#christmas2012 | Christmas 2012 Recap

Last year at Christmas Sunday was still a teeny tiny newborn so this year really felt like our first Christmas with her as an interactive baby. We were blessed to have three different Christmas celebrations this year: one with Tommy's family, one at our own home and then one with my family in Fredericksburg. After the first celebration Sunday seemed to catch onto the unwrapping presents thing so it became super fun to watch her explore! Our first celebration was with Tommy's family and Sunday received soooo many goodies. I actually saved two gifts to put under our tree for Christmas morning because she was already having so much fun with the gifts she received first. One jackpot gift was this little Dora chair from Grandma & Grandpa (Tommy's parents).

She LOVES this thing and I think she feels like such a big girl when she sits in it. Sometimes it's the only place I can put her down when she is feeling especially clingy. I love these pictures of her!

On Christmas morning Sunday slept in until about 7:30, the latest she has slept in months! Of course! When she did wake up I insisted that the very first thing we do was put Jesus in His place in the nativity scenes. Tommy was a super good sport about that, as was Sunday. :) (I made him do it a few times so I could get pictures.)

We invited my mom and brother to come to our house for Christmas morning since my dad was going to be in Florida with his mom. Both of them brought gifts for Sunday and she opened the big one first. Tommy had to help her wake up a bit and give her a quick reminder of how to open presents. She got the hang of it quickly and we had a great morning of giving, receiving, and watching her discover.

Tommy got me an ornament to match my awesome Holy Land nativity scene (his mom gifted us the nativity and picked out each individual piece while she was in Jerusalem in 2011), and I went with a sweet homemade ornament I knew he would love. I was right, he asked me to make the same ornament every year from now on! :) He's so easy! Oh, and yes. We got Sunday a sock monkey ornament. So did everyone else in her life. We now have FIVE sock monkey ornaments. Too funny.

We had a lovely Christmas morning at home followed by a delicious lunch with Tommy's whole family later in the day. Fast forward a week and we were celebrating again with my family in Fredericksburg on New Years Day! Of course the entire time we were there was just depressing because my sisters family was set to move on the third. So, instead of taking pictures of the gift opening and dinner, I focused on capturing some sweet cousin interaction. Trying to freeze time, ya know. :)

We had a lovely Christmas and again I find myself overwhelmed with the blessings in our lives. Between our three celebrations we made incredible memories and each received wonderful, thoughtful gifts. I somehow managed to collect really nice trail running gear to help me kick off the new year on the right foot, including a subscription to Clean Eating magazine that I'm SUPER excited about! But... more on all of that later... :)

Our Holiday Traditions

Tommy and I have been married almost 6 years, enough time to get some solid holiday traditions going on consistently. But now... here's Sunday! And it's a whole new ballgame! Here are a few of the traditions we've kept around and some new ones we started now that we have some offspring of our own. :)

1. New PJs every year at Christmas. For the first three years of this tradition, everything went pretty smoothly. But then Tommy said "Liz, I really don't need anymore pajama pants." But, I insisted! "No, this is going to be A TRADITION!" So he went with it for a while and by this year (year 5), I started to understand what he was saying. While the tradition itself is a simple, fun idea... we weren't growing. We were just collecting more pajama pants every year. Our drawers were full!

But... now there's Sunday. And I get it. The PJs we buy her this year will most definitely not fit her next year. And so, we have decided to move the tradition to buying PJs for our children and no longer for one another. I love it, though. The PJs will be something the kids can open on Christmas Eve and wear Christmas morning.

2. A new ornament for each person every year. I love, love this tradition!

Tommy has also tried to veto this tradition and it wasn't until this year that I recognized why. He is not the biggest fan of Christmas so you will probably never catch him decorating the Christmas tree. Of course, as I am hanging each and every ornament on the tree, I reminisce about the memories of years past. But he's missing this!

The VT ball ornament was the first one I ever bought for him and the Oak Island ornament represents the Christmas Day we spent at the beach (one of the best Christmas' ever!). There are so many memories wrapped up in each ornament and it's awesome to have that time of reminiscing, even if I'm doing it alone right now.

At this point, all Tommy sees is that we have started a collection of ornaments and perhaps we don't need anymore. I can understand that. Especially being someone who likes to simplify. But, I like traditions more than a minimalist lifestyle. Plus I'm a mom and I feel like it's my job to create these traditions and happy memories for my children. So this tradition is here to stay. :)

3. No Jesus in the nativity scenes. Alright, this is a new one.

Realistically Jesus does not appear in the nativity scene until Christmas Day, right? So we have him put away right now and when Christmas morning comes, Sunday will help us put baby Jesus where He belongs.

I am looking forward to this becoming the very first thing that we do together Christmas morning: setting baby Jesus out in the nativity scenes. It's one small reminder (of many I hope to incorporate) to help us remember what this holiday is all about.

4. Envelope Advent Calendar. I started this tradition a few years ago, and if I'm honest with you, it's definitely turned more into decor than an activity.

I used to hang these little envelopes along twine with mini clothespins (look at me all ahead of the trends so long ago!). They were super cute with the fun patterns on the envelopes. (I made the envelopes with Christmas scrapbook paper.)

