Christmas 2010

We had a wonderful Christmas with both of our families.  We had three full days of celebration with family, yummy food, gifts, and reminders of the incredible gift that is our Savior.  We are blessed to be able to spend the holidays with both sides because we all live in the same town.  That can make for somewhat stressful moments in planning for the holidays, but I am so thankful that we get to be with everyone at some point during Christmas.  We are certainly blessed. 

We spent Christmas Eve with my family.  Christmas Eve was always kind of the big deal in my house growing up.  We opened all our gifts from each other on Christmas Eve {Santa of course came on Christmas morning}, and I can remember the anticipation all day long.  So, it is fitting to celebrate Christmas with my family on Christmas Eve.

 

After our celebration with my family, we went home and got Micah all bathed and ready for bed.  Then, we read the last chapter of the book, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.  This is a tradition that we have started in our family, and I love it.  The story of Jesus that is described in this book brings me to tears every time.  Then, Micah "wrote" a letter to Santa and left cookies out for him

but only after she tried to eat them herself :) 

Christmas morning had to have been my favorite.  When Micah woke up, Chris and I both went in to get her and tell her "Merry Christmas."  Then, I went to make sure Santa had everything set out correctly and get ready to take pictures.  Here is what Micah saw when she came around the corner:

Check out her reaction.  I LOVE IT!!!

Christmas Day was spent with Chris's family.  We had brunch and opened gifts.  We had a great time just relaxing and spending time with his parents and siblings.  This was the first year that we haven't had some other gathering to be at on Christmas Day, so it was nice to just be able to enjoy our time together.

The day after Christmas, we celebrated with Chris's mom's parents and her side of the family.  I only have these 2 pictures of Micah checking out one of the many Santas that adorn their house.  Oops!

We have one more Christmas celebration with Chris's dad's side of the family tomorrow.  We had such a wonderful Christmas.  I am always a little bit sad to see it go.  It seems like it is over entirely too quickly every year.  I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

just a walkin'

Micah took her first steps all by herself on her birthday, but in the past couple of days, she has really taken off with this whole walking thing.  We make lots of laps around the house all day long :)  

Here is evidence of this girl's new skill.

o christmas tree

I LOVE Christmas time.  I have always loved Christmas.  I love when the "official" Christmas decorations hit the stores the day after Thanksgiving.  I love hearing Christmas music everywhere I go.  I love shopping for the people I love and finding them gifts that I think fit them perfectly.  Ever since I was a child, I have always loved the joy that comes with this season, and I think everyone just seems a little more happy at Christmas time {or at least they used to!}.  I also love making my house Christmas-y.  I especially love seeing a Christmas tree all lit up in a dark room.

Isn't it lovely???

This is Micah's "little" Christmas tree that is in her play area.

I don't think I'm alone in my love of Christmas trees.

Micah always says "oooo" when the lights are turned on.  So cute!

I love seeing her joy this Christmas, and I know that will only increase exponentially in the coming years.  But, even more than the Christmas decorations, I cannot wait to share with Micah the true meaning of the season.  

I love celebrating the incredible birth of Jesus and the great outpouring of love that God showed ALL of US when He sent Jesus into the world--as a BABY!  That's enough to make you say, "Merry Christmas!!!"

santa...i know him???

Apparently, Micah did not get the memo from Buddy the Elf that Santa really is a nice guy, a friend even.  Here's the story of Micah's first {yes, first...I know she was here in time to meet him last Christmas, but I was just trying to survive the holidays with a 3 week old!} encounter with the jolly old fellow.

We got her all dressed up in her Christmas dress and first had to pose in front of the Christmas tree.  She obliged and appeased her picture-crazy momma.  Everything was going good at this point.

Then, we loaded up in the car and headed to the mall to see him.  We are still going strong, and everyone was happy.

We got to the mall and located the holiday display where Santa was.  All was going great, and Micah was feeling good about the big guy in the red suit.  We handed her off to Santa and resumed our positions behind the photographer to try for a smile.  What started out fine {Micah even managed one smile, which the photographer missed...seriously?!?!} quickly turned sour when Micah realized that a man with a big beard was holding her, and her parents were no where even close.  

So, this is what we got:

I actually think it's pretty cute.  She got much more angry after this, but we rescued her promptly from Santa's arms.  We cheered her up with a yummy food court lunch and went on our way.

 Maybe next year she'll appreciate Santa like Buddy the Elf does...maybe???

all i want for christmas is...

...a tooth!  After 12 months and 12 days, Micah finally has A TOOTH!!!!!!!!!  We are celebrating this milestone {a little late} around here.  Christmas came early for us :) 

Okay, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but I was beginning to worry about whether or not I was going to be convincing a 13 year old that it was okay to look like a grandma without her teeth in.

Honestly, Micah hasn't shown many signs of getting a tooth, so I probably would have missed it if her Mimi hadn't just happened to check her mouth this evening.  We are thankful that mild fussies are all that have accompanied this venture so far.  Yay, Micah!  You are not meant to be a toothless wonder :)

getting caught up

I finally have all of Micah's birthday posts done!  Now, I can move onto some fun Christmas posts...after all, it is the most wonderful time of the year!

Here are all of the posts about Micah's birthday.  You can scroll down or click on the links to read them.

one year letter
12.2.2010
one year facts
lollipop, lollipop

lollipop, lollipop

We had Micah's first birthday party on December 4, and it was seriously so much fun!  I had a blast gathering all the supplies and decorations for it, and I think it came together just wonderfully.  Add to that the best family and friends Micah could ever wish for and you have the perfect first birthday party.  I will let the abundance of pictures do {most of} the talking.

food table...chips, dips, grapes and bananas

 The adorable cake that a little bakery called Sweet Memories made for the party.  They did an incredible job with the decoration on the cake, and it tasted good too!!

 Micah's smash cake

 My mom made these amazing lollipop sugar cookies.  She even put a lollipop stick on them so they stood up.  She's good like that!

 sweets table...I think this was my favorite space to decorate, and I love the way it turned out.

 Micah's first year...I put all her monthly pictures on a "timeline."  It was fun for Chris and me to look back and see how much she has changed in just one year.

our little family of three

 sweet cousins...I love watching her and Cade interact now.  She likes giving him kisses :)

 I love the tutu rear-end!!!

Let the present opening begin!!!  She got lots of great stuff.  Thanks so much to our family and friends!

 Mimi, Pappy, and LeeLee

 It's cake time!  I absolutely loved watching her attack her cake, so forgive me in advance...I couldn't pick just one picture of the event, or even just two!

washing all that yummy goodness off in the sink

 Grandmommy, Pops, Cade, and Micah

 Angela and Jojo giving Micah birthday kisses.  I love this picture!

We really had such a fun time getting to celebrate our little Micah another day!  We were definitely exhausted by the time it was all over.  Micah certainly slept well that night, and I think Chris and I spent the evening completely vegging out on the couch!  Happy birthday to our sweet pea!  Thanks to everyone who helped us celebrate and for all the birthday wishes!!!