the sound or feel of it!

-One of my all-time favorites: you will crawl over to the wood floors or tile, lay on your stomach, and use your arms to start spinning in endless circles! Oh my, we crack up at this little feat! ;)

-If you are pleased with something or someone, you will first watch them, and then you'll extend one arm and open hand towards their face and smile as if to say "Ta da!"--love this. You also clap every time you are pleased with something, whether it is someone coming to get you out of your crib or if someone makes a funny noise. You show your appreciation!

-You still crinkle up your nose to laugh when you think something is really funny or if you know you are being goofy.

-You like to 'sing' in the car--your voice gets a little higher and you just sing sing sing along with the music. Quite possibly the sweetest sound ever.

Events:

-Thanksgiving 2010!

We spent the holiday in OKC with Mommy's family (pictures courtesy of Anna Lee Media), and you were a doll in your little turkey shirt.

(We are so very thankful for you, precious one.)

-Visiting your great grandparents with your Daddy.

-Christmas preparations: You 'helped' us decorate for Christmas...

...you went to your first Christmas party (pictures courtesy of Katie Baskins Photography)...

...and you saw Santa for the first time and loved him!

Sweet girl, you continue to bring us so much JOY. The holiday season just has so much more meaning to us this year as we celebrate as a family of three. God blessed us abundantly when He gave us YOU, and I don't know how I'll ever thank Him.

I'll love you forever,

Mommy