SOCIAL MEDIA

Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Happy New Years Eve!

Happy New Years Eve, everyone!
Can you believe it is the last day of 2013?

This year has been absolutely amazing.
And one blessing made it just that.
Cam.


Other than that we lost a couple of our furry friends, 
and had a couple of challenges thrown our way...
But God seen us through and here we are entering another year.
I can never praise him enough for his love, mercy, and grace.

For me, new years bring both excitement and unease to my mind as the time comes to say farewell to the passing year and hello to a new unknown.



All I can do is feed the excitement and give my anxieties to God as I chose to put my faith in Him and trust that he will be by my family's side as we face this new year together. 



So...for 2014 I am hoping to begin a new little tradition for our family.
I threw together a memory jar, (something similar to what I found here on Pinterest) to make sure I capture every sweet special moment our family experiences this upcoming year.
On New Years Eve next year, I hope to open the jar and reminisce and record each memory in our family year books (also seen on Pinterest here.)
<The 2013 yearbook will be our first...and is yet to be completed, but it is on my ever growing to do list!>




May 2014 bring you all the love, happiness, blessings and joy imaginable.
Thank you for allowing me to share our little family's life with you in 2013.
I hope the best is yet to come for all!

I hope to review the year as I did last year soon!
Happy last day of 2013:)
Monday, December 30, 2013

Finding Merry | Part One

I can't believe it's over!
"WHY can't everyday be like Christmas??"
I just don't understand it.

What a beautiful Christmas we had.  
Despite the fact that I had to work on Christmas Eve (something I swore I would never do).
 I spent Christmas Eve Eve in Knoxville with my brother.  
I left after work around 1pm and did some last minute 
shopping leaving the Camster with my family...
in what turned out to be the longest time I had EVER left him.
I'm just not good with that yet.
I literally have a panic attack.  It's insane.
And this day was no different.

I ended up walking OUT of Hallmark with a Snoopy in hand.
I got to Belk before I jumped 10 ft in the air and realized I had taken
 it from the store without paying as he was hidden amidst all of my other bags.  
I quickly hurried back and placed it on the shelf and got OUT of there!




We had a great dinner at the Red Lobster that night
as Cam never ceased to amaze us with his lack of taste buds as he dove 
into a lemon with out one facial grimace.
This. child. will. eat. anything.

Then we popped in the Griswolds and Home Alone when we got back to the condo
and had a fun old fashioned family Christmas...
Well no.  Actually everyone just went to bed.
Especially Cam and I as we had to drive back to NC for work the next morning!
Yuck.
But we did have a beautiful window view of a festive home across the street which TOTALLY made me feel like a McCallister...can't really pinpoint why exactly...but it did.


On Christmas Eve morning Cam and I headed
across the mountain and we were greeted with
snow, yes SNOW,  as it blew in every direction!
It was a beautiful unexpected suprise.
I did a lot of praying, Cam a lot of sleeping, and 
Sylvester (our silver 4-runner) a variety concert of Christmas tunes:)
It was imperfectly perfect.





I anxiously hurried through my day at work and FINALLY 
made it back home to celebrate with our families.  AND play Santa!
I stayed up til around 3am Christmas Eve still unable to find the time to bake
Santa the fresh cookies I wanted to leave for Cam's First Christmas.
Oh well. Another example, in which I am learning I can't do it all.
And I sadly accepted it and did what I could to make his First Christmas perfect.
AT LEAST his presents were wrapped!



Christmas Day was just as I imagined it would be.
Before the house hopping festivities began...we had our 3rd annual Mustache Christmas Breakfast!
One of my favorite traditions:)
And I have a little inkling it will be one of Cam's favorites as well!



BB, Joe Daddy, and KK are excellent breakfast chefs:)
And my family...well they make great fried apples and hold down the couch well!
:)

I did put my mommy creativity to use and make a festive fruit reindeer since Cam requires approx 5000 snacks a day...



After the mustaches come off...(more of those in part two)
We have about 4 other places to visit, so we are always KILLED.
But we had a blast receiving/giving all the hugs, food, and gifts
...and celebrating the reason for this season...Jesus Birth!

Cam's favorite part of the day?  Curly ribbons.
Yep folks.  Give a 9 month old a curly ribbon for Christmas and you have made their life.
Who knew?

And now.  It's all over.
I think the day after Christmas is the saddest day of the year.
Especially when you have to work.

BUT.  I do have a few days off! :)
First couple since July when I first began my job...
And we are definitely trying to ride the last bit of 
holiday cheer out with our mini vacation to Tennessee.



I actually love it.  No work.  Continued basking in the glow of the Christmas trees.
And Christmas music continues to blare through the air everywhere we go.
While I am taking a bit of a break until the new year...
you can find daily updates on our trip from my mom's blog:)


Though it is inevitable that our sad lonely Christmas decorations await us at home to be taken down and stored away until next year... I AM getting a head start on planning Cam's 1st Birthday Party coming up in March:)
I can't believe I am planning his first birthday...
but what a blessing!



