A Blessed Christmas..Indeed~

 Our church had a Christmas Eve service for the first time in our history.  We were so happy to be a part of it as Christmas Eve service has always been very special for our family.  These two beauties wouldn't pose, wouldn't sit, and honestly gave me a huge run for my money during the service as I was flying solo because my hubs was sharing the message.  It wasn't pretty, but we survived mostly uninjured.  Despite being rowdy, they are adorable and, yes, Anna did have to wear those zebra glasses in addition to a party hat that was lime green to church.  It was a party hat for Jesus people and there is no controlling this girl.  I am told by many that some day these things will make me laugh.

 Em got a new dress as we were given a gift certificate from a local store as a gift.  She looks so grown up and this is her last picture without braces as she had them placed this week! 

 Some crazy person (that would be me), thought Jilly would enjoy a bin of dry oatmeal to play in so that was her gift from her sisters.  She did indeed enjoy it, but I most certainly did not love vacuuming for 90 minutes.  I did love seeing her smile though and because Christmas is so darn stressful for her, I don't regret it.  I did move the bin outside to play in though as I am no dummy. 

 Her gift from us was a sock swing.  I found one on ebay and it was a  hit.

 My sweet girl is so adorable and so happy in that swing.

 Anna got a baby alive doll that poos and pees.  She got a real baby bottle from her sister, an Elsa dress, and a playhouse.  The playhouse was a super garage sale find from the summer that we had hidden in the garage and was sitting out for both the little girls on Christmas morning!

 We ate our snowman pancakes on Christmas morning. YUMMY!

 More pancakes, but these were eaten much later as a teenager doesn't get up too early even on Christmas morning.

 My sweet baby girl played, and played.  We stay home all day on Christmas and don't usually even get out of our pjs.

 Our birthday cake for Jesus was chocolate coca cola cake.  I think Jesus would approve.

My biggest girl got a bedroom makeover.  I just finished up her curtains and it looks so cute.  Gone is the tween zebra phase as we have ushered in gray, yellow, and blue chevron.  It looks awesome!  She is happy with it.  I have loved working alongside her on it too!
Another Christmas season comes to a close and it is our last Christmas without Molly Kate home!  Next year, we will have four beauties to photograph.

A Christmas to Remember

Holding on to fond memories of this Christmas..

Last year, this sweet girl was so afraid of everything.

She couldn't open a gift, play with any new toy, or enjoy much about Christmas.

Her fear and anxiety was almost paralyzing to her,

BUT

our God continues to bring healing to her little heart!

This year she enjoyed Christmas for the first time!

(and this momma's heart was FULL!)

She opened this baby and signed open because she wanted it out of the box.

She fed her right away and rocked her too.

 She was off pushing this vacuum as soon as she opened it.

She loved this "dream light" contraption and

insisted on keeping the lights off the rest of the night.

Uncle A was visiting and really mad about the lights being off.

He would go and turn them on.

She would go and turn them off.

(It made us giggle a bit.)

 She has this food in OT.

We use it sometimes in Speech Therapy too.

 

She knew just what to do with it.

She is holding the yellow ball her sister picked out for her.

She loved it.

When you shake the ball, smaller balls inside light up and shake around.

Big Sissy was pretty proud of her choice of gifts for Jill.

Sissy is getting a room makeover.

She got lots of zebra print stuff.

We will paint her room (teal blue) when she is home from her trip.

Speaking of Uncle A, he never did win the battle of the lights

but was happy to score several cardinals gifts

(that he managed to get open even if the over head lights were off).

 Daddy got a new sweatshirt from 147 million orphans.

(All our purchases support orphans in China so I HEART this company!)

I got a new tea mug from 147 myself!

It was a beautiful, quiet day celebrating the birth of our Savior.

I am so very thankful to have this little family,

but have to admit it is hard on this momma's heart not to have our Anna here with us.

It makes looking forward to next Christmas that much sweeter.

Little Drummer Girl

Our little woke on Christmas morning to find this waiting by the tree.

My word was she EXCITED!

She L.O.V.E.S. the drum set at church!

She played this little drum set for 45 solid minutes!



Our Family Tree

When we moved to this big, old parsonage..

I finally had room to get a pretty tree.

You know, the kind of tree with a color scheme,

matching packages, and all new ornaments.

Because of the beautiful tree, the family ornaments

(and our old family tree)

is now decorating the family room in the basement.

 Clearly, this is Em's favorite tree.

She loved to count all the ornaments that she has made.

She also likes looking at all the ornaments that we have collected through the years on special trips and such.

This tree is like a walk down memory lane and it is important to her.

 Daddy is showing off his ornaments.

Jillian liked the 49ers ball.

It is red after all.

 She helped Daddy hang it.

Daddy has many special ornaments too.

This one is a sweet tea glass.

Daddy LOVES sweet tea.

There are so many activities this time of year and so many special memories made.

My heart is grateful for my family today.