Inside of the envelopes are little slips of papers with activities on them. They are mostly designed around date nights since I created the calendar when it was just the two of us. I kind of like that it's centered around marriage and dates... but since we barely even participate anymore, I will be changing the activities to reflect a family with a toddler. I've been looking through this pinterest board for some fun ideas.

5. Words. I don't know how much this is tradition or just personal preference. I decorate for the holidays with words. The only non-gifted ornaments on our tree are words. I love to remember the season for what it is... peace, joy, celebration. Here are a few pictures of the words around our house during this season:

So, those are our family traditions as of now. I look forward to creating more memories and traditions in the future. Especially doing things like driving around and looking at Christmas lights, hot chocolate on Christmas morning, and bringing in a Jesse Tree.

Okay - I'm off! It's Christmas Eve! I hope you have a wonderful holiday!!

Sunday these days...

Oh! I just love playing the piano with Daddy! It is so fun!

Oh... but what do I see...? A mommy?!

Yes! It's a mommy! I MUST have her RIGHT NOW!

Oh gosh, mommy. You aren't picking me up fast enough! MY LIFE IS ENDING!!!

Hold up. Is that a dog?

Gosh I just love playing the piano with Daddy.

Oh, wait! MOMMY!!! I NEED YOU RIGHT NOW!!!

Ah yes. Our little drama queen... getting lots and lots of practice these days.

Lynchburg Snapshot Studio: Sunday's Birthday Party

While I was planning Sunday's first birthday party I was racking my brain for activity ideas. I knew we would eat and have a cake smash, but I felt like there needed to be something else to fill the time. I thought about a cake walk with toy prizes... or maybe a small craft for kids. But space restrictions and a wide variety of ages of guests limited a lot of the ideas I was coming across in my google searches. I didn't really want to have a gift opening time even though it probably would have been a great time filler. I finally decided to bring in Lynchburg Snapshot Studio. It turned out to be the PERFECT activity for a first birthday party! It was set up and running throughout the entire party so just when guests started to feel like time was ticking slowly, they could get up and hop in the photo booth! Everyone seemed to have a lot of fun with it and it was a great way to get pictures of all the attendees, especially pictures of them WITH the guest of honor.

Here are just a few of my favorite shots from the photo booth images... I can't wait to make an album of these for Sunday to browse through when she gets older!

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Lynchburg Snapshot Studio is a portable digital self-portrait studio that provides a fun, memorable experience for wedding receptions, corporate events and private functions. Email info@lynchburgsnapshotstudio.com to check availability.

letters to sunday: first birthday

Sweet girl,

9:16am... exactly one year ago you were placed into my arms. It was a moment that changed our lives for the BEST.

My sweet, smiley, snuggly girl. How do I say how wonderful you are without talking in circles and repeating everything I've ever said about you? :) You are my favorite little person in this whole world. You were the perfect addition to our family and you made this last year the best of our lives.

It's so crazy now... how much you communicate and understand us. It's like it happened overnight. You turned 11 months old and suddenly you understood everything we were saying. Here we are, one month later, and you don't miss a thing!

If there is something nearby to help you balance, you are standing on your feet. You love to walk around while holding onto furniture and every now and then you let go and try it on your own! Before we know it, you will be walking!

You say "Bye Bye" now with the cutest little wave! So that was officially your first word! You also say Dada and a couple of people SWEAR you have said their names (Aiden and Soda Pop!). So fun. :) We practice Mama and Grandma a LOT.

Now that you can sign you are constantly - and I mean constantly - signing to nurse. If you see your mama, you crawl right over to me look up at me and sign "more!" Which means "Pick me up and nurse me please!" It's probably the one thing that drives me a little batty. I find myself hiding from you sometimes so I don't have to tell you "no." Because that is your least favorite word in the world. And really, honey, you simply cannot eat all. day. long!

I finally finished your birth slideshow - almost a year to the day you were born. Looking back through those pictures now is a completely different experience than looking at them soon after your birth. I know that little baby now... I recognize those familiar expressions you had even at just a few minutes old. I hope one day you will watch it and see the wonderful experience we had bringing you into this world!

Have I mentioned how snuggly you are? You love ANYTHING soft and fluffy and it is the most precious thing to watch you squeeze and nuzzle your blankets or stuffed animals! And almost every time I pick you up you take a moment to lay your head on my shoulder... even if you are just giving me a little hug before you pull back and ask to "Nurse, please." Gosh, I adore you!

You are completely into 12 month clothing now... the onesies are worn less often and real shirts and jeans are worn more often. You are growing up!

You were so super behaved at your first birthday party! I pretty much expected that because you love to people watch so much I knew you would be completely content even if you were completely exhausted at the same time! Oh and you LOVED your birthday cake! Well, mostly you liked the whipped cream icing, but that was to be expected!

As I type, you are napping away after playing in your crib with some books. This week you started falling asleep on your own, peacefully and quietly, when laid in your crib with a few toys. It's a whole new world for us and we both seem to really enjoy it. :)

When you wake we are going out for your birthday! Your Aunt Carrie and Uncle Zac are here (which is appropriate since they were like two of four people who had to miss your party) and we are going to spoil you all day!

Happy Birthday beautiful angel! You are the light of our lives... have I already mentioned that?!

All pictures in this post were taken by my friend Heather at Visions By Heather Photography.