We Wish You A Merry Christmas!

He's making a list and checking it twice.....

Santa Claus is coming to town!

Last weekend, Santa Claus visited us in our neighborhood, Westhaven! It was so neat! Instead of having to wait in lines like you do at the mall, we just got to pick the time that we wanted to visit - then just show up at the Residents' Club. This fun visit was complete with snacks and juice! Definitely much more kid-friendly! :)

Getting ready to see Santa!

I have been such a good girl this year!

So here goes the visit with Santa..... Don't let the pictures fool you!

"Hmmmmm.... Who is this strange man?"

"I'm not sure I like this!"

Sooo, here's what really happened.....

Poor baby! I know I am not nice for posting that, but I couldn't help it! She made us laugh because she knew something wasn't right! She lost it when Santa looked at her and started talking! We'll have to see what happens next year! ;)



I was so excited about that weekend, not only did Santa come, but it was Franklin's annual "Dickens of a Christmas," and also the lighting of the luminaries in our neighborhood - complete with carolers, hot chocolate and Christmas goodies. To my disappointment, we didn't get to participate in anything except going to see Santa because Elle wasn't feeling well. This was the weekend before we found out she had an ear infection. On Sunday, Elle ended up sleeping the ENTIRE day. This had never, ever happened! Elle barely even naps, and does well to sleep 10 hours at night - we knew something was definitely wrong! I am just so relieved she is feeling better, though, so it didn't matter that we had to miss out! I will be so glad when spring is here - hopefully our entire house can be free from sickness for a while!

Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree!

So, I was thinking that Elle probably wouldn't pay much attention to the Christmas trees in our house this year - I was soooo wrong! Instead, they are pretty much the reason she started crawling forward (we are no longer going in reverse!) several weeks ago! haha! BJ and I spend our days chasing her around, trying to catch her before she steals an ornament or tries to pull the tree over!



Our main tree in the living room has a few ornaments made of foam balls wrapped in ribbon that are perfect for her to play with since they aren't breakable. I tried to strategically place them around the bottom of the tree for her!

My little ornament stealer - caught red handed! ;)

How can you say no to this sweet little face?!

Here is Elle's favorite tree! I got her a little pink tree for her bedroom. I had a lot of fun decorating this! Elle loved this tree so much that she pulled it completely over a couple of weeks ago! uh oh! I have seriously re-decorated this tree at least 10 times!

I think Elle might possibly design Christmas ornaments one day! I can't get over how much she studies them!

These trees have no ornaments, so she leaves them alone, of course! I guess I should have thought about having just trees and lights throughout the house! :)

"Baxter, I already told you - these pictures are just supposed to be of me!"

Here is my little elf helping me wrap away! What a good little helper I have!

"We have how many more to wrap???"

Hope everyone is having a great weekend! Christmas is less than a week away! Unbelievable!

Our Home for the Holidays!

Wow, it has been a crazy 3 weeks! I have been wanting to blog more, but besides dealing with the busy holiday season - we have had a sick baby on our hands! I think we FINALLY have it figured out (after 3 whole weeks of poor Elle being miserable!). When she went to the MD for the 3rd time in 3 weeks last week- they discovered that her left ear was infected. I was really starting to get worried because Elle hadn't felt well since Thanksgiving day, and no one had any answers as to what was wrong with her! It was horrible. Basically, her doctor thinks she had a bad cold, and possibly even H1N1, that led up to the ear infection. Elle is on her 5th day of antibiotics, and is doing much better! It is so great to finally have our baby back!


It has been so much fun getting ready for Christmas this year. This year is extra special because it is Elle's first Christmas! I have added several new decorations this year, thanks to Elle! :)


I am sooo excited to finally get to use my "Cookies and Milk for Santa" set this year! My mom got this for me about 10 years ago, and put it back for me until I needed it! ;) Thanks mom! We'll have to give Santa a little snack this year when he stops by!

Here are Elle's "First Christmas"ornaments! Kerri King took Elle's 9 month/Christmas photo shoot back in November - this was one of our favorite pictures! They turned out so cute! I'll have to scan the Christmas card that Kerri designed for us - she is so creative! It turned out really cute!

A little ballerina stocking for the princess!

I kept seeing this cute picture frame everywhere I would go, and loved it - so I broke down and bought it! I am excited about displaying a picture of Elle (and hopefully other little ones!) in it each holiday season!