I've also had some fun planning some more fun for the remaining wintry days (crossing my fingers for some weekend snow storms), New Years, Super Bowl, and Valentines Day while I'm at it:)
The end of Christmas doesn't have to be the end of celebrations for the upcoming year...
Check out these new inspirations via my Pinterest boards here:

The rest of our Christmas pictures will come later, as my computer, rest its hardware, has bit the dust, and I am currently trying to blog from the Mr.'s old lap top-which doesn't allow my Canon pictures to be downloaded.  What. a. mess.
New computer in 2014?  One could only hope!
TN trip to be shared later as well!

Leave those trees up AT LEAST until New Years Day people!:)
Enjoy it while you can!

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Holiday Home Tour| It's Looking A Lot Like Christmas!

Clark W. Griswold mugs in use...

Our baby is decked in Christmas PJ's every night!

My magical Nativity is placed front and center and brought to life once again!



And our dining room chalkboard is FINALLY sharing a Christmas message:)
It was SO hard to wait!



Is it so bad to leave your Christmas decor up year round?  I think Cam would approve...




Our Christmas Card Collection
Love shelf styling for the holidays!


The Man Cave tree!
I have more to add but didn't finish it this year.
Think mustache...the perfect "mannish" tree;)


And my FAVORITE...Cam's Nursery:)





 





Monday, December 23, 2013

Let the Countdown Begin!

"Hey Buddy, How'd you sleep?"
"Great!  I got a full forty minutes!"
That line from Elf kinda perfectly sums up my life right now!
I'm sure it isn't too far from many of yours either...
Christmas time is a busy time of year.
Sometimes SO busy, that it comes and goes in the blink of an eye.
I just hate that!
Work, decorate, clean, bake, shop, wrap, work, repeat.
This year...work is trying to steal my Christmas spirit as I usually get a little time off to breath and take a break from the hecticness of life.
It's definitely one of those years where you have to "think happy thoughts" and pretend work doesn't exist the moment you leave the building and head home!
I refuse to let it steal my Christmas magic and put a damper on Cam's very first Christmas!
Even if I DO appear to be sleep deprived, hungry (haven't took a lunch break in ages it seems), and have a bad case of coffee breath...
SOOOOO
Let's kick off the countdown to Christmas with our weekend!

A holiday manicure, some fighting crowds to do some Christmas shopping, a mad dirty diaper, a win for the Mr.'s beloved Panthers, and a 9 month old Christmas Donkey cutie appearing in his first Christmas Play at our church.
It was wild but wonderful:)
#christmasshoppingfuel #einsteins
We fought slobber, holiday procrastinating crowds, and stubborn stroller wheels around Knoxville in search of the perfect gifts.


The men have everything under control...

Cam decided to add his own pizazz to our trip, with the most massive dirty diaper known to man kind.  The kind that explodes out of the diaper onto his perfect Christmas outfit:(
Luckily, the store we were in...Kirklands...had an adorable baby pj set (just his size) on hand and we saved the tags to pay at the counter and headed to their bathoroom to change him.
Lo and behold...no changing table.
The cleaning supply shelf worked just fine for this frantic mommy and stinky baby.
As I was pulling off his diaper and poopy outfit...throwing shoes in the floor, diapers and wipes flying off the cleaning supply shelf changing table-
out came a fountain of pee all over me AND the bathroom floor.
We're talking, sprinkler system.
The Mr. was then recruited.
Ok!  He was all changed and we could resume our shopping list.
WRONG.
We got to the counter to pay for our things...
and a stinch only the grinch would love lingered.
YEP.
Poop.  On my cardigan.  And the Mr's sweater.
Think twice about those cute little babies being strolled around lookin' all cute and cuddly.
It happens!  And I may or may not have a few letters mising from that first word...

Daddy ecstatic...Cam...not so much.

Way to Go Panthers:)

 
#firstchristmasplay #jesusisthereason

The baby donkey

Oh I love it!
And I love Christmas!
Merry Christmas Eve Eve everyone!
See you tomorrow for a holiday tour of our home and Cam's room:)
Monday, December 16, 2013

Oh What Fun!

Our Christmas pictures arrived last week, SO
I have been busy cranking out Christmas cards like nobody's business...
Apologies in advance if you are reading this post before you recieve your card!
One of my favorite things to do is sending (and receiving) Christmas cards...
I kind of collect them from year to year...
not just ours but all that we recieve
(perhaps it's just in case one year I am Christmas cardless-I can still pretend I recieved bookoos!)
<<That's my crazy Christmas lady side doing the talking.>>

I practiced my best handwriting, grabbed some washi tape, stuffed, addressed, and slapped postage on these babies and sent them off to their new home for the holidays:)
Who else loves Christmas cards as much as I do???

{cards, tiny prints} {washi tape}

{uggs} {baby gap plaid pants, no longer available} {cardigan} {tie}





 Dana Cochran Photography

And THIS is where I display each years card:)
They are each so special!



9 Days til' Christmas! 
Epppppp!:)