Christmas Time Was Here...

Wow.  Did that just happen??  So much has been going on in the past week that time has flown by!!

Last week James, Aiven, and I went on a little staycation in Dallas.  We stayed at a hotel...

For the indoor pool...

Then we went to the Galleria the next day...

And then last Friday (Dec. 23rd) my baby boy turned SIX months old!! How did that happen?

I love this picture

Also that same day, he got his helmet (because he has a lop-sided head)

Don't let this picture fool you...he doesn't really like the helmet this much

Also that same day he had his first taste of real food...

Yeah, he did not like it!

We first gave him avocado.  This was a recommended food due to it's neutral flavor, texture, and fat content. But we tried it the next day and he still did not like it at all.  Then we tried pureed yellow squash, still no go.  The next day I tried that mixed with breast milk - it was a little better, but still no.  I just don't think he's ready for food yet and that's ok!  

*Side note: we are not starting him with rice cereal.  Since our lifestyle is eating paleo, we're not going to introduce him first to things that aren't paleo and then take them away later.  

Also, that SAME day he rolled over by himself for the FIRST time!!

Now he does it like he's been doing it his whole life!

So needless to say, December 23rd was a very eventful day for our little boy!!

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And then Christmas.  This year we had all the parents come to our house!!  A few months ago, traveling to Austin on Christmas weekend with a baby did not sound appealing.  So we decided to have Christmas at our house.  Thankfully, my sweet in-laws drove to us to spend Aiven's first Christmas with us.  

We were missing my mom and step-dad, but they went to Iowa to surprise my Grandma for Christmas, which I know she was VERY grateful for!

 the Men :-)

 Us with James' dad David, step-mom Lisa, and sister Christina

 Us with James' mom Sandie and sister Christina

 Us with my dad Gordon and step-mom Peggy

Our Family Christmas Picture

:-)

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Blast from the Past

Christmas 2008 (just engaged) 

Christmas 2009 (married) 

 Christmas 2010 
(with Cider & Hudson & baby Aiven about 12 wks old...inside)

Christmas 2011!!

A Compilation...

Well I've been wanting to blog, but have been stumped on what to blog about.  So now as I sit here with some alone time (Aiven's down for the night and the hubs fell asleep in bed reading his Bible) I'm just gonna blog about...whatever :-)

I love this time of year...I actually usually like the cold.  The air has a crispiness that is refreshing.  I love LOVE Christmas lights.  Every store or restaurant you go in to has Christmas music playing.  You get to go to or throw parties.  Gifts are given and received. The house always usually smells good for some reason.  Decorations are put up.  Memories are remembered and talked about. And Christ's birth into our sorry world is remembered.

This is our cozy living room.  Fire's going in the fireplace can make any room feel cozy!

This is us enjoying that cozy fireplace for our annual Christmas get-together

These are my High School FOR-REAL BFF's!!  Seriously, we've all known each other since at least middle school (some of us since elementary) and we still get together often.  Last year we decided that each month we'd all put $10 in a savings account and save up for all of us to go on a yearly vacation!
Last year we went to Gruene, TX and floated the river. This year we're just gonna keep saving because I had a baby...but next year we'll have all the more money to spend on a lovely vacay!! I love these girls so much and know they will always be life-long friends.

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Speaking of friends...this lovely lady is the BEST!  

as you can see, we're also enjoying that cozy fire!

As Steph and I (for now) live about 4 minutes from each other, we've been enjoying some much needed girl time!! We've been getting together usually every Monday evening.  Some nights we just talk and drink decaf coffee, while scolding my too-rowdy dog and helping her poor Charlie dog hide.  :-) Other nights we do crafts!! (more of those nights to come...thanks to you, Pinterest!!)  And then other nights we go on a Christmas-present date!!

First to Olive Garden 

Then to Starbucks...duh 

Then beautiful Christmas lights synced to Christmas music...awesome

Pretty sure we were acting like 8-year-old girls when we pulled up in front of this house and tuned the radio to the right station...

Yes, it was an awesome date :-)

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And then of course there's this love of my life (other than my wonderful husband)

this face just melts my heart!!  Every day is such a gift to be able to hold him, kiss those cheeks, and hear his wonderful laugh

Since Thanksgiving we've had his friend, Broden, come "play" every Monday and Wednesday while his mommy is at school.  They are about 2 months apart (Broden is older) and our play-dates will continue next semester!

Yeah, they're both super chunky ;-)

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Then with James still not working (he starts his new job Jan. 3rd) we've had some AWESOME family time...e.v.e.r.y.d.a.y  :-)  and we're loving it!

This is when we were putting ornaments on the Christmas tree.  Aiven wanted to be a part of it, so I put him in the sling my mom MADE :-) yeah, she's awesome like that.  