And this is my absolute favorite!!
I think this will be a neat way to remember Elle's first Christmas, and we can use it every year for cookies, and other goodies.

I had passed by Third Coast Clay in the Factory several times, and didn't really pay much attention to it, because I just always associated it with something that kids do - painting pottery pieces for birthday parties, etc. Then, BJ and I passed by it while we were at a Christmas Market at the Factory, and we decided to check it out. I saw all of these really cute ideas about using kids handprints and footprints to do all different kinds of Christmas designs! They carry all different kinds of pottery - everything from ornaments to coffee mugs. So, we decided to paint Elle's hands and feet (slightly stressful, but fun experience!), and use her prints to make a reindeer.... and her mama attempted to paint the rest! This is a great gift idea for grandparents, too! (Elle just might be giving something similiar as Christmas gifts this year! ;) )




BJ and I always dread putting up the wreaths outside, but we finally got it done! This year we added lights. Each year, our neighborhood does luminaries, along with a Holiday Home tour one weekend in December. All of the neighborhood streets are lined with luminaries - it is beautiful! Since we were pretty much the only people on our street without outside Christmas lights in previous years, I decided it was time to try them! Hopefully we'll find an easier way to string them next year! This took forever!

I made this wreath for our front door - I just got a real wreath, painted the "N" and added the ribbon to it. I LOVE real garland, and trees, too, and dream of having them in my house one day - but I just can't imagine cleaning up the mess right now while having a baby crawling around!

So Thankful.....

for many things this year! There are too many to name, but there are three things that I am especially thankful for this Thanksgiving.

1.) Our little Turkey, of course!

Thank you to one of my mom's former students, Jessica, for Elle's cute bib and hat!

This year was Elle's first Thanksgiving, and I can't describe in words how special this day was! It felt so amazing to be holding the most precious gift from God in my arms this year. Just when I think I can't possibly love Elle anymore, my love for her grows even more each day! She is the light of my life, and I don't know what BJ and I ever did without her! She is definitely our entertainment now, too! So much fun! Thank you, Lord, for our sweet baby girl!

Elle on her first Thanksgiving!

At work, we dispense infertility medications, and I am reminded everyday of how blessed I am. I just don't understand why God allowed me to have a child, when there are others out there who have waited so many years, and are experiencing so much heartache right now. I am so undeserving. He blessed me with an easy and healthy pregnancy, and most of all - a healthy baby. I haven't taken a day of my motherhood for granted, and I thank Him that I know what it feels like to read that positive pregnancy test, what it feels like to have contractions, what it feels like when a baby kicks while in the womb, and what it feels like to give birth to a sweet little life- all such precious moments that some people never get to experience!

2.) Health and Family

My heart has been so heavy for all of those who have lost loved ones recently. Thank you Lord for protecting my family and keeping us healthy!

Our first Thanksgiving as a family!

BJ's grandmother passed away a few weeks ago. This was BJ's last living grandparent. We got Elle's middle name, McCaslin, came from her. Elle never got to meet her, and I really regret this. She had been sick for several years, and was living in a nursing home. I'll be honest and say that we never got the courage up to bring our new baby into that sickly environment to visit, and I would give anything to change this now. If I had tried harder, we probably could have found a way to make it happen under better circumstances. It is so easy to tell yourself that there is always tomorrow. This was an unfortunate reminder to me to live everyday as though it were your last. Each day is a gift from God, and we never know when we will be called home!

3.) God's gift of Eternal Life!

In a world where nothing lasts and things are always changing, we have hope! God is eternal, and He has promised believers eternal life!

When BJ and I moved into our house a few years ago, we invited both of our families to our home for Thanksgiving dinner. I think it is safe to say this is now a Thanksgiving tradition because it stuck! Each year, we end up having about 20 family members over for dinner. Needless to say, if the kids keep coming - we will need a bigger house soon! :) We really enjoyed spending time with everyone! Here are some pics from the night!

Elle with Uncle Landon

Elle with Nana and Poppa!

Elle with Great-Grandma Rita!

Can you tell that Elle is loved just a little bit?! ;)

Here are the 2 little munchkins of the family - Elle and Emma!

We love our little princesses!

It was nearly impossible to get a good picture of them together!

TAKE ONE......

