Our Christmas

Warning: This post is going to be a little picture heavy and is mostly for the grandparents... but feel free to take a peak if you are interested! :)

Our morning started at 7:15 with Olivia awaking after sleeping 12 straight hours!  Woo hoo!  She is right on the verge of cutting a tooth, so I was expecting her to wake up in pain a few times throughout the night.  Her bottom gums are swollen and you can see the two white lines of the teeth, but they haven't quite poked through yet.  We had a yummy breakfast and then set out to open some gifts!  Michael and I didn't exchange gifts this year, so it was all about Olivia!

I tried to pick some of the best pictures.  I am not looking my prettiest, but that's what Christmas morn is all about. :)  We didn't wrap everything she got.  I didn't want it to be too overwhelming.  We did make sure she had something to open from everyone who sent her a gift.  She had a couple things from most people.

I tried to get a picture of her sitting in front of the tree, but sitting was not on her agenda for today.

So I laid her down and took a picture of her reindeer butt!

She did have socks on, but after kicking them off 3 times I gave up.

One day I want to get matching stockings with our names on them.

It was not in the budget this year. Plus, I couldn't find any I loved.

Then I couldn't find any "O" stockings or even an "O" pin to put on a stocking.

So we went the kiddie route and got a moose stocking. :)

She almost always knows when the camera is on her.  

She was looking at the camera instead of the gift in most of the pictures.

(Look Gramma Kathi-no bow!  Just crazy hair)

She really did rip the paper.

She liked this package because the paper crinkled after she unwrapped it.

She loved the red tissue paper too.

She started getting sleepy.

We had a bit of a rough mid day due to her discomfort.

I think she was having tummy issues on top of teeth issues, but we eventually got it all resolved.

We headed over to our friends John and Alison's house.  Michael went to high school with John.  They ended up moving here just months after us.  It was nice to be able to hang out with them and their family.

Silly girl!

When the teether isn't close by, the fingers will do.

That was our Christmas. We hope you had a great one too.

Christmas re-cap

Man, I had a great Christmas.  I sure hope you did as well.  We actually had FIVE Christmases, and I had a good time at each one.  We got to enjoy so many fun, lively, hilarious, and special moments with our families.  We are blessed beyond measure, and we don't take that lightly or forget.

I realize Christmas isn't all about the gifts, but since I shared my birthday and Christmas wish list with you a few weeks ago, I thought I'd let you know what I got.  Plus, for the sake of blogging... I'm sure you'd all rather know the fun and exciting gifts I got as opposed to a detailed account of all five Christmases--most of which were with people you don't even know! :)

I'm pleased to say that I got almost everything on my list AND some.  I know, I know... spoiled. :)  Ok, so I didn't get the house or the craft room, but I knew going into it that those were pretty lofty dreams.  Remember a few months ago when I was trying to come up with a list and had no ideas?  I really didn't need anything in the truest sense of the word, but I sure am happy to get a few of my wants.

I got the Pioneer Woman's cookbook I wanted, along with the Karen Kingsbury book. (Yes, I got the book on CD for my birthday.  I will probably exchange one for more books!)  On top of that, I had asked Michael for a few more books and got three others from some of my favorite Christian fiction authors.

I also got the label maker

The basic set of the Willow Tree Nativity

Supplies for the laminator

The Pottery Barn keys

Two non-stick pans 

A Starbucks gift card

A Walmart gift card

Also, after I made my original post, I had decided there were a few more things I wanted.  I made Michael his very own Amazon wish list. (Some of the above items were from him too!)

He got me a Cuttlebug

 

and 8 different embossing folders for it

I also got the embossing heat tool.

Plus, my friend Kristin and I decided to not exchange gifts, but decided to spend a day together getting pampered.  We went out to lunch and then had a fabulous manicure and pedicure at Charles Penzone.

I also got a Kohl's gift card

and a Mailbox Magazine subscription

Bob Evan's and Olive Garden gift cards

 food items (mug w/ hot chocolate, fancy choc. covered almonds)

 

Between a few different people I got about $120 in cash

And from the bosses I got a ridiculously soft fur throw,

$100 to Brio

 And a suh-weet Christmas bonus .