Maybe I'll see if she'll do a guest post for me and tell how she made it!

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Oh and Aiven got his pic with Santa (aka my old boss Chris at Sterling House) 

He didn't cry!!

Well that is all for tonight...I know this post is super random and maybe boring to some, but it's my life! :-)  Stay tuned tomorrow for Friday Food Frenzy!  

Aiven's Baby Dedication

A few weeks back on Sunday, November 13th Aiven had his baby dedication at our church, Denton Bible Church! It was a time for us to go before our congregation and pledge that we, as Aiven's parents, will raise him in a godly way, teaching him the Gospel of Christ.

Tommy Nelson, our pastor, wrote a letter to us that better explains what a baby dedication is. Here is a part of his letter:

"There is nothing saving in a dedication. At Denton Bible we don't baptize babies because a parent cannot bring a child into-covenant with God. The child alone can believe the gospel.  There is nothing magical about a dedication. It does nothing to insure a child's salvation or a blessed life.

So what is a dedication? It is the public accountability of a parent to model a godly life and to raise their child in the discipline and teaching of Jesus Christ and in the fellowship of His church." 

He also asked some questions in his letter to help us remember the way we ought to be living, I pray we think of and reflect on these questions often:

"Is the environment and home life the two of you create such a one as to promote happiness and peace in your child?"

"Do the two of you seek to model the biblical roles of a husband and wife? As a husband do you seek to be the spiritual leader of your home? Do you as a wife seek to follow the role of a submissive and godly wife?"

"Will you faithfully meet with Christ's church in worship?"

"Will this child be raised in truth and righteousness?"

These questions are so good to remind and convict us to live by them.  Our desire is for these questions to have the answer be 'yes' to them 100% of the time....unfortunately though we are sinners, but thanks to the grace of God and His Holy Spirit we can try and succeed at times...

It was a nice day, here are some more pictures....

walking up on stage with our little (aka big) bundle of joy

 This picture cracks me up - it looks like we drugged him beforehand so he would be good! haha - he was just sleepy, I promise!

Aiven's grandparent's (minus Mimi!)  - and yes, he has SEVEN total grandparents :-)

He's gonna be one spoiled rotten kid!

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Also, I thought I'd throw in some family pics that my mom took of us at her house a few weeks back:

 He was getting tired and cranky...

 yeah....

haha he was NOT happy - nice picture of James and I though! 

Happy Saturday!!!

The Latest

Well, I haven't been on here in a while!!  A lot has been going on in the past few weeks.  For about 1/2 a week me and the fam took a camping road-trip all the way to Colorado!!  It was crazy, spontaneous, challenging, and fun!!
    We left on Wednesday morning (October 26th) and drove all the way to Logan, New Mexico.  We packed everything we thought we'd need in the truck....it was packed full!

We stayed in a tent that night at a campsite near Lake Ute, NM.  We always got electrical sites because we had a small space heater for our tent and we stayed SO toasty!!  This is what we woke up to the next morning...

It was so beautiful!!  But as beautiful as it was, it got our stuff wet.  So we packed up (as the snow was still coming down...hard) and we put all the stuff that couldn't get wet in the back seat of the truck and all the stuff that could get wet in the bed of the truck and headed out!  We drove to Sante Fe & found a campsite in the mountains there.

BEAUTIFUL:

  Since our stuff was wet and we didn't have time to dry it out before nightfall my amazingly handy husband made us a "tent" in the bed of the truck!  It was SO cozy...despite my skepticism!  Here's a look at our "home":

Then the next morning we took off to Colorado!! The first site of "the-real-thing" mountains was beautiful!

We stopped to do a little hike to see a waterfall....

I had Aiven in the moby wrap under my jacket!!  We didn't get to see the falls though because you had to walk through the water on ice-covered rocks to get to it...but it was still so fun - Aiven loved it!

Then we headed to Salida, Colorado to stay the night in a hotel - which felt awesome!!  Then the next day we made the long treck back home to Texas...but saw plenty of beauty on the way:

:-)

So that was our fun, spontaneous family camping road trip!!

Then when we got back....Aiven had to have surgery on his hernia that he's had since he was about 4 weeks old.  It was really difficult to see him go through it...but James and I were trusting the Lord...that's all you can do in those types of situations.  It was really hard seeing him crying and out of it after he woke up from surgery...it took us a while to get him calmed down enough to go to sleep.  Then the rest of the day at home all he did was sleep and when he woke up he just cried.  But after that first day he recovered great!!  He slept a lot (mostly b/c of the medication) but when he was awake, he was his old smiley self!!  He's been doing great and we are so thankful that he is well.  :-) 

So that's the latest!! Hopefully I will post more frequently and consistently!!