(tried to give them ornaments to help them smile....FAIL!)


TAKE TWO.......

(Elle didn't like her shoes, so we had to take them off! Emma says, "What now, Elle?" haha!)

TAKE THREE.....

How sweet is this?! Finally, a keeper!

Deck the Halls!

I got my Christmas decorations out today! I love decorating, especially for Christmas! I only got about half way done, though, so I have my work cut out for me this weekend! I have got to get the house cleaned, decide on the menu for Turkey Day and get the groceries bought! Our families are coming to eat dinner at our house on Thursday. I can't wait! I have so, so much to be thankful for!

I had such great help decorating today! Here are some pics of my little helpers! :)

Elle and Baxter came to check everything out, and make sure my decorating skills met their standards!

Elle kept looking at me like I was crazy when I kept bringing boxes down from the attic!

She loved the Christmas lights!

She started dancing when I draped them around her shoulders! She didn't know what to do with herself!

Elle is 9 months old (a little late!)

Elle, you have been in this world longer than you were in my tummy! It just doesn't seem possible!

Here are 9 things about Elle at 9 months!

-Still not crawling (the correct way, at least!)... but she can definitely get around! She does this backward scoot/push thing while on her belly, though, and that gets her where she needs to go!

-She loves eating finger foods and drinking from her sippy cup. When she eats, she uses both hands, but it's looking like she is going to be a righty!

-She can wave bye-bye (on purpose!) This is the cutest thing ever!

Look out Miss America!

-Her top two teeth just broke through, so she has a total of 4 teeth!

-She is pulling up on EVERYTHING! We lowered her bed last month when I walked in an saw her about to pull up to standing from her knees! Talk about a heart attack! She is definitely keeping us on our toes!

- After 9 months, we are finally on a schedule and sleeping through the night! Hallelujah! This is so funny, because if anyone was going to have their baby on a schedule it would be me. I had decided that I wanted to do Baby Wise, but this little girl refused to take naps - so I gave up after 2 weeks of trying. She was doing ok, though, and pretty much sleeping through the night up until she got the stomach virus back in September. When she got sick we were giving her fluids during the night, and this turned into a very bad habit! Mommy and Daddy sort of let the problem go on too long - so let's just say we had a looong 2 weeks of weaning her off the bottle at night. (Note to self for next time!) Now, she is doing better than ever! She sort of formed her own schedule and it has worked great! She takes 2, 1 and 1/2 hour naps during the day and sleeps from 8pm to 7am.

- She gets excited and loves to dance when Mr. Duck quacks his song or if her favorite cartoons come on TV! Look at those arms go!
(Poor Elle - I made her do this so many times trying to get it on video - I think she was over it! Oh yes, and you can hear Baxter (our dog) crying in the background - he STILL doesn't understand that this is NOT his toy! I don't know what we are going to do with him!)

-She loves to stick her little tongue out when she smiles! Soooo funny.... do you guys remember my 3-D ultrasound when I was about 30 weeks along? Well, she still has the attitude! :) Ha Ha!

30 weeks gestation!

9 months old!

- Stats: Weight 19 lbs 14oz (68%tile), Height 28 in (56%tile)

Old MacDonald had a Farm...

and on that farm he had a chicken....



and a squirrel.....EIEI-O!

Here is mommy the farmer with her cute little animals!

Love this picture! The looks on their faces = priceless!

Baxter and Elle didn't know what to think about each other!

About to walk around the neighborhood on Elle's First Halloween!



Elle's favorite part of the night was when a nice neighbor gave her a bag of Teddy Grahams! She rattled that bag around for hours. I am sure she would have loved to have had a little taste, but her mommy took care of them for her! In our previous dress rehearsals, Elle's costume only lasted about 5-10 minutes. I was thinking we would be doing great just to get pictures, but she didn't seem to mind it one bit. She was a chicken for a whole 2 hours! Yay Elle!

Elle about to "help" mommy carve a pumpkin!

I ended up carving 1 real pumpkin (for the neighborhood Ghost Walk), then the pumpkins below were faux pumpkins. I think those were one of the best inventions ever! It makes the time you spent carving worthwhile when you get to reuse them every year!

Elle says thank you to the neighbor that "BOO'd" us and gave her the pumpkin hat and bib!

Thank you Nana and Granny for my gifts!