Man..... I raked it in this year! :)  30 had been good to me!! LOL!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas

'For unto us a child is born, onto us a son is given,

and the government will be upon his shoulders.

And his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, The Mighty God,

The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.'

Isaiah 9:6

Christmas Traditions

I'm a big "traditions" girl.  I love having traditions and keeping them every year.  Even though this is the case... we hardly have any traditions at all.  So sad.  I'd like to change that.  Every year I think about making ones, but have yet to really do so.  You know--like making the same breakfast Christmas morning, or going to a movie, or driving around to see the lights.  Is it because we don't have kids yet?  I hope that's the case.  I really want my kids to have Christmas traditions to do and look forward to every year.

Don't get me wrong.  We do have some of the same things we do every year.  We go to Michael's dad's side for Christmas eve lunch.  Michael and I open our gifts and do our own Christmas on Christmas eve night.  We go to his grandma's (mom's side) for Christmas day, and then hang out at my sisters Christmas night.  But these aren't really "traditions" per se.

One thing I have started is to get a Christmas movie every year.  I'd like to have a good collection of movies, and what better way to collect them.  This is our third (married) Christmas together.  So far we have

Elf

and

The Polar Express

Any suggestions for this year's movie??

What are your Christmas traditions??

Our Christmas cards

Our Christmas cards were mailed out yesterday.  Finally.  I decided to go ahead and make them this year.  I've done this in the past.  I've also sent picture cards, and I've also had a year or two when I didn't send anything.  I know most people just send one type of card.  Especially those who make cards.  The hardest part is the planning.  Once you get a plan, you can crank them out fast.  Well, dumb me didn't do that.  I had intended to.  I just couldn't find (or commit) to a scrapbook paper that I liked.  Plus, I had bought a pack of Christmas scrapbook paper for some other projects.  However, they only have 3 sheets of each paper.  You can't make all of your cards with just three sheets.  So, all that to say... we have a variety of cards we are sending this year.  They look like this...

AND

(looks better and more sparkly in person)

AND

AND

AND

AND

AND THIS

with variations of the background paper

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Christmas decorations

So it seems everyone in bloggy world is showing their Christmas decorations/trees this week.  Why not join in the fun?  I've already shown you some of my decorations.  Remember the Noel letters, the garland tree, the centerpiece, and the ribbon card display?!

Well, I don't have a ton of decorations besides that.  Our condo is only 1000 square feet, so there aren't a ton of places to put decorations.

I have a few random snowmen figurines.

For some reason, I'm just drawn to the snowmen. :)

A marine nutcracker in honor of my husband

(next to the ridiculous plant my sister gave me to take care of!)

and our stockings... hung off the entertainment center because we don't have a fireplace

Also, it's hard to see, but there are two silver reindeer too, which both Michael and I love

I also have ornaments in random places

(I bought them to make a wreath, but they have cheap tops and couldn't fit on the hanger)

and, of course, my tree!

When I first moved out on my own seven years ago, I was so excited to have my own grown up tree.

I knew I wanted to have white lights.  I also wanted a red and silver theme.

Somewhere along the way I've added a little gold and a little white in the ornaments.

I love it!

Here's a picture with the flash.  It's not all warm and glowy, but you can get a good look at the gifts and nativity at the bottom.

 

Pretty right?  Well, Michael wasn't as pleased.  He really wanted colored lights.

So after hearing about it for two years... I went out last year and bought him his own tree.

It has colored lights.  LOTS of colored lights (pre-lit with an extra strand!), and lots of colorful ornaments.

Man, I'm such a good wife! :)

Christmas card display

The past few years I've just taped our Christmas cards to the banister in our kitchen.  It was cute enough, but between Christmas cards and birthday cards (for two) I generally ran out of room.

Sure, I could have bought one of those wire card hanger things, but how fun is that?  I've seen a lot of blogs with decorated clothespins for various reasons.  It got me thinking.  This is what I came up with.

First, I bought a pack of clothespins for $1.64 or something like that.  I used some of my Christmas scrapbook paper and mod podged it on to the clothespins.  I painted a few (just because I had the paint out for another project).

 

 

 

Then I used some thumb tacks and attached the ribbon to my laundry room door.

Then I attached the cards

 

I think it will look even better once all the cards start rolling in.

Simple. Cheap. Cute enough