Christmas Tree

Christmas Day. We stayed at home, made lots of food, opened presents, and had some good friends from college stay with us. It was a great day celebrating Christ and His birth. I even let Jackson play with the Christmas tree. Finally.

Thanks GiGi for the cool hard page Bible. Now he cant tear out the pages!

Friends and their CUTE kids.

A Merry Day.

Our first Christmas together. The three of us. It was everything I could have hoped for. Not in the perfect I got so many presents sort of way. But in the I got to see it through a mother's eyes sort of way. A day I will always remember. My first baby's first Christmas.

Getting Ready.

I admit. Baking gets me all excited. Watching the dough rise, figuring out how tight to make the roll, and then seeing it all laid out on the counter. It makes me happy.

Merry Christmas Eve! Pictures of people (not food) to come.

The last high chair photo, I promise.

Jackson has been pretty determined to feed himself lately (sigh). His go to foods are beans, asparagus, sauteed spinach, and egg yokes. Oh and toast of course. I cant say Ive been overly excited to move off the baby food, but he shows me every meal (by violently shaking his head at the sight of baby food) that he is growing up and ready for the real thing. The transition from one to the other has not been what I expected. For instance...meal times last about an hour as opposed to 10 minutes. Eating on the go used to be a norm for us. You know, go to the mall, get groceries, feed him in the car in between errands. Not so much anymore. Waaaay too messy for that. Now we plan our day around meal times and naps. Only if Im feeling brave do we venture outside our home for mealtimes. For it is a big mess :)

Left over bags of unused frozen baby food. Bummer.

Today is filled with meal planning and grocery shopping. For Christmas of course. We cant wait. The birth of Jesus, time spent with family, good food, gift openings, and a
Christmas movie marathon.

4.

Four Teeth.

And a space in the middle.

Room for more I guess :)

Buds.

Every Friday night that we are free, we do a kid trade with our friends. One week Joel and I get a date, the next week we get to watch Jackson play with his friend. It works out pretty perfectly. And we save a lot of money on date night. The going rate for a sitter here is 10 bucks an hour! Worth it, I know, but still...this works out much better.

Check this blog out....she does giveaways ALL the time and is also an amazing photographer. Right now she is doing a giveaway for a HP touchscreen computer. Im a sucker and like reading other people's blogs waaay to much :)

http://www.mycharmingkids.net/

Glory.

There is something very special about a baby's first Christmas. Traditions become more important and there is an eagerness in the air- the chance to start fresh with hope that we can show Jackson the real meaning of Christmas. I keep having to remind myself in fact, that Christmas isnt about having the best of everything. The best food, best new pair of jeans, and prettiest decorations.

At MOPS the other day the pastor talked to us about how God sent his son to the earth in less than ideal circumstances and times. Yeah, yeah, I thought...I know, I know Mary had to give birth in a barn, and it was probably VERY uncomfortable, she didnt have a cute nursery to bring her baby home to, and she definately didnt have a lactation consultant to go to for help. BUT, I never knew that Jesus was born in a time of darkness. 400 years of darkness actually. And then....JESUS.

Im going to let that be a reminder to myself this Christmas month that GLORY often finds itself in broken and uncertain circumstances.

On a Cold Winter Day.

My new favorite find is the free indoor playroom at the community center. It's close to our house and there are usually a few other kids there that Jackson can play with. I know it's dirty and probably spilling over with flu germs, but on a cold winter day there aren't many options. Besides, Jackson loves it... and I'm learning to let go.
his little fingers...

and cute baby bum,

make me smile.

Thankful.

Sing and make music in your hearts to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the father for everything...Ephesians 5:19&20.

Old market lights

The game Guesstures puts my husband in a crawl in a hole and die mode:) which really makes me smile.

Black Friday deals... Nebraska game is on.

I think we'd better take this toy home with us.

Can I borrow your bracelet???

Back at home. Running around naked, wanting to be held the way Grandma holds all hours of the day, and happy. Oh so happy.