Merry Christmas!

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register.


So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David.  He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.  While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Lovebug's Christmas Craft!

I saw THIS adorable, simple ornament on Pinterest a while back, and I thought is was so sweet! How hard can that be? Well, it turns out that crafting with a 5 month old isn't exactly as easy as I previously thought.... it was  pretty hilarious actually. I bought a four pack of ornaments with intentions on using one as a "practice" run and boy was I glad I did! She squished up her hand and got ink everywhere. So, with a little help from my hubby and a sleeping baby... we made this sweet ornament (and one for each set of Grandparents too.)

Here's what ya need...

White or clear ink (non-toxic, acid free, and washable!)
Glass ball ornaments
Embossing powder (I used the blue glittery kind)
A paint pen (I used white)
Ribbon

We rubbed ink on baby girl's hand while she slept and then carefully pressed it to the ornament. Then cover the print in embossing powder and blow off the excess (outside!) I used an embossing heat tool to set the ink and powder, but a hair dryer on high will work too! Just make sure you get it nice and hot so that the glitter will stick! When it was dry and cool, I wrote her name and the year under her print. Attach some ribbon, and you've got a sweet little gift and a special memory for your tree!

A Simple Christmas: decor & gifting...

Hey y'all! Are you enjoying the holiday season as much as I am? Well, a certain adorable baby is making it a whole lot more fun around here. Even though she's still tiny, somehow the holiday has so much more meaning to me... I can't wait to make memories and start new traditions with our little family! I'm also super excited to be back in the Midwest this time of year! It was so very odd to be celebrating the holidays in flip-flops the last two years.

I'm not sure if it's an "I have a 5mo old" thing or not, but time is flyyyyying by! I can't even believe that Christmas is only 10 days away! I finally got a few bits of decor up around here. Since most of our stuff is in storage in my parent's basement since the move back from Cali, we're keeping it low-key this year. I also got a few gifts wrapped last night and a craft or two done... whew.

The biggest thing on my mind as I plan our new little family's Christmas this year, is the meaning we really want to give it for Lovebug and for our future children. I don't want it to be this big materialistic, comercialized holiday, void of the REAL reasons we celebrate. I also don't want to ignore the fun that can be had with 'ol St. Nick and what goes along with that. So, finding a balance early on in our traditions is really important to me. Bri and I have decided that since baby Jesus recieved 3 gifts, that's a good place to start for our kiddos too. There's plenty of Grandparents, Aunts & Uncles to spoil our kids, and in this house we really want it to be simple and special.

In keeping with that theme, I strived to do mostly homemade gifts for our family this year too. They were either made by me, a small shop owner, or had significant meaning to the person receiving the gift. We even ordered our Christmas card from a Mom-blogger's shop, who sent the proceeds to a family adopting a sweet little boy. It feels good to keep it simple, and I'm praying that it will continue this way.

Take some time and enjoy the season y'all!

Photo Project Weeks 17-20

This Child is hilarious. She's a whole FIVE months old and is up on all fours wanting to crawl across the room! She reaches for my Starbucks cups and trys to text while I'm holding my phone. I try to lay her down and she tries to sit back up! I'm seriously floored by how fast time is flyin'! It seems like she does something new everyday! She had her four month check-up and the Dr. gave her the go ahead for cereal... she loved it, and started gobbling it up each time we offered it after that. She's easily distracted while eating though, and likes to look all around the room.... trying to get the food in her mouth after that is ridiculous. She's such a tiny, tiny little girl. Only 12lbs! She laughs all the time... especially when her Daddy tickles her! Her auntie bought her a jumpy and she loves to spin and talk to her toys in it. We just LOVE our little daredevil Lovebug.... her favorite thing is when she's tossed in the air, or swinging really fast. She even dove off the bed a few weeks ago... she was perfectly fine (although her Mama was a total basket case... calling the hospital, crying, feeling like a horrible parent) The nurse basically told me to chill out, and that it happens to EVERY child. So our little girl is keeping us on our toes and we're enjoying new adventures each and every day! Here's the latest